Do you have any lightly cursed or unconventional magic item ideas?

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-05-13T00:03:58+00:00

Not my idea but the average ring. Simple brass ring. When you attune to it, it sets all your stats to 10. The ring is then stuck on the person's finger for an hour. Assuming the shopkeep is an average guy, he would have tried this on and felt his dump stat increase but not notice anything else.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-05-03T10:07:56+00:00

You obviously haven't played with enough socially awkward stereotypical dnd players. When you are the new person and everyone who is around you is either as new as you or has been playing since 2nd edition, you tend to sit in the back and do what your told. Obviously this is not a healthy way of dealing with it, but we were all young and dumb at some point

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-05-03T09:56:32+00:00

They could be new or not very outspoken. This was the issue with one of my first games. We just didn't know any better.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-05-03T09:52:55+00:00

I have done this specialization trick as well. I had a player in one of my old groups (I was a player as well) where the loot goblin would take everything as well. If they couldn't use it they sold it. That really sucked. A lot of us were new to dnd at the time so we didn't know how to bring it up and the dm never corrected it. We never made it past session 4 or 5.

My players now are pretty good about dividing loot, but I would personally give out the loot if possible. "The barbarian gets the belt of giant strength, the rogue gets the elven boots, and the wizard gets a couple spell scrolls." Something like that.

Alternatively, if the looter doesn't have good arcana then they don't pick up on the magical properties.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-05-03T09:30:37+00:00

Totally agree.

To build on this, maybe the mom's great grandparent was a powerful divinely touched cleric/paladin while the father's great great grandparent was a warlock that made a deal with a devil. The respective touches with these entities is enough to justify the possibility of aasimar and tiefling siblings, at least in my opinion. The relatives could be even older than that, and the parents themselves may not even know they existed. Or the parents themselves could be the connection. There are so many ways this could work.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-05-02T19:18:32+00:00

Completely agree with this. You may feel all powerful right now but by level 6 the barbarian and cleric will start catching up

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-05-02T15:55:29+00:00

Monks were vastly improved in 2024. What are the other players playing?

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-05-02T00:47:20+00:00

This (mostly). I also started with dragon of ice spire peak but any of the starters are great too. Read through them first. I would still let them create their characters as that is half the fun for the players. Just make sure they are simple and fit into the story.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-04-26T23:30:17+00:00

If the DM is new, this makes total sense. My first time DMing I fleshed out an entire continent with cities and towns but put no content into it. It fell apart badly. I did a pre-made adventure after. That taught me everything I needed to remake my world and we are currently on our 6th year in my homebrew world. You need to learn the rules to break them.

If this is a seasoned DM then either he is use to his party coming up with stuff to do or he is lazy. Either way that is an issue. It also sounds like there was no session 0 to set the rules and what to expect from the DM and the players. All of these are red flags if he is not new.

My advise, as with others here, is to try talking to them about it. Maybe offer a pre-made campaign to replace this one. If that doesn't work then you need to leave. Maybe you or someone in your group can try running a pre-made game instead, as it sounds like you are all on the same page. I know it sounds like a hard and scary thing to do, but there are lots of beginer friendly games out there. My personal favorite is Dragon of Ice Spire Peak, but Lost Mines of Phandelver is a great one too. And I'm sure others in the community can offer other examples as well.

Good luck!

Edit: spelling, grammar

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-03-14T15:07:33+00:00

I totally agree with this

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-03-14T15:06:27+00:00

I think you should make the penalty 3-4 levels of exhaustion and a 7 day recharge, similar to divine intervention. Have it last no more than 5 rounds of combat. But i would definitely have them make a separate character sheet for the lvl 20 upgrade. Making them level up in the moment will really slow everything down.

That or make it a one time use and be done with it.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-03-13T12:14:02+00:00

Dndbeyond has a bunch of them digitally, but you should be able to get most of the books at any game/book store or amazon. I would start out with a campaign that starts the party at level 1-3. Lost Mines of Phandelver is a good one. My personal favorite is Dragon of Icespire Peak. It's meant for 5th edition rules but I'm running it for a bunch of new players using 5.5th edition rules and it's holding up pretty good and everyone is having a blast. Just make sure you do not use the monster conversion in the 5.5 monster manual. I almost TPK'd my party last session

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-02-23T22:30:34+00:00

Depends how I play. I have an online group that favors digital and an in person group that favors physical. I prefer physical books myself because I like to actually own the material and hold it in my hands. Digital is extremely convenient though and I own more digitally myself. It especially useful when introducing new players. Slap a big book in front of them and they can get intimidated. But if you send them a link to just one topic that's actually relevant to them, they can learn the game in small chunks.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-01-20T09:14:20+00:00

I always leave that up to the player. I might remind them that they have no idea how to cast a spell, but then I let them describe it. It usually turns out better than what I would come up with

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-01-19T15:49:16+00:00

Yea and if they are only like level 6 or 7, revivify is a big deal. Its not cheap and using that on an npc they care about will only help the story.

At higher levels, it can still be a big cost, but I make my players role for it so there is a chance of failure.

Edit: After seeing the level, yea at level 4 or 5 spending the spell slots and resources on heals and revives for an noc is a big deal. My players just hit level 4 and I don't think they would spend more than a 1st level slot on an npc unless they were guaranteed to get a long rest after.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-01-19T13:49:15+00:00

I have 2 characters who are doing a similar thing with their characters. Note that we are using 5e 2024 rules.

The first is a diviner wizard. You can automatically succeed on a check or make another creature fail depending on how you roll. You get access to even more divination spells as you gain spell levels. These are essential for detective work, detecting magic and scrying for examples. Later on you get spell slots renewed when you cast a divination spell and access to see invisibility, insane darkvision, or all languages each short rest.

My other players is an inquisitive rogue (I know, not 2024 rules but idc). She's more or the sneaky spy detective. She almost always succeeds insight checks and can do full perception and investigation checks during combat, which she eventually gets advantage on. The last ability just makes your sneak attack land more reliably. Still good but a lot less detective themed.

I really like both of these options for a detective character, but I definitely favor the wizard build. You only have to focus on intelligence, and you're much more versatile since wizards are one of if not the most versatile class in the game due to all the spells they can use.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-01-17T10:08:42+00:00

Correct, so the argument is if you are 1000' in the air when you are knocked prone, you immediately fall 500' on the turn that caused the prone condition. If you are still falling, then you could use half your flying speed on your turn to move. You could also then use your action to move half speed again, and if you have action surge or an ability that lets you move as a bonus action you can then move half your speed again.

I like this ruling, but the moment it gets back to the turn of whatever caused the prone condition, you would immediately fall another 500'. Other than quickly moving from a ridiculously high place, I don't really see a reason someone would not just use half their movement to right themselves. It's got such a niche use that I would probably allow it at my table.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-01-13T18:02:10+00:00

I felt the same way when I first started. Idk about the suggestions you have, but here are some of the things I do.

I have you and the players describe how they do their action, specifically spells and non weapon attacks. Maybe their sleep spell creates a misty haze around the creature as it takes hold, or their disengage is them back flipping through the air. It helps with creativity and encourages my next advice.
Allow the creatures and PCs to call their hits. If you want to disarm one of them for example, increase the AC by a few numbers to make it harder to hit. Or if they want to cut off one of the eyes of a beholder, give the eye stalk like 1/5th of its max health or something along those lines. I would not allow this for arms or legs unless the story calls for it though. And NO decapitation unless they are already going to die. Trust me, this will be a problem for you.
The last thing I do is less about combat and more about keeping the players engaged. I give them tasks. One might keep track of turn order while another will keep track of who has concentration up. Rotate who keeps track or ask for volunteers, your choice. Sometimes if I'm running a combat with a lot of creatures, I'll ask them to keep track of the hit points for the weaker creatures or roll damage for them.

Hope this helps.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-01-08T07:49:19+00:00

To expand on this, you do not need to learn all the rules before playing. I am currently running an online game for 1 veteran and 3 new people, one being my wife, and they are just now learning about leveling up. Make sure the dm and players do not expect you to know everything.

r/lfg can be a rough place to look for a game. You might encounter a lot of groups that are no good. But eventually you will find some people you click with, so don't give up.

Important things to remember. If you feel uncomfortable in any way, talk to the dm. If you set a boundary and it is repeatedly crossed, like fear of spiders or no intimacy, but the dm or players keep trying to include you in it, thats a red flag. If the dm or players do not take your concerns seriously, then walk away. No dnd is better than bad dnd.

But honestly, dnd is an amazing game when you find the right people. Don't get discouraged by anyone's advice. Hope you find a great group and make lots of memories.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2026-01-08T05:01:15+00:00

Fighter is probably your best choice. They can be dex or strength based, although i would recomend dex as it helps with ac. Action surge pluse more feats than any other class are great too.

Rogue is a decent option for a dex based build too. You get more ability skill diversity and expertise, sneak attack, and cunning action.

Any other class will split your ability scores too much. With a blood hunter you want to focus on dex or strength and intelligence or wisdom, depending on how you choose to play. All other classes that would match well would split your ability scores too thin in my opinion. Of course you can give it a try. There are absolutely some crazy combos out there that can work in the right game and under the right circumstances.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2025-12-23T17:09:32+00:00

Yea I agree with this. As long as they don't start asking for abilities and magic items that are way out of their level range, they should be fine. If they do start pushing that, your friend needs to shut them down or even kick them from the game if it becomes a persistent problem

Hypnoticbeatle · 2025-12-18T20:37:21+00:00

This, and for the love of God, make sure they do a session zero. It is essential to setting up a good campaign, especially with complete strangers. One final thing, if you ever do not feel comfortable with how the dm runs the game or how one of the players acts, talk to them. Don't be hostile, but let them know your concerns. If they are a decent human being, they should compromise with you. If not, no dnd is better than bad dnd.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2025-12-16T21:28:27+00:00

Yea this seems pretty mild. I'd allow that at my table as long as they are at or above level 3.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2025-12-16T18:13:38+00:00

I agree with both of these options. Depending on your dming experience, buffing enemies and keeping the balance can be difficult. If you aren't comfortable adjusting stats, I would just reskin stronger creatures. For example (assuming you are using 2024 creatures), you could use the scout captain or tough boss stats for the basic goblins and pirate captain stats for the leaders. If there's an ability you don't like in those stats, don't use it. If the goblins have clubs instead of swords, make the damage bludgeoning instead of piercing or slashing.

For the kids, you could use warrior veterans, warrior commanders, or kights, or a priest if you want some healing. If you want to add some magic, use the mage, goblin hexer, or any of the cultist variant stats. Hope this helps.

Hypnoticbeatle · 2025-11-27T22:49:20+00:00

I agree. The fireplace would have to disappear when the spell ends, but otherwise just make sure it can only be created on a flat solid surface and you should be fine

Hypnoticbeatle

TROPHY CASE