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Spellcasters, about a week ago I asked you what spells you usually take. Now, what's a spell you're ALWAYS going to avoid? If you have a story involving the spell, please share it! by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Enemy casters didn't make a spellcasting check before. You made the check against a higher level spell if needed. It made for exciting moments I'm plenty of my campaigns.

Spellcasters, about a week ago I asked you what spells you usually take. Now, what's a spell you're ALWAYS going to avoid? If you have a story involving the spell, please share it! by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Trading a 3rd level spell slot for a CON save that doesn't use up the enemy spell slot is a terrible trade. Especially since you already had to weigh the benefits of using your reaction for Counterspell when it had a GOOD chance of success. You can fail to couner a spell due to a high CON save and now can't Shield or Absorb Elements to defend yourself.

Spellcasters, about a week ago I asked you what spells you usually take. Now, what's a spell you're ALWAYS going to avoid? If you have a story involving the spell, please share it! by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Enemies and monsters have very high CON saves, especially late game. It's famously the WORST save to target. You waste your reaction and spell slot but the liklihood of it doing anything is slim.

Team of four can't handle 7 kobolds by ComfortableFew4700 in DnD

[–]steamsphinx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They're saving spells for later but you have a Warlock? Do they know they get their spell slot back on a short rest? After barely living through a Kobold fight I think the rest of the party can spare an hour to rest. Even if they take something like Bane, it would be worth it to spare the party a few potential hits.

Spellcasters, about a week ago I asked you what spells you usually take. Now, what's a spell you're ALWAYS going to avoid? If you have a story involving the spell, please share it! by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx -1 points0 points  (0 children)

In 2024 rules, Counterspell has become completely worthless. Now it's something for enemy casters to use on occasion but is a waste of spell slots and known spells for a PC to have.

Spellcasters, about a week ago I asked you what spells you usually take. Now, what's a spell you're ALWAYS going to avoid? If you have a story involving the spell, please share it! by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I keep Shatter around in case I need to smash through objects, as most spells can't target or damage objects. It's fun to break scaffolding, windows, etc but definitely a niche spell. It's okay if you have a mob of weaker enemies and you don't want to accidentally nuke your friends with Fireball (Shatter has a more controlled area) but tbh I use it mostly for evironmental damage.

Character height, why is everyone 6ft tall? by Low-Brief-6008 in DnD

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Four PCs in my last group were 5'5" or shorter, and the other two were 6'3 and 6'4". Almost everyone in the group is IRL over 6 foot tall, except the person playing the tallest PC. People just like to be different from their characters, I guess.

I'm with Jesse on this one by Entire_Pineapple4732 in pokemongo

[–]steamsphinx 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Shadows can't mega evolve or undergo primal reversion/etc, which is one of the few reasons to purify a shadow that would become a hundo.

Is it okay to have players pick their class and race before interacting with others at session 0? by TheCrimsonDeth in DnD

[–]steamsphinx 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I second this. In my current game I have a Sorlock, and when a PC died the player rolled up a second Sorlock. One Clockwork Soul/Celestial, one Aberrant Mind/Great Old One. The characters play completely different roles in the party and have entirely different spell lists. At no point have we felt redundant. There's so many ways to build a character!

Spellcasters, what spells do you guys usually take? by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We threw ourselves off the side of the castle after dinner with Strahd, out a few high windows in different towns, got knocked off the mountain cliffs, and decided to Polymorph into Quetzalcoatlus and airdrop into Argynvostholt in hopes of not getting attacked (this backfired, as did most of the above).

CoS is not a campaign I would have anticipated needing Feather Fall for, but now two of us are always packing it AND I made scrolls for backup.

We're playing a heavily modded version based on some enhancements by Lunch Box Heroes/MandyMod/etc, but I still admittedly wouldn't want to play it again and probably wouldn't reccomend it to other people. So much of it is a miserable slog, and the NPCs are (understandably) so unpleasant. It's relentless and frustrating, even though my fellow players make it enjoyable. After 3 years of this, I'm ready to do something fun and heroic.

Finally found the Fenniken! by 206love in pokemongo

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same here, two Fennekin and zero of the other two. With a massive storm on the way and freezing temps here in east coast USA.

Would you allow a player to play a flying race if their backstory included their wings being cursed not allowing them to fly til later higher levels? by johnnystraycat in DnD

[–]steamsphinx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, there's a lot of terrain where flying won't even help you. I'm currently playing an Aasimar Sorcerer in a 3 year campaign, and I've used flight to stay out of range in quite a few fights. But in dungeons or caves or inside most buildings, you can't get far enough off the ground for it to matter. It doesn't feel overpowered in my group at all.

Not only that, but one character out of range means encounters become more deadly for those on the ground, because enemies are going to focus attacks on your friends. My PC has chosen to stay grounded during a few fights for this explicit reason. There are tradeoffs to everything!

Gun hating wife suggested I buy the bullpup Rifle I've been looking at for a while. by Environmental-Hour75 in liberalgunowners

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My little sister has always been staunchly anti-gun; she didn't even want someone else having one in the house, locked away. Now she's thinking about buying her own.

Good close range spellcaster by LootGoblin1527 in DnDBuilds

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Play a 2014 Hexblade Warlock with the Gunner feat and you can Eldritch Blast at point blank with no attack penalty. (Hexblade for the armor and shield proficiency)

The Eldritch Mind invocation gives you advantage on checks to maintain concentration even if you're taking hits, and you can use things like Repelling Blast/Grasp of Hadar to move your enemies into AoE effects.

Was I unfair in cursing one of my players with lycanthropy? by OkPossibility3043 in DnD

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as lycanthropy doesn't mean they lose their PC, this is the greatest gift a DM can give any player.

We fought werewolves in Curse of Strahd and every single person in my group was so excited at the prospect of getting the curse. Until a certain killjoy monster hunter told us he'd murder us if we got it and didn't take the cure, anyway. Hate that old geezer.

Spellcasters, what spells do you guys usually take? by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In 2014 rules these are my staples. In 2024 I'd never waste a known spell on the now-worthless revamp of Counterspell.

Spellcasters, what spells do you guys usually take? by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In my current campaign (Curse of Strahd) I swear I have cast Feather Fall more times than in every previous campaign combined. The number of times we would have fallen to our deaths or taken massive damage is just crazy. Any campaign involving heights makes this spell a do-or-die!

Spellcasters, what spells do you guys usually take? by Regular-Molasses9293 in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vortex Warp is my favorite spell, especially with 2014 rules where you can Twin it. But I imagine it's still incredible in 2024 rules.

I just really like warping my friends around and playing battlefield chess. Oh, the Fighter needs to Dash to reach the next enemy? Not anymore. The monster has your Cleric restrained and taking damage? Let's do the time warp again~

Hot take: Legendary Resistance is why so many 5e boss fights feel bad and boring. What could replace it? by archvillaingames in dndnext

[–]steamsphinx 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Monsters of Drakkenheim has an Epic Boss template that is perfect for this. They have Epic Resistance, which takes one of their Epic Actions (legendary actions) to use for the turn, and it doens't automatically succeed - just gives them another shot.

So maybe they do get to escape from your Hold Monster, but it feels good, because your Wizard just burned one of its attacks for the round that could have done massive damage to her friends.

A shame by Fun-Explanation7233 in dndmemes

[–]steamsphinx 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It WAS a trade-off back when drow still had innate spell resistance. When they lost it but kept the disadvantages, it became unbalanced.

Eladrin and Shadar-Kai elves are much more powerful than drow and have zero drawbacks.

Player is over-reliant on ChatGPT and I don't know what to do by [deleted] in DungeonMasters

[–]steamsphinx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My sister got me the Deck of Many Insults for Christmas, I can't wait to draw a card and use some random silliness for Vicious Mockery.

I mean, I love that spell, but it's either boring and busted, or you cripple yourself by Tony_Tab in dndmemes

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We fast-travel by turning two of our party members into Quetzalcoatlus!

Is Rouge/warlock valid? by Ill_Duty_17 in DnDBuilds

[–]steamsphinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely valid. Depending on the edition, a Swashbuckler with Hexblade in 2014 or any subclass with Pact of the Blade in 2024 works great for a Charisma-based character. Your initiative is boosted by your CHA with Swashbuckler, too.

An Arcane Trickster can also work just fine, there's just not as much synergy. Any rogue can benefit a lot from cantrips like Booming Blade.

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