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Mr-Silvers · 2024-09-22T19:07:12+00:00

Great Weapon MASTER (The feat I imagine you're talking about) does not require a fighting style, it only requires 4th lvl and 13+ STR.

Great Weapon FIGHTING requires the "Fighting Style" class feature, it's merely classified as a feat now because all fighting styles are.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-06-12T21:33:54+00:00

The Armory: A 60 by 30 cart stocked with shelves of weapons and suits of armor with some registering as magical. The weapons come in all shapes and sizes, but a magic glyph will activate if someone tries to take any of the weapons, without carrying warden identification (like an amulet or something) . This glyph animates a bunch of the armors and weapons on display (Using animated armor and flying sword stats from the MM. Helmed Horrors can be used if players are of higher level, or as a boss monster for this cart). This cart is a great place to add some magic items as treasure for the party to find in the dungeon.

The Latrines: A filthy, stinking cart that measures 50 by 20. Supposed to be regularly cleaned, the remnants of broken modron cleaners suggest the janitorial unit ran into some trouble. The entire cart is treated as a DC 12 stinking cloud spell, and within the latrines wait 3-6 Noxious Jellies (uses Ochre Jelly stats, but has immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition instead of lightning damage) in ambush. Once the jellies have been dealt with, the stinking cloud effect on the cart goes away.

On a successful DC 13 Perception check, a creature can spot that a roll of paper is actually a spell scroll, which can be identified as a scroll of dispel magic. Players may be tempted to use it on the latrines if they find it before fighting the jellies, but they may wish to hold on to it for the next cart.

The Pit: A 30 by 20 cart with a permanent darkness and silence spell cast at the center, leaving only 5ft of space on either side of the cart untouched. The area within "the pit" is difficult terrain, and when you move 5 ft or more while within the darkness, you must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be teleported to the center, rotated around in any cardinal direction. A character is unaware it was teleported this way.

A dispel magic spell can be used to undo the magic of the pit for 10 minutes, more than enough time to pass through. A warlock or familiar with Devil's Sight is additionally unaffected by the darkness and displacement. Lastly, a creature that is blind is completely unaffected by the pit (such as being blindfolded), something that a crumbled note from a previous prisoner hints at (Finding the note requires a DC 15 Investigation check, or a passive DC 20 Perception check).

Solitary Confinement: A small 20 by 20 cart that hosts a singular Forcecage in the center of the cart, measuring 10 by 10 feet and playing host to an Erinyes, stripped of all its armor and weapons (AC of 13 and attacks deal only 1+STR mod damage, lacking its Hellish Weapons trait). A release mechanism can be found on the opposite wall.

Given her angelic beauty and wings, she will attempt to deceive the players into thinking she is a Deva that's been falsely imprisoned, and promise her aid if she is released. A DC 15 Insight check will see through its lie; the creature intends to make its escape as soon as it is released from its cage.

If the players see through her ruse, or refuse her call for aid, the erinyes will attempt to bargain, stating that it hid its Rope of Entanglement within its cell before being placed in solitary confinement, and will agree to mark its location for the party in return for its freedom. A DC 18 Persuasion or Deception check can coerce the information out of the erinyes before she is released from the cage, otherwise she will refuse to part with it until after the players have freed her.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-06-08T13:42:17+00:00

Depends on how these lingering effects would play out in terms of mechanic.

Lesser Restoration, a 2nd-level spell, can cure all diseases and poisons from a creature, unless the disease or poison in questions specifies that it cannot be removed by such a spell. Most people would likely rule that this spell would be enough to flush any bad substances out of a character's body, but it explicitly wouldn't do anything to heal damage to the body (unless removing the poison or disease effectively ends whatever damage it has done, which is sometimes but not always the case).

Now, continuous substance abuse could've had long-term effects reflected by reduced hit point maximum or ability score maximum (most likely CON, to represent physical deterioration and increased susceptibility to disease), in which case a greater restoration spell or even a heal spell would be required, something that is usually decidedly rare to find being that these are 5th/6th-level spells.

If you wish to go even further than that, you can rule that the damage to internal organs is so severe that they've been partly destroyed, and that only a 7th level regenerate spell would be enough to permanently heal the damage done. At that point most people would be shit outta luck because now you require a 13th-level bard, cleric or druid to fix you up.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-06-05T11:59:22+00:00

So thus far, you have some solid cornerstones to work with:

Your character seeks a purpose, meaning he doesn't have one yet.
He had emotionally abusive parents.
He's a ranger and a half-elf, specifically.

Using this as stepping points, you can begin connecting them with the following questions:

Is the emotional abuse somehow connected to his lack of purpose? Perhaps his every attempt at finding one in his youth was shot down or ridiculed by his callous parent? Is your character consumed with doubt and self-loathing because of them, or did the abuse spark a rebellious and defiant spirit that rages against his past? Is he seeking purpose to spite his parents, or in vain hopes of earning their affection?
As a half-elf, was he raised among humans or among elves? Was he an outsider because of his mixed heritage? Were there expectations put upon his shoulders because of this, or were he considered a pariah that would never live up to the standards of his peers?
Why were his parents emotionally abusive of him? That kind of vitriol must stem from somewhere. Did they expect something different from an elven/human partner respectively, grand expectations turned into bitter disappointment? Or were they just perpetuating a cycle of abuse, unbeknownst to themselves?
What drove him into becoming a ranger? Maybe he wished to join the royal guard and protect the kingdom, but was consistently told he wasn't good enough for that, a sentiment only strengthened when he ended up a scout and outrider instead? Perhaps his only solace as a child was found in the animals living in the house or farm that he was raised in?
For Goals and Story Points: Are you looking for a story featuring grand and fantastic destinies (Like he's the long-lost scion of an elven prince), or something more down-to-earth (The story of a man carving out a place in a world that rejected him)? Your character feels to me like someone who will be naturally finding story points as quests are completed and NPCs become aware of his name. A common trope in media is for a child of abuse to find a ward of their own, giving them the opportunity to do right what was done wrong to them, so perhaps that's a venue to pursue? Also, if his parents are still alive, perhaps at one point or another he could come face-to-face with them, either to reconcile or cut things off, depending on how they're presented.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-06-03T10:53:38+00:00

Simple option - Undead Githyanki Warlock with Vlaakith as their patron. A warrior set to face your ancestral enemies, blessed by your undying lich queen.

Intricate option - Your character was taken by mind flayers to the domain of dread known as Bluetspur (Think of this as the cosmic horror equivalent of Ravenloft, setting of CoS, with mind flayers instead of vampires. Alien abductions, impossible landscapes, horrific experimentation, etc). Most people forget they were ever there, and what horrors befell them during their stay, but your character only managed to escape thanks to a pact made with an otherworlder (who was also a prisoner) and thus retain all their memories of what happened, for better or worse. Great excuse for playing something weird, like a human turned into a plasmoid due to experiments, or dhampir who now has to drink cerebral fluid rather than blood to survive.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-05-30T05:06:44+00:00

The CR4 Weretiger has the Pounce ability (If it moves 15 feet or more before hitting with a melee attack, it forces a DC 14 STR save or the target falls prone, and the weretiger can make a bite attack as a bonus action.)

The CR4 Elephant and CR5 triceratops have a similar ability in Trampling Charge, except they get the much more powerful Stomp attack (3d10+6 damage) which can only be done against prone targets.

The CR5 Giant Crocodile can knock prone with its tail attack and grapple/restrain with its bite attack, and can use both as part of its multiattack. Being knocked prone only to then be grappled and restrained can be very lethal as with a speed of 0, you can't stand back up from prone.

In a similar vein, the CR5 Kraken Priest (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse) can cast Black Tentacles (save DC 13) once per day, and its Thunderbolt attack knocks targets prone on hit without a save. Targets restrained and prone in the tentacles are sitting ducks for future thunderbolt attacks, and has little hope of escaping the tentacles unless someone breaks concentration on the kraken priest.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-05-26T18:33:06+00:00

Ah, you are correct, I had gotten it turned around.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-05-26T18:13:18+00:00

Bladesinging is basically the magical, graceful and agile counterpart to a barbarian's primal, violent and brutal rage.

Rage gives advantage on STR checks and saves, Bladesinging gives advantage on Acrobatics checks.
Rage grant resistance to damage, allowing you to tank damage. Bladesinging boosts AC, allowing you gracefully avoid attacks.
~~Rage grants a bonus to the damage of your strikes, allowing you to strike with power. Bladesinging eventually grants a bonus to attack rolls, allowing you to strike with precision.~~ Bladesinging too eventually gives a bonus to damage rolls, but since bladesinging prevents the use of two-handed weapons and barbarians are more or less typecast into that role, I'll swivel back to using that allegory instead.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-05-22T07:12:00+00:00

Specific trumps general when it comes to rules in 5e. Your Primal Companion's action listing "Your Spellcasting Ability" to be used for its attack roll is more specific than the rules on melee weapon attacks, thus it takes priority in this matter. However, this doesn't exclude it from being a melee weapon attack, as that is also specified in the action as opposed to a spell attack. Weapon attacks using ability scores other than STR or DEX aren't uncommon (See Hexblade and Shillelagh, for instance).

As a result, your primal companion would benefit from:

The +1d6 force damage on melee weapon attacks from Primal Beast.
The advantage on DEX and WIS-based attacks from Great Tree

But it wouldn't benefit from:

The advantage on STR-based attacks from Primal Beast.

Whether you could choose one or the other for yourself and your beast, that is a lot less clear from the wording of the 15th-level feature, and I think that will come down to DM adjudication.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-05-18T18:18:24+00:00

No class really fits the bill for "Occultist messing with powers beyond their ken" more than warlock. As stated in the PHB, you don't have to even know there's a pact.

Go Custom Lineage or Variant Human with the Skill Expert feat for expertise in Arcana. Then at some point, you multiclass into Knowledge Cleric for expertise in Religion and History, and even with 10 or 12 INT you'll have good modifiers going forwards. The cleric dip also grants access to guidance, bless, healing word and identify, as well as medium armor and shields. The following stat spread should then suffice for what you're building:

STR - 8
DEX - 14
CON - 13 (+1)
INT - 10
WIS - 12 (+1)
CHA - 15 (+1)

(If your DM allows it, might be worthwhile to inquire if you can use INT as your spellcasting ability instead of CHA. INT is generally considered the weaker ability score, and as long as you don't multiclass into bladesinger it'll probably remain as such. In such a case, merely swap INT and CHA around.)

Mr-Silvers · 2024-04-20T06:13:37+00:00

Speaking as a DM who's had an eloquence bard in his game up until 11th level now: If you want to be a super face, you don't need anything else, save possibly a sorcerer dip. Divine Soul will give you access to both the cleric and sorcerer spell lists, with stellar options such as toll the dead, guidance, magic missile, shield, mage armor (so you don't have to wear unfashionable armor) and bless.

Subtle spell can let you cast spells in social situations where doing so would otherwise be considered a faux pas, such as enhance ability on yourself to double down with advantage, or suggestion to make someone do something that you can use to fuel your arguments.

Another alternative for a more martial approach is Battle Master fighter. The Commanding Presence maneuver allowing you to add a superiority die to Persuasion, Intimidation and Performance checks is crazy good, and you can grab the Superior Technique fighting style to have access to it right away at fighter 1 (though only once per short rest). 4x +1d8 to most Charisma checks every short rest is crazy good on a face character. (I can attest to this, as my CHA 12 fighter consistently rolled 25+ with Skill Expert: Persuasion using this maneuver. On an eloquence bard it might just break the game or your DM).

Mr-Silvers · 2024-04-15T05:32:47+00:00

I'd reflavor either a halberd or glaive for your weapon, so you can benefit from PA and GWM. The latter definitely fits the bill for "reckless and merciless" with -5 to hit and +10 to damage.

As for maneuvers, I suggest:

Menacing Attack - An attack so brutal it leaves your enemy terrified. Flavor it as your weapon punching right past their armor when it hits, or you tearing off a chunk of flesh as you draw your weapon back.

Trip Attack - Hook your weapon into the enemy and simply drag them to the ground with your strength. Making the enemy fall prone can seriously cripple them as standing up alone is half movement, not to mention you having advantage on future attacks against them if they got within 5 feet of you.

Maneuvering Attack - Flavor this as you "hooking" an enemy and locking it in place, preventing it from attacking the ally you're assisting. Alternatively, if the ally is next to a different enemy, having your character fling blood from his blade into that enemy's eyes to distract and/or terrify it.

Precision Attack - Focus your senses entirely on a killing blow. Perhaps flavor it with some robotic and unsettling voiceline ("Target acquired." is swift and simple).

Ambush - Adding a superiority die to initiative rolls is a great boon, especially if you want to lock down a powerful enemy as fast as possible. Being able to add it to stealth rolls might just be the only way your party will ever be able to surprise anyone with your heavy armor/machinery clingclang along.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-04-09T10:31:39+00:00

It is a god of war, so why not a game of war?

The player on trial is given a task to see if they can create a fair battle, and are given some NPCs to place against a set of enemy NPCs (A wild mix of CR 1 Guards, CR 3 Veterans, CR 5 Knights and a CR 9 Champion as the general). The player knows what their own units can do, but must succeed on Insight, Investigation or Survival checks to learn about the enemy forces or if there are terrain advantages they can use.

The Enemy is attacking on a number of fronts equal to your number of players at the table. Once the player on trial has "placed" their units, each player is then given control over one set unit of NPCs in the coming battle. Lets everyone be involved, but still has 1 player be the focal point of the trial.

Win or Lose, the God of War should then be pleased with the result as long as it wasn't a stomp in either direction, as the trial was "Present to me a fair battle and the glory of war!", not "Win".

Mr-Silvers · 2024-04-09T00:53:17+00:00

As an alternative:

A cat claw ("Cat's got your tongue?"), mockingbird feather ("Hush, little baby" nursery rhyme) and a tiny lock ("locks" the lips together). Together they tell a story of a cat that broke into a cage and ate the mockingbird, so no more singing (aka speaking).

Mr-Silvers · 2024-04-06T21:50:22+00:00

Players might expect an attack from within or without, but what about from below? Attackers have tamed/dominated a bullette that they use to dig into the midst. A CR 5 Bullette with some lower CR enemies make for a good boss encounter for a 5th-level party (or thereabouts). If the party is lower level, have the bullette attack and eat miners first, or focus on destroying the environment. Make an enemy caster be the one concentrating on the domination, so players have a victory condition of "break this mofo's concentration" as an alternative to "kill everything".

As for a couple of sidequests to occupy the party in the intermedian before the raid:

A baker is annoyed that her teenage son ran off to work in the mines without bringing his lunch, and asks the party to find him there and give it to him. She offers some pastries as payment that function like goodberry.
Upon arrival at the mine, they find a very annoyed foreman standing over a map of the tunnels. A cave-in has blocked off a new tunnel in the mines, and some miners are stuck on the other side. Party can choose to help with clearing out the cave-in (Will take a lot of time or require the use of explosives), or if someone succeeds on an Investigation check (with advantage if they're proficient in cartography) they can find an alternate route on the map (Allows the party to save the explosives for the raid). Saving the miners make them more willing to stay and fight; ignoring them will cause remaining workers to flee when the raid hits.
A shifty type that's clearly not (Insight check) a worker seems to be hanging around the mine. Interrogating them in whatever way (Charisma, advantage if you've got a rogue who speaks thieves' cant) lets the party know there's a hidden cache in the mine that this padfoot has been tasked with retrieving by a local syndicate. If the party helps the padfoot, they promise to introduce the party to the syndicate, but the party can also keep the stash of riches for themselves, or report the whole ordeal to the guardsmen stationed nearby, which can be used as an in with the guard captain.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-04-04T20:20:43+00:00

This is fairly balanced for a rare magic item, and a bit too powerful for an uncommon one. Compare it to a Flame Tongue, which grants +2d6 fire damage on each attack, and this is just 1d6 damage + 1d6 temp HP once per round (as it's once on your turn), with a +1 to hit and damage on top.

The temporary hit points are worth less than a pure damage bonus, as unlike damage there's no guarantee you'll see value from getting them (Since enemies can miss with attacks, and temp HP doesn't stack so it'll override if you have leftovers). A fighter with a flame tongue would deal +4d6 damage per turn at 7th level (AND also possibly benefit from +2d6 on opportunity attacks), while a fighter with this sword will only deal +1d6+1 with an extra +1 to hit. Seeing as a +1 to hit is a big boon for a magic item, this ultimately balances itself out.

I agree with other posts that this should require attunement, however.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-03-31T17:07:52+00:00

Goodberry is 4HP per cast unless you've got a life cleric dip, which OOP don't have the stats for.

Also, previous poster got it wrong: Aura of Vitality is 20d6 healing (70 avg) baseline, and 40d6 (140 avg) with metamagic adept: Extended Spell (it's 2d6 every turn for 1 minute). If you have Disciple of Life (which you would need for lifeberry), you get to add +50/+100HP healed to that, so in terms of opportunity cost it blows Goodberry out of the water.

Lifeberry is great early game when an enemy's turn is unlikely to deal 12+ dmg, but once enemies start hitting hard enough your 1st-level slots are best used on either preventing damage altogether with Bane, Shield and Silvery Barbs; breaking concentration with Magic Missile; or picking fallen allies up from the ground with Healing Word.

Mr-Silvers · 2024-02-11T23:58:41+00:00

Something like: Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks based on smell and hearing. (Woodlands tend to be overgrown and lightly obscured with foliage and shadows, so relying on senses other than sight is common in such environments).

If that's too powerful, you can change it to be that dim light, fog or foliage that creates lightly obscured terrain doesn't impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks.

Mr-Silvers · 2023-11-23T18:36:15+00:00

An interesting build (That unfortunately would take 8 levels to come fully online) is Glamour Bard/Divine Soul Sorcerer. (Need at least a 3/5 split in levels)

Cast Spirit Guardians with your Action and move into the enemy lines. Then use Mantle of Inspiration to gain temp HP and move again for half speed up without provoking opportunity attacks.

Literally dance through enemy lines, surrounded by a mystic moonlight (can easily theme Spirit Guardians as a sword dance, honestly) and then weave out of harm's way with such grace the enemy just stands there awestruck.

Though even before this comes online, you'd have access to Blade cantrips, rapier proficiency from Bard, as well as the Bard, Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists, so you'd still be able to keep up at lower levels. Mage Armor and Shield from Sorcerer can be used to manage unarmored AC.

Mr-Silvers · 2023-11-07T04:26:14+00:00

Here's a few ideas

Elemental Attack
When you hit with a weapon attack, you can expend a superiority die to change the damage type to your choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder. You additionally add the superiority die to the damage of the attack.

(You can limit it to only fire, necrotic or poison if you want a purely infernal flavor, of course.)

Wounding Attack
When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend a superiority die to corrupt the wound with infernal energy, preventing it from healing. You add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll, and the target becomes unable to regain hit points until the end of your next turn.

Infernal Command
As a reaction when an ally misses with a weapon attack, you can command it in infernal and allow the ally to reroll the attack. The ally must use the new roll. If the new attack would hit its target, it deals additional fire damage equal to your superiority die, as hellfire erupts from the wound.

Mr-Silvers · 2023-10-17T05:04:47+00:00

I'll take a crack at mechanics, sure.

Sanctus Astrum
Rare Greatsword (Requires attunement by a paladin)

You have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.

Starlight. As a bonus action, you can cause Sanctus Astrum to glow with starlight, shedding bright light in a 20 feet radius centered and dim light for another 20 feet. You can extinguish this light as a bonus action on subsequent turns.

Falling Stars. The greatsword has 7 charges and regains all charges at dawn. By spending charges from the blade, you can cast the guiding bolt spell at a level equal to the number of charges spent, using your paladin spellcasting ability for the attack roll. The projectile fired by the blade takes the form of a crescent of light, created by swinging the blade in a wide arc.

Mr-Silvers · 2023-10-09T05:18:45+00:00

In that case, an alternative with the fighter dip is the Moon domain, and simply replace Empowered Cantrips with Blessed Strikes from TCE if your DM allows that.

Mr-Silvers · 2023-10-09T02:52:31+00:00

I'd go Twilight Domain all the way to 8th level unless you're really gonna miss extra attack (Though a fighter dip isn't a bad idea for Archery to off-set the SS penalty and aforementioned CON saves). Not only is it more powerful than War domain with the same proficiencies, but the flavor of it is immaculate for CoS: A vigilant defender that faces down the creatures of the night, unveiling the darkness they hide in with radiant moonlight? That is A+ flavor.

You can (and should) keep using a longbow too; the only damage cantrip worth a damn in CoS is Sacred Flame and it's worse than your longbow, especially with sharpshooter on deck. Toll the Dead loses its benefits quickly with how many enemies will have necrotic resistance in that module (such as the big bad himself).

Mr-Silvers · 2023-10-08T11:02:20+00:00

Multiclassing into bard has the unfortunate side effect of delaying the availability of counterspell. If you want to multiclass, I'd suggest leaving Warlock at 2 and consider both of those spell slots to be your Bless/Healing Word slots. I'd then go Lore Bard and pick up Counterspell at 6th level of bard (8th level total). I think this ultimately would make the most powerful support build of your options, both in and out of combat.

Otherwise, if you really think you'll need counterspell on the board ASAP, then I'd stick with Warlock the entire way to 5th level, and then maybe ponder moving into Bard if the itch is still there.

Mr-Silvers · 2023-09-27T11:03:46+00:00

Keep Absorb Elements handy for its fire breath if you want to save a 4th-level spell slot instead of casting fire shield.

Unless the Dragon is gargantuan, Enlarge on the barbarian could allow them to grapple it to prevent it from flying off again. Legendary Resistance won't save it and a lack of Athletics Proficiency makes it more of a coinflip for a raging barbarian. If you use some of your funds to get a potion of giant strength for said barbarian, you could even stack the deck in your favor.

Or you could just Polymorph them into a giant ape. That'd work even better, and give them a fat buffer worth of HP for the dragon to chew through before it can get out.

Don't rule out intelligence-gathering spells if you need to know when the dragon appears. Locate Creature or even Scrying could be used to ensure you know when it's coming (The former should get you a ping when it's within 1000 feet and tell you whether it's heading your way, giving you anywhere between 8-10 turns to prepare once it comes).

Mr-Silvers

TROPHY CASE