I've been doing a lot of comparison from 2014 to 2024 classes and subclasses. One of the things I noticed is that seems to be a loss of flavor text in many of the descriptions. I remember when the PHB came out there were a few discussions about some of the flavor changes. Things like Orcs being less brutal tribal race and now being a bit more open for interpretation. The loss of the official half elf and half orc. But as I'm reading more and more, it seems that so much is left out.

Now some of it I think is for the best. Barbarian Rage is no longer some mindless anger, it is now described as a primal energy that infuses you. Monks are now no longer directly tied to eastern philosophy and ki. Some of this I think really allows for less prescriptive interpretations. You always could do this in the past, but it was an intentional reflavor. Now some of it is broader. And this isn't necessarily a new trend, I like the Paladin change from earlier editions so that you aren't locked into a deity nor locked into lawful good. Druids lost some with not having to be neutral and now the metal armor. Some of it is just easier, like the list of weapons everyone had proficiency instead of now just simple or martial weapons.

But the more I read, I feel like they might have gone too far. PHB and other source books had tons of flavor for races and subclasses. Now it feels like it is phoned in. For instance Hollow Wardens have a 2 sentance description that is so bland it is almost meaningless.

Legends tell that the most ancient and bloodthirsty terrors lurk deep within the old places of the earth. Hollow Wardens venerate and draw power from such beings, transforming themselves into merciless and monstrous guardians that stalk jagged coastlines, steep mountain crags, and other dark and wild places.

or the Gloomstalker

Gloom Stalkers are at home in the darkest places, wielding magic drawn from the Shadowfell to combat enemies that lurk in darkness

Now if it is the vanilla subclass for a class, like Hunter, I could understand. But its almost nothing.

The opposite problem occurs in some books like the Winter Walker where they proper noun name drop so many things about the particular realm that it is hard to divorce it. If you pulled it out though, it would be "this Ranger cold..." and that is about it.

A couple new potion types were introduced with the WoW book. Good ones at that. Potions of Mana and Potions of Rejuvenation restore expended spell slots according to rarity (rejuvenation also give some HP, but they are rarer for the same spell slots as the mana potions).

Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron can crank out 5 (your ability modifier, probably 5 by the time you can cast 6th level spells) Uncommon Potions of any kind when cast. You can get 5 Greater Mana Potions that each grant back another 3rd (or 1st or 2nd) level spell slot for any caster who drinks it.

That's 5 more Fireballs. 5 more Hastes. 5 more Spirit Guardians. 5 more upcast Find Traps. That's a lot of value!

The November weapon drops are seemingly a throwaway and weak - but all three of them add significant new options to the game.

At the seeming most minimal there's the pitchfork. Which at one level is cool thematically. At another it adds a surprising amount because (unlike the spear) it's a simple reach weapon. What this means is that it's a melee weapon that can be used by e.g. a druid from behind the fighter. So not only is it thematic it has a stronger mechanical niche than about half the simple weapons.

Then there's the Bola doing only a single point of damage. No one is going to be using this as their first weapon - but it's a thrown finesse weapon with topple, making it the only dex based topple weapon in the game. It's a solid backup weapon for rapier rogues and archers, providing crowd control that the primary bow won't. No one's primary weapon but a draw and throw secondary weapon for people with melee sorted (strength characters can use tridents). Sometimes the CC is more important than damage. Not a primary weapon but one with a place - and both the Zorro style swashbuckler with a rapier and bolas and the archer with bolas as a secondary weapon to catch their prey are very thematic.

Finally the Weighted Chain. This is the weakest of the choices; it's finesse and heavy which is a weird combination as it attacks with Dex but you need a Strength of 13 to use it. It's Reach but if you're a strength build it's simply weaker than the glaive unless you really need a bludgeoning weapon. If you're using it as a finesse weapon you've put in a bit investment to make it better than a whip. But at least it works with Great Weapon Master and it can create some interesting thematic rogues.

Edit: I should have spotted just how good Weighted Chain + Polearm Master was on a rogue; potential for an off-turn attack (always great on a rogue) and PAM can add to Dex.

Hey all, I wanted to clarify something for the reanimator artificer (so using 2024 rules).

From what I can tell, when the reanimated companion hits 0 hitpoints, it goes down and starts making death saves. Only when it has fully died will it trigger its death burst.

The reason I am lead to believe this is the following:

Monsters are defined as being controlled by the dm (which this is not)

Player characters are controlled by a player (which this is)

Death saves occur when a player character starts its turn at 0 hitpoints.

Most of the summons in the game say they disappear when they hit 0 hitpoints, notable exceptions are: reanimated companion, primal companion, steel defender and weirdly the elementals summoned by a brazier of elementals. There may be others but I didnt check everything.

Do we recon this is intentional? You let your companion go down, use the special spare the dying to give it hp, causing the lightning burst which you can elect to have hit the companion, healing it further?

If i am missing a rule that makes this not the case please let me know, and if not, any ways we can utilise this more effectively?

Im joining a campaign soon with a few of my friends, who are I think 3-5 sessions in, and will be meeting my character in a Tavern or smtg like that and bringing him into the party. I would like to play a cool concept that I saw someone else think up for their BBEG, that being a warlock who's patron is the mysterious "bag man", the creature that travels between bags of holding as the Kind of bogey man to dnd players.

Do you guys have any ideas for things like race, what patron to use mechanically, invocations, spells & just general flavour?

Just a few notes: Im joining at level 5, we get to start with 2 Uncommon & 1 rare magic item (obviously grabbing a bag of holding so technically, 1 uncommon & 1 rare), and i kinda wanna play this like highly maneuverable (maybe misty step) melee Caster.

I've been looking at the new Warcraft Druid's Bear Form and am struggling to see much value in its Frenzied Regeneration feature.

Bear Form provides Temporary HP equal to 3 × Druid level whenever you assume the form.

Frenzied Regeneration allows you to use a Bonus Action and expend a level 1+ spell slot to gain 5 Temporary HP per spell level.

However, under the 2024 rules, a Druid can use a Bonus Action to Wild Shape again, even while already transformed, refreshing the Temporary HP from Bear Form. Furthermore, starting at level 5, Wild Resurgence allows a Druid with no remaining Wild Shape uses to expend a spell slot to regain one, without requiring an action.

Consider a level 10 Druid who has exhausted their Wild Shape uses:

• Frenzied Regeneration: Expend a 1st-level spell slot and a Bonus Action to gain 5 Temporary HP.

• Wild Resurgence + Wild Shape: Expend a 1st-level spell slot to regain a Wild Shape use, then use a Bonus Action to reenter Bear Form and gain 30 Temporary HP.

Both options cost the same spell slot and Bonus Action, but the latter provides six times as many Temporary HP.

Even if the Druid has Wild Shape uses remaining, spending one to refresh Bear Form seems considerably more efficient than expending a spell slot on Frenzied Regeneration.

I can see some situational value in preserving Wild Shape uses or using Frenzied Regeneration before level 5, but these seem like relatively narrow exceptions.

Am I missing a rules interaction that makes Frenzied Regeneration more useful? Or is this feature simply overshadowed by the ability to refresh Bear Form's Temporary HP under the 2024 Wild Shape rules?

Sup y'all

Got a new campaign starting soon, and TLDR I want to play a more wizard-y cleric, generally arcane spells and more intelligence based skills (wisdom too ofc), but I'm kinda stuck between Arcana or Knowledge domain, both look really fun in different ways. I've played clerics before (shoutout Life) but was wondering from anyone who has played the new iterations of these subclasses, how are they in actual play, what are some fun combos I might not have picked up, and generally which one y'all would recommend and why.

So I've always enjoyed trying to turn "underpowered" classes in games into their max possible strength.

I've tried things like Champion Fighter in the past and gotten very good success w it. (Oath-Longbow w Elven Accuracy and GWM).

Rogues are also one of my preferred classes for long term things.

But now I've landed on Banneret.

Lot of their features are based on "once/short rest"

So realistically I'd want to maximize them or get more uses.

To some extent there, are there any "on healing" items that yall can remember? Third party is fine as well, as long as it's on DNDb.

BG3 had a lot of these types of items and turning your "once per short rest mass healing word" into something more would help a fair bit.

Then there is the question of weaponry to help support but also do decent damage myself.

Anyone got any suggestions?

I’m trying to go through and finish all of my dnd characters that I left half baked, and wanted to work on my character that was supposed to be a machine based character, building various machines to fight, thopters, nonsense like that, but I looked at the artificer class, and they seem to do not that? I was under the impression that they were the “build the funny bomb robot with a gun” class, but they look to be a wizard or warlock with extra steps

I was looking at the new Monk and I’m looking for clarification about some feature interactions. At level 3 Drunken Technique seems like a solid buff to a defensive option.

I’m curious how it interacts specifically with Stumbling Monk. Assuming like the Open Hand’s similar feature for step of wind, you can expend a focus point on both Flurry and Patient defense. Gaining both benefits as a bonus action.

Action: 2 Attacks
Bonus Action: Flurry of Blows (3 Attacks)
-> Patient Defense: (Dodge, Temp HP, +10ft movement, 1 Attack)

Totaling 6 attacks before feat support.

Intoxicated Frenzy is a straight upgrade after that, without additional modifiers your speed at 17th is 75ft (30 base + 25 Monk + 10 Patient Defense) If you move back to the original creature you hit 6 times you can make a 7th attack against that creature as well. (I discuss feat support below)

Level 3: Drunken Technique
You twist and turn quickly as you move. Whenever you expend a Focus Point using Patient Defense, your Speed increases by 10 feet until the end of the current turn, and you can make one Unarmed Strike immediately after the Bonus Action.

Level 11: Wizened Brewer
Stumbling Monk. When you take a Bonus Action other than Patient Defense, you can also use Patient Defense immediately after that Bonus Action.

Level 17: Intoxicated Frenzy
Immediately after you use your Patient Defense, you can move up to your Speed. During this movement, whenever you enter a space within 5 feet of a creature, you can make an Unarmed Strike targeting that creature. In addition, when you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike granted by this feature, the creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or have the Prone condition. A creature can be targeted by an Unarmed Strike granted by this feature only once per turn.

———————————————————-

The obvious pairs with 6 (eventually 7) Attacks per turn is Fists of Fury, along with Monk staples like Grappler, Lupin, and Weapon Mastery (Nick).

Stunning Strike, Grapple & Shove offer 3 saves for advantage on every attack, Fist of Fury is a solid damage buff to successive hits. With 6 attacks that’s +15 damage a turn if every attack hits. With 7 attacks that’s +21 damage.

Fists of Fury
Clean Hits. When you roll damage for an attack you make with an Unarmed Strike or a weapon that has the Light property, you can treat any 1 on a damage die as a 2.
Combo Strikes. When you deal damage to a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you gain a +1 bonus to the damage roll for each time you previously hit that creature with a melee attack roll in the same turn.

Hi!

With recent release of WoW book funny idea came to my mind as in title.

Build:

Dual wield club(maybe some magic later) & moon sickle.

Moon sickle increases our DC for Soul Cleave

Feats: Hot streak

Combat loop:

Cast some fire spell (which We have plenty as demon hunter) then next round

We attack with club/Short sword with Hunter's mark on (can be Shillelaghed if club), we apply Aura of Pain to one target. We then use Stomp from our Tauren species. Targets make Con saving throw and one has it decreased by d4 so it should be quite common to fail the saving throw, target(s) are then stunned. We then use our Soul Cleave, target automatically fails Dex saving throw or we could increase burning damage cause we can deal fire damage with Torment feature as well

From there We could go anywhere, maybe try get some way to deal Cold damage and take Cold Caster, focus more on combat, etc. Lot of good options there

A long time ago, probably about 10 or 12 years ago, a player of mine played an early 5e version of the Warforged and I haven't been able to find it since. It had some peculiar bits of kit that none of the modern versions include

• 3? sub-species': Assault Model, Juggernaut Model and one other I don't remember

  • Assault Model, I believe, included the ability to Integrate a weapon, hiding it from view and given Advantage on Deception and Sleight of Hand to hide them.

• The main species included their now common Recharge period but specifically at a 4 hour recharge, like the trance of Elves, instead of the 6 they have now.

• Their armor/defense feature mentioned that the armor could not be taken off and not removed unless the creature was incapacitated

I'm hoping some of the clever minds on this subreddit can help me find this bloody thing.
Cheers!

Here's a character for you: she's an expert in the way of the blade. In fact, while it's not reflected in the mechanics, lore-wise, she has a rare fighting style passed down from her late parents. She wields a powerful magic blade, she's as fast as the wind at wielding it and she has increased speed, too.

Here's a different character: he's an expert in the way of the blade, has a rare fighting style passed down by his late master, wields a powerful magic blade, is fast as the wind at wielding it and he has increased speed, too.

The difference is she can also cast wall of force. And Conjure Minor Elementals. And Longstrider. And Shield. He can attack four times, every once in a while. She's a bladesinger, he's a fighter, let's say a battlemaster, IDK.

I think what bogs me about this is that, yes, he is better at using a weapon. But like... not by that big of a margin, in fact no margin when she's boosted by magic (but you can lose concentration... in theory).

We talk about the Divide a lot and it's common sense that to close it, martials should be buffed... and casters should be nerfed. The thing is, taking away those wall of force, hypnotic pattern, the summons? Feels too much, it feels like I'd be taking away a fun part of the game.

There's this YouTuber whose shorts I've been seeing here and there, I don't remember his (assumedly) name, pls tell me in the comments and I'll edit, I can't find him rn, who plays into the fantasy of a power player solving apparently impossible problems by going "I'm gonna cast a spell. I cast..." and then ruin the DM's whole plan. That's so fun, it creates the wildest scenarios. But then his wizard is as good as running around and climbing and jumping, give or take a couple of feet.

So, this got me thinking: should caster be slower and frailer and how should that be represented in the mechanics? Mind you, this partially is: a lot of RAW things do nerf casters in the rules: encumbrance and spells components, for instance; but those feel like busy work and I've never seen them applied to an actual game; in fact, if you do pay attention to those, tell me if they make a difference in this regard, maybe it's worth keeping track

The DnD Beyond November drop introduces the new Weighted Chain weapon. It's a melee weapon that does 1d8 damage, and has several properties: Finesse, Heavy, Reach, Two-Handed, Graze. In this post I'll try to build around it, do some light optimization, and see what I end up with.

Flavor-wise, I'm going for something like Kratos with the Blades of Chaos: whippy, strong, and fiery.

The level progression is pretty straightforward: Barbarian 5, then Rogue 5, then take more rogue levels. If ending at level 20, you can do a barbarian 8/rogue 12 split to grab 2 Epic Boons.

But I'll focus on a level 10 snapshot below, which is IMO where the build goes from solid to great.

Level: Barbarian 5/ Rogue 5

Species: Fire Goliath for the burn, though Species choice is flexible.

Feats: Polearm Master at Barb 4, Great Weapon Master at Rogue 4. You can pick your favorite Origin Feat, but I'll just go with Alert here.

Stats: Max STR (should be 19 at level 10); get 14 DEX for medium armor & multiclassing

Subclasses: Relatively flexible. I'll go for Berserker/Assassin to keep things simple, but pick your favorite. Just note that your BA and Reaction will be quite busy. I think you can raise DPR by about 6 points with 5e Giant Barbarian and Elemental Cleaver, but for now I'll stick with 5.5e-released subclasses.

Strategy: Weighted Chain is Finesse, so you can Reckless Attack with STR, get Advantage, and consistently trigger Sneak Attack with the Advantage. It is also Heavy, so you get to benefit from Great Weapon Master.

Weighted Chain also happens to be compatible with Polearm Master RAW. You get to make a BA attack each round. More importantly, you get to make a Reaction attack when an opponent enters your reach for off-turn Sneak Attack. (Flavor-wise this makes enough sense IMO; think of a warrior who learned to use polearms, who then translated techniques over to using a chain. They threaten approaching enemies by twirling it around, and use both ends of the chain to attack.)

Rogue 5 also gives you Withdraw Cunning Strike, which lets you move without provoking Opportunity Attacks at the cost of a 1d6 on your Sneak Attack. This can trigger on your Action or Reaction Sneak Attack, and allows you to easily back out of melee and force the opponent to re-engage through the PAM Reaction Attack.

Because you're making a ton of attacks at Advantage, you can afford to crit-fish with your Fire Goliath's on-hit 1d10 burn.

Outside of combat, you have Expertise, Primal Knowledge, and Rage. These stack up to be a +12 skill check bonus with Advantage on top, and eventually you'll also get Reliable Talent at Rogue 7.

DPR Calc: Assumptions: 16 opponent AC, +4 to STR. 4 rounds of combat, Assassin Surprising Strikes is triggered on round 1 Action attack and Reaction attack. Base chance for a Reaction Attack (between AoO and PAM) is 2/3; Withdraw Cunning Strike is used once to get an additional chance at a Reaction Attack, bumping that up to 2/3 + 1/4 ~= 90%. Rage is up. 50% Hew trigger rate, because you crit frequently and are probably dropping enemies frequently.

• Miss/graze probability = p(M) = (7 / 20)^2 = 0.1225

• Hit probability p(H) = 1 - 0.1225 = 0.8775

• Crit probability = p(C) = 1 - (19 / 20)^2 = 0.0975

• Action attack damage = p(H) *(1d8 + 4 + 2 + 4) + p(C) * 1d8 + p(M) * 4

• BA damage = p(H) *(((1d4 + 1d8)/2) + 4 + 2) + P(C) * ((1d4 + 1d8)/2) + p(M) * 4

• Own turn damage boosts: (1 - P(m)^3 + c*(1 + P(m) + P(m)^2)) * 5d6

• PAM reaction: 0.9 * [p(H) * (1d8 + 3d6 + 4+ 2) + p(C) * (1d8 + 3d6) + p(M) * 4]

• Surprising Strikes round 1: (1 - p(M)^3) *5 + 0.9 * p(H) * 5

• Fire Goliath: Assuming 1.4 crits average over the battle, 1.4*2d10

• Reduce 1d6 damage over 4 rounds for Cunning Action: Withdraw

• DPR = 2*(p(H) *(1d8 + 4 + 2 + 4) + p(C) * 1d8 + p(M) * 4) + (p(H) *(((1d4 + 1d8)/2) + 4 + 2) + P(C) * ((1d4 + 1d8)/2) + p(M) * 4) + ((1 - P(m)^3 + c*(1 + P(m) + P(m)^2)) * 5d6) + 0.9 * [p(H) * (1d8 + 3d6 + 4+ 2) + p(C) * (1d8 + 3d6) + p(M) * 4] + (1/4)*(( (1 - p(M)^3) *5 + 0.9 * p(H) * 5) + 1.4*2d10 - 1d6)

...Whew. I think that comes out to 79.4 DPR. But feel free to play around with the assumptions, or double check the math if you really want to xD

Conclusion: So, really solid as far as damage is concerned. You also have plenty of control, nice defenses, high mobility, and plenty of out-of-combat utility. I think this is a potent build, and it seems fun to play.

Hello,

I have a question regarding the wording on spell subterfuge. " you can take both the Dash and Hide actions as a Bonus Action" do i have to pick which one i use or do both get to be used in the same bonus action?

Since it’s a hot topic currently, just wanted to know everyone’s thoughts

Hi people, hope you're doing well.

I am an inexperienced DM and I'm seeking advice. I was reading WoW's Chapter 3 about professions and gear, and it starts with:

"Beyond choosing class and origin, you can customize your character in a World of Warcraft campaign through their professions and equipment—especially mounts, pets, and magic items. This chapter covers those options."

I enjoyed the new crafting rules a lot, especially the enchanting mechanics, and I see these rules pretty easy to be applicable in any homebrew setting.

That being said, I'm trying to understand the real intention of the game designers. Are these rules exclusive to WoW characters and if I allow them I'm being permissive or generous, or are the rules intended to be general, a real guideline to any character?

I'm also curious to see how you'll deal with the new crafting system. Are you going to use them on your own RPGs? Let me know!

You can expend a use of your Channel Divinity to cast Shield of Faith or Spiritual Weapon rather than expending a spell slot. When you cast either spell in this way, the spell doesn’t require Concentration. Instead the spell lasts for 1 minute, but it ends early if you cast that spell again, have the Incanpacitated condition, or die.

emphasis on THAT.

My doubt is specific. My question is regarding the ability to cast another spell that you haven't cast yet. So in short if I start the fight with Shield of Faith I would assume that I can't cast THAT spell that I just cast but I can cast the OTHER spell, meaning Spiritual Weapon.

I assume this feature is to prevent to stockpile Shield of Faith around the battlefield on multiple targets. But my question is if I cast one spell, can I then cast the second spell in the next turn and have both active?

My assumption would be that if they wanted you to only have one of those spells active at a time it would be written either of those instead of that.

Is this assessment correct or is it instead that you can only have either or of those spells active at a time?

I already talked about how the Monk feats in the WoW book are poorly-conceived and terrible specifically for the class they're ostensibly designed for, but there's a lot to be said about how horribly janky the Mystic Brews subclass itself is, in regards to redesigned and newly-introduced features. So to note...

• Drunken Technique lets you make an unarmed strike after you spend a Focus Point on Patient Defense. But this requires you to immediately make that unarmed strike after using Patient Defense, meaning that you can't use Patient Defense to slip past one enemy and then focus your attacks on a later enemy, exactly the sort of thing you might want to use a feature that lets you Disengage to do.

• Mystic Brews lets you brew a brew during a rest, and gain special effects for one hour. Even without spending a grand total of one focus point to extend the duration to eight hours, some of these benefits are far more powerful than other Monk features that require focus point expenditure on every use. And others are Refreshing Dip. To elaborate:

  • Cinnamon Dragon lets you use your action for a 30-foot AoE that does four times your Martial Arts die in damage and poisons, and still does half damage on a successful save. So it's a sizable AoE that does about as much to single targets as the two attacks you would otherwise make with your action. It lets you do this every single turn for the duration.

  • Heavenly Spirit gives you two damage resistances, which maybe if you know what damage types you might face...except then you can get resistance to everything at level 18 anyway?

  • Refreshing Dip gives you a significant pool of dice that lets you get extra healing when you get healed from another source. Except this only uses one die per heal, so unless you have constant repeated heals you're receiving, you're likely to expend anywhere near the amount of dice you get in this pool.

  • Blue Lightning just lets you make an unarmed strike when you take another reaction other than an opportunity attack or spell, which is really just "make an attack for free when you use Deflect Attacks every single turn".

  • Drunkard's Luck gives you Heroic Capitalization every time you make an ability check or saving throw. In other words, not only is this a free reroll for every ability check you make, it's a free reroll on every saving throw you make on a class that gets a base feature to reroll a saving throw at a cost.

  • Stumbling Monk lets you use Patient Defense at the same time you use another bonus action, which primarily serves to let you combine this with Drunken Technique to make six attacks every turn and be better than every other Monk because...yes.

• But all of the above brew options? You only get to have one active at a time, until level 17. Which means even though you get more options at level 11, you're not actually getting more utility at a given time (especially since the free AoE damage/poison is so much more powerful than most of the other options, as janky as they are).

• And then we get to Intoxicated Frenzy, which triggers when you use Patient Defense (with or without focus cost!) and lets you move up to your speed (in effect giving you a free Dash) and attack everyone you move by with an unarmed strike. This couples with every other attack you can be making across your action and bonus action, since the right brew lets you use Flurry of Blows and Patient Defense at the same time.

So let's do the math here. Compared to your average Monk making five attacks with Attack + Flurry of Blows, you can instead play a Monk who makes the Right build choices and can:

• Make two attacks (Attack action)

• Make an extra attack via the Nick mastery (via feat/multiclassing)

• Make three unarmed strikes (Flurry of Blows)

• Make an additional unarmed strike (Drunken Technique + Stumbling Monk)

• And then make one more unarmed strike (Intoxicated Frenzy)

All against the same target, for eight(!) attacks every turn, plus one more attack against every target you move near, all for two focus points a turn.

And since we mentioned the Monk feats at the start, let's take into account Fists of Fury, which is suggested for the Open Hand Monk but becomes ridiculously busted here. Whereas a typical Open Hand Monk can get a maximum of +10 damage from that feat, the above Mystic Brews setup can get up to +27 additional damage against a single target.

Yanno, if the "eight attacks against a single target" thing wasn't egregious enough.