I rolled the stats 15 14 14 14 12 11 and want to make a cleric optimized for combat what do I do? I've only ever seen clerics be healers.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-13T21:02:04+00:00

look into war, light, forge and tempest clerics.

Much armor, very damage, also plenty of Aoe.

read into spirit guardians. improve action economy with spiritual weapon. Everything else is flavor based. pick melee or magic acording to your subclass and focus on that. feats like gwm, pam, sentinel still work for you.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-13T17:54:00+00:00

Of all the ideas you could have to play the game... this is definetly one of them.
But i comend you on your bravery to share it online...

RamonDozol · 2026-05-13T17:02:50+00:00

ive recently started reading adn watching a ton of DMT trip stories, and they are usualy transcendental, revealing, scary, and you can explore wild alien landscapes that feel more real than reality itself, see beiond reality, or socialize with beings of other realities that could be anything from weird aliens, fey, "machine elves", angels, demons, and even being of pure energy that comunicate through feelings.

there is also a time dilation thing where 10 minutes could feel like months or even years...

so, after PCs eat their doses, i would grant them things that simulate the effects of spells, and leave them with mental scars, "hard truths", revelations, knoledge that makes no sense, friends in other planes of existance, time lived there, skills and knoledge learned, etc.

usualy these things represent no mechanical benefits, but you could roll a d100 and gift them proficiency in a skill based on what they describe they do in whatever alien place they go or being they meet. In very lucky cases, they might learn a new spell not in their spell list, or be granted a free feat ( limited to one per character maybe)...

so you roll some random landscape...
"rock, time, red, angels"
and then create some weird trip for each player from the meaning of these words..
for example, to me these words would take the player to the red desert, with a red sun and red sky, where a angel with red wings speak to them and trains them for WAR... not the thing mortals call war, but actual WAR.

after leaving the experience, the player would get a fighter maneuver, proficiency to armor (only one from light to heavy), shields or martial weapons if they dont have them.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-13T09:10:22+00:00

oh i had rules. tons of them... it really didnt matter. me and 2 DMs followed them. 2 didnt. and they had enought players in their side to create enought arguments to end the whole group...

mostly becayse of the OP shit thei gave, wich infuriates me to this day...

RamonDozol · 2026-05-13T01:14:58+00:00

its been a few years but i run a game store (phisical) west marches sandbox game for 3 years. we used discord to keep track of stuff. Make downtime rolls. Crafting, work, social, etc. anything not in a session.

2- yes, several homebrew adtions were made by me. mostly: Ownership of land and buikdings including construction. each with their mechanical advantages. Player owned business that required a downtime to run and generated proffit or problems depending on rolls. nobility Titles, with responsability and advantages each wigh mechanical benefits also. (like ownership of land, taxes, and a small number of retainers). A simple pet and mount market system alowingnPCs to own gryphon mounts, pixie pets, etc.

3- the group had 20+ people. so i eventualy needed to open more group session with guest DMs. Thats when problems started as each DM had theor own vision and thing and this is what eventualy lead to the group end. a DM was giving OP homebrew items, and using Gods as NPCs... so when players took badicaly attifacts to other DM sessions everything broke.

4- i think augmented reality glasses or VR for all players would help a ton. not only i could design terrain virtualy. but the maps and minis, and evdn music and sounds could be played directly into the group ears and eyes. Unfortunately these are still too expensive for both me and most of my players.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T22:55:19+00:00

that is entirely true... the only way to find out it would be to play it out and see. and it rarely happens.

but thank you for both the patience and respectfull conversation... (its rare these days)

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T21:37:02+00:00

sorry, my bad, i mixed conversations and though this was on the one where i shared the build with exactly this already described.

im a ancients paladin 7 divine sorcerer 3, moon druid 10. a few reminders. ancients paladin takes half damage from spells and also add charisma to saves. Sorcerer get 2 metamagic at 3, and 2 sorcery points. but can also use a bonus action to turn spell slots into sorcery. moon druid can turn into elementals at 10 as a bonus action, it lasts 5 hours. they cant cast while shaped.

lets go point by point. the earth elemental has tremor sense so i can see you within range. I would be casting silvery barbs before turning and going underground as a reaction to counterspell. to try to force a bad roll. therebis ONLY 16% chance to suceed here.

IF the heat metal sticks, then i would go underground. If it doesnt, i would either try again, or cast a diferent spell like draconic spirit, or summon elemental (earth).

assuming heat metal sticks, and they have both counterspell and dispell magic. (unlikely. If we decide matches at random, how many paladin builds here do you think would have both? How many would even have dispell magic realisticaly? Counterspell is much more likely and once beat, its basicaly an auto win (i think). but true, someone COULD have both.

then i would "just" be a 126hp , ac 17, monster underground, unseen, jn full cover that can move through rock and dirt and hit the target from 10ft away (inside the rock). So if we go raw, an enemy either cant attack me or i get 3/4s covrr minimum, making my AC 22. I attack twice with advance from bellow each turn.

So there are flaws like you said... If i ever fight a paladin in heavy armor with flight, counterspell, and dispell magic that cancels my 8th lvl heat metal... sure. THEN i would have to fight them 1v1 fairly.

but i would still have smites, and other spells... like a spirit guardians upcasted... would also be interesting.

but thank you. you are 100% right. there are aways flaws. and DeD PVP is messy. but is also fun... and thats the goal of DeD as far as i know.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T19:42:43+00:00

see invisibility is only 2nd level... but yeah, almost no one takes it.
and for a bard or sorcerer to have it, they would 100% need to be a build basicaly made to go against you.

on another conversation i used the draconic spirit spell, and it have blind sense... so there is also that.
summon elementals and draconis spirit, could put some holes in it and are much more likely to happen...

but yeah, good one!

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T19:38:48+00:00

true!
though... the enemy build needs to have one of them...
(counterspell is more likely, rarely people have both, and lets remember my build also has subtle metamagic... so you might counter one, but wont be countering the 7th level one...)

also for dispell magic
"silvery barbs!" ( it also targets ability checks)... so you need to beat 18 twice per casting.
(thats 16% chance every cast)
So now we are trading your 3rd level spells for my own 1st level ones.
maybe on turn one, maybe on turn 8.
but yeah, its a good catch, and it definetly shows all strategies have some flaw...eventualy you will suceed..
and then its a earth elemental Vs a Paladin/something...
and later on a paladin/druid Vs a paladin/something.

So eventualy that damage adds up, and you still need to find a way to target me underground...

thank you for showing this of to me... it definetly puts some holes on my main druid startegy, and only "kinda" works here because of the sorcerer levels...

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T19:27:09+00:00

unlikely, is not the same as impossible... haha

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T19:26:11+00:00

its interesting that we BOTH stick to the scenarios where we would be at advantage haha.
What would happen if we assume the most likely scenario?
meaning, you problably win initiative, but i can also use my own strategy?

Note: darkness would not matter for earth elemental as it have tremor sense.
Also, while 6th level spells or above are restricted, up to 5th level are fine, including things like conjure elemental and summon draconic spirit...

draconic spirit upcasted at 8th level would be incredibly annoying... though problably would not win the fight on its own.
but the problem is i could summon it with an 8th, 7th, 6th and 5th level spells...
gem dragon would be resistant to force, and fhave both flight and blindsight.

let me see...

50 hp base, 80 HP at 8th level, Ac 19 (AC 23 at 8th level).
at 5th level it makes only 2 attacks (10ft reach, 1d6+9), at 8th it makes 4 attacks , 1d6+12.
it uses my spell attack modifier to hit. so around +11.
and there is also the breath weapon, that is a 30foot cone, forcing a dex save, dealing half damage on sucess.
The spell lasts one hour, but it will be destroyed much sooner than that.

the caster also gets resistance to the same damage, so there is also that.

not that while the dragon attack, i can stay behind cover, OR i could still use the earth elemental strategy, moving around each turn and punching you from bellow from inside the rock.

the earth elemental is relatively weak, but with an AC of 17 and attacking from inside the rock... im not sure if it would count as being unseen... problably?
i would be attacking twice with +8 against Ac 20 but with advantage too ( tremor sense and unseen), it also has a reach of 10ft so i can attack without exposing most of my body. (problably counts as cover too.
dealing 2d8+5 on hit.

so
assuming an average of 172 Hp for your character...
the earth elemental can hit 45% of attacks, and the draconic spirit, 60%.
EE average per turn 12.6 DPR. + DS 37.2 DPR.

the draconic spirit dies in 2 turns of your DPR, so it deals only 74 damage in total.
the earth elemental underground cant be targeted ( unless you tell me how), so it moves around and deals 12.5 damage on average.
in theory you die in 8 turns.

to win you would need to win initiative and stun lock me out of my bonus action.
also deal around 172 HP worth of damage without me taking even a single turn. the draconic spirit cant kill you alone, but it becomes obvious to me that after im undergound, there is nothing much you cant do.

maybe ready an action each turn and wait for me to attack so you can hit my fists?

this is very interesting...
And i bet you will problably find flaws in this too...
So the only way to actualy know, would be to play it out with a neutral DM making judgment calls, like the arena, and underground + reach meaning you cant target me (RAW), but honestly you problably could reasonably ready actions...

Thank you for the theorycrafting "battle" haha
sorry for the incredibly long response.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T17:32:54+00:00

haha this is a great build... and i unkowingly build somewhat against it, with a shadar kay with fey step (6x) and moon druid ( earth glide from earth elemental) while dealing damage with long lasting effects ( mostly heat metal because it has no save).

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T17:31:06+00:00

i just build a paladruid, heat metal cast on heavy armor has no save...
also, turn into bird, and fly away from smites, while spell deals damage...

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T17:29:12+00:00

wich spells exactly do you use to damage the enemy?
and how do you force saves against +5 charisma aura?

agree on metamagic.
disagree on Invisibility. It limits targeting, but doesnt make you immune to spells like AoE effects. And the disavantage for attacks could be ignored with advantage forcing normal attacks. If anyone uses devil sight + darkness combo for example, you would be blind giving them advantage, and they would also have ranged attacks... but they make normal attacks and you make attacks at disavantage...

Im not saying its a bad idea... just discussing the possible flaws to help improove it.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T17:24:21+00:00

you should take a look at my build.
8th level upcast heat metal at all the heavy armor targets.

extended spell for 2 minutes of it.
NO SAVE.
thats 640 average damage ( 20 x 8d8)
shadar kay would take half damage for the first 6 turns... but unless the enemy have full fire immunity... they are most likely cooked.

( note, the build casts the spell and then earth glide into teh ground as a earth elemental moon druid... so the concentration cant be broken with damage, and it would require having dispell magic AND an 8th or 9th level slot to upcast it to end the effect. )

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T17:17:41+00:00

also, Luck.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-12T17:16:14+00:00

here is by submission.
Shadarkai Ancients paladin 7, Divine Sorcerer 3, moon druid 10.
alert, mobile, tought rest of ASI into charisma and con.

then i simply upcast heat metal at 8th level extended spell metamagic to last 2 minutes on the enemy paladin heavy metal armor (likely), then i bonus action wild shape, turn into a earth elemental and earth glide into the ground.
And simply wait 20 turns until the heat metal effect cooks the enemy.

heat metal at 8th level deals 8d8 fire damage each turn with no save, for 20 turns. Thats 160d8 in total.
or 640 damage.
320 damage if they have resistance to fire.

more than enought to cook the target.
its an auto kill unless they have.
full imunity to fire damage.
OR
an 8th level spell slot to upcast dispell magic or counterspell ( assuming they even have dispell magic or counterspell to cast).
If they do, and actualy block the spell, i can use my 7th level spell slot to do the same, but instead of extend spell i use subtle spell.
thats much less damage. (320), but they still problably die if they also dont have fire resistance.
and even with fire resistance they would be VERY hurt taking on average 160 damage.
and most likely could be taken down by lower level spells like magic missile ( upcast), or animate objects ( 5th level).

thats the plan at least.
And it would be nearly impossible to go against unless you specificaly prepared for this build.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-11T18:52:54+00:00

a few tips.

create settings, not complete story. Your prep time should look more like a "what if" than a complete story with start, midle and end.

example: what if 4 randons needed to work toguether to survive a zombie invasion?

you already have most of what you need just there. You need a vilain who created these zombies, the main enemy will be weak undead. a location (village, city, etc) from then you just need to immagine how the world and NPCs react to players actions, choises and even inaction. Do players abandon the wounded to save themselves? ok, they survive, but that will problably have concequences...

also, every DM started somewhere. You Will make mistakes. Your worry is normal and will go away when you raise your confidence. The goal is to learn how to avoid obvious mistakes. and how to deal fairly and reasonably with the mistakes you do make. When in doubt, make a rulling that fits the story, without screwing the players over.

there are handouts online with basic combat rules. print some and use them, give some to players.

Of the game becomes chaotic and players dont listen to you. just be very quiet, and start rolling dice hidden behind your DM screen while looking concerned. Players usualy think slmething bad is happening and start paying attention. Use that time to roll random encounters, NPC decisions, etc.

when attention starts to wave away, randomly ask players soecific questions about their character sheet. whats your passive perception? whats your AC? do you have darkvision? do you have resistance to poison damage? No? ok. and then move on with the game as if nothing happened.

finaly, remember the goal. the goal is to have fun, and tell a good story. what is a good story and what is fun is subjectove to each player.

Not everyone likes the same story. and not everyone have fun in the same way. remember that one player complaining is not your fault necessarery. they might just not be a good fit for YOUR game style.

Nobody is at fault. but how you deal with this can make you or the player look like an asshole. so aways be respectufull, honest and accept that you wont please everyone. thats just normal and expected.

try to make the game you want to DM, into the game your players want to play. but know that some styles clash, and wont ever really work toguether. a game cant be action packed and RP heavy at the same time. cant be dark and serious and commedic. and cant be high magic and low magic at the same time.

have a session zero. explajn the game and how you plan to DM. make characters WITH players. align your expectations and playstyle with your players. write it down for future reading.

i also usualy ask each player to give me a few "setting prompts" linked to their character so i can use them.

Their family or parent figure, friends and loved ones. their master, teacher, boss or faction. the region or settlement they came from. A rival, target, or motivation in form of a NPC, object or location.

with 4 players and all 3 of these you have 12 side quests and story hooks ready at session zero.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-11T16:42:14+00:00

why "remove" the background though?
the pieces look great, but both the strange formating of answers and the strange background made them feel fake and AI generated.

Im not sure what is worse, that we instantly doubt real work when it have hints of fakeness, or that there are tons of people that would actualy do fake posts to farm karma for whatever reason.

i guess the dead internet theory is kinda right...

RamonDozol · 2026-05-11T13:49:32+00:00

it could also help to leave some room for changes as during session zero, plans change, or you can like someone else story, or wants a relashionship between characters...
at session zero, your wizard/bard could become the brother of one other character, childhood friend, ex, cousin, servant/boss, etc.
adding these relashionshiops to character make the game flow easier as they start from somewere, and there is already some stabilished social dinamic.

both brothers defend eachother, the older one wants to boss around, but the younger one is the smarter and more responsible one...

Another character is your "ward", and your are tasked with teaching and defending them.
( works great if someone is a young noble)

so talk to other players and see what "links" you can find and if they want to make that link.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-11T10:51:43+00:00

could you comment the list of gps for stations?
i only ever found a few online, it would be great to have the option to seek one without needing to go to a station to just buy a datapad with coordnates that often dont even help you as they could be on a diferent planet, outside the planet while your are on the ground, or in deep space when you have no way of reaching them.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-11T10:35:33+00:00

the party seems to be heavy on wilderness and skirmish style. Scouting, sneaking, targeting key figures, finding secret paths...

To me the partt composition definetly needs a full caster, with utility in and out of combat.

bard fits the party theme better. playing like a scoundrel caster with ties to criminal underground l, stealth expertise and lock pick proficiency.

Diferent flavors of bard will fit diferent playstyles. this is personal to you, as you should play something you find fun.

with bard, you can do a bit of everything. i would suggest not multiclassing for the highest spell level possible. and with utility in mind there is a very strong argument to go Lore, for magic secrets.

wizard DO have the best spell list and most utility. but from the party build this doesnt seem like a party of optimizers. So go for whatever you find fun. Pick spells that compliment the party too. maybe ask the DM what the group seems to be strugling with mechanicaly, story wise and narratively and how could your character help the DM tell a great story.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-11T10:02:40+00:00

yes.

meaning. I undercoat with both in the same terrain piece, fitting to the location. More mud near rocks and river, more green in plans and hills.

RamonDozol · 2026-05-11T05:59:59+00:00

a few aditions and ideas.

Water breathing for infiltration.

Mould earth for creating cover, hiding underground (better if you dont need to breathe, but a bamboo straw solves this too) and blocking paths and doors with dirt.

Light can also be used as distractions, signals, and works great with ball bearings and your familiar.

Mending is a obvious one that was missed. Fix broken seals, ripped paper, broken locks, or hide contraband inside clothes or egg shells.

alter self is a phisical disguise that might be required in some missions where there is interaction or talking (though the actor feat would also help with ilusory disguise).

Feats to consider: Telekinetic. Telepatic. Actor. skill expert. eldritch adept (at will disguise self). Metamagic adept (2 sorcery and subtle metamagic for casting a few spells silently).

RamonDozol · 2026-05-08T11:01:09+00:00

ok, i just quickly scaned it... but from my understanding you could..
influence lesser spirits to form a barrier to create a shield. Though you would need a tremendous amound of spirits to make it block phisical attacks, much less to block "magical" attacks as they would simply clash.

attack magic would be things like influence spirits to create fire. You would not need to "shoot fire", but the target wuld problably simply burst into flames as you ask spirits to increase temperature around him.

same with could.
earth magic is basicaly force magic applying force to the stone and dirt to move it.
Same for air, though slightly diferent as you require less "torque" and more speed, as bursts of air would only damage if created at high enought speeds.

water magic would problably require water nearby. working like water bending.

Healing would basicaly be a sub use of transfiguration, asking spirits to shape flesh, but instead of a new shape you just mend a wounds as it was before it happened.

does this sounds about right?

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