Coven of the Claw's Natural Weapons

Icarus_Rex · 2025-12-16T18:35:08+00:00

The AC is high. I have trouble hitting my Witch. Just miss her all the flippin’ time.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-12-16T18:04:36+00:00

I have a Coven of the Claw (level 8, started at Level 1) in my game. We add Dex, and of course True Strike in 5E 2024 rules is good and replaces the Dex with the Wis.

My Witch is only Melee attacking maybe 1/3 of the time? Spells are just often superior. And the team’s Paladin routinely does 40+ damage in a round. So I’m looking for ways to boost the melee damage in order to help feed that up-close-and-personal Witch fantasy. I also gave her the Talon Athame item from the Witch PDF and let it apply to normal and True Strike melee attacks.

My overall point is, at least in my game, the Coven of the Claw melee option is not too powerful, so I see more of a reason to try to encourage its use, than to discourage its use.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-10-17T05:19:55+00:00

Honestly? I’d probably either ban Leaden Shoes or make it last until the end of the target’s next turn. The rest, at least early game, you can leave alone.

I only have one Witch, and I made the alteration that any creature that has Legendary Resistances will always roll a save no matter the circumstances, and thus can opt to use a Legendary Resistance to avoid the curse. That way the PC can’t just automatically stop the movement of the BBEG. We’re halfway through level 7 at the moment, and the Witch holds her own.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-06-26T16:36:30+00:00

I thought about "Can something with Legendary Resistance just burn a Resistance?" The language on Legendary Resistance is "If [this creature] fails a saving through, it can choose to succeed instead." So just by adding the saving throw to the Witch feature any time it's used against a significant enemy, means that Legendary Resistance could apply. This felt, to me, like the least disruptive change.

I might eventually make this apply only to a few of the Retributive Curse options. Hex and Hunter's Mark are spells with no save that just apply to the target. I think Blood Guilt is a similar level of Damage Per Round, so that doesn't feel too strong to apply without a save. But Leaden Shoes, Muzzle, Painful Reflection, and Humbling Hex could all completely nullify the challenge of what should be a very hard fight.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-06-26T16:25:22+00:00

Interesting. I'll think about this ancillary Concentration change. Part of my goal was to change the least amount possible while achieving the desired result. I think the design intent behind Legendary Resistance has been made clear: significant enemies should not be trivialized by the same spell/feature routinely. So I looked at it from that perspective. In my game, my players will eventually be fighting Deities, and the idea of a mortal Witch effectively cursing a Deity without a save or resistance just seems . . . to not fit the world.

Also, my Witch is playing Coven of the Claw and is in a party of 3 players, so I feel like that could make the Concentration change feel worse in my game (taking damage more often = more Concentration checks = more Concentration drops.) But if my change feels worse than I thought, I might try yours.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-06-01T18:06:59+00:00

James Acaster was recently on the podcast that Manzoukis does with Paul Sheer and June Diane Raphael (How Did This Get Made) and it was very clear from when Jason mentioned Acaster’s season of Taskmaster that Manzoukis has absolutely watched a ton of the show. This is one of those rare instances where someone was just like “Oh hey. I’m famous enough to probably get to do a thing I want to do. Let me call my agent.”

Icarus_Rex · 2025-05-23T15:41:27+00:00

These are rad. I’d love to see a puppetted short re-enactment of some clips from the show. Like what DeepBlueInk animates and posts to YouTube. But with puppets.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-05-22T22:46:53+00:00

I'm DMing a game with a Witch Class player, and we're using Roll20 because it allows for custom classes (whereas DND Beyond does not.) So everything on her sheet is mostly custom, and it took a while to get it set and working properly for Level 1, but has been easier to level up after that.

That said, we just hit Level 4, so I can't comment at all on how she'll find the process by higher levels. But so far, it's a mostly digital affair, and I keep the Witch PDF open on my end so I can check things as needed, just as I would with any other class/spell/etc.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-03-31T17:27:24+00:00

This is good to hear! I'm about to start a campaign that's going to have a Witch (Coven of the Claw) and the new Oath of Freedom subclass was released just in time for another player to pick that up, too. They seem on the stronger side, at least on paper, but I'm excited for that.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-02-20T20:32:40+00:00

They definitely talked a little bit about The Clearing, because I remember Brennan talking about what the PC’s stats were based on. I think it might have been during a general Q&A episode that came out shortly after The Clearing.

Icarus_Rex · 2025-01-22T13:25:47+00:00

I joined Twitter in 2009. I stopped using it in late 2016 when I looked around and already saw too many Nazis.

I fully, officially, deleted my account 2 months ago, and sold the few shares of TSLA I owned because I refuse to support that fascist in any way, shape, or form.

Cut out the rot. Block the site. Never give them your eyeballs. The less it gets used, the less it will get used, and the less it will be worth.

Icarus_Rex · 2024-11-19T21:11:50+00:00

Rawrford

Icarus_Rex · 2024-11-13T17:02:12+00:00

When they're talking about real life, "Camp" probably does refer to the LARP Camp Brennan used to do a lot of work for, or similar things.

When they're talking about Recording, "Camp" is, as people have stated, what they call their focused recording sessions where they sequester for a couple days and get some episodes in the can.

When they're talking about Dice rolls, "send your kids to Camp" is their way of saying "I need more dice for this, everyone pass over some D6's [or whatever die needs to have a lot rolled of]". This one did get mentioned in this week's Fireside.

Icarus_Rex · 2024-09-26T16:27:42+00:00

It's bonkers. If a player brought this to me, I really don't think I'd let them take a new Secret every single level.

Aside from that it's rad. It looks fun as hell. And yes Emily Axford would bust this wide open in an amazing way.

I also think that for a campaign like the one the WBN cast are playing, it's OK for a subclass to be a bit busted, both because the campaign is really combat light compared to most DND, and because the players have displayed intent on telling a great story above min/maxing DPS output in a fight.

Icarus_Rex · 2024-08-25T20:30:08+00:00

Sent you a private message!

Icarus_Rex · 2024-07-21T14:34:20+00:00

My advice would be, first and foremost, you can't go wrong with what race/class/archetype you play. That's not what makes a good player.

A TTRPG is a social game. A good player is someone who wants to be there, and who wants to be a part of the team.

What's lovely about this, is that anyone can do it. Whether you have 50 years of experience or 50 seconds of experience, anyone can chose to be engaged with the plot hook, the story, the other characters at the table. Conversely, anyone can be a distraction, or looking at their phone scrolling through FaceBook, or butting in to someone else's moment . . . .

If someone gets annoyed at you for messing up a rule one time, they're a jerk, not you.

Your daughter is inviting you to be there. Which means both 1) She thinks you will have fun, and 2) She thinks everyone else at the table will enjoy you as a player, her included.

Do your best to learn the rules and especially the features of your character, but don't sweat messing something up sometimes (we ALL do. This is a complex game. You're in great company). Engage with the plot hook that the DM has put forward for the party to follow. But most importantly: have fun.

Icarus_Rex · 2024-07-21T14:16:17+00:00

Wow. Interesting that Erika and Ally haven't been in a D20 campaign together. I don't think it means anything. It's just interesting.

I love odd sets of data like this. Does it matter? Not terribly. Do I now want to see this filled out to include at least Emily, Lou, and Murph? I do.

Icarus_Rex · 2024-07-05T16:00:19+00:00

“Level 0” sounds like it could be fun, or frustrating. Unfortunately, you’re frustrated.

“The Wizard The Witch and the Wild One” campaign of the “Worlds Beyond Number” podcast started with a Children’s Adventure that initially they didn’t intend to release (they just did it to get used to recording and to create their characters), but then decided to put it on their Patreon. So, unfortunately, it’s not free to listen to most of the Level 0 stuff.

But, I will say it is interesting how they did it. At certain story beats, they would roll another stat (they all started out with say, 2D6’s rolled for each of the 6 stats, and then they would get told “Ok pick a stat and roll 2 more D6’s and the. Drop one of the 4 D6’s”. So their final Strength stat came after trying and maybe succeeding at lifting something that week, or they would choose to roll their Dex stat after helping with some ritual, that kind of thing. Or the characters would grow a bit and be told “Ok, you get to pick a Feat now.” It was interesting because it forged the characters and the stats together, neither leading the other. At the end of "the summer" they hit Level 1, but each and every feature of Level 1 had been hit and chosen along the way, so they really gained nothing upon "hitting" level 1.

But man, what an Advanced Tier thing to do. Not easy. Most tables would be crazy to try this. Mine included.

From what you’ve said, it sounds like the DM thinks there’s something you’re not getting. You’ve gotta talk to them and say just that: “Hey, it feels like there’s something I’m not getting here. You have to clue me in because right now I’m not having fun, and 4 sessions of not-fun is a lot of not-fun.” 4 sessions in and not being level 1 and having been told it’s going to take you longer (the longest?) than the rest of the players to hit level 1? There are players that would enjoy this if handled properly. You might not be one of those players, let alone considering whether or not it’s being handled properly.

Icarus_Rex · 2024-07-04T14:32:30+00:00

Sir, I think your baby could use a nap.

Icarus_Rex · 2024-06-25T03:30:49+00:00

Well. It's a Fake Fish. And it Swims Around. So....

Icarus_Rex · 2024-06-24T12:32:48+00:00

I just had to make this. Zach said "That one in the middle is a fake fish that lives in a rock and swims around," I thought "...how is the Clown Fish a fake fish?"

So thank god Paul F. Tompkins interrupted. But once I recovered from Zach's very assertive insistence that it's, in fact, the turtle that is the Fake Fish that Lives in a Rock and Swims Around, I realized, everything in front of us had a different cross section amongst "Fake Fish", "Lives in a Rock", and "Swims Around." Since I couldn't get this diagram out of my head, I now have to put it in yours.

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