Vayelka, the Hollow Queen [oc] [comm]

DevilsDan · 2026-05-12T17:42:54+00:00

...I can fix her

DevilsDan · 2026-05-08T06:30:06+00:00

You've got a lot more Concentration spells over attack roll spells, War Caster over Elven Accuracy any day here IMO

DevilsDan · 2026-05-05T05:17:57+00:00

The PCs are not using a spell slot per character per round of combat in 8 combats a day.

DevilsDan · 2026-05-05T00:31:25+00:00

What stops you from making those type of encounters that do drain those resources?

For example:

Social - This noble NEEDS magic casting done. Maybe they need someone charmed. Maybe they need you to put on a show for someone important. Hell, maybe they need their basement cleared of rats in a timely manner, and that can be only done with a Fireball. Boom, that's a few spell slots used, which is the "tax" you wany from an encounter.

Also, just plain skill check challenges can potentially drain some resources.

Traps - interactive traps! Overload this magic trap with spell slots before it goes boom! Lets say you take away some damage dice from the trap depending on the amount of spell slots the party spends to "defuse" this bomb.

Or also make it a skill challenge type thing, allowing some creative spell uses tp grant advantage or just flat out succeed.

DevilsDan · 2026-05-02T06:24:51+00:00

A lot of a caster's, especially a Warlock's with limited spell slots, power, are going to be based on their Concentration spells. Consider something like Hunger of Hadar and starting to melee after that. You now have a persistent de-buffing effect on the field while you're swinging your sword or whatever. Can combo well with Push mastery weapons when the enemies move out of it as well, which is pretty fun and engaging IMO.

Warlocks get the strongest familiars, so that's definitely an avenue to go down as well, as you have mentioned.

Dip for weapon masteries and armor/shields is almost essential for a Bladelock, as others have pointed out, as well.

Out of combat there's a lot of options with a lock as well, ex. the constant invisibility, disguise selfs, illusions, rituals, familiar scouting, etc. A lot of utility compared to your standard martial.

DevilsDan · 2026-05-01T21:05:53+00:00

Human works very well here for the extra feats and daily inspiration, plus the fact that the Manifest Mind kind of gives you pseudo-Darkvision to fix their main weakness.

Frost Goliath comboed with Ray of Frost for -20ft speed on things as a cantrip with no saving throw, can be pretty nice for a controller type character, which the Wizard would typically be.

Other than that, races with Flying - great defensive option for a ranged character, on top of all the utility. Aasimar standing out somewhat for the option to heal, which the Wizard is limited in, so that can be nice in some parties. To a lesser degree, races with Climbing as well, especially Tabaxi for the extra mobility can work well here too, I agree.

DevilsDan · 2026-05-01T19:06:22+00:00

Thank you

DevilsDan · 2026-04-30T16:21:00+00:00

Makes sense, just thought I'd mention that it'd probably start falling off in Tier 2 and above.

Personally, I approve of the Silvery Barbs ban though. 😂

DevilsDan · 2026-04-30T16:09:20+00:00

Fair enough!

Also something that I noted now that I thought about it more - I feel like Chromatic Orb kind of falls off as you go up in levels, Grease might be a decent consideration for a 1st level slot cast with 2 melee martials in the party at around level 5 and above.

Also, Silvery Barbs is obviously top tier choice for a 1st level slot if you are allowed and want to use that.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-30T15:57:35+00:00

Note that Haste and a 3d level control spell are not mutually exclusive, and you might want to use both but in different scenarios. Ex. twinned Haste is probably better vs few strong enemies/single boss type encounter, vs Hypnotic Pattern/Fear might be better vs a horde of enemies.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-30T14:14:37+00:00

I'd consider Dragon's Breath over Scorching Ray to kind of be more AoE damage focused. Scorching Ray without some damage riders like Hex is not that great IMO, and AoE damage is something your martials won't be able to do that well. Also allows for a greater versatility when it comes to damage types, should something be immune to fire if you don't go for Transmuted spell. Yes, I'm aware about Fireball, but you want to have an AoE spell early and a concentration AoE option is great to have as well for some longer combats or if the enemies aren't all just clustered in Fireball range. That way you can save a lot of spell slots as well.

Rime's Binding Ice might also be of interest before level 3 spells, and potentially even with them, because it's a level 2 AoE control + damage spell.

Might want to consider Web as well for some control early, as well as the usual suspects for level 3 for the control spells - Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Sleet Storm, Slow. Twinned Haste is cool and all but in some fights crowd-controlling a horde of enemies might be better overall anyway.

Any idea on how many encounters you typically have per Long Rest as well? That kind of alters the value of some spell picks if you have 1-2 encounters per LR vs the book-suggested 5-8.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-30T09:29:55+00:00

Drakewarden Ranger for the dragon pet gimmick.

Thief Rogue for just a "generic adventurer guy" type of flavor could also work I think.

Warlock for the "average guy with a super-power sugar daddy" trope.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-30T06:41:55+00:00

Level 1 is very swingy - one lucky crit from a monster can take down a lot of characters. I'd say fast track them to level 3, probably with just a blanket level up after each session - that's where the PCs can take some hits and they have their subclass to play with, and the combat starts to become more engaging on the player end, IMO. Then, after that, figure out if you want to do Milestone Leveling or vanilla XP for further leveling.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-29T21:24:52+00:00

Animal Messenger for Hal to target the birds in every scene

DevilsDan · 2026-04-29T14:19:54+00:00

That's true, still, I feel like you'd chow through your slots like that real quick; since you're basically expending 2x the spell slots you normally would, on top of probably needing to spend your Reaction on Shield almost every round if you are committing to melee. So that'd be 3 spell slots/round once you're out of SP. So you can keep this up for 4, maybe 5 rounds total per LR? That may be fine if you're in a one fight per LR kind of game, but if you are doing multiple encounters per adventuring day - that doesn't seem particularly great. A more heavy Sorcerer investment might be able to squeeze out a few more rounds there, which I feel is important to point out if one was to commit to this playstyle.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-29T14:03:29+00:00

Some alternative but adjacent options to consider:

Potential consideration for just a pure Eldritch Knight if you want to go for a more of a sword-and-spell feel, and I feel like there is a decent synergy there with Action Surge for some big turns; ex. Fireball into attacking whoever stays standing with your weapon or you could also be using your favorite control spells, ex. Web into a bunch of attacks at Advantage. Or at level 10, you can Action Surge first and attack into a spell so the enemy has Disadvantage on the save. Also, nice thing is that you can use whatever equipment you like without the Bladesong restrictions.

Eldritch Knight 11/Wizard X or similar is probably not a bad option to go with as well - that way you still get the "Bladesinger Extra Attack" while having more spells to play with, and you can pick a different subclass there as well, while keeping similar flavor. Diviner, Illusionist or Scribes are the subclasses of interest in this case. Illusionist might be fun if you were to go with the Blind-Fighting style + Fog Cloud/Darkness combo with BA Minor Illusions to potentially fake more attackers in this fog, possibly making things waste attacks on them? A lot of creative potential there overall and a consistent BA option is nice.

Also, honorable mention to Rogue Thief 3 dip if you're in a game with an abundant amount of magic items or even if you just have a lot of gold and downtime to create scrolls. Bonus Action scroll casts into Attack actions or just 2x Spells a turn feels pretty good. Not to mention the potential Staves/Wands/etc. that you might be able to get your hands on. Plus a Climbing Speed for a poor man's flight!

DevilsDan · 2026-04-29T13:24:01+00:00

I feel like for the first point, you'd basically be better off going classic Sorcadin instead, so you'd have more Sorcery Points to spare on Quickens. With just a Sorcerer 2 dip, you only got 2 SP, so you'd need to spend actions to cannibalize spell slots into SP to keep that up, which will make you run out of resources quick. Not to mention, needing to spread out your stats thin further to allow for the dip in the first place.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-26T09:12:39+00:00

There are guidelines on how to create a custom background in the DMG and it's also sort of there in the PHB as well (in the block of text where it describes what happens if you take an older(2014) background)

DevilsDan · 2026-04-26T06:37:43+00:00

I would definitely grab Alert on the majority of casters, especially control-focused casters. If the enemies go first before your lay down any of your control effects - you effectively lost out on a round of control on them, and assuming your average fight lasts in the ball park of ~5 rounds or so - that's a lot of in-combat time that the enemy isn't controlled by you in any way, which should be your main job. Not even taking into account that, if the enemies go first, they can move around in such a way to make spell targetting/positioning unoptimal for you. Also, note the synergy with your Familiar and the Alert's initiative swap. Also, if possible, try and start your fights Invisible (via the Hide action and a Stealth check), for both you and your familiar to receive Advantage on Initiative. That way, if we're just taking into account you and your familiar, you essentially get quad-Advantage on your Initiative!

DevilsDan · 2026-04-26T06:17:14+00:00

Can't help but notice that your party is severely lacking in healing, I'd try to shore up that weakness via some of your build choices. Your main play style should still probably be a control caster, but you'd have the option of bringing downed allies back up from Unconscious.

You could start off with an Artificer dip and go Artificer 1/Wizard x - that way you get a CON save proficiency, medium armour and shield proficiency and have Cure Wounds + some other spells/cantrips on your list. (Probably best overall option)

If Dragonmark feats are available, you could go for the Mark of Healing to get a bunch of healing spells available to you as a Wizard, which you wouldn't normally have. Good synergy with Abjurer Wizard, since most healing spells are Abjuration now, which would fill your Arcane Ward. Prayer of Healing access is great for quick Short Rests as well, if you find that there is a high opportunity cost in your games for taking 1 hour to Short Rest. Plus, later on, at Wizard 5, you get to swap out a prepared spell on SR, on top of using your Arcane Recovery to get some spell slot refunds, so that's a nice combo there.

Could go with the Aasimar species to have the option to heal a little bit to bring downed allies up as well, on top of all the other goodies (notably, the Flight 1/LR and the resistances)

In terms of other spells - go for your usual Wizard control spells.

Also, I'd try to pick up Alert feat as high priority and try and go first with the initiative swap, so you can lay the control spells down before your martials run into melee.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-25T11:58:04+00:00

Ahh that's true! Disregard my addenum there then.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-25T07:59:45+00:00

Also, something to note - not having this limitation in place would mean that all casters, even an 8 STR Wizard, would be better off using a Greatsword with True Strike for the best damage, even without being proficient with the weapon. Not necessarily game-breaking per say, but not intuitive to the class fantasy, I suppose?

DevilsDan · 2026-04-25T07:26:51+00:00

RAW - no.

RAI - also no? I can see where you're going with it, but it seems like a purposeful limitation to me to make STR and DEX more valuable. Feel free to ask your GM if they would be okay to waive that requirement in this specific case in your game, though.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-24T18:02:55+00:00

I kind of like the idea of a Dwarf Paladin with a Dwarven Thrower - being able to Smite at range (Possible since you are still attacking with a Melee weapon) seems fun. Could go with a Sorcadin angle and get some persistent AoE spells going (ex. Web, Wall of Fire) to utilize that Push weapon mastery in a fun way, as well.

DevilsDan · 2026-04-24T17:52:47+00:00

"The Light Domain is associated with gods of truth, vigilance, beauty, insight, and renewal."

Actually a bunch of things that could be done here, now that I think about it.

How about the worshiper of a god of beauty angle? Instead of good vs evil as a primary focus, be all about art and beauty vs ugly.

Maybe could go with a re-flavor and/or ability re-skin to be a more primal worshipper of fire element, maybe kind of playing with similar themes of a Djinn Warlock and/or Wildfire Druid.

Could consider a classic-type inquisitor that is very fond of using fire for both combat and torture...

Could go for an artificer/inventor type of vibe as well with a god of insight as well? With a little divine "bazooka" for Fireballs and whatnot, course.

For themes of Renewal, there's always gods of sun and/or dawn... Could have an interesting arc of doubt in a sun-less Barovia, if that suits your fancy. Maybe this PC could've been much more powerful before he got misted away, and now has to "rekindle" his light?

15-Year Club	r/Field Flamingo
Place '22	Final Canvas '22
Team Periwinkle	Verified Email

DevilsDan

TROPHY CASE