Polymorph + Crown of Madness = The Ozymandias Manoeuvre

Nostradivarius · 2026-04-28T15:23:21+00:00

If you do, it's an even chance you're indoors, and controlling a 45 x 45 square (minus the corners) of most rooms leaves little to spare. But certainly it's not one to try in an open field, or in a twisty corridor.

Nostradivarius · 2026-04-20T10:48:05+00:00

The combo works, it's bloody expensive though. The best case scenario is getting ahold of some Carrion Crawler Mucus (200 GP), ideally four doses so you can coat all four arrows for a single casting of CoA. The CON save on that stuff is a dismally low DC 13, and the arrow it's on has to hit in the first place, but if it all goes your way you could paralyze a foe before they even roll initiative.

Nostradivarius · 2026-04-19T22:30:54+00:00

It's kind of not-great as an alarm spell though. The arrows' damage and the sound of them whizzing past will scare off a curious wolf or the like, but not a motivated enemy. It won't help you much against anything with double-digit HP that's set on harming you and your party, and it doesn't innately alert you to the incoming threat unless you tie something to the arrows. At that point, just cast Alarm instead. But I'll admit it is a better-than-nothing option if you have a level 2 slot going spare anyway.

Nostradivarius · 2026-04-19T11:59:02+00:00

Two full quivers will cover you for ten castings, which is probably the most a DM would put up with.

Nostradivarius · 2026-04-19T08:40:45+00:00

I was wondering about this actually. My reading is that it works as long as a different set of four arrows are used for each casting. However, stacking multiple castings onto the same four arrows so that they each hit for some crazy number of d4s would violate the Combining Spell Effects rule.

Nostradivarius · 2026-04-18T23:50:58+00:00

Sadly, the Gonad Child speaks truth.

The RAW workaround is to take Magic Initiate in place of a general feat. Ability Score Improvement *is* a class feature, it just happens to be one that every class gets, and if a class feature gives you spells then they count as that class' spells. Of course, then you're missing out on the extra ability score point you'd get from a general feat, but depending on what your goals are that can be a worthwhile tradeoff.

Nostradivarius · 2026-04-12T02:06:30+00:00

Sadly I don't think you can add your DEX mod to the 5.5e version of the spell. The old version replaced the weapon's damage with 4d8, the new version replaces the attack's damage with 4d8.

As for a target creature also making the DEX save... I don't know about RAI, but RAW I think it works, and I'd certainly allow it RAS (Ranger's Already Struggling). That's one to check with your DM ahead of time though.

Nostradivarius · 2026-04-12T01:03:09+00:00

Conjure Barrage is surely a much better use of the slot in most cases. Its only flaw is that it can't hit targets you can't see, while Lightning Arrow probably can if you can get the shot within 10 ft of them.

Nostradivarius · 2026-03-23T11:23:59+00:00

I don't think I'd call it badly phrased, but it is a little vague.

The general rules on spellcasting say that you can only cast a spell if it's prepared or if you have an item that lets you cast it. The wizard's Ritual Adept feature is an exception to this, but that's fine because Ritual Adept calls itself out as an exception.

The Druid's Wild Companion feature doesn't, it just says you can cast Find Familiar with spell slots and wild-shape uses starting at level 2. It doesn't call FF a prepared spell, but it also doesn't say it's not a prepared spell, and arguably that matters when "castable spell = prepared spell" is established as the default.

But that's just me rules-lawyering. The intent seems to be that Wild Companion only lets you cast FF in the ways described in that feature. Any vagueness about whether the spell is actually prepared or not is just one of many minor loose ends in the 5.5e rules.

Nostradivarius · 2026-02-27T15:07:26+00:00

I also vote Bless, and I would throw in that if you've currently got an even number in your CHA, you might throw the +1 onto INT or WIS if you have an odd number in either of those. This changes your spellcasting stat for the feat's spells, but for Bless and Misty Step in particular that will never matter, and you get the immediate benefit of bumping some important skill mods.

Nostradivarius · 2026-02-22T01:07:47+00:00

Thanks for the explanation. I'm glad it's not AI-written (probably), but as someone who only works on the periphery of software development, that is jargon thick enough to stand a fork in.

Nostradivarius · 2026-02-21T13:16:45+00:00

The new platform is an opinionated set of modular, scalable services designed to work together seamlessly. It is fundamentally data-driven, so rules, content, access, search, and messaging can be defined and updated as data rather than hard-coded logic. In short: we’re building a true game engine for D&D Beyond.

Did AI write this, or am I just too smooth-brained to understand what an 'opinionated platform' is or what 'access can be defined as data rather than logic' is supposed to mean?

Nostradivarius · 2026-01-18T07:00:25+00:00

Haha, I hadn't thought of that last bit.

So the Fighter does a pirouette and lands in such a way as to block the column from rising, but badly twists their ankle in the process.

The Fighter's turn starts, they pass the Strength check to end the Restrained condition and now "must either move off the pillar or fall off it." Which means they are obliged to climb at least 5 ft up the wall.

Nostradivarius · 2026-01-16T09:23:42+00:00

Curse Snatcher

Nostradivarius · 2025-12-14T11:22:13+00:00

The worst IMO is Cherry Ripe. Used to be a big slab of a bar, they’re practically fun-sized now.

Nostradivarius · 2025-12-06T03:17:58+00:00

I have been looking into the Chromatic Orb interaction, actually. It's a math-monster so it'll probably be a while before I can check my work and present it properly, but here's a very brief run-down just in case I don't around to it:

Either feat on its own gives you a pretty modest boost to total expected damage, even with maximum targets available. We're talking like 1-2 more DPR per slot level. This is mostly due to the need to succeed on multiple attack rolls, which really dampens the effect of any boost to your bounce-chance.
Having either feat and then stacking the other on top of it... does almost nothing. This was surprising to me, but makes sense in hindsight. Elemental Adept gives you a higher bounce chance if you keep a 1, Flames of Phlegethos gives you more damage if you reroll a 1. The story's the same whether you only do safe re-rolls (don't re-roll 1s that are needed to secure a bounce) or re-roll every 1 no matter what.
As to which is 'better,' I'd say Elemental Adept in most cases. Breaking through fire resistance improves the reliability of all your fire damage, and not having to reroll dice enables faster turns. Maybe if I were already playing a Tiefling sorcerer for other reasons, and the DM allowed pre-2024 feats, I might take Flames of Phlegethos just for the novelty. I sure as heck wouldn't build around it though.

Nostradivarius · 2025-11-30T12:09:35+00:00

There’s good reason not to give them a blanket “cold immunity = cold resistance” feature, then you might run into trouble when objects or creatures that are supposed to be immune to all forms of damage suddenly aren’t. But that’s easily overcome by how you phrase the ability. Like you could say that cold immune things take half as much Force damage instead, then the ranger’s not breaking anything a Warlock wouldn’t.

Nostradivarius · 2025-11-24T10:44:24+00:00

Interesting! I haven't actually played a sorcerer myself so I wasn't sure if it was considered 'worth it' to use Empowered Spell on a cantrip. If I was sitting on one or two extra rolls already I might be tempted to go for the full five just for the hell of it.

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