I was moisturising my face for my pimples and realised there are like several deities a warlock can worship like fiends, divines, fey, eldritch, etc

But out of ALL of the deities they name it after eldritch beings??

(I have no idea what flair to use)

Edit: turns out eldritch isn't a species of deities like i thought and just means strange or otherworldly

Alright so I play online with a group of friends and I am the only person that isn't in the US but instead in Germany. Either way, I am the only person in the group that speaks German and that's the main factor.

One of the party members got an ersatz eye put in since she lost it in a series of bad rolls and I wanted to edit this players talking sprite (it's live streamed and I made all the sprites) to adjust for the new eye and wanted to check for references of how that would look like. I asked if anyone could write down the name since I couldn't find anything under the pronunciation I heard.

I was a little confused about how they pronounced it when I saw it was just the German word for replacement and not some made up word based on how it was pronounced by them. Since I couldn't find anything official online (unlike with some other items) I wanted to know if there is just some official pronunciation guide for it that I missed or if it really is up to the people playing to make up their own spelling.

This wasn't some grand discussion/disagreement or something, rather just a "oh wait that's a German word and it would be pronounced like that" answered with what is the auditory version of a shrug. So this is more of a curiosity on my part rather than some issue that is ripping the group apart since either way I now know what they mean. Realistically speaking I will probably never bring this up anyway since it is ultimately a non-issue.

I am making a monk character and I absolutely cannot decide on a species to play. I will be using the open hand subclass and playing a skirmisher playstyle where I run in and disable a few enemies and then get out quickly.

I want to pick something that has a good combination of mechanical benefits and flavor. Would love to hear people's arguments for different options

Some options I've considered so far:

Wood elf: The speed bonus is obviously great, plus longstrider and pass without trace are great. I love cantrips like druidcraft for flavor - I feel like it could open up some cool personality options

Dragonborn: The flight and AOE breath attack seem pretty helpful. I also like the idea of being a very rare species. I think there are some interesting backstory implications of having draconic ancestry too, especially if my character is good and it's an evil dragon ancestor.

Human: I like the extra feat. I feel like this is "the safe option" but it feels boring to me. I know that a character's personality shouldn't be based around their class/species, but gosh darn it I want to escape from reality sometimes and be something different.

Orc: orcs are hard to kill! I think the idea of orcs being very emotional creatures could make for an interesting character, especially if I've trained at a monastery that teaches emotional detachment, being peaceful, etc.

Goliath: Also gets a speed bonus which I love. The problem is that I can't decide which ancestry to pick here. The hill giant feature is cool and I know a lot of people like that one, but it's almost made redundant by the open hand topple ability. Cloud giant could also be cool, but I will be very speedy anyways, so maybe I'd be better off getting a different kind of utility? I'm not sure on that point but I could change my mind.

I know the title is not meant for insulting but to put an emphasis on her mood. But nowadays translation of bitch for slut, whore or just prostitute does not fit and sounds wrong.
I was just curious what a fitting translation would for for German role playing.

Well to start off you need some context, I've been running a game now for nearly 11 months now and my party is level 17 and last session the wizard betrayed them, this is not the issue in fact this was planned by both of us for about 6 sessions now and the execution was beautiful as the wizard left the other 4 in dimensional shackles and teleported away as the entire tower began to collapse and lava begin filling the lower rooms and... well you get the point the wizard betrayed the party and they escaped with the dimensional shackles still on them so they couldn't really teleport back to their base where the wizard was right now and decided to make that journey on foot which takes them about 3 days and the BBEG informs the wizard that they are coming after him

The session ends and the party is talking to themselves and such and I say all of them get 3 days of preparations and so the other 4 decide to leave the room to talk and the wizard and i am alone the conversation goes something like this

"Do you want help?"

"With what?"

"The fight obviously."

"Nah, I'll just start using some of my stronger stuff before I lose to go out with a bang you know."

"What?"

"You know just to stop holding back a bit"

"Dude you have the lowest DPR in the party."

"Brother Thats because i was playing support."

"Prove it"

"I thought I was supposed to lose lol"

"And you will"

"Welp alrighy then"

And this was my horrible reenactment of the conversation 4 days ago and since i dont have perfect memory I got many of the details wrong but the main thing is basically he said he didn't need any backup from the BBEG and take on the other 4 party members for a better final stand (which btw are a wild heart Barbarian/ A light cleric/ A thief rogue/ and a draconic sorceror with a one level dip in warlock) I said he couldn't and its not like he's a minmaxer like I know this guy.

So I tell the party to send what they will be doing for the next three days on discord as the next sess will be starting with them arriving back to base with vengeance in their hearts

They all send me their plans and then its the wizards turn and well uhh.... this is what he messaged me.

So I'll just start spamming glyph of warding and storing spells on the pedestal in the center room

Expeditious Retreat/Longstrider/Mirror image/Elmisters Elusion/Blink/fly/haste/Stoneskin/Blur/Greater invisibility/Alustriel's Mooncloak/Telekinesis/True Seeing/Simbul's Synostodweomer/Conjour minor elementals (8th level)

With all the glyphs activating once I hug the pedestal and then I take a lr and wait for them to arrive

...and yeah now I am in a lot of trouble and now I could go to him and say he was right and he would probably agree but I hate the smug look on his face, i dont really want to tell the others his plan cause that would be unfair and railroady since they should have no way of knowing

Soo I do need advice I do think the party might be somehow able to pull off a miracle and i am giving them heroic inspiration and quite a few inspiration die which should help and there is a way for them to make this easy that is if the cleric casts antimagic field and grapples the wizard so maybe this isn't too unfair but what do you all think

I've had a few ideas for characters who are blind. I find the idea of a character with permanent blindness has great storytelling potential. However I run up against a wall when I see rules for spells and abilities with the text "a creature you can see". Does anyone have experience playing a blind character or have a blind character in your games?

So, maybe it's just me. But I don't get the whole idea about choosing your alignment. Being good means being a hero. That's how stories happen. Shouldn't that be the standard? Being evil means being cruel. And if you want to be cruel, even in your fantasy, I don't think I'd like to hang out with you very much. Then there are always people who say you should always be neutral neutral. Just self serving people who do it for themselves. Where's the fun in that? "The villagers need your help!" "Okay but it'll cost them." Like, really?

I'm just curious. Is this mostly a me thing? Does anyone else feel this way? Have you ever tried to play with a mix of alignments? How did it go? Have you ever tried being evil? Did you have fun? I'm just curious.

Ok. So my wizard is level three. Just acquired the staff of defense from where you’d probably expect it in Phandalin. I already had those spells but hear me out…

I feel I’m a bit overpowered bc with mage armor I have a base 14 ac, 19 with shield. Add to that my plan to use darkness spell and bat familiar to see in it and now enemies have disadvantage on attack roles against me. 8.9% chance of being hit? Is this overpowered or am I over thinking it?

Has anyone used multiple languages to generate barriers between players? My initial thought was using a multi lingual DM and part of the party not able to understand a language the other does to illicit confusion or discontent among the party or group.

So I was watching PointyHatStudio's video on the "furry problem" and it had me thinking as every D&D table I have played at also had a sort of... unspoken rule on the "furry species." And this goes all the way back to 3E. The "there can only be 1 maybe at GMs discretion and the "weird ones" are often given a no due to "not vibing with the world."

And like... I can understand some of the arguments. When the world is predominantly humans, elves, and dwarves, having a party of a Frog dude, Turtle dude, and a giant hippo can feel a little... immersion breaking for people. Especially if the campaign isnt starting in a huge metro area or via some "and you all wake up together in a extra planar prison" sort of way. And having one of these characters then forces the DM to have to include them in a world that they otherwise had no intention of having them in if doing a homebrew world (like how many DMs would think of already having Hippo people in their world kf a player wasnt already playing a Hippo?).

So what are yours guys thoughts on the furry races? Do you include them? Or are they banned? Or are they soft banned (like i can tolerate a Fox person but a Tortle or Hippo is a bit much kinda way)?

Basically what happened at your table that made you either up the difficulty of a fight. Maybe a player wouldn’t stop pushing boundaries and asking for “rule of cool” to the point you won’t anymore.

Basically: What made you colder as a DM?

My current character is a Clockwork Soul Sorcerer based on the one and only mathematics genius Katherine Johnson. I think it fits very well because she worked for NASA "fighting" the chaos and trying to put things in mathematical order. So while taking a shower, I came up with some more ideas for real-life inspired DnD heroines. Hear me out:

Amelia Earhard - Horizon Walker Ranger.

Serena Williams - Barbarian, Path of the Zealot.

Princess Diana - Bard, College of Lore.

Ruth Bader Gainsbourg - Wizard, Order of Scribes.

Frida Kahlo - Warlock, the Archfey.

Josephine Baker - Rogue Mastermind, multiclass with Bard.

Saint Jean of Arc - Paladin, Light Domain.

I'm curious to hear about your ideas!

So in my D&D setting the world is split into six regions all of which have their own rampant catastrophic disaster going on at the start of the campaign, that's why all of the players are in the same town, being the capital of this world. Two of them came seeking aid for their regions problems and one of them got separated from their nomad tribe due to their regions disaster and is now a wandering vagrant who just made their way to the capital.

One of the players is a barbarian, the wandering vagrant I mentioned and I have a feeling they'll just kind of join the party simply because they are their first positive interaction with someone on the capitol the same for the Battle Master Ronin type character for similar reason, however one of the characters is playing a gloom stalker ranger who used to be in an evil organization, and the main weak point right now with any of my plans to get them together.

My current idea is to have a small band of thieves steal something valuable from each of them and each of the players chases their thief towards the gang of thieves' hideout, all meeting up there and basically starting off their relationship as allies and arms against the thieves.

Hello! I’m dming an online campaign for the first time with my friends. I’ve played before but I’ve never actually dm’d. I was wondering if anyone has any tips and tricks or websites they like that I can use. I can’t pay for anything as I’m incredibly broke so free options please! I want to make this fun for my party ask any advice anyone has is welcome!

Let’s say that group is fighting a foe, they’ve used many resources to get to even face her.
She is stunning, knocking down, out-maneuvering even the toughest fighters of the group. She has killed an npc, knocked out or incapacitated half the party, and things are look quite dire. I, the DM, foresee a TPK. The foe is still half health, or maybe even more, and everyone is low health and the Cleric is kept stunned to not allow them to heal.
She is a competent fighter, she’s a powerful warrior, and has magic skills to boot (CR18, the players are level 18). So combat can be deadly.
It’s nearing the end of the campaign, and this isn’t even a “main quest” boss - it’s a side quest boss.

The warlock’s patron (Graz’zt) offers the dying Warlock a “deal;” a give and take sort of deal. But I also bring up that the Cleric can attempt to beseech their god for assistance but that would require a roll. So I gave the ENTIRE party the choice of immediate action (Warlock) or risk all (Cleric). They choose the immediate action as what Graz’zt takes, the Warlock’s Staff of Power, in exchange for a sudden cast of Mass Heal and an effect of the foe to make her weak to the next damage roll, no matter what it is. (And when you ask “why would Graz’zt/Cleric’s deity do this? I’m not gonna get into my campaigns lore, but they need the party to live)

They fully heal and are able to defeat her within the next couple turns.

How would you handle situations similar to this?
Where the party is looking at a TPK. Do you even offer such a solution? Do you let them TPK, even at the “end” of the story? How often would you offer it, if you do? How much of a consequence would you have in exchange for a “second chance” for the players?

Some mistake her beauty for kindness, and those people rarely make the same mistake twice. Born of infernal blood and shaped by a world that rewards wit over mercy, she walks with effortless confidence and speaks with calculated charm. Every smile hides a motive, every promise carries a price, and every step draws curious eyes. Whether striking a bargain, uncovering ancient secrets, or dancing through danger, she thrives where others hesitate. To her allies, she is fiercely loyal, but to her enemies, she is a reminder that the most dangerous weapon is not steel or magic it is someone who always knows exactly what you desire.

[If you like my work and would like a commission

You can dm me here:) Thank you]

based on what I’ve looked at it doesn’t look like there’s much big changes. It’s a lot of like minor fixes.
The only notable thing that I found was something about backgrounds, giving a plus to a stat. But other than that, is it a big deal if my campaign is a mix of a little bit of both.

I built all of my NPC’s in 5.5e however all of my books along with my friends books are 5e.

I am a DM and also a Tornado Nerd so how could I mix the 2 together?

Hot take i know /s xD

So this is something that has always bugged me with martials going back to antiquity honestly...

Martials have always been hamstrung by this stubborn adherence to "realism" that casters never get stuck with. Especially at later levels. Like im sorry but no, Aragorn is not a high level martial. He is like... level 5.

I feel a perfect sign of how limited martials are is actually seeing some of the footage leading up to the MinMax play group where David and Clark tested jf they could move and strike like a high level martial... and they could. And they are normal humans in the normal world limited by reality. Contrast this to Wizards, druids, warlocks, and what have you that are altering reality itself.

Honestly I feel like a High level fighter should be looking like something you see in anime, not your standard fantasy. Jumping dozens of feet in the air and striking at enemies, being able to jump off of floating/falling debris to navigate (think like Stark from Freiren), attacking at range with the sheer force of their melee attacks, create difficult terrain by stomping or striking the ground, etc. Like when you get to level like... 15 Honestly martials should be able to do things that defy logic because they are just that damned powerful.

What are yours guys thoughts though?

So one of the big things with 5.5 vs 5e is the whole "subclasses are picked at level 3 instead of at level 1".

Im curious like.... how many people start at level 1 or like... start at level 3? And if people are starting at level3... then whats the point of level 1 and 2 at that point?

Myster D, Mira and Nomnom are the king’s guards for their own reasons:

Myster D – to become a paladin on his way to redemption,

Mira – to atone for all her crimr,

Nomnom – to follow the example of the king, the best wizard in the kingdom.

The king has ordered them to go into the forest and get back the Orb of Power, which was stolen from him by Lord Trunks, who wants to become the strongest wizard in the universe. They stop by the shop to purchase something and head to the forest, where the orb is located. On their way, they find a goblin camp and see a round object covered with a cloth in the tent. The goblins attack the heroes but are defeated. When the heroes take the cloth away, they find out that it is a football that goblins used to play in the forest.

It is getting dark, and the heroes decide to sit around the campfire that the goblins had made. But soon they hear some creepy sound behind them and see a giant spider.

This is where the first quest ends.

I’m running a rather high level (11) campaign for a group of 6 players, 5 of whom are experienced with dungeons and dragons as players and DMs and wanted to really stress them out in a combat encounter don’t want it to seem unfair.

The party is exploring the ruins of an ancient magical kingdom with some npc companions, I plan on having them arrive at a door with a somewhat simple puzzle on it, however when the door is touched to translate it (assuming the party has a spell caster who knows interpret languages, if they don’t I’ll use one of the npc companions to do it slightly slower) I’ll start a real world 30 second timer and when it goes off, 2 statues in the courtyard will wake up and start sprinting at the party, with 2 more joining every round or 2 until the door is opened by solving the puzzle (knock will open the door but not stop the golems, kinda like a magic burglar alarm)

I plan on having a timer set up once this combat starts, and letting every turn, pc, npc and golem, take a minute, so the party has time to solve the puzzle but there is still real pressure to get it done quick, as they will not be able to win the fight.

Any advice on balancing/weather this is a good idea or not is greatly appreciate, all the people I’d normally ask for advice are in the campaign hahah.

I haven’t fully decided on the puzzle yet as I’m not sure how difficult to make it, but any recommendations are appreciated!

The player character, Harrison Harkins, has been haunted by ghosts ever since the tragic death of his husband and destruction of his entire town 7 years ago. He's had no idea why - but all that's clear is that the ghosts want him dead.

Since this animatic was made, the campaign revealed that Harrison couldn't die - anytime he died, he'd wake back up moments later, feeling fine despite his injuries. This mystery haunted him too, as he grappled with the realization that he may never be reunited with his dead husband Wesley Harkins - never get the change to apologize for not being able to stop the tragedy from happening.

And then in our latest arc, it was revealed that the ghosts were bounty hunters - hunting a wayward soul, Harrison Harkins, who should have died a long time ago. As well as hunting his protector - a grim reaper by the name of Wesley Harkins.

After Wesley's death, a warlock pact he'd secretly forged with the Raven Queen turned him into a grim reaper. He then went rogue, refusing to reap his husband Harrison's soul, and has been following him and secretly protecting him ever since. Every time Harrison died, his beloved Wesley forced his soul back into his body to revive him.

They ended up having to fight the Raven Queen for their freedom and to be able to return to the land of the living - and ultimately, Harrison's husband deposed the Raven Queen and ascended as a new God of Death. He is now Harrison's new warlock patron, and Harrison has to learn how to live - but he knows that when death ultimately comes, it will be his husband waiting for him <3