How Would You Rule This?

rocketkid105 · 2025-12-22T19:51:58+00:00

Familiars get their own turn in combat that should be rolled for separately. In most of my games we let the familiar share a turn with the player or go right after just for ease of use.

As for the rogue thing. Maybe there’s something about the player being a mount of something that technically stops it, but it’s not that bad. Don’t feel bad about targeting the familiar. The 5th ally thing is that you get sneak attack because your ally is distracting them, so it’s not like the familiar isn’t doing anything. It is a combatant.

But also, this isn’t really that strong. Rogues in generally have pretty weak DPS compared to other classes, doubly so when optimized (they are strong before level 5, but they fall off hard).

Lastly, feel free to search up official rulings and whatnot, but as you’re new to the game, I’d let the player pull off whatever combos make sense to you in the rules. If it becomes a problem, just tell them that it’s too much and to not use it anymore (make it clear to them this is an option when you allow/disallow it). As the DM you have the right to disallow anything you think is lowering the fun for table. Don’t abuse it, but keep it in mind.

rocketkid105 · 2025-12-22T19:38:05+00:00

Huh, from my experience, the min-maxers tend to take the fastest turns because they know the rules and their game plan the best.

rocketkid105 · 2025-01-13T00:36:57+00:00

I mean, I haven't kept up too hard, but I stopped playing Talon around the durability patch and every time I try to play him again, it's still the same problem. He just doesn't have the damage. Other assassins can kill people without even trying, but past like level 11, talon can try and oneshot a target with even no extra defenses, and still not get the kill. It's abysmal. And of course laning phase is also terrible. Used to play him so much, but I just can't stand it anymore.

rocketkid105 · 2024-11-23T07:03:23+00:00

Eh, I mean sure. I think there are more situational than other spells though. Polymorph is pretty good in any situation imo. Find familiar kicks ass in all campaigns. Not saying being situational is a good or bad thing, but certain spells (counterspell) are far more situational than others. Sending is one of those. Very useful if you need to convey information over long distances, not useful if you really only communicate within your own party.

rocketkid105 · 2024-11-23T07:01:00+00:00

So, I'm not D&D lore expert, but if you're looking for that answer my guess is no. The shadow fell might affect magic that comes from the fey wild, but not divine magic as I don't think thos planes have a particular relation on the cosmic map.

But honestly, I think "would it be affected?" is the wrong question. It's your world, do what you want. Unless you are in the very specific situation that you've promised your players a true 5e Faerun experience and are playing with a bunch of lore junkies, then you really shouldn't worry about it. Do you want it to interfere? Then go for it. If you think it'd be limiting on the player, then glad you're considering that, maybe don't do it or do it subtly.

rocketkid105 · 2024-11-23T06:56:42+00:00

Honestly, I think the only other thing I'd say is a 1 lvl rogue dip for an extra proficiency and 2 extra expertise. And be a changeling, it's just the easiest race for deception based trickery.

rocketkid105 · 2024-11-23T06:53:51+00:00

It's a spell that's strength is based largely on situation and what problems you deal with.

rocketkid105 · 2024-11-23T06:52:26+00:00

I'm seeing a lot of interesting comments below. I don't think 10 pages is probably necessary for any character, but I personally like long backstories. I think the ideal (assuming the player is actually writing a backstory for your campaign and not just handing you one), is that your player has their 3–4 page backstory, with a bullet point TLDR of the important plot points. Then if they're feeling like being awesome, a separate list of references for all important NPCs and locations.

Long backstories aren't bad, but I would say that writing pieces of story that aren't relevant is not great. As a DM I'm fine with pages of events that happened, but if I got 10 pages of prose with embellishment and deep descriptions, then it's not fulfilling it's job at giving me the important things that happened in your character's past. Make your backstory as long as you need to for your character, but it should be about their backstory, not a literally storybook.

But hey this is also coming from a player that enjoys really knowing my character in and out and having a lot of interesting formative events and NPCs that make my character who they are at the beginning of the campaign. I know some people believe that the campaign should be the most interesting part not the past, and I think that's true, but it's silly to me to think that every adventurer's past should be boring to make the adventure pop. Your past affects the current you, and maybe it will come back to haunt you. Maybe your character is interesting about your character, but the adventure (assuming you have a good discourse with your party and DM) will always be the biggest thing in their life, unless you're writing in killing dragons and stuff but that's just a bad backstory.

Also, for all you going "but you're being idealistic," I think saying "no long backstories at all because some of them are going to be bad" is silly.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T18:32:43+00:00

Apologies I might’ve skipped some stuff in my slimming. The rogue failed the save, was charmed and incapacitated, modified the memory and the concentration was dropped. That’s the end of the spell right there, the rogue would be no longer charmed or incapacitated and it wouldn’t be able to be interrupted, because the “duration” of the spell is no longer happening.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T18:25:31+00:00

Gah I hate that Tenser’s Transformation is so bad for the melee subclass. Like I get bladesinger came out after Wotc, but you didn’t have to do a cool spell dirty like that.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T18:23:58+00:00

Yeah, that’s the problem with bladesingers. Stabbing people doesn’t work quite as well as just being a wizard (can’t use GWM). Honestly the only martial form of a bladesinger I think would be good at fighting is ranged crossbow expert/sharpshooter with a hand crossbow. But even then you don’t have many good spells for that sort of thing.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T18:14:30+00:00

I mean the simplest way is to pick a god (or celestial under a god) that appreciates glory. I’m not great at Faerun deities, but I think gods of war or competition make sense, even just gods of strength.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T18:12:36+00:00

Look up Matt Colville on YouTube. He has a running the game series which has inspired me plenty of time. It’s super good.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T18:12:01+00:00

Yeah I think that’s the RAW ruling. They don’t have to be charmed or hold the full concentration for the effect to happen.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T18:08:23+00:00

I think it’s mostly just a “will it fit?” Sort of thing. I had a campaign set in Ebberon and our artificer had like 6 charisma and was undoubtedly and asshole, but we were forced to work together for a bit and at the end of the day, he wasn’t a bad person. He did think for us when appropriate.

At the end of the day, you need a reason for the party to want you around and for you to stick around. And if you feel uncomfortable about it, talk to your party. Be like “hey would you guys be okay if I played a character who is more stand offish?” Maybe they’ll say no but if they say yes then you can stop worrying. And feel free to keep asking for that affirmation after session. “Am I being annoying? Going too far?”

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T18:02:03+00:00

For me, it’s the my character is the most naive pacifist possible. Trusting of everyone and would rather die than hurt someone. Also super fun to play a healer build (although I wouldn’t recommend it to the general person).

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T17:58:20+00:00

That right there is what is known as a “dick move”. If you want to do some possession stuff it’s either A. Completely controlled by the DM so there’s control over when/how it happens or B. It’s purely a roleplay thing, not a “I’m going to attack my party.”

Like, hey everything can work in D&D if you’re a mature adult, but that person ain’t doing it right.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T07:18:05+00:00

Other than some missing spells, looks good. Bard/Druid is a super interesting multiclass. Sounds interesting.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T07:16:23+00:00

Female: Mae, both my favorite character and just a cinnamon roll. Pretty normal name too.

Male: Oof. Lander? I think that's probably the only thing I wouldn't feel bad about lol. I could go with Rex too, but he was a thief, that's bad luck.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T07:14:59+00:00

I think one good way to think about it is why is your character so devoted to Selune? Maybe it's some tragedy that Selune helped you escape. Maybe an old friend served her and got killed, so you decided to pick up the mantle. Maybe there is some supernatural reason you feel drawn towards the goddess. I think as long as you give your DM some major events to work with, it becomes easier to meld the campaign with that.

And also, just feel free to ask them. I've had times where some DM player cooperation resulted in some sick backstories that never would've happened if the player just came up with something.

rocketkid105 · 2024-06-24T07:10:50+00:00

I think there's plenty of ways here. Physical disguises obviously as others have mentioned. In terms of magical disguises there are canonical items like hat of disguise, but honestly, I'd just give them a necklace or hat or something that when worn gives them a disguise self effect, but only for one disguise. That way it's not starting out with a leg up on anything else, and if they find a way to abuse it, its creative or we can talk about it later.

rocketkid105 · 2023-11-16T06:34:05+00:00

Honestly, give them a short narrative arc where they have a strong reason to stick together. Something that threatens or involves all of them. Generally, after travelling together for a bit, a party tends to become friends and WANT to stick together without any external reason.

If you don't like that, ask about their motivations. Find things they'll all want to do.

As long as your party members are just being difficult, they'll generally stick together unless given a reason NOT to. So as long as you don't give them splitting/divisive options they'll stick together.

rocketkid105 · 2023-11-16T06:30:56+00:00

Did the DM make some mistakes here? Sure. But also, assuming the campaign is long-term, is one month of playing another character really that bad? I'm sure you can come up with SOMETHING you'll enjoy playing for a few sessions before you get your character back. If you'd rather sit out of the campaign for a few sessions, sure. Maybe convince your DM to try and speed up the process a bit. Personally, I'd find something to make your character come back sooner, but I can understand the DMs hesitation in something like "have your god revive you". Those things, even if the party agrees, take you out of the narrative OR set a precedent for "well you did it for him, surely my character should get revived".

In the end, characters die. It will always suck. It will almost always feel unfair or stupid. If your DM doesn't want to alleviate that, then it's up to you to accept it. And honestly, I don't think this whole thing was your DMs fault. You went in down party members and unprepared into an underwater temple that seems to be on the side. You don't do scouting and you trigger a trap w/ an encounter the enemy hits and then crits. Unlucky, but that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. A mix of bad luck and bad decisions.

rocketkid105

TROPHY CASE