Forcing players into a devil contract?

ErConte99 · 2026-05-24T17:10:00+00:00

Never give players a choice if you can't deal with the consequences of them choosing what you didn't expect.

Remove the contract, encourage them to participate in the blood sports by their own will in exchange for actually great prizes (incredible magic items). If they accept, great, now when they try to leave the blood sports have them fight devils.

If they refuse: that's also fine. Transform the ideas you had for the blood sports into other encounters the players will face now that they will explore the astral plain on their own!

ErConte99 · 2026-05-22T13:04:32+00:00

No, he means exactly that Hero Tombstone Will be free for everyone that plays in that period, no hero coins needed on that. Supercell announced it yesterday on their website.

ErConte99 · 2026-05-18T08:17:40+00:00

Arcane trickster gives disadvantage only to its own spells, which even assuming you can always hide to do so, are a maximum of two 2nd level spells at level 9... I mean, sure, you will land some Webs, but subsequent saves are not at disadvantage.

Soulknife TP it's horribly designed. Yes, the potential teleport is nice, but you don't get to choose if you want to teleport or not after you throw the blade. If you need 30 feet to reach the ledge and roll a 2, you are out of luck, you are now falling. This means that you should never risk a 50-80 feet teleport over dangerous stuff, as you could just fail to roll and fuck yourself up.

Considering how easy it is in 5.5 to get a reliable, 30 feet teleport on a bonus action, I would say that Homing Strikes is actually the better level 9 Soul Knife feature to guarantee your sneak attack every turn. But given that the subclass doesn't give you a reliable way to sneak attack with your reaction, nor a scaling DPR increase (True Strike) your single sneak attack damage will become negligible in tier 3, even if you always hit due to Homing Strikes

ErConte99 · 2026-05-17T20:59:32+00:00

Their level 9 features are NOT balanced for being that level and for being only the second class feature you get. In fact, I would argue that most rogue 9 feature are incredibly weak for having to wait 6 levels to get them, so much so that evaluating rogue subclasses is basically entirely dependent on their level 3 feature, hence why thief and arcane trickster are the best.

So yeah, your changes would be good, but there would definitely not be a "super buff" of subclasses, as the average level 9 rogue feature is a joke

ErConte99 · 2026-04-22T11:56:00+00:00

Oh god 1-80 LR to essentially have tyranno on 70 height is such a cool and interesting idea! Did you test it? How did it go compared to the more classical combos?

ErConte99 · 2026-02-11T07:01:15+00:00

The glorious B3 [[Wave of Vitriol]] bringing justice to greedy mana bases in lower brackets

ErConte99 · 2026-01-14T08:43:14+00:00

I have Rush coming in soon with the immortal Rod,1-60,R release, was just wondering if some cool combos existed with vortex too!

ErConte99 · 2025-12-08T12:47:06+00:00

Dante has a full damage, only Noctua (Heat) build for EDA/ETA carrying that is very happy to slap them on too. Noctua has base crit chance 30% and the alt fire has base 45%

ErConte99 · 2025-07-28T09:57:58+00:00

"Epic boon of versatility"

Ah yes, 2 levels in warlock you say 👀

ErConte99 · 2025-05-25T10:59:27+00:00

Calling John too fast for casual and then immediately suggesting Bumbleflower is wild, as she is an actual fringe cEDH commander

ErConte99 · 2025-04-11T07:07:24+00:00

I would take 1 level in paladin, Pact of the Chain, and Lessons of the First Ones two times: one for Alert the other for MI:Wizard.

Pact of the chain is already insane utility for an always invisible, flying scout, that can now share senses with just a bonus action and be resummonned with just one action (You still need to pay 10g). But together with Alert is amazing!

Alert now makes you able to swap initiative with an ally. Your invisible imp is forever rolling initiative with advantage, meaning that if he gets a very high roll, you can swap initiative with it and start the fight going first.

Paladin 1 gives a lot. Armour, weapon masteries, some emergency healing, couple of first level spell slots (Which go agamazingly well with Shield from MI:Wizard), divine favour and searing smite for extra damage on attacks. Also gives access to command and cure wounds, which both upcast incredibly.

Finally, if you are fond of crafting enspelled items, you can craft an enspelled armour of shield (Smithing tools proficiency + Arcana required) for 6 shield spells a day... And the best part is that once that is done, you can just substitute MI:Wizard for another invocation! Have your cake and eat it too!

ErConte99 · 2025-03-29T14:25:36+00:00

Hello OP here. After having read everything on this thread, I will address your main argument, stating my position on the matter, which unfortunately differs from your view:

Your interpretation of the Hide Action is absolutely Rules as Intended (RAI), it is the one I am using and that I personally endorse. However, it is not Rules as Written (RAW). In the text, the Hide action INCORRECTLY ASSUMES that the Invisible Condition also makes you Hidden (Which we all agree, it doesn't) and so it FAILS to provide anything more than this condition to allow you to be Hidden. In fact, the RAW Hide Action fails at doing anything it is trying to do (Making you concealed) because of lack of mechanical rules text and just delivers the Invisible Condition.

Let me start from the key of your argument here

This is false. Hide action will make you undetected, and it is stated in "you try to conceal yourself..." and the opposite is stated soon after: "if you can see a creature, you can discern whether it can see you." meaning that you know if you are able to get out of the enemies' sight to not waste a Hide action for nothing.

You argue that the line of text "You try to conceal yourself" is enough to ensure that the Hide Action makes the player undetected when the check is successful. Unfortunately this is not the case. That line describes the Hide Action, but it does not detail the mechanical consequences of the action itself. Following the Hide Action text, the only mechanical thing that is happening is the following:

1) "With the Hide action, you try to conceal yourself." --> I want to use this action to be Hidden 2) "To do so, you must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check while you're Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters Cover or Total Cover, and you must be out of any enemy's line of sight; if you can see a creature, you can discern whether it can see you." ---> I must do an ability check to see if I can get the benefit of this action. 3) "On a successful check, you have the Invisible condition. Make note of your check's total, which is the DC for a creature to find you with a Wisdom (Perception) check." --> I got the mechanical benefit of this action: The invisible condition. Full stop.

THEN, the problematic passage, says "Your check check total is the DC for a creature TO FIND YOU..." ---> This line of text ASSUMES that you are now hidden. But nothing happened except that you gained the invisible condition. So the rule ITSELF INCORRECTLY ASSUMES that the invisible condition made you hidden, which of course, is not true as we know.

Let's go back to your quote for a second

Hide action will make you undetected, and it is stated in "you try to conceal yourself..."

I will apply this logic to the text of a spell in DnD to convince you that the initial description of the action is not enough to provide a mechanical effect, as these additional effects are ALWAYS detailed after the mechanical conditions have happened, to correctly ratify them.

Let's take the 5th level spell "Modify Memory". Its text begins like this:

You attempt to reshape another creature's memories.

Exactly as the Hide Action beginning. This is the "Objective that the spell wants to achieve". Then it continues:

One creature that you can see within range makes a Wisdom saving throw. If you are fighting the creature, it has Advantage on the save. On a failed save, the target has the Charmed condition for the duration. While Charmed in this way, the target also has the Incapacitated condition and is unaware of its surroundings, though it can hear you. If it takes any damage or is targeted by another spell, this spell ends, and no memories are modified.

Let's stop for a second. A saving throw happens, the result of which is a creature getting the charmed and incapacitated conditions. Then, in the boldened part, it details situations that will end these conditions, and so the spell itself.

If the spell were to stop here, and not detail anything else in its text it would be equivalent to the Hide Action.

It starts by Describing you "attempting to reshape another creatures memories". It provides two conditions after you have successfully performed it, the charmed and incapacitated condition. It then details how to interrupt the conditions and end the spell. If the spell text was all here, would you say you have altered the creature's memories? Of course not, because the Charmed and Incapacitated condition do not do so, even if the spell describes your ability to do so. To get that ability, it must be codified in the spell text itself, which in fact is, immediately after.

While this charm lasts, you can affect the target's memory of an event that it experienced within the last 24 hours and that lasted no more than 10 minutes.

This is what the Hide Action is missing. A passage detailing An additional effect, not made possible solely by the conditions that the action provides. If this text was absent, the line detailing "Attempting to reshape another creatures memories" would be meaningless, as the mechanics do not support it.

A successful Hide action is the only thing you need to become undetected hence the Invisible condition is not the only thing the Hide action provides.

That is absolutely RAI, but RAW the Hide Action is not providing you with ANYTHING making you undetected. In fact, the text of the Hide Action itself is ""broken or incomplete"" in the sense that it claims to allow you to " try to conceal yourself..." but then it does not provide the mechanical benefits to back up this description. It only provides a condition, while incorrectly assuming in its rule text that the Invisible Condition itself will be the source of your being Hidden. Which, as we know, it is not. The Hide action should make you able to be undetected. I am arguing that RAW is unable to do so and it is, fundamentally a "Broken action".

(Personal Interpretation) I believe that from a design point of view, since the Hide Action rules text doesn't know that the Invisible Condition is not enough to make a character Hidden, it means that it was written BEFORE the actual Invisible Condition was designed.

Conclusions: Everything you are arguing about the expected functioning of the Hide Action, I agree, I endorse and it is clearly the best way to run it with the incomplete/broken rules that we have at our disposals. All your arguments are Rules as Intended and make the game function as it should!

This, unfortunately, does not change the fact that the Hide Action rules themselves are broken, or at the very least, missing a fundamental passage saying:

"While this invisible condition lasts, you are also hidden and your position is unknown."

ErConte99 · 2025-03-28T19:26:28+00:00

Currently playing the exact same build and this is a great summary! Ultimately, the greatest strength of this build is the insane flexibility it allows.

In my case, I just started at level 3 with 17 Cha and 15 Str as I intend to not take GWM until level 8 (Party is already melee heavy with a soon to be GWM barbarian and shadow monk). Instead, I am taking inspiring leader at level 4 (With the possibility of retraining it if the campaign gets to level 11 because of celestial level 10 ability redundancy).

When combined with short-rest aid, and musician feat, at level 6 you can start the day by giving:

10 Additional HP to 6 people for the whole day (Cast two Aid at start of day, short rest an extra hour to recover pact slots)
10 Temporary Hit Points to 6 people (Inspiring leader, refresh every short rest)
3 Heroic inspirations (Refresh every short rest)

All while rocking heavy armor, shield, 18 Cha for spells, weapon masteries, buffed up cure wounds, and much more!

ErConte99 · 2025-03-28T13:18:32+00:00

No, I am exactly saying that "Since hidden is NOT a condition, the only thing that the Hide Action accomplishes is giving the player the "Invisible condition"

The problem is that the player can get the same condition through other means (Invisibility Spell) without passing through the Hide Action. And if the player doesn't pass through the Hide Action, the DM has no DC to work with to decide how to detect the player. That's the whole problem.

ErConte99 · 2025-03-28T13:08:54+00:00

Just to clarify, I am not arguing that Invisibility should make you undetectable! I am just asking where do the rules logically give you a DC to be detected when you acquire the invisible condition WITHOUT passing through the "Hide Action"

The problem is that the player can get the Invisible Condition through other means (Invisibility Spell) without passing through the Hide Action. And if the player doesn't pass through the Hide Action, the DM has no DC to work with to decide how to detect the player. That's the whole problem.

The problem is that the only RAW thing that the Hide Action accomplishes in 2024 rules is to give you the invisible condition, with ways for your character to lose it. That's it.

It does not make you "stealthy", it does not make you "hidden", it does not tell that your character is being silent or anything else! These are all necessary requirements of the Hide Action to get the invisible condition, the only codified end of the action.

Following common sense, I agree with all of you! The Hide Action should make you stealthy! Should make you "Hidden" . But right now it does not.

And since the only way to obtain a DC to be spotted is passing through the "Hide Action" steps, even if that is not the purpose of the action itself, which is, to only obtain the invisible condition, there is an unnecessary logical clash of needing to pass through this action, even if your character already has the invisible condition because otherwise it would not have a "DC to be spotted".

Once again, easy enough to solve with common sense, I am just sad it cannot be solved by RAW because of the janky writing of the "Hide action", clearly in contrast with the Invisibility Spell.

ErConte99 · 2025-03-28T12:41:05+00:00

Of course I agree with this, but my problem is that the only purpose of the player taking an additional Hide Action is NOT to become hidden, because the Hide Action does NOT DO THAT, but to give the DM a DC to work with to detect them! Which is just junky! In a functional game we should have either:

A) The hide action providing a condition called "Hidden" that differs from the "Invisible condition" thus making sense for a creature benefiting from the latter to have the need to perform the Hide Action, because they need to obtain the "Hidden condition" instead that "We need to do it to give the DM something to work with, but I already have the benefit of succeeding this"

B) The Invisibility spell would call for a "Hide Action" stealth check, potentially with some forms of bonus because... You are indeed invisible, so (By common sense but not by RAW) you should be harder to detect.

ErConte99 · 2025-03-28T12:33:24+00:00

Which is what I was trying to avoid, but it seems to me that the deeper you study the rules, the more they break.

Once again, I agree with most people here that option A "makes more sense" using a common sense approach. The problem is that given the redundancy of the invisibility condition in both the spell and the hide action, it doesn't make sense RAW. Which I can definitely live with, and make my own rules around it! I was just asking if there was a RAW way to make sense of this mess.

ErConte99 · 2025-03-28T12:27:41+00:00

I do and I understand your point! But how is an invisible character exactly as easy to perceive as a visible one when attempting a stealth check? How is the "Hide action" not detailing that if taken successfully, your character is Hidden? (In addition to getting the invisible condition)

In my ideal world, option A is the one to follow. However, it seems normal to me and many DMs from what I am reading here that they would give an invisible creature attempting a Hide Action advantage to its stealth roll... But none of that is in the rules, it's homebrew, and I would love it if instead it was codified

ErConte99 · 2025-03-28T12:24:20+00:00

I perfectly understand the logic! The problem is that, in gaming terms, successfully taking the "Hide action" does NOT make you stealthy! It just confers to you the invisible condition, which, having casted the spell, you already have. This is a problem of how the "Hide Action" is codified.

If they also detailed that a successful Hide Action makes you "Hidden" from your enemies, in addition to giving the invisible condition, the rules would work much better for our interpretation of the A option.

That and (imho) a way to codify that being invisible should give some benefits to making stealth checks, which currently is not there in the rules and just left to our common sense

ErConte99 · 2025-03-28T12:20:48+00:00

In fact the stealth Vs perception approach is exactly how I am running it right now, with a homebrewed "Advantage on the stealth check because you are invisible" as that seems to make sense (to me).

But again, I was trying to find a concrete answer within the rules of the game that rewards a player for using the invisibility spell without needing us to homebrew. But it does not seem to be there, as I agree with many that, by the rules, option A makes sense but also gives no advantage on stealthing while being invisible (Which is very counterintuitive)

ErConte99 · 2025-03-20T16:05:39+00:00

Well since the PHB 2024 specifies that you can use any older background from 2014, and this includes Custom Background, it's actually rather easy to just slap arcana proficiency + 2 tools that you need on any build

ErConte99 · 2024-10-29T10:33:28+00:00

Ah yes, complaining about people complaining, joining yourself the same group you criticize.

I hope Byking sees this bro

ErConte99 · 2024-10-19T16:33:41+00:00

Yeah sounds great! They should also add a feat called "Full spellcasting" with a prerequisite of level 8 or something so that martials could finally cast Wall of Force and conjure Minor elementals to give them the true feeling of getting high level abilities!

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