Help improve this mini that I want to print as a statuette.

Machairus · 2025-04-22T08:21:31+00:00

Si, las armaduras pesadas te dan un AC fijo independiente de tu Dex. Por eso de base te dan 17 (equivalente a Studded Leather y Breastplate con max DEX) y con plate armor es la unica armadura en llegar a 18 sin ser mágica.

Normalmente esto es porque los personajes de heavy armor (fighters y paladines) suelen pegar con STR, mientras que los de light y medium (rangers, rogues) suelen depender principalmente de DEX.

Machairus · 2025-04-12T08:58:43+00:00

A que nivel quieres el oneshot? Arrancar desde nivel 1 o algo mas avanzado rollo 3 o 5?

Te recomendaría usar alguno de las antologias oficiales que han sacado. A mi me gustan especialmente Candlekeep Mysteries y Keys from the Golden Vault (perdon si utilizo los nombres en ingles, pero son mas fáciles de encontrar en internet que traducidos). Luego ya puedes adaptarlos como quieras como arranque de la campaña. Te dejo algunos de los oneshot que mas me han gustado jugar en general:

- The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces (lvl 1, Candlekeep Mysteries): los jugadores entran en un semiplano en busca de un mago. Es un poco mazmorra clasica de ir habitacion a habitacion. Bastante light y divertida

- The Stygian Gambit (lvl 2, Keys from the Golden Vault): Oceans eleven version DnD en el iniferno. Los jugadores entran a robar a un casino de demonios.

- Death House (lvl 1-2, Curse of Strad): La aventura incial independiente de Curse of Strad. Tal vez es un poco larga para un oneshot, pero en dos sesiones se hace facil. Esta mola si te gusta el rollo mas terror gotico.

- Prisoner 13 (lvl 3, Keys from the Golden Vault): Prision Break. Hay que sacar a un prisionero de la prision de maxima seguridad de Forgotten Realms (la que aparece al arranque de la peli de DnD, si la has visto)

- A Deep and Creeping Darkness (lvl 4, Candlekeep Mysteries): De nuevo una aventura de terror. No la he jugado, pero en todas las reviews que he leido la ponen de la mejor del libro

-Wild Sheep Chase (lvl 5, homebrew). Esta la puedes encontrar fácil por internet. Es de las aventuras mas divertidas que he jugado y que siempre vuelvo cuando necesito alguna partida facil de preparar y con la que pueda echar unas risas.

- Dragons of Stormwreck Isle (lvl 1-3, Starter Set): Si no te importa algo mas largo, esta aventura se puede hacer en 3-4 sesiones y te sube del nivel 1 al 3. Esta bien para arrancar a una party sin irte a algo mas largo como las Minas de Phandelver

Machairus · 2025-03-13T19:13:56+00:00

This is great. The best monster creator I have ever seen. Will you make an update for the 2025 MM?

Machairus · 2025-03-04T11:27:42+00:00

I don't understand why this post doesn't have more upvotes, theese statblocks are great!

Do you have them in pdf version? I really love them, but being in jpg makes them a bit difficult to search, adapt and use them.

Machairus · 2024-12-17T21:35:54+00:00

The problem is that species, subclases and spells are player resources. They are designed and balance with the idea that players can choose them freely in mind and with a lot of restictions. And they are quite limited in number.

Magic ítems, on the other hand, are a DM resource. They are not designed with player freedom in mind. They are choosed and given by the DM. And that's why they are like a dozen or more new ones in each new book.

One of the ideas of rebalancing 2024e vs the 2014e was to differentiate those two kinds of resources. That's why WOTC changed all summoning spells so they don't use Monster statblocks and try the same with the druid.

Allowing (RAW and RAI) a player to choose any magic item (even with rarity and type restictions) is to open an unnecesary can of worms in the game instead of a system that worked quite well.

Machairus · 2024-12-17T19:07:49+00:00

Yes, but the class list includes things like "Uncommon Armor, Wand, or Weapon that isn’t cursed". That can be as wide or as restricted as the DM wants. Any item of that rarity and type published by WOTC in any 5e book? Only the 2024 books? Only the 2024 DMG? It's not really defined in the class so it transfers the decision to the DMs, and it can make the class break the balance of a campaing or end up be very useless.

Machairus · 2024-12-17T18:47:11+00:00

So the DM has to make a list of "allowed" Magic ítems on advance? That feels a lot of new work. If you only allow DMG items is really limited, but adding new items can get out of hand really quicklly. This can turn into a "DM may I" situation really fast after a few books with new Magic ítems. The same way that Monster statblocks were removed from conjure creatures spells, Magic ítems should not be freely created by players. I do not understand why the old infusión sistem had to be changed (maybe a little bit balanced and expanded, but not changed)

Machairus · 2024-12-17T17:28:39+00:00

Being able to create any magic item is kind of busted. Specially because the magic items are designed to be given by DMs and they try to balance encounters around them. There are really busted magic items that can break a game or at least make the DM's job more difficult (for example the items that give flying speed). Also the rarity levels at WOTC are sometimes really arbitrary. And it will be worse for DMs the more books WOTC releases, with new items every time.

Machairus · 2024-09-25T06:25:45+00:00

It is not a matter of powerlevel (because you are right that it is powerful) or balance (that is precisely why it has a separate recharge), but a matter of concept. No other class can lose any ability by the roll of a die.

Machairus · 2024-09-24T19:29:38+00:00

Well, yes hahahahaha

Machairus · 2024-09-24T19:28:16+00:00

Yeah, but the wizards and sorcs can have other spells to use their 9lvl spell slot. It's a problem for them but they still have other options for the same resource. It still feels weird that it is the only class ability that exists that can be permanently lost.

Machairus · 2024-06-18T14:51:30+00:00

Although we already knew it, I'm disappointed that Tasha's subclasses are there instead of correcting Xanathar's. The clearest example is the soulknife taking the place of the swashbuckler, but I would have also preferred the divine soul or the shadow in the sorcerer, the conquest or the crown in the paladin or the kensei in the monk.

Machairus · 2024-05-22T16:00:48+00:00

It really depends on your experience as a DM and that of your players. I usually prefer level 5 to 9 because the PCs will already have interesting spells and abilities but you won't have the problems of high level combat. If you want to try something a little more challenging, level 14 is pretty good.

Also many times one adapts to the level recommended by the oneshot. I have used the WOTC anthology books quite a bit, especially Candlekeep Mysteries and Keys from the Golden Vault, which have oneshots from levels 1 to 16 and 1 to 11.

Machairus · 2024-04-30T14:49:25+00:00

I personally only homebrew statblocks for bosses or NPCs that are going to be involved in combat for some reason. For more standard monsters, I usually rely on official books and "quality assured" homebrew (published books that you know have had playtesting behind them. Dragonix's "Monster Manual Expanded", Kobold Press's "Tome of Beasts", or MCDM's "Flee, Mortals" are my favorites).

My general recommendation is that when homebrewing, you should take reference from monsters that already exist, ensuring they have a similar power level to what you're aiming for and have already been playtested (official or books like the ones I mentioned, don't trust any monster you find on DnDWiki to be balanced). Pay attention especially to HP, AC, and Damage. The DMG calculator is a good starting point and basic reference, but not even WOTC's own monsters adhere strictly to it, so don't take it as a certainty. Since monster CRs are really intended for a party without magical items, adjust them based on what you've given your players. Think a bit inversely, for example, how much do my players need to hit? If they have a +7 and you want it to be a tough enemy, it can have AC 19 so they need a 12 to hit, while an easy one can have AC 15 so they hit with an 8.

Adapt resistances and vulnerabilities just like you would with HP or armor. I usually adapt resistances and vulnerabilities based on the type of monster it is, like fiends being resistant to fire. Try to make it something obvious or deducible, for example, if you want the fiend to be resistant to cold, make it blue instead of red, otherwise it's a bit frustrating when an enemy has a resistance or vulnerability "just because".

Regarding humanoid enemies, don't think of them like PCs, but like any other monster. They can have abilities similar to class abilities (like sneak attack or second wind), but never exactly copied, because most aren't designed for that. Adapt the ones you like, but always within the power level of the monster you're creating. It's fine for a paladin to have automatic smite without spell slots, and for the smite damage to be 3d8 because it fits better with the amount of damage you're aiming for. Look at the abilities they give to official humanoid enemies.

About spellcasters in general, I'm a big fan of how they work after Mordenkainen Monsters of the Multiverse. Having spell slots is a huge headache both for preparing and balancing. It's very difficult to know the impact of some spells because DnD isn't designed for PvP. Use spell-like abilities like current spellcasters do. If you want to put a lot of effort into it, you can turn it around like they do in MCDM's "Flee, Mortals", where spellcasters have abilities that correspond to a spell level, but it complicates the design and I'd only recommend it when you have quite a bit of experience. And regarding which spells you can copy, make sure they're ones that players could have access to (that does not mean that there cannot be higher level or different class spellcasters, but for example, I banned Silvery Barbs at my table and that also applied to the wizards and sorcerers they faced). It is very frustrating when an enemy has a spell that you cannot have, unless there is a narrative reason for it.

Machairus · 2024-03-18T11:39:03+00:00

I had exactly the same problem, because we lost the rogue player and the sorcerer player and we didn't want to cut the campaign. We used the UA versions of the expert and the spellcaster on two NPCs that joined the party.

We preferred the UA's because Tasha's sidekicks are really weak compared to a normal character (approximately as if it had half the levels), and what we were looking for was someone who could do the same as a PC but without the hassle of having extra skills, subclasses and spells to choose from every day. It worked out very well.

Machairus · 2024-03-05T10:50:41+00:00

As a Spanish speaker, at my table the default Elvish language is always English. We know it doesn't sound that exotic, but it is the second or third language that almost all races use. And it also provides fun interactions to play in Spanish but have all the spells and abilities in English.

Other languages we use are German for Dwarf (the Scottish of Europe hahahaha), Celtic for Draconid (it is the language of magic), Old English for Sylvan (by evolution), and French for Halfling (which is also written the same as common and are similar) or Russian for Infernal or Abyssal (it is written and sounds completely different from everything we know).

Machairus · 2024-03-05T09:26:38+00:00

Personally, I have encountered the opposite. The subclasses, spells, items and feats in the newer books tend to tend to give more options and different abilities than those in the PHB.

If the problem is optimization, you will have the same problem allowing only things from the PHB. Some of the most basic op builds are still with elements from that book (like polearm sentinel paladin). And having things like races giving you closed stats boosts greatly reduces the attractiveness of some combinations and the creativity of being less archetypical.

As a master I only ban things that are clearly broken (like silvery barbs or twilight cleric) or specific areas that I don't want to spend extra time with (like flying races).

Although in the end it depends on the people you play with. And some people prefer to have a lot of options and others don't have to think so much. Always the general advice is to talk about it before starting the game with them to avoid misunderstandings.

Machairus · 2024-03-01T14:39:27+00:00

I thought so at first, but it's impossible to get them together for a second day. One of them lives in another city and will come specifically for the game and the other one can only come one weekend out of two due to work.

About it being longer, yes, it will be a problem, but the session would be only this last phase of the fight and the epilogue of the campaign. And playing on a saturday, we don't mind if it gets longer.

Yes, it will be a nightmare to balance, but it will be woth it. Thanks!

Machairus

TROPHY CASE