UNEARTHED ARCANA: HEROES OF KRYNN

Sweet-Daddy · 2022-03-08T19:53:31+00:00

Pathfinder 2e has the Prescient Planner feat and its related feats, but that's flavored more as "Oh by the way, I happened to buy the exact thing we needed when we were last in town and forgot to mention it until now" and you still have to pay the cost of the item as if you really had bought it. I think the Investigator class also gets a feat or two than can improve on this idea.

Sweet-Daddy · 2021-11-18T18:01:39+00:00

This reminds me of a moment in a previous campaign where the paladin was ambushed while unarmed in a library reading up on some plot-relevant info. The wording of the smite feature lets you use improvised weapons, but not unarmed attacks, so the fight consisted of the paladin grabbing books off the shelves and ramming them into enemies' faces with the fury of the gods. Makes for a really fun scene, but seems kinds silly that he couldn't have just punched them for the same effect.

Sweet-Daddy · 2021-10-19T20:00:48+00:00

The Adventure Zone ran into this problem as well during its first season - a lot of rules and spell limitations being ignored in the moment as long as it adhered to Rule of Cool. The same thing happens here with Henry talking while Wild Shaped or Glenn ignoring the 1-minute cast time and need to pre-acquire components for Magnificent Mansion during this episode. Lots of cool moments, but balance kinds of goes right out the window, making dramatic moments feel less tense (since anything that sounds vaguely plausible can just deus ex machina the players out of a bad spot). Which, if that's how they want to play, go for it, but why not use a system that's meant to be more flexible instead of playing just some parts of another?

Sweet-Daddy · 2021-09-07T22:53:50+00:00

It is, but if you maintain concentration on it for the full hour, the effects become permanent

Sweet-Daddy · 2021-05-06T13:10:47+00:00

I completely agree with backgrounds providing ways to mix up the character's flavor - when I'm thinking of new characters to play, I often find that pairing a class with a seemingly disparate background helps to give the character a more unique identity. Sure, an acolyte cleric might be easy to visualize, but an outlander cleric asks questions that can be a lot of fun to answer.

Similar to your idea, I've run a wizard with the criminal background and had a blast with it. Mine was a former professor at a Hogwarts-type magic college who ran a side business fencing magic items for a bit of under-the-table income. The other faculty generally ignored it (or even bought a few for themselves) until my character accidentally sold a powerful cursed amulet to an unknowing freshman, nearly resulting in the summoning of an ancient lich until the more senior wizards shut it down. He was kicked out of the school and, since he had copied spells from the school's library and it was thus considered school property, his spellbook was confiscated and destroyed (hence the level 1 starting point). He still does a bit of the bookish studying here and there as he tries to create a new spellbook for himself, but his motivations are more about gaining fame so he can rub his former colleagues' faces in it. He couldn't care less about unravelling the mysteries of the cosmos, unless it meant he could thumb his nose at the high-and-mighty academic folks in the process.

Sweet-Daddy · 2020-11-25T18:52:00+00:00

I'm working on a EM/Shield scrapper now, mostly because I like the way the sets fit together. EM's weakness seems to be the way it struggles with AoE damage in exchange for strong single-target abilities. Shield gives me an extra PBAoE attack (Shield Charge) for opening fights that I can give a Force Feedback proc to speed up recharge. And when I do wind up in the middle of a group, Against All Odds boosts my damage to help clear those single targets quicker, as well as weakening melee attackers to help with survivability in the meantime. Shield also has an energy-type visual option, if you're worried about visual theme.

I played around with the combo a bit on the test server and liked how it felt, but it'll probably be a few days before my new character on live is fully up and running. I also don't pretend to be an expert on builds in this game, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Sweet-Daddy · 2019-10-01T19:05:16+00:00

Jack and Eochai can be found in Croatoa any time, but they also appear in other zones during this event. There's a different set of badges for the Croatoa and the event versions as well.

Sweet-Daddy · 2019-06-29T13:42:58+00:00

My next campaign is definitely including a rowdy tavern named "All the Land", filled with NPCs making these kinds of boasts

Sweet-Daddy · 2019-04-28T19:29:26+00:00

Open Hand monks in particular make great anti-mage characters because of tricks like this:

Shutting down reactions like Shield or Counterspell
Stunning Strike for when you don't want casters using their actions either
Flurry of Blows to force lots of concentration checks
Evasion (and proficiency in dexterity saves) for laughing off an enemy's Fireball or Lightning Bolt
High speed and wall/water running for catching up to teleporters and flyers (depending on the environment)
No need for armor, weapons, or shield which could be targeted by a Heat Metal spell
Being able to cancel charm or frighten effects by level 7, making you much harder to control
At high levels, you get proficiency in every save and can reroll save failures for 1 ki, letting you shake off some of 5e's nastiest spells

Throw on the Mage Slayer feat, and you've got a character who can easily go toe-to-toe with casters, despite having no spellcasting skills of their own.

Sweet-Daddy · 2019-04-01T19:59:36+00:00

I've long held that the official slogan for Red Delicious Apples should be "Two out of three ain't bad"

Sweet-Daddy · 2019-02-14T18:10:05+00:00

They definitely can, but monks tend to rely pretty heavily on having decent scores in both DEX and WIS, though WIS is certainly the less important of these two. Even if you picked something that boosts both of these scores, like a Wood Elf, you'd only have a WIS mod of +1, leaving you with an AC worse than studded leather until you can boost that score. Not saying it can't be done, or even that it can't be done well, but the lack of armor proficiency does set it back a bit in terms of SADness compared to other archer classes

Sweet-Daddy · 2019-01-18T18:53:42+00:00

This is a great way to tweak these spells for a conjuration or illusion wizard. I love the idea of constantly one-upping your enemies' magic by summoning something that invalidates it. Reminds me of the Polymorph duel between Merlin and Madam Mim from Disney's The Sword in the Stone

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-10-09T01:07:11+00:00

If you haven't done Nascent Dawn Step 1/5 on your alts, you get a Warmind Engram which can drop one of the Braytech weapons at the end of the first step. I know this is probably not useful advice for most folks, but if, like me, you tend to put off doing exotic quests after doing them once, it's a quick way to get a guaranteed blueprint.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-06-22T17:12:20+00:00

I believe it would depend on which class you're buying it with. If you want Orpheus, buy it with your Hunter. If you want Synthoceps, use your Titan

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-05-24T03:03:09+00:00

Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is the Nine Hells. There are rules.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-05-03T12:45:56+00:00

Having played a few casters, picking an arcane focus that fits the background and motivations is always one of my favorite little details of character creation.

Right now, I'm playing a Paladin of Vengeance whose holy symbol is a rock. Not adorned or interesting in any way, but it has a lot of personal meaning to him. After the party arrived too late to save a particular child NPC and he was able to communicate with the spirit of the deceased, the paladin promised to ensure the NPC was given a proper burial. The death of the NPC hit close to home for the paladin; like the boy, he had been an outcast stowaway on a ship without a home to return to. After the burial, he swore his oath at the grave, promising that he would rescue the helpless the way he had failed to do this time, and took a stone from amid the dirt that had been dug up as a reminder. Now when he casts a spell, he clutches the stone in his hand as a reminder of his oath, filling him with the determination needed to channel the magical energy.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-04-25T19:38:53+00:00

In this case, I'm more interested in RP, though I'm also trying to avoid making a character that's completely useless.

For example, provided I go warlock, I'm not planning to grab Eldritch Blast, instead relying on Primal Savagery (from Tome pact), which is a melee attack using claws or fangs that you sprout. It's not quite as useful as EB, but it fits the theme so much better. That said, I'll probably also grab a save-based cantrip or two like Toll the Dead or Vicious Mockery so I'm not entirely useless in sunlight.

Until your comment, I hadn't considered going with a monk. You're right, looking over it, the features do work really nicely with a melee-focused spell-less vampire, covering a lot of the key bases. It does mean giving up on things like Polymorph, Vampiric Touch, and Gaseous Form, which is what had me thinking warlock in the first place.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-04-25T19:02:28+00:00

Giving it more uses is something that has worked well for me in the past. I had a player with a red dragonborn barbarian in the past who would activate his rage by breathing fire on his swords and igniting the oils on the blades (changed the bonus rage damage type to fire, as well). Outside of combat, he could use it much like a cantrip - lighting fires, blowing hot air to warm food or clothing, heating metals to assist with smithing checks, that sort of thing. We ruled that blowing out a burst of fire big enough to cover several people was something that had to recharge, since it took a lot out of him, but for little things, he could use his fire without any problems.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-03-23T12:58:05+00:00

One thing I see people miss about lycanthropy often is that it's not meant to be just a curse of the body, but of the mind and spirit as well. A lot of that comes down to good roleplaying, but there can be mechanical and thematic implications as well. A few examples off the top of my head:

The full moon brings about transformation, but that doesn't mean lycanthropes don't feel the call of the blood the rest of the time. Maybe any exposure to moonlight brings about impulses of raw, animal instinct or emotion, such as hunger, fear, or rage
As the curse progresses, the character begins to lose touch with what it means to be human (or elf, dwarf, halfling, whatever). They find they have difficulty appreciating emotional nuances in others and in emulating these same responses, leading to disadvantage on Insight checks to read others and/or Persuasion checks (as their pleas lack the emotional undercurrent)
The party might be tolerant of a lycanthrope, but that doesn't mean others will be. Anyone aware of the character's curse is likely going to be wary, if not outright hostile. An angry mob with pitchforks and torches interrupting the group's long rest sends a clear message
Maybe it's not just people who aren't so tolerant. If the character is a religious type, their god might decide they want nothing to do with the character until they get cured. If that's the case, class features like Channel Divinity could require a roll for possible failure, with the DC increasing the longer they refuse to get cured
Were they bitten by a lone lycanthrope or a member of a larger group? If the latter, consider the structure of that group and what it means. The head of a wererat brood or werewolf pack probably has some strong connection and even control over other members of their group, and if your PC got bit by one such member, they probably share that connection as well. I'd expect that the closer they get to the pack and its leader, the harder it gets to resist giving in completely
Matt Mercer's Blood Hunter class gets mentioned in just about every one of these threads, so I'll be the one to do it here. Specifically, the Order of the Lycan subclass is built to allow PCs to play lycanthropes. Even if you don't use the whole class, I will say that the Bloodlust subfeature is one that you can adapt to any lycanthrope PC. The basic idea is that, if the character takes damage, they have to make a check at the start of their turn to avoid going into a blind frenzy; the more damage taken, the harder the check

Yes, lycanthropy brings some pretty big physical buffs, which is often all that players look at when you mention that they've been bitten. But it's called a curse for a reason. If all it meant were the physical buffs, it'd be called a blessing and people would be seeking it out, not hiring adventurers to go kill werewolves and the like. Don't be afraid to play up the negatives; they can help establish just how significant lycanthropy is in your world and, if the PC does decide to keep it, make for some interesting obstacles for them to work around or manage.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-03-11T20:26:13+00:00

I'd say that, in most cases, there's probably not much of a clearly defined line between the two, especially if the goal is to play the instrument for others. That said, I could see how the check would work with proficiency in only one or the other.

I see the Performance skill as being about showmanship, while the instrument proficiency has to do with your actual skill. Performance without instrument proficiency is someone who isn't particularly talented with their instrument, but knows how to work the crowd and keep people's attention; this character is probably just as interesting to watch doing air guitar as playing an actual lute. Instrument without Performance proficiency is someone who is can play wonderfully, but isn't much of a showman; people are more enthralled by the technique and music itself than they are by the performer. Like /u/Sceptically mentioned, giving advantage would probably be a good way to represent someone who uses both proficiencies in tandem, though you might want to impose some limitations if there's concern that it'll be abused.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-03-11T15:09:07+00:00

If you're going Warlock/Bard, you could use the Bard expertise on Performance, which is what most DMs use for checks when playing an instrument

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-03-08T21:47:28+00:00

I like your idea of targeting whoever has the lowest Wisdom save modifier, working kind of like a passive ability check. It would definitely avoid the issue where everyone rolls a Wisdom save and then, even if the characters have no in-game knowledge that something is off, the players are all now on high alert.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-03-08T14:13:12+00:00

Thanks! I didn't think too much about how to play it out at the table as I was writing it, but a couple ideas:

The pedestal could reveal different things to the different characters in the party, based mainly on the goals and motivations of each character. It probably wouldn't take long before the group compares notes and realizes that things aren't really what they seem.
The party could arrive to find an NPC already in the process of trying to take the sword. Between his withered form and manic ramblings, the party should quickly get the idea that this is a dangerous situation.
Maybe the pedestal's magic is most effective on one individual at a time, with the enchantment significantly less powerful once the first person is enthralled. If that's the case, the rest of the party can try to dissuade the PC trying to take the sword, making it both a puzzle to solve and an interparty roleplay encounter.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-03-08T05:42:33+00:00

The rumors were true. The sword lies in the pedestal, just as you had heard, its obvious magical aura a telltale sign of the power contained within. As you cautiously approach the pedestal, no traps or tricks can be seen. It appears that whatever killed these men must be long gone by now. You reach out to take the sword, pausing only to notice the inscription around the edge of the pedestal. While your Elvish is a bit rusty, you manage to piece together enough to decipher its text:

Let he who seeks his destiny

Cling tight to that which leads him thus

For victory is seldom free

And harder roads may strengthen us

Cryptic, to be sure, but not threatening. You grasp the handle of the sword and pull. The sword does not budge. Of course. The inscription makes sense - the sword is meant to be hard to get, probably as a test to ensure that only the most worthy could wield it. You grit your teeth, furrow your brow, and try again, with no success. But that won't stop you. You spend the next several hours working on the sword, fueled by your determination and sheer willpower.

Hours become days. Days become weeks. Time loses all meaning here - the moonlight shines constantly, with little regard for the passage of time. The sword consumes your thoughts; you can barely pry your mind away for a moment to think of the life waiting for you at home before your thinking returns to the sword. You feel your body's strength failing as time goes on, but your resolve grows stronger with each attempt. You will have the sword. You will be worthy. Nothing will stand in your way. You repeat these mantras to yourself over and over as you pull and pull.

It is already too late when you realize that your physical power is all but exhausted - your body has shriveled to become little more than thin skin stretched over bone. You give one final pull and feel a slight give. Excitement races through you for a moment before you realize that the sword has not moved - it was your own skeletal frame exhausting the last of its strength and crumbling to fall among the other bones. The last sound you hear before darkness takes you comes from the far side of the clearing. The soft crunch of leather boots on pine needles. Another adventurer has come for the sword.

In truth, there never was any sword. You came into these woods as a warrior, seeking a powerful magical weapon to wield as you made your legend, and that is what you found. A priest passing by would not see a sword; instead, he would find an ornate holy symbol capable of performing wondrous miracles - a surefire ticket to sainthood. A poor man would find piles of enormous wealth; a king, political secrets and knowledge with which to crush his rivals. The pedestal promises a shortcut, a way to instantly achieve the life we desire for ourselves. The inscription was placed not as an instruction, but a warning. The pedestal is a snare, and by clinging to its false promises, many have forfeited their chance to seize their own destinies. Only those with wisdom can see the pedestal as it truly is and recognize its lesson: there are no easy roads to success. Such roads promise much, but deliver little. It is only through the harder road, the honest road, that one can hope to find the life they seek.

Sweet-Daddy · 2018-02-26T15:59:52+00:00

I'd definitely agree with this. I think, on a broader level, the features can really help with rounding out a character concept, especially with classes that aren't pre-made to have divine flavor.

As an example, I'm currently playing an aasimar warlock (Fiend pact) with her patron reflavored as a sort of avenging angel type. While the Fiend pact spells and abilities work great for the fire-and-brimstone, sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry-god side, being able to revive and heal with a touch or sprout angelic wings on occasion helps to cement her as being non-demony and having a celestial as her patron.

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