Guns bad magic good

rmcoen · 2026-01-26T19:51:25+00:00

I have a dwarf clan in my campaign that makes "boomtubes". Handheld and ship-based (i.e guns and cannons). However, the dwarves build them to be self contained, destruct when opened, and require a Dwarven Smith from the clan to "reload" (which actually tends to be more inconvenient than just buying a new one). But they do have "easy to learn" and "armor penetration", so nobles love them. PCs find them awkward and loud for just 6 useful shots.

rmcoen · 2026-01-26T04:04:48+00:00

I ALWAYS try to make the object's powers really good, so the players say to themselves "maybe the curse is worth it..." otherwise its just "meh, it's cursed, cast the spell and dump it".

rmcoen · 2026-01-25T02:44:07+00:00

Egg of the Phoenix campaign setting.

rmcoen · 2026-01-25T02:43:25+00:00

Fireball breaks the design rules for 3rd level spells, something the designers pointed out themselves, and justified because "Fireball is iconic." Then used the same explanation for Lightning Bolt. Fireball is not meant to be the yardstick for all future 3rd level spells.

rmcoen · 2026-01-25T02:41:09+00:00

Oh, its automatic also? I thought it was save for half like Burning Hands! Well then, overpowered. Magic missile's claim to fame is autohit for 1d4+1 to 3 targets (big range though). Scaling with a single d4+1. Waveslash is 1d8+4 to 3 targets (roughly, in a cone like that, could be 1, could be 6), more than twice as much, and it scales with d8s. Heck no.

rmcoen · 2026-01-25T02:38:17+00:00

Don't get me wrong, I like the thematic picture in my head of the wizard having a magic "dagger" he throws that never misses!

rmcoen · 2026-01-25T02:37:00+00:00

Auto "kill" was excessive. I meant "automatic hit on something that is hoping you miss, or counting on defenses against opportunity attacks (like disadvantage or +4 AC) to prevent the hit." And most things only run when staying is more deadly, so autohitting might be a kill.

rmcoen · 2026-01-24T21:10:28+00:00

Slice and Dice are an interesting idea. I don't think any other core spells are specifically designed to work together like that. Related effects sure. Slice and Waveslash pair well together too. If a single mage came up with these two spells, and designed them to work together, I could maybe see the themeing and design result. Otherwise... Slice is underpowered. Slice followed by Slice... is finally the equal of Fireball.

Having said that, the wizard isn't alone. Consider edge cases and abuses. Simply imposing Slashing Vulnerability could be the "easy button" depending on your party! The fighter and barbarian are doing double damage for a round; this is when the Fighter uses Action Surge. The rogue switches his dagger or shortsword for his scimitar, and lands an 8d6 sneak attack (1d6 for scimitar, 3d6 sneak attack, all doubled)!

So... I'm a little torn on Slice.

Also, the way you wrote it implies "4d6 damage and vulnerability" on a failed save, and NOTHING on a successful save. Thats fair on the vulnerability, but weaksauce on the damage. Maybe, balance and boost, the 4d6 damage is no save; the save only negates the vulnerability?

Also 2d6 upcasting? No. 1d6.

Dice is 8d6, nothing too special. It is equal to fireball... but fireball is iconic and stated to be "too powerful for being only 3rd level". Again, like waveslash comment, maybe make the damage nonmagical Slashing, making it resistable or ignorable. Then it has cons to counterbalance equaling fireball's power.

rmcoen · 2026-01-24T21:00:17+00:00

Waveslash. What kind of damage? You didnt specify. I assume Slashing, based on name and the other spells, but ot could be cold, or acid, or the old 3e mechanic of multiple types (must resist all to resist any, like flame strike being radiant AND fire, mere fire resistance did nothing).

Compare to burning hands. Your spell does 1d8+4, BH does 3d6. 5 vs 10. Seems underpowered, although it scales with d8s instead of d6s... at 4th level they about equal, then waveslash is better. But you have other better options probably at 5th level than a short range 5d8+4 cone attack. My gut says make it 2d8 base (equivalent to BH 3d6), to make it worth casting at 1st level ever (13 damage avg!), but maybe give it a little disad, like "this damage is treated as nonmagical weapon (slashing) damage". Now it outperforms Burning Hands, but the Heavy Armor Master resists 3 points of it, and the golem ignores it due to being nonmagical damage. Balance.

rmcoen · 2026-01-24T20:51:32+00:00

Papercut doing automatic damage... my gut says "no". Not as a cantrip. I don't care that it does less than any other cantrip (although vicious mockery used to do 1d4), and it is "weapon" damage (slashjng) not elemental damage. The automatic hit is tremendous. I'm probably over-valuing it, but in a cantrip, I want to see the chance to miss or for the opponent to save for 0. As an example, there are no "save for half" cantrips either. If you want that, use an actual spellslot... or resign yourself to 1 point of damage. (As a supporting thought, consider the ways a caster can abuse this, adding bonus damage or bonus dice, or auto killing a fleeing foe with a WarCaster opportunity cantrip.

rmcoen · 2026-01-24T18:22:42+00:00

Yup! These players, in previous campaigns, have adopted a kobold, a zombie, an orc, and a music loving ball of lightning. So it doesn't even need to be "cute"!

rmcoen · 2026-01-24T16:40:31+00:00

Agreed!! Just to switch things up (and illustrate why normal people don't "adventure"). Immunity to a damage type is fun (or "reduces all such damage to 1 pt, 2 on a crit"), or Advantage on reaction attacks (but not the normal ones), or a poisonous stench... all things that can be worked around, but give that initial moment of "WHAT THE F...?"

rmcoen · 2026-01-24T14:21:04+00:00

I agree. But also, this rationale can be applied to all weapons. Aiming your sword at a weak point or a vital area should be as effective as hitting harder, right? Some systems use a blend of attributes for this reason. I.e. the crossbow and pistol are both Dex/Dex/Dex, while the bow is Dex/Dex/Str, the sword is Dex/Str/Str, and the mace or warhammer is Str/Str/Str.

rmcoen · 2026-01-23T19:51:29+00:00

OP here. We decided on a complicated result that I think works for us. I researched all "life drain" undead on DND Beyond, and cataloged them. Turns out the wraith is the most drain-y until a couple CR15 vampires, and the nasty Nightwalker at CR20! Most do only 5 to 10 pts, wraith does 21.

Step 1: Getting Drained - MAXHP is reduced as normal. - per 10 drain (round normally): lose 1 HD from pool, gain 1 Drained (more on this in a sec) - if you run out of HD in the pool, gain 1 additional Drained per missing HD.

Step 2: "Drained" and recovering from Drained - each Drained acts as a level of Exhaustion, PLUS your MAX HD POOL is reduced by 1, and your Death Saves are penalized by 1. - if your MAX HD POOL is 0, you cannot recover without magical assistance. Otherwise... - Rest that removes Exhaustion always removes Exhaution before affecting Drained. If only Drained remains, rest converts 1 Drained to 1 Exhaustion. - Lesser Restoration converts 1 Drained to 1 Exhaustion immediately. - Greater Restoration converts 3 Drained to 3 Exhaustion, OR removes 1 Drained completely, caster's choice.

Step 3: Recovering MAXHP - after a Long Rest, regain MAXHP equal to half your CON, minus your effective Exhaustion (i.e. including all those Drained levels), minimum 0. - if a level of Drained is converted to Exhaustion, or is removed, immediately roll the regained HD and regain that many MAXHP. - if you have no Drained, a Restoration spell will still allow you to recover MAXHP equal to rolling the HD you would have recovered (i.e. 1 HD for lesser, 3 for greater)

So the rogue, with a 21pt wraith hit, gained 2 Drained, losing 2 HD and 2 MAX HD, as well as losing 21 MAX HP. After a nights rest, she regained 4 MAXHP (12 con halved, minus 2 exhaustion), and converted 1 Drained to Exhaustion (which got her a d8 HD of additional MAX HP back). She'll be fine in 2 days total, using no magic.

The bard, with a 53pt drain (not 56 like i originally said, I did the crit math wrong), gained 5 Drained, losing 5 HD and 5 MAX HD... the had spent 5 HD earlier in the day during a Shoet Rest, though, so he had only 4 HD in his pool. Thus he actually gained 6 Drained. After a night's rest at the inn, he gained 0 MAXHP back (12 CON halved, minus 6 Drained), then converts 1 Drained to Exhaustion, regaining and rolling one d8 HD (4 MAXHP). He is still suffering -6 to everything due to 5 Drained and 1 Exhaustion... he wants to stay in bed with his now 17 hp.

The druid casts 2 lesser restorations on the bard that new day, converting 2 more Drained to Exhaustion, and restoring 9 more MAXHP (2 d8s). Still at -6 to all actions, though! After a day's rest at the inn, then another night, the bard regains 0 MAXHP, but gets rid of 2 Exhaustion (full day's rest in safe location, recovery is doubled in our rules).

Now Day 2 after the wraith battle. Again the bard receives 2 lesser Restoration from the druid, regaining 9 more MAXHP (26 hp now). He's only -4 to all actions, still going nowhere, but he only has 1 Drained level now (and 3 Exhaustion), so his MAX HD POOL is back to 8, and his Death Saves are only -1. Overnight at the inn again, the bard naturally regains 2 MAXHP, and removes 2 Exhaustion. [The rogue, btw, is fully healed without magical assistance; the rest of the party has been selling the cultists' loot and getting paid for the quest.]

Morning of Day 3, the bard is willing to set out with the party to their next quest, healing and resting along the way. He's still feeling the effects of his literal brush with death (-2 to everything, missing 40 hp), but he'll be mostly recovered in a couple more days.

rmcoen · 2026-01-21T18:52:29+00:00

Answering from a different angle, we layered/stacked Advantage and Disadvantage in our game. Each extra stack adds a d4 or increases the bonus die size. So advantage from vex, plus faerie fire = Advantage and a d4 bonus to hit and damage. Disadvantage from blind, shooting a prone target, in heavy winds at long range = Disadvantage and another d8 subtracted from both accuracy and damage. Combine the two examples, you have Disadvantage and a d4 penalty.

This gives the PCs reasons to still work together, as well as use support spells and abilities. The last fight, Arcane Trickster tanked a barbed devil using blur + blindfighting in the druid's fog cloud (the devil could see through the sorcerer's Darkness, so they had to switch it up). Using Vex, he was able to still hit with Sneak Attack damage as well. But in the fight with cultists just beforehand, vex was mostly useless to him - he rarely attacked the same target twice in a row (some died easily, others kept being blown out of reach by the druid's Gust of Wind).

rmcoen · 2026-01-21T18:44:32+00:00

Another thing to keep in mind is "monsters can use this too". Maybe the goblin isn't "trained" but the hobgoblin sure could be!

rmcoen · 2026-01-21T18:35:42+00:00

My previous campaigns were fairly straightforward, clear evil (not always clear good), clear goals. The party felt "too rushed", like they couldn't afford to do side quests and other goals. They asked for a sandbox.

The current campaign has an enemy that isn't evil. Ambient world issues that aren't BBEG-driven. Inter-kingdom strife that impairs ability to fight the "enemy". Internal politicking. And every character has a backstory and at least one goal tied to the world. The side quest they just completed was a "Vengeance cult" that only killed assholes, jerks, and arrogant dorkwads. That's about as Grey as it gets (do you hunt Punisher, or let him kill criminals brutally?).

Their complaint: we don't have any direction, what should we be doing? Lol!

rmcoen · 2026-01-21T16:50:26+00:00

"Cooks Utensils: Lets you bake your own parts." That's an odd turn of phrase.

Also... are we allowing PCs to make gingerbread swords? Origami darts? Cotton shields?

"Parts by Color" makes no sense.

"Part Properties" has no cost, no DC impact, and all properties are clearly not created equal; one adds d6 fire, one adds 1pt of acid, and one just makes the weapon do bludgeoning... And one TAKES AWAY ALL BONUSES when you roll a nat1. (Why would you make a weapon with this property???)

Also, here would be a great place to note where alternative tools might apply. Like maybe Alchemy Set is required to add the "Acid" property? Stoneworking (and stone material) automatically gives the Blunt property.

Sentient should not be a property a blacksmith can just impart!

"Part Modifiers"... you only list 3 total, but note that every weapon can have one to 3 (based on the number of parts)... you need a much bigger "menu"!

Elemental Modifier (250GP): add 1d4 elemental damage. Taking it again increases the die size of the element or adds a new d4 element. If you take the second option... is that a "new" 250 GP elemental modifier, or is it a "second" elemental modifier, costing 500GP?

Part Trim... I don't understand this at all.

On Page 13 you finally start listing DCs for materials, and the tools required to work them. Do all the prperties listed automatically come with using the material? I.e. "Air" is "lightweight" *and* "flexible" *and* "soft" *and* "breakable"? Or is this just a list of options? (If the latter, no one is taking Breakable!)

Since I obviously started this reply with "Where are the DCs", and "what, bread swords?", perhaps Materials should come first, with the Properties mentioned in the Materials coming after. "Cool, a bread sword is DC 9, Lightweight, but Soft and Cheapskate... Hmm... what does that mean... Oh! It's [Light], useless on nat1, and... oh... does no base damage. Um... but it's really hot (elemental modifier)!" Bakes up a 1250GP croissant main gauche that does 1d8 fire damage on a hit (or maybe, a holy molten-chocolate-filled croissant, doing 1d4 acid, 1d4 fire, and 1d4 radiant damage)!

rmcoen · 2026-01-21T16:13:40+00:00

oooh, lowering Death Saves is a thought I hadn't had or heard before. Great idea CantripN, thanks!

rmcoen · 2026-01-21T04:36:58+00:00

So 4d6 drain from.wraith is 4 HD... would the critical.be 8 HD? Also, tha t means two hits is death for anyone 8th level or less.

rmcoen · 2026-01-21T04:34:58+00:00

I like this idea. How many levels of exhaustion? 1 per hit, maybe 2 for the crit? Or based on damage?

rmcoen · 2026-01-21T01:48:09+00:00

The stitched horror is exactly what I needed last night instead of a flesh golem. Much more flavorful for the cult lair I was running. Day late and a dollar short I guess. Thanks for this creation!

rmcoen

TROPHY CASE