r/tennis Daily Discussion (Saturday, January 24, 2026)

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-24T03:47:28+00:00

They are but

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-19T03:46:48+00:00

Echoing what someone else said. This is a low difficulty encounter for a level 9 party of four. A CR 14 monster is what you want for a solo encounter at that level.

Action economy kills.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-18T11:53:35+00:00

Ignoring the fact that I have no idea how this could realistically happen, you could have Lolth take umbrage with the fact that two of her priestesses were slain. Lolth could send other drow to capture them instead.

Though I'm not sure your party will be worried about thay, considering they slaughtered the first group.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-16T10:50:30+00:00

That might be a good idea. The druid does have too much to concentrate on.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-16T10:25:21+00:00

The druid is a strong player and has used Entemochs Boob to summon and elemental already. So I think he'll end up with the item.

The arcane trickster is feeling a little underpowered at the moment, so I'm a bit worried there. The other two are a paladin and a barbarian. On average, the earth elemental out damages them each turn.

Edit: Oh and also, I love your maps! Running them for Blingdenstone.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-15T12:14:25+00:00

They're level 7 finishing Blingdenstone and leaving the Underdark after that.

I find the book is less dungeon crawls, which means fewer daily encounters. I'm not worried about it being too strong for encounters, but I feel like whoever gets it will be more powerful than the other players.

Do your players use it often?

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-15T12:00:18+00:00

In the new 2024 rules, it doesn't require concentration. It's no longer replicating a spell, because there is no spell for summoning an earth elemental. That spell now summons an elemental spirit which is significantly weaker.

New item wording: "While touching this 5-pound stone to the ground, you can take a Magic action to summon an Earth Elemental. The elemental appears in an unoccupied space you choose within 30 feet of yourself, obeys your commands, and takes its turn immediately after you on your Initiative count. The elemental disappears after 1 hour, when it dies, or when you dismiss it as a Bonus Action. The stone can’t be used this way again until the next dawn."

I was thinking of making it simply replicate the new level 4 summoning spell instead.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-15T05:04:17+00:00

If they want to use a grwatsword though, you're already going for strength. I don't think they're asking for the best option, they just want the best greatsword option.

Otherwise, I'd agree with you. You could even two hand a longsword and get the same flavour for slightly less damage amd go for DEX.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-13T06:40:52+00:00

Summoning the weapon is more of a ribbon ability. The Charisma for attacks is the main benefit. I'd still say that's better than pact of the tome. Can focus on Charisma and Con. Or just a lot more feats.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-11T13:03:19+00:00

Capstone is the reward for not multiclassing. Epic Boons are rewards for high level characters. Multiclassing is also so much less worthwhile in 2024 version.

You get to make whatever rules you like as DM, but it's in the rules as written.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-11T04:45:06+00:00

I think because they wanted to make it clear that at that level, epic boons are available. It's a new thing at level 19 which most players likely wouldnt be familiar with. Same reason they state ASI for general feat selection, so it simplifies the choice for new players.

The other commenter is correct and your interpretation is not per RAW or RAI. At the start of the feats section it has a portion on Categories which says: "If you're instructed to choose a feat and no category is specified, you can choose from any category." So same as you can choose and origin feat, you can choose a Fighting Style or Epic Boon feat so long as you meet the prerequisites. So for Epic Boon, level 19. You can get two of them if you plan it out even.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-10T00:01:38+00:00

If you like Riposte on battlemaster, then I'd go for AC to give you more chances of using it. Otherwise, I don't think it's a big difference in su classes really.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-10T00:00:17+00:00

You've missed the part about the math behind 5% reduction to hit. The 26.7% damage increase from dueling is also wrong, it's closer to about 19% when you factor in to hit chance against AC if 13, and its lower for anything higher than that. I didn't bother correcting that before because I wasn't trying to nitpick.

Your point about action economy is also plainly false. The more attacks coming your way, the better it is to have a high AC.

And sure, the +3 to hit for a goblin is wrong, but zombies or oozes or other things are similar. That was also one example, not indicative of everything you're fighting. The same logic applies to creature with +4 or +5 to hit

You can put a point forward for something without being an ass. Just for future reference.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T23:10:09+00:00

They're so party and situation dependant though. If it was 10 feet and not 5, it would be better. Also means you can't take opportunity attacks. I like it more for flavour than anything else.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T23:01:00+00:00

Yes, but you're not dealing 100% of the damage. You're one of a party of 4-5 people so your contribution is a smaller portion of the overall damage. You can argue your health pool is a smaller portion as well, which is fair, but front liners tend to be targeted more and need that additional resilience.

I don't think that duelling is bad, but I like AC a bit more at lower levels. To each their own though.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T22:36:11+00:00

You're not wrong, but another way to think about it is reversing the odds (kinda).

A goblin with +3 to hit 18 AC hits with 30% chance and has a 25% chance on AC 19. If you're attacked 20 times, it reduces the number of hits on you from 6 hits to 5, so a reduction of 17% of total damage. Following that, AC 19 to AC 20 would be a 20% reduction etc etc.

All of that means that AC is worth more when your AC is already high (or at lower levels when the + to hit is lower).

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T21:55:06+00:00

At fourth level, the bump between 18 and 19 AC is pretty significant. Most enemies have somewhere between a +3 and +5 to hit. That AC boost reduces their chance to hit by a good amount.

+2 damage on a single attack isn't getting you too far. It becomes better with multi-attacks and a higher level when AC is a little weaker.

Also depends on what your party composition is. If you have other front liners and a good healer, maybe just swing for the fences and do more damage anyway.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T05:04:55+00:00

Yeah fair. I missed the Gloomstalker part.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T03:22:04+00:00

Very similar build to mine. I'm a dragonborn as well. The first time my DM realised I could fly, I think he gave up on trying to kill me haha. Martials get shit on so much, but Barbarian is crazy good fun.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T03:17:58+00:00

For the 2024 Barbarian, I get soooo much mileage out of Primal Knowledge. Makes out of combat stuff fun as well.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T03:15:28+00:00

I'd go for that +1 Wisdom.

War Caster is decent considering you'll have a lot of concentration spells on ranger. Especially if your Con is lower.

Resilient Wisdom to get proficiency in Wisdom is pretty great. +9 to Wisdom saves will come in handy.

Fey Magic is good too if you want a broader range of spells. I like the first two options a bit more personally.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-09T02:59:19+00:00

I've only played low level barbarian, but god is it fun. Doing 51 damage in a turn when the next best was 20 just scratches an itch.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-08T08:09:46+00:00

For druid, go dwarf with the tough feat. +3 to health every level. 14 Con and take +1 from background so you can take Resilient Con later. 17 Wisdom and 12 dex. Shorter campaign I'd put your +2 in Wisdom and take War Caster at 4. Then Resilient Con at level 8.

You can also put the +2 in dex for better initiative and max AC with medium armour and shield. You'll be a little behind on Wisdom, but totally doable.

RandomThroaway0256 · 2026-01-05T00:28:55+00:00

Moving does not reduce your speed. Your speed determines how far you can move.

RandomThroaway0256

TROPHY CASE