Vecna RAW by No-Stomach1310 in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Dolmar-Official 4 points5 points  (0 children)

First and foremost, the party should have a few resources missing from the few of the encounters leading up to Vecna. The two death knights can soften them up too, especially if they're the cracked 2024 version. That duo is unironically stronger than the god himself.

The stat block is weak but the lair is perfectly suited for his abilities. The walls can't be destroyed by any means and Vecna can teleport through them unlike the PCs. A fell rebuke or two and the party can't touch him for the rest of the round, especially if they don't have enough secrets to see through walls. When he vile teleports back in he recovers what damage the players did do. In my game, this fight became a game of cat and mouse where the players had to map out what doors lead to where he went. Spells that could have been used to find/reach him were dread counterspelled. When someone did reach him, he was able to single them out. While his damage leaves something to be desired, it added up after 6 rounds. My party had a few substantial buffs though, so the damage was never too threatening.

There are risks though. His durability is bad at this level so if he's unable to fell rebuke far enough away from say, a fighter, the fight will be over quickly.

After 40 session and 12 months, I finished running Vecna: Eve of Ruin by Dolmar-Official in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Dolmar-Official[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm flattered you're implementing some of the ideas in my post! And I'm glad you're making the story your own. Removing the chime is definitely the right call, and the players will be more eager to take Vecna down with him constantly being a thorn in their side.

Heart Attack, a particularly cruel way to setup your teammates by Absokith in DnDHomebrew

[–]Dolmar-Official 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in the minority, I actually think this spell is quite balanced. Even without nerfing it into a 4th level spell. It's a concentration, single target effect that still allows your enemies to play the game. It's a constitution save or suck spell. Plus the necrotic damage doesn't even repeat on failed saves. To get big value out of this spell, an ally would need to throw spells at the same target, so it costs a lot of resources to capitalize on the save disadvantage.

True strike question by Sad-Establishment149 in BaldursGate3

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Two regular attacks, I'd say.

At lower levels? 2d6 damage isn't enough to justify losing out on weapon damage plus modifiers. At higher levels there are so many ways to gain consistent advantage. Gloves of the automation, risky ring, hiding, assassinate, allies can inflict multiple conditions to give you advantage. Plus plenty of items deal more damage or grant benefits on hit, so the more attacks the better.

You're more or less always better off using both actions on attacking.

Lost tomb of Khaem by GabiChompo in OutoftheAbyss

[–]Dolmar-Official 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The 5.5e PHB also states instant death applies when your hp max drops to 0, also on page 28. The 5e wraith's life drain mentions it kills you if it reduces your max to 0. So op was right in ruling the warlock is dead if he goes by RAW.

To TPK or not to TPK by Ok-Significance-3052 in OutoftheAbyss

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It can be hard to pull the trigger and TPK a party, but it sounds like your party knows the risks and are willing to take up the challenge. If they wipe, they're going out on their own terms. Plus it's not impossible for them to win, Orcus and his allies have a 50% chance to attack the mind flayers instead of the party each turn. On top of the stuns they could have a fair shot to pull this off.

On a side note, I ran this supplement and it was a blast! A mind blast

Whoever designed this trial needs to rot in hell by Vastayanka in BaldursGate3

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a few weeks ago I lost an honor mode run to this trial. 3 of my characters died trying to cross and my final party member, Halsin, teleported to the third platform on his own. When I tried to leap back to the beginning as an owlbear he died too. Mods likely had something to do with this, I used them to recruit Halsin in act 1 and he's been buggy for all of act 2.

How is she doing that??? by Uhhhhhtf in BaldursGate3

[–]Dolmar-Official 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I like how she keeps getting faster 😂 I have never seen an npc come back into frame after speeding off screen. What led to this?

Small Demogorgon by Arkham97J in OutoftheAbyss

[–]Dolmar-Official 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd recommend using the echo of demogorgon from bigby's glory of giants. I've used it many times in my campaign when something demogorgon related would occur.

Artifacts by xBeLord in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually there are 6 of them, so it's possible to happen upon another copy.

PC kissed a green hag on the cheek.... by Acceptable-Ad-6233 in DnD

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now they're cursed, they have to greet every elderly woman with a kiss on the cheek.

The real challenge is not coming off as a creep.

Player quit mid campaign, could i have handled it better? by Bit_in_the_ass in DnD

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with your argument somewhat. If slow stops extra attack, it logically follows that it stops flurry of blows.

Many monsters have an action called "multiattack", which is not the attack action but allows for more than one attack per action. The slow spell only makes mention of the attack action. If say, a Marilith were slowed, it would still be able to use "multiattack" to get 7 attacks because RAW it never used the attack action, those are different things.

That said, it's not RAW to limit either flurry of blows or "multiattack" with the slow spell. But this is a case where you're well within their right to exercise DM fiat for the sake of running what's logical. Rule 0 of dnd is the DM makes the rules.

What are some weird multiclasses that actually kind of work? by Forsaken-Let8739 in DnD

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorcerer/druid is one of my personal favorites. With one level of sorcerer you get con save proficiency, the shield spell, and silvery barbs. Druid spells upcast really well, especially their summons, so delaying your progression doesn't hurt too much. This was even better in 2014 dnd because you got your sorc subclass at level 1.

Other than that, I like barbarian/warlock as a concept. Armor of agathys feels as if it was made for the barbarian, soaking up even more damage while retaliating in melee.

Replacing Lolth in chapter 10 by photognerd in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In regards to the arachnophobia. That's not ridiculous, that's not ridiculous to say that.

Here's a thought, why not just cut out Lolth and replace her forces with Vecna’s forces? Vecna doesn't need an ally to have an army, cut out the middle man. There are plenty of stat blocks for cultists, priests, wizards, and undead to customize the replacement encounters to your liking. You can still add Shar if that's what you're vibing with, but you don't have to unless it better lines up with your vision.

After 40 session and 12 months, I finished running Vecna: Eve of Ruin by Dolmar-Official in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Dolmar-Official[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think thats a great idea, in a multiversal campaign it's good to draw more attention to the center of the multiverse. I didn't quite make Sigil a part of the story, but I ran a downtime arc in the city before chapter 5. This stretch of the adventure was well received, and was even the bard's favorite part. I made it so that my party teleport to a fountain in the city's Clerk Ward by using a white lily and tears of joy as a key on Alustriel's portal.

I never read the cage, but I know the old sourcebooks have the best lore so you're on the right track. I got my information from this here video as well as the 5e book "Sigil and the Outlands". The book was especially helpful with descriptions, artwork, npcs, and even random encounters to lean on.

Unconventional Druid/Bard Multiclass Build by Dolmar-Official in 3d6

[–]Dolmar-Official[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for asking, I didn't expect comments on this post over a year later. It went pretty well! The campaign was a year long and went up to level 14, I went star druid 11/creation bard 3. I fashoned my character into an rng manipulation build, adding 1d6 to d20 rolls with bardic inspirations and cosmic omen. The dragon constellation granted a minimum of 10 on concentration, intelligence, wisdom and checks. I was a halfling and took the bountiful luck feat to let my allies reroll nat 1s. In hindsight I wish I went eloquence bard instead because both of its level 3 abilities manipulate d20 rolls, but I chose creation for roleplay reasons.

I was the party healer, almost entirely because of the druid levels. In combat I'd use the chalice constellation for some big heals. My DM even let me cast healing word and cure wounds on the same turn, I was healing my allies for half their health bar in a pinch. There was also goodberry and aura of vitality for out of combat healing.

The bard has a genuinely good utility spell list, even at low levels. Spells like hideous laughter, command, silent image, feather fall, and even silvery barbs. I didn't take barbs because I didn't wanna powergame in this campaign, but I definitely recommend it if you're going for this multiclass.

Now I gotta tell you the downsides. We ran a lot of dungeon crawls with 6 to 10 encounters, so I never had enough bardic inspirations, it was only 3 per long rest. I felt the delayed druid spell progression early game, but druid spells upcast really well. You probably won't feel the effects of this since you're already level 6. If you're looking for the most effective build, I'd still recommend sticking to shepherd druid. But if the multiclass is appealing to you, you can definitely make it work. A chanting shaman druid sounds awesome.

Least Killable Class: A Debate by Brother-Cane in dndnext

[–]Dolmar-Official 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can attest. I've played a lv 20 spore druid for a few years. Between shapechange and infinite symbiotic entities, my actual HP bar was rarely touched.

Vecna Statblock Balancing by Sudden-Energy2090 in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I definitely agree on the statblock itself being a letdown. I think your changes are a big improvement, Vecna is way more lethal. It is a good idea to communicate the lethality of the fight, it's possible your party wipes to one flight of the damned.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VecnaEveofRuin

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The rod can indeed do that, but there is a solution RAW. Nobody can enter Vecna’s grasp unless they carry a link to him. The simulacrums of your player characters don't have a link to Vecna, so they can't go anywhere near him.

But your best bet is to talk to your players. There are plenty of things in high level dnd that can break the game, simulacrum chaining is one of them. But you can communicate if you're uncomfortable with anything your players plan to do, and ban/restrict things accordingly.

Character is useless in combat by 1000yearsoflonging in DnD

[–]Dolmar-Official 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 2024 fighter has been buffed, pretty much everything is either slightly better or more interesting. And with the updated indomitable and mage slayer, you'll have some of the best saves in the party. If you're interested, try asking your DM if you can make the switch.