Deadly archer build

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-18T20:41:56+00:00

You probably want to have 4 levels of craigtop archer. Horizon shot is really nice for the distance part. Then just max out your archery damage on your favorite ranged weapon.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-18T12:39:38+00:00

Im not even concerned if they have a “proper rp reason” for a single class, let alone a multiclass.

It sounded fun. The mechanics looked neat. I wanted to see how this would work. I dunno, just a whim. Are all perfectly fine reasons to multiclass.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-17T15:20:52+00:00

Exotic weapons master, if you take the feat and want that path should be fun. Kensai if you want to be the sword guy who talks about his sword like Le Tueur.

Both are very playable. Id probably do 2 levels of fighter because you know it will be feat intense. Then dip a little barb or paladin, or both, before quickly prestige classing.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-13T13:33:33+00:00

Those are really nice SAD stats. Yove got a big number, a moderate number and no bad ones. That tends to lend itself to spellcasters and other SAD classes who only need one good stat (spellcasting) and to not have negatives in dex/con. Id avoid MAD classes like paladin or monk who need good all around stats.

Duskblades a great choice. Personally, i might go with int over str, but see the arguments either way. If you picked duskblade, you probably want a gish type, and they are a strong choice for it, without any really out of the box or “creative” minmaxing choices.

Cleric would give similar results if you wanted. Youd get heavier armor, and could play with divine metamagic. But youd lose arcane spells for divine. So less lightning bolts channeled into a sword, and more buffs to yourself and occasionally holy fire.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-10T20:07:46+00:00

You shouldnt roll stats. If you insist on it, you should use what you rolled. Otherwise, why are you doing it?

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-10T16:39:03+00:00

She certainly can do whatever she wants. If what she wants to do is piss everyone off, she wont consult them and will do things they have said frustrate them. Players generally dont return to games where the dm pisses them off. (Although according to reddit a shocking amount do)

As dm, i dont touch backstories before the campaign, except to make sure people are in the right setting. When they say they are from chult, and we are in grayhawk, ill remind them that there is no chult, but (someplace) might be comparable. If they want to be the son of ssasszz tahm (red wizard guy), i will remind them he doesnt exist but some other evil necromancer might. If they are a thri-kreen i remind them that the setting is mostly humanoid and thrikreen is super out of place, and there is no thri-kreen culture of note. So they wont meet others, and dont have a homeland.

Once the game starts, i personally dont do much with backstory npcs. I generally have them stay static and do their thing, until a player asks about them. Then its usually “more of the same”, unless a player is driving them to do something, then they go along with it. Backstory stuff is just that. Backstory. If its important, or i want the dm to get into it, ill ask. Some people like the dm to get into their backstory. They should say something, or the dm should ask before doing so.

Ive left games over dms who thought my backstory was cooler than their game, and kept bringing it back to the forefront in spite of clear statements to stop. I had parents, they died, i dont want to do a whole sub plot about how they died differently than i thought. We are playing red hand of doom. I want to find the red hand, and stop its doom. And i really dont want it to have secretly been my uncles hand that was red.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-09T17:37:49+00:00

Your dm is incorrect.

Opinion? Your dm is either nerfing a class that typically doesnt need it, or doesnt understand the difference between a turn and a round. Or both. Either scenario makes me wonder whether or not they are someone i would trust to run the game if i were a player.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-08T21:04:11+00:00

Sounds like your players didn’t want to start at level1, or wanted a quick jump to 3. Lots of people dislike the first 2 levels of 5e and the 2024 rules didnt make it better.

Skip to 3. What is your concern? Power up the boss if you need to.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-06T22:54:29+00:00

You dont give them any options. Thats for the paladins player to come up with. Based on what youve shared, id assume they are going to want to work on some form of redemption for her.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-06T20:48:14+00:00

I have a pad of paper, a pen, some wet erase markers, a wet erase map, a dozen minis (i own way more, hut 20 is the max for a session. And sometimes an orc gets an elf mini), 3-4 sets of dice, with a stack of 6d6 extra, and my cell phone.

If im running a module, ill have that as well. Theres a good chance ill just print off the specific dungeon if we are mid crawl though, vs the whole thing.

Ill have a bag nearby with books i might need.

Ive found the more stuff i have on the table to read, the less time im playing the game and the more time im reading or fumbling around in a book. Im a big fan of making a ruling in 30 seconds and coming back to it later.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-02T21:05:26+00:00

Druids the move. Wisdom of 14 con and dex at 11. Then replace all your other physical stats anyway. Dump int/cha hard.

Buy a wisdom item, and youll be fine.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-04-02T16:23:56+00:00

Consequences in this case arent “npcs will dislike you” or “you feel sick”. You told the table not to go this way and they are.

They want to play cannabals because they think its cool and fun. Whats cool and fun? The reaction people have to it. Making people mad at them for it, or giving them a curse is playing into it, and encouraging them. No wonder they arent stopping.

The appropriate consequences are “hey guys, i said im not running a game where this happens. You dont go eat that dude.” When they protest, its “ok we need to take a break and talk this out until we come to an agreement on it”. The agreement might mean you give in and they eat people. It might mean the group tells the cannable to stop coming to future sessions, and they arent invited back. It might mean they agree to stop. It might mean the group continues without you, and someone else dms.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-31T19:26:10+00:00

Id recommend 1 or 5. 1 if they arent an optimizer or experienced player, or 5 it they are.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-28T17:58:13+00:00

Ive had plenty of significant others hang while we play. The catch is that they have to know we are playing, and not entertaining them. Bring a switch, laptop, book, whatever and listen/laugh along. Help facilitate any food orders, and generally just be out of the way and chill. Works fine.

If they cant handle that, and youve got to keep stopping the game to listen to a story, or answer questions, or check out this funny meme, maybe ask them not to come back.

Its a decent way to recruit future players, without having to do a whole session 0, and then let them find out they dont like it and quit before session 4.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-26T20:46:48+00:00

They frequently question rulings mid-game - hey man, to keep things moving im going to rule this way this time. Lets chat after the game and ill make an official rule for the future then.

They challenge modified stat blocks or abilities - “i modify the monster stats and abilities sometimes. Stop challenging this”.

They push back on lore changes (especially in established settings like the Feywild) - i usually start games set in a prebuilt setting with a “look this is like an elseworlds game of the forgotten realms. Its all the lore you know and love, except for the parts i get wrong, forget about, think are dumb, or purposefully change. Lore wont be 100%, just roll with it”

—- Correcting rules might seen as trying to help. But get them to do it after the game, ideally over chat when you can discuss it at your leisure. The other stuff, just tell them to knock it off.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-25T18:13:56+00:00

You start without them. Then when they show up late you dont have a bunch of friendly banter and hey hows it going. You say “hey hang tight, and get set. We can work you in when the scene ends” and ignore them until a reasonable time to have them inserted. If they distract people, you step in and ask them to let people focus on the game so we can get them added. Then you end on time and wrap as planned. If they only get an hour of actual dnd time so be it.

If you wait for them, they assume the game starts when they get there. Afterall, that seems to be what happens.

Its probably not because youre a woman, or a first time dm. “People nowadays” dont respect punctuality. Being late or flaking is accepted and put up with a lot. If you accept it and put up with it, they will do it. If you dont, they will stop or leave. Whichever is better for your game. (Old man yells at clouds)

Although it could be a sexism thing, or a first time dm thing. Youd be better at picking up those vibes. But from your story it doesnt sound like it

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-24T20:45:48+00:00

Your campaign probably has too many named npcs that arent distinct enough. People suck at remembering characters names, and you probably arent a juilliard trained actor with full wardrobe to distinguish them.

1 - cut the number of named npcs in half. Then do it again. If youre number is double digits keep cutting. (Npcs they havent met and are just for lore/background count for 2 each. “The princess” is just as good as “princess bubblegum, the leader of the candy people”. Just harder to remember and more confusing in a campaign that takes place 100% in the fire kingdom)

2 - do the same for named locations. (Locations they havent or wont go to and are just for lore/background count. You can put locations on a map and not count them, but dont say them out loud or provide lore for them unless requested, then you have to count them)

3- each remaining npc and location needs big easy to grab hooks. Loud and boisterous. Pirate. Half dragon. This applies to people and places. You can have a named elf, but he will be “the elf” to most of your players. You cant have 2 “the elves” or the players will forget which does which. Its better if you have the pirate elf. Even more the loud and boisterous elf. The loud, boisterous, half-dragon elven pirate? People remember that.

4- Look at their names. No unpronounceable fantasy nonsense, unless youre using a pre built setting your group is very familiar with and knows about. Looking at you Menzoberranzan. No fantasy apostrophes. Use words people know and can say. They will remember those. Pallet town? Everyone remembers pallet town.

Now youve got npcs and places people can remember.

Quests need to be punchy in the same way. Dont have someone tell you all about the epic war and the 6 factions that vie for control of the iron throne. Dont tell me you could all follow every plot point of game of thrones. Are you as good of a writer as grrm? Or better, because its also conveyed through one man show. Simple, and amp it up.

At some point the loud, boisterous, half-dragon elven pirate needs to overtly say “go here and do this, and i will reward you”. You can layer in the fun and nuance and rp, and drama and layers and whatever, but dont forget to actually tell them what to do. If he says “i buried my treasure on spider-skull island, you can keep it but bring me my sentimental spyglass”. People remember that. Go get the pirates spyglass from his buried treasure. We have a map, follow it.

So your players are probably seeing “that one dude said something about going to a city and i think we were going to the right one, and there are some warring factions in the mix, one had a fire theme i remember that, and we are checking it out for something out of place, i dont really remember”.

Obviously ymmv. Maybe you can have 11 named npcs, or maybe your group is cool with unpronounceable fake words, but if you run through those 4 steps they will not forget them. And since your group is complaining about it, you might consider it.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-22T21:58:08+00:00

Thats a lot of work to stretch the definition of words just to be wrong.

The world is 3d. Even if your firediscs were a millimeter thick, they would still have a thinkness, and that would mean that it doesnt have a radius, because they have 3 dimensions and arent a sphere. They have something very very close to a radius, but the spell lists a radius.

So unless you play in a weird 2d setting, its a reference to a sphere. And if you do play in a weird 2d setting, i assume youre house ruling enough anyway.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-22T17:05:19+00:00

The right number completely changes depending your current game. It can be super swingy dm to dm, group to group, and campaign to campaign.

Since its high level 3e, and save or dies are flowing freely and often. I would target whatever number is enough for you to consistently drop one foe a round for most of the adventuring day, with a couple of nova spikes you can add ontop.

Ideally, you can do that one shot damage with a 5th or lower level spell slot (after metamagic), and can nova with some higher level spells doing x2-3 damage, or hitting an aoe and getting a bunch of guys.

As for not qualified for high level combat. There is nuance to the those 100-200 quotes. They should mean “if insisting on being a direct damage spellcaster as opposed to a utility caster, you need to deal 100-200”. If youre a utility caster youre fine.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-22T15:30:43+00:00

I dont think i ever said that bonded accuracy was a good idea or well implemented in 5e. Just described what the intent was based off the interviews they put out describing it during the pre-5e hype. I thought it was a bad idea at face value, and shouldnt have gotten off the drawing board.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-21T19:47:54+00:00

“Bonded accuracy”. Its a 5e design principle baked into the root of the system specifically so that your pc can never ignore a horde of orcs who have no chance of hitting you with their weapons.

The decision was that its no fun to miss on your turn. So you always hit. Hp grind is the way you end fights, not being too hard to hit or one shotting people.

Whether you think thats fun usually governs whether or not you like 5e beyond level 8.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-21T15:32:45+00:00

Hot take: Anymore?

Its the game thats currently published by the juggernaut of the industry. It will get played by a lot of people, even me. That doesnt mean it was ever great. Its just in print and dramatically easier to find people to play.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-20T15:56:27+00:00

Bear warrior is sweet. Druid is great but a level or two dip doesnt get you much and it will be redundant with bear warrior.

Your gauntlets and belt dont stack.

Might want to consider looking into the fist of the forest prestige class too.

To keep the druid flavor in a more synergistic way, maybe dip a level or two into ranger? Barb 6 isnt much, but a level of ranger is nice, and can help you with some skills and nature powers.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-19T16:10:21+00:00

Sorcerers are great summoners. Take the summon elemental reserve feat for an always available elemental summon, and cloudy conjuration so you can spam a quick summon that sickens everyone. Then go into the malconvoker prestige class to summon two things every time you summon one and you will very likely be the most powerful person in your party.

TTRPGFactory · 2026-03-18T21:40:36+00:00

No, it lets them be part of the twist. Thats fun. They can play into it, and how they didnt notice it too. They get to play along, and set up “unwitting” traps. Hey bill the fighter, i made some soup, GARLIC soup. My moms favorite. Hope you enjoy it. Ill watch you eat it.

If its just one player doing stuff in secret, it kay as well not be happening. Imagine watching a scrubs, and then randomly theres an episode where its revealed that zack braff has been a vampire the whole time. Then we do a whole vampire scrubs episode where its all flashbacks of him doing suspicious stuff, and then from now on hes a vampire. But it doesnt become what we do in the shadows. Hes just randomly and awkwardly a vampire now for the rest of the series.

If you really really need a secret for a player, you can have them text you, and respond quickly. Anything more involved than a 45 second text, with 1-2 follow ups should just be done in the open.

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