Dungeons and Dragons Megathread

[HoratioVonBecker]

For whatever reason 5e went in on making some classes short rest dependent for resource recovery (fighter, warlock, monk), some classes long rest dependent (barbarian & all other spellcasters) and some classes not really needing to recover resources (rangers, paladins & rogues to varying extents). I can't explain why they did this or why the non-spellcasting classes are short or long rest dependent.

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It's a little more complicated than that. Basically, 5E seems to have about four 'shares' worth of resources it wants to dole out per class per long rest. Wizards, Clerics, and Druids all get three shares worth of spells on a long-rest recharge cycle, and Wizards get a fourth gated behind their first short rest of the day/chapter. Sorcerers get all four at once, Warlocks get them one at a time. There may be a discount for Warlocks, on account of having so few slots at a time?
The Rage pool doesn't evenly divide into that, though, and neither does Bardic Inspiration. Which makes those features hard for me to evaluate.

• Rages are a long lasting buff you can pop with a bonus action. It encourages everything barbarian wants to do, discourages stuff that isn't part of the 'class fantasy' (berserk mages are a rarity in fiction & D&D has never really gone in on raging spell casters) and is the core of the class. My assumption is that rage recovers on a long rest because the devs wanted you to not do this every fight, which is a very real possibility with short rest resources.

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*They are, but I don't know how it's supposed to stack up against other long-lasting buffs, let alone passive features.
*Unsupported fantasy archetypes, off the top of my head: Black Knight types locked in their armor. Basically every blaster-type shounen hero. Basically all explosive psychics. Harry Dresden.
*Making it short rest would actually make it easier to tune, though?

A barbarian's rage defines the class such that every subclass is about interacting with your rage. Despite this, only the 11th & 15th level barbarian features require you to be raging to use them.

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...Do subclass abilities not count?

• I can't tell how you calculated damage output and I don't really bother with this sort of optimisation, so all I can do is point you to this. But I am pretty confident barbarians keep up with other martial classes in sustained output, but ultimately can't really compete with the paladin's nova ability.

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They're within a couple points for the first ten levels, but at Level 11 they fall behind and stay behind. That's half the game, ostensibly! I'm hoping to get a clear enough picture of their design to know why that is, and how - or if - it should be fixed.

• It kinda is though. Using point buy you can't have a str higher than 17 at level 1. So its expected a barbarian who wants to max their ability scores (and isn't multiclassing) will max their strength at level 8.

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By official Point Buy, the Standard Array is seven shades of illegal. Neither is terribly close to roll-4d6-keep-3. All are officially suggested.
I also don't know whether they balanced the damage buff against someone who prioritized tanking (with their highest stat in CON), or who prioritized attacking (with their highest score in STR). They might even have balanced against Fighting Styles, which are hard to evaluate because it interacts differently with the available weapons.

So they shouldn't have been ported to 5e then. If anyone wanted to use this they'd either have to make it so death ins't a penalty (not generally a great idea in D&D I've found) or nerf the monsters.

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I think there's something that can be done - maybe a banishment from the dreamworld on hitting 0HP, thus splitting the party? Still, full character death is too much.

 

[Strunkriidiisk]

but at Level 11 they fall behind and stay behind. That's half the game, ostensibly!

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Yeah, ostensibly, but in practise Level 11-12 is the highest point a lot of games get. 5e starts breaking down and getting hard to balance past Level 10.

 

[shepsquared]

It's a little more complicated than that. Basically, 5E seems to have about four 'shares' worth of resources it wants to dole out per class per long rest. Wizards, Clerics, and Druids all get three shares worth of spells on a long-rest recharge cycle, and Wizards get a fourth gated behind their first short rest of the day/chapter. Sorcerers get all four at once, Warlocks get them one at a time. There may be a discount for Warlocks, on account of having so few slots at a time?
The Rage pool doesn't evenly divide into that, though, and neither does Bardic Inspiration. Which makes those features hard for me to evaluate.

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That's because you're trying to judge every class' features by a single metric, which is terrible for judging such different things. Warlock spellcasting is different from the other because it makes them unique and because of Eldritch Blast, which you can't ignore when you look at warlock.

*They are, but I don't know how it's supposed to stack up against other long-lasting buffs, let alone passive features.
*Unsupported fantasy archetypes, off the top of my head: Black Knight types locked in their armor. Basically every blaster-type shounen hero. Basically all explosive psychics. Harry Dresden.
*Making it short rest would actually make it easier to tune, though?

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There aren't any equivalent buffs, outside the paladin's capstones (and you should probably just ignore capstones because they never come up).
A Black Knight locked in his armour would be a fighter or paladin that doesn't take off their armour. Dunno what you mean by blaster-shounen hero - it you mean like Goku or something then the closest is warlock or sun soul monk. Psionics is hilariously conterversial to d&d players & thus aren't part of the phb at all. I also don't kjnow what you mean by explosive psychics - in my experience psychic powers tend to be telekinesis & telepathy or everything is called psychic whatever it looks or behaves like. HarryD resden is literally a wizard from a magic system that doesn't use vancian casting at all, so you can't recreate him cleanly.

...Do subclass abilities not count?

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Not when I'm judging the main class chassis. There's too many subclasses with varying power levels for each of their subclass features for me to quickly explain how they work.

They're within a couple points for the first ten levels, but at Level 11 they fall behind and stay behind. That's half the game, ostensibly! I'm hoping to get a clear enough picture of their design to know why that is, and how - or if - it should be fixed.

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Except most players are only playing level 1-7 or 8 according to the surveys WotC does.

By official Point Buy, the Standard Array is seven shades of illegal. Neither is terribly close to roll-4d6-keep-3. All are officially suggested.
I also don't know whether they balanced the damage buff against someone who prioritized tanking (with their highest stat in CON), or who prioritized attacking (with their highest score in STR). They might even have balanced against Fighting Styles, which are hard to evaluate because it interacts differently with the available weapons.

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The standard array is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. That's 27 point form point buy, which is what you're meant to have. And though 4d6 drop lowest is mentioned, its pretty clear at this point that they only keep it because some people consider it fundamental to d&d and 5e was all about no slaughtering too many sacred cows.
I'll give you a hint as to how the barbarian is balanced in regards to fighting styles - they deliberately don't get them. So they're balanced without them. And a default barbarian is a better tank while a default fighter does better dpr.


Edit:

They're within a couple points for the first ten levels, but at Level 11 they fall behind and stay behind. That's half the game, ostensibly! I'm hoping to get a clear enough picture of their design to know why that is, and how - or if - it should be fixed.

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How do they fall behind? Going off of this thread the berserker barbarian generally stays ahead of the fighter.

 

[PsyFarrow]

How do they fall behind? Going off of this thread the berserker barbarian generally stays ahead of the fighter.

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That thread also assumes the Barbarian is a Barbarian using Frenzy every round. You know, the thing that gives you a rank of Exhaustion every time you use it.

When the fighter gets his third attack yeah, Barbarian falls behind in DPR. Barbarian also has way more survivability. That's the idea, he's a damage sponge that enemies can't just ignore because his attacks hurt, even if they're not as threatening as Paladin's Smitestravaganza or Fighter's sustained damage.

 

[shepsquared]

That thread also assumes the Barbarian is a Barbarian using Frenzy every round. You know, the thing that gives you a rank of Exhaustion every time you use it.

When the fighter gets his third attack yeah, Barbarian falls behind in DPR. Barbarian also has way more survivability. That's the idea, he's a damage sponge that enemies can't just ignore because his attacks hurt, even if they're not as threatening as Paladin's Smitestravaganza or Fighter's sustained damage.

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Honestly when I try and read the explanations of dpr calculations my eyes glaze over and I find something better to do. But yeah, as someone who's effectively played every class except artificer and rogue the barbarian is my favourite or second favourite martial. Fighter might have it beat in basic numbers but barbarian always feels more fun and impactful.

 

[HoratioVonBecker]

That's because you're trying to judge every class' features by a single metric, which is terrible for judging such different things. Warlock spellcasting is different from the other because it makes them unique and because of Eldritch Blast, which you can't ignore when you look at warlock.

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If they can't be judged by a single (if complicated) metric, they cannot be balanced. Also, Eldritch Blast isn't all that impressive? It does break the early assumption that cantrips will do about half the damage of weapon attacks, but between Shillelagh and the gish cantrips, that assumption has been pretty thoroughly abandoned.

A Black Knight locked in his armour would be a fighter or paladin that doesn't take off their armour.

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Could be, but being mute and angry and really hard to kill says "Barbarian is a reasonable dip" to me. It's hardly like Heavy Armor is a big mechanical upgrade for them, so it's really just locking out a couple of cool niche builds on fluff grounds.

Dunno what you mean by blaster-shounen hero - it you mean like Goku or something then the closest is warlock or sun soul monk.

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Nah, Goku's mostly a brawler. Shounen might be the wrong genre, actually - the only examples that are coming to mind are magical girls. Oh, and Aang.

Psionics is hilariously conterversial to d&d players & thus aren't part of the phb at all. I also don't kjnow what you mean by explosive psychics - in my experience psychic powers tend to be telekinesis & telepathy or everything is called psychic whatever it looks or behaves like.

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I'm actually talking about steven King's stuff and its' descendants. (I think Firestarter came first, but Carrie is better-known.) Akira, or at least the movie version. That sort of thing. People who get really angry and make things explode with their minds.

HarryD resden is literally a wizard from a magic system that doesn't use vancian casting at all, so you can't recreate him cleanly.

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Wasn't trying to, just saying that Buff Gunslinger Wizard is really hard to build when the only class that really focuses on Being Buff isn't allowed to be a wizard at the same time. Which is a shame, because it's a fun archetype.

Honestly when I try and read the explanations of dpr calculations my eyes glaze over and I find something better to do. But yeah, as someone who's effectively played every class except artificer and rogue the barbarian is my favourite or second favourite martial. Fighter might have it beat in basic numbers but barbarian always feels more fun and impactful.

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Sorry, I'm not trying to make you feel bad for liking them as-is. I'm just asking for help understanding their mechanics, so I know how to make them even better. Flavorwise, they really are one of the best in the book.

 

[shepsquared]

If they can't be judged by a single (if complicated) metric, they cannot be balanced. Also, Eldritch Blast isn't all that impressive? It does break the early assumption that cantrips will do about half the damage of weapon attacks, but between Shillelagh and the gish cantrips, that assumption has been pretty thoroughly abandoned.

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If that's your opinion, than sure. Nothing is balanced.

Could be, but being mute and angry and really hard to kill says "Barbarian is a reasonable dip" to me. It's hardly like Heavy Armor is a big mechanical upgrade for them, so it's really just locking out a couple of cool niche builds on fluff grounds.

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None of that says 'berserker rage', which was the barbarians thing in 3.5, 4e and 5e. Probably also 2e, but I haven't played that. It's a thematic restriction, like how paladins can't smite with a bow.

Nah, Goku's mostly a brawler. Shounen might be the wrong genre, actually - the only examples that are coming to mind are magical girls. Oh, and Aang.

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Aang is a monk. Tragically 4 elements monk is the worst subclass in the phb because ki points don't cleanly translate to spell points.

I'm actually talking about steven King's stuff and its' descendants. (I think Firestarter came first, but Carrie is better-known.) Akira, or at least the movie version. That sort of thing. People who get really angry and make things explode with their minds.

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D&D calls those people wilders in 3e and ardents are the closest match in 4e. Psionics isn't in 5e yet.

Wasn't trying to, just saying that Buff Gunslinger Wizard is really hard to build when the only class that really focuses on Being Buff isn't allowed to be a wizard at the same time. Which is a shame, because it's a fun archetype.

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Every strength martial wants to be buff. Eldritch fighter is all about enlarging yourself before combat. And there's more of a barrier to 'buff gunslinger' than rage casting when guns aren't allowed in 90% of games, nor are they balanced with the rest of the system.

Sorry, I'm not trying to make you feel bad for liking them as-is. I'm just asking for help understanding their mechanics, so I know how to make them even better. Flavorwise, they really are one of the best in the book.

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Barbarians generally only need to be made better if you're operating in the white room damage optimisation that lives on message boards. The only janky subclasses are battlerager & berserker, and berserker really just needs a way to eliminate or ignore some part of exhaustion.

 

[Chloe Sullivan]

If they can't be judged by a single (if complicated) metric, they cannot be balanced.

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5e isn't perfectly balanced but like balance was never really a D&D thing.

The only edition of D&D that cared about balance was 4th and oh man look at that backlash.

5e seems balanced enough for most play, and that's as much as we can ask of something designed with so much mandatory legacy code.

 

[Jakobstj]

That thread also assumes the Barbarian is a Barbarian using Frenzy every round. You know, the thing that gives you a rank of Exhaustion every time you use it.

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What? Frenzy lasts your whole rage and gives 1 Exhaustion at the end of the rage

 

[PsyFarrow]

What? Frenzy lasts your whole rage and gives 1 Exhaustion at the end of the rage

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My mistake, could've sworn it was per-strike. Still a specific subclass and not the default class, which was what was being discussed if I'm not mistaken.

 

[shepsquared]

My mistake, could've sworn it was per-strike. Still a specific subclass and not the default class, which was what was being discussed if I'm not mistaken.

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You can't really do a dpr calculation without assigning a subclass though.

 

[HoratioVonBecker]

Not when I'm judging the main class chassis. There's too many subclasses with varying power levels for each of their subclass features for me to quickly explain how they work.

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Fair enough, but the question was how many of their features are rage-gated. Since the answer for subclass features is "most of them", that's going to be a fairly big part of how accessible Rage should be.

The standard array is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. That's 27 point form point buy, which is what you're meant to have.

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You're right, good catch. It still feels bizarre, but that's on my end.

How do they fall behind? Going off of this thread the berserker barbarian generally stays ahead of the fighter.

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Most of the specific calcs are gone, but good catch - Reckless Attack does boost DPR to roughly the same degree that a third attack would. Still, that costs either a lot of your staying power, or a rage use - and I don't know what feats they were assuming, either.

None of that says 'berserker rage', which was the barbarians thing in 3.5, 4e and 5e. Probably also 2e, but I haven't played that. It's a thematic restriction, like how paladins can't smite with a bow.

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It does say 'berserker rage' to me. And Paladins not being able to smite with bows is also a thing that bothers me, because, well, a whispered oath of vengeance while shooting someone doesn't say 'sneak attack' to me, for all that it's a really cool type of assassination scene.

Every strength martial wants to be buff.

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Sure, just like every class wants to be skilled - the difference is that Barbarians have features that make them feel buff, and let them use that buffness to engage with large facets of play (like physical defense). If I want my wizard to be buff, he has to give up several other things he could be doing with his magic, including defend himself effectively.

And there's more of a barrier to 'buff gunslinger' than rage casting when guns aren't allowed in 90% of games, nor are they balanced with the rest of the system.

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Eh, only for the canon guns.

5e isn't perfectly balanced but like balance was never really a D&D thing.

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I think OD&D actually was, though? Granted I haven't played it, but it had an awful lot of playtesting before publication, and it would be very strange to not have used that time to fine-tune things.

5e seems balanced enough for most play, and that's as much as we can ask of something designed with so much mandatory legacy code.

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True! (At least for the first ten levels, as several people have helpfully pointed out.)
Identifying that legacy code would definitely help me, though.

 

[grommile]

uh, i'm pretty sure none of whitebox and B/X and BECMI and 1eAD&D and 2eAD&D were balanced

 

[HoratioVonBecker]

uh, i'm pretty sure none of whitebox and B/X and BECMI and 1eAD&D and 2eAD&D were balanced

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Really? White Box? Huh. The rest of those, probably, but that's several generations of feature creep later.
(Also, are we possibly using different definitions of 'balanced'? I'm not sure what the difference would be, but it seems like the place a misunderstanding would occur.)

 

[Renewal]

(Also, are we possibly using different definitions of 'balanced'? I'm not sure what the difference would be, but it seems like the place a misunderstanding would occur.)

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That's pretty much an entire discussion in itself lol. Like, by the most generous definition of balanced, you could say if everything is playable, i.e. nothing is outright nonfunctional or irrelevant. Or you could go super hardcore balanced like 4e did and ensure everyone has exactly the same capabilities according to strict parameters.

 

[HoratioVonBecker]

That's pretty much an entire discussion in itself lol. Like, by the most generous definition of balanced, you could say if everything is playable, i.e. nothing is outright nonfunctional or irrelevant. Or you could go super hardcore balanced like 4e did and ensure everyone has exactly the same capabilities according to strict parameters.

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I think the one I'm going for is "each build has a roughly equal share of capacity-to-affect-the-narrative, assuming very basic optimization". (This is importantly distinct from "each build has the same number of tools", which is one of the most consistent complaints I've heard about 4E.)
Beyond that, it's something I'm aiming to preserve more than improve. Barbarian is hard for me to hack right now, and I kind of want to streamline it.

 

[Arawn_Emrys]

Well, people might not like being ruled by abominations against life that violently overthrew the previous order. Grudges can be held for a long time, especially as other nations have an inherent motive to try and destabilise the undead kingdom.


It's an evil campaign in the sense that you're working for the Gloaming Queen, who is evil, even if she's not kicking puppies and cackling while doing so.

The players don't have to be evil, and can do what good they can within their authority and power.

Zombies have over half again the strength of skeletons (14 vs 8) for carrying and pulling things, but are slower and are less intelligent, so easier to deal with if things go wrong. Both kinds of common undead have their uses.

I imagine embalming and researching preservation of corpses is a good business in the kingdom. Cover them in robes to protect against scavengers and they should last for quite a while with minimum decay.

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It used to be that animating skeletons wasn't inherently evil, but zombies were. I guess the thought was that the skeleton might as well be a construct, and the zombie still had a bit of human in there, enough to attack things on its own if not ordered otherwise.

If that's your opinion, than sure. Nothing is balanced.

None of that says 'berserker rage', which was the barbarians thing in 3.5, 4e and 5e. Probably also 2e, but I haven't played that. It's a thematic restriction, like how paladins can't smite with a bow.

Aang is a monk. Tragically 4 elements monk is the worst subclass in the phb because ki points don't cleanly translate to spell points.

D&D calls those people wilders in 3e and ardents are the closest match in 4e. Psionics isn't in 5e yet.

Every strength martial wants to be buff. Eldritch fighter is all about enlarging yourself before combat. And there's more of a barrier to 'buff gunslinger' than rage casting when guns aren't allowed in 90% of games, nor are they balanced with the rest of the system.

Barbarians generally only need to be made better if you're operating in the white room damage optimisation that lives on message boards. The only janky subclasses are battlerager & berserker, and berserker really just needs a way to eliminate or ignore some part of exhaustion.

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barbarian prior to 3e does not in any way resemble the current version. The closest was the berserker kit for fighter. Pre-3e barbarian was supposed to be Conan, so very sturdy fighter-ish but less refined with a few thief skills, backstab resistance that eventually became immunity, hatred/fear of magic to the extent that it formed a sort of code like a paladin had to adhere to back then, complete with benefits on their saves vs magic and the ability to detect it with a second separate ability to detect/pierce illusions, (And the ability to gather a barbarian horde of conquest at higher levels)

I kinda like that rols but in a 5e game you'd be trying to find a fighter archetype for it rather than barbarian.

 

[Muhkat Lomorki]

[5e]

How would you edit the below:

Dalek Lifeform
Tiny Aberration, Lawful Evil
Hitpoints: 7 (3d4)
AC: 10
Speed: 5 feet
Ability Scores
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Str: 6(-2) Dex: 10(+0) Con: 10(+0) Int: 20(+5) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 8 (-1)
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Saves: +3 Constitution, +8 Intelligence
Skills: +8 Arcana, +8 Investigation, +2 Intimidation
Condition Immunity: Charmed
Senses: PP9
Languages: Common
Challenge: 0 (10 XP)
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Actions
Pseudopod. Natural Melee Attack, +0 to hit, 5 foot reach. On hit: 1 (d4-2) bludgeoning damage.

Dalek (Soldier)
Medium Aberration, Lawful Evil
Hitpoints: 66 (7d8+35)
AC: 23 (Dalek Armor)
Speed: 25 feet, 25 feet fly
Ability Scores
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Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 20(+5) Int: 20(+5) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 8 (-1)
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Saves: +8 Constiution, +8 Intelligence
Skills: +8 Arcana, +8 Investigation, +2 Intimidation
Damage Immunities: poison
Damage Resistances: Nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning; acid, fire, cold, thunder
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Exhausted, Fatigued, Poisoned
Senses: PP9
Languages: Common, Dalek
Challenge: 9 (5000 XP)
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Hover. Can remain in one place in the air and if knocked prone while flying will not fall to the ground.
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Dalek Blaster. Energy Ranged Attack, +4 to hit, 120 foot range. On hit: 22 (5d8) lightning damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for the rest of the turn.
Plunger. Weapon Melee Attack, +5 to hit, 5 foot range. On hit: 5 (d6+2) bludgeoning damage, opponent must make a DC 15 Strength check or be grappled. If they do not successfully break out from the plunger's grip, they begin to Suffocate.

Dalek (Scientist)
Medium Aberration, Lawful Evil
Hitpoints: 66 (7d8+35)
AC: 23 (Dalek Armor)
Speed: 25 feet, 5 feet fly
Ability Scores
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 20(+5) Int: 26(+8) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 8 (-1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saves: +8 Constiution, +11 Intelligence
Skills: +11 Arcana, +11 Investigation, +2 Intimidation
Damage Immunities: poison
Damage Resistances: Nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning; acid, fire, cold, thunder
Condition Immunities: Exhausted, Fatigued, Poisoned, Charmed
Senses: PP9
Languages: Common, Dalek
Challenge: 10 (5900 XP)
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Hover. Can remain in one place in the air and if knocked prone while flying will not fall to the ground.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dalek Blaster. Energy Ranged Attack, +4 to hit, 120 foot range. On hit: 22 (5d8) lightning damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for the rest of the turn.
Plunger. Weapon Melee Attack, +5 to hit, 5 foot range. On hit: 5 (d6+2) bludgeoning damage, opponent must make a DC 15 Strength check or be grappled. If they do not successfully break out from the plunger's grip, they begin to Suffocate.

Dalek (Commander)
Medium Aberration, Lawful Evil
Hitpoints: 85 (9d8+45)
AC: 23 (Dalek Armor)
Speed: 25 feet, 5 feet fly
Ability Scores
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 20(+5) Int: 20(+5) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 12 (+1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saves: +9 Constiution, +9 Intelligence
Skills: +9 Arcana, +9 Investigation, +5 Intimidation
Damage Immunities: poison
Damage Resistances: Nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning; acid, fire, cold, thunder
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Exhausted, Fatigued, Poisoned
Senses: PP9
Languages: Common, Dalek
Challenge: 12 (8400 XP)
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Hover. Can remain in one place in the air and if knocked prone while flying will not fall to the ground.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dalek Blaster. Energy Ranged Attack, +6 to hit, 120 foot range. On hit: 22 (5d8) lightning damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for the rest of the turn.
Plunger. Weapon Melee Attack, +7 to hit, 5 foot range. On hit: 6 (d6+3) bludgeoning damage, opponent must make a DC 15 Strength check or be grappled. If they do not successfully break out from the plunger's grip, they begin to Suffocate.

 

[shepsquared]

Fair enough, but the question was how many of their features are rage-gated. Since the answer for subclass features is "most of them", that's going to be a fairly big part of how accessible Rage should be.

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What do you mean accessible? Every barbarian had rage and the only thing that turns it off is being knocked unconscious or being out of range of all possible enemies (at low levels).

It does say 'berserker rage' to me. And Paladins not being able to smite with bows is also a thing that bothers me, because, well, a whispered oath of vengeance while shooting someone doesn't say 'sneak attack' to me, for all that it's a really cool type of assassination scene.

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Then the devs disagree with you. And stealth also isn't really a paladin thing.

Sure, just like every class wants to be skilled - the difference is that Barbarians have features that make them feel buff, and let them use that buffness to engage with large facets of play (like physical defense). If I want my wizard to be buff, he has to give up several other things he could be doing with his magic, including defend himself effectively.

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Or you could dump Int to have high Str and Con - but then why are you playing a wizard if you don't want to be a primary caster?

Eh, only for the canon guns.

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Am I meant to be assessing things based on homebrew?

Identifying that legacy code would definitely help me, though.

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The six stats, 20 levels, vancian casting, the differing dice you use for different things, what each class is meant to do, specific classes wanting specific stats, how the saving throws mostly map to Will/Fort/Ref. The list of legacy code is extremely long and if you take it all out you aren't playing D&D anymore, nevermnd 5e.

I think the one I'm going for is "each build has a roughly equal share of capacity-to-affect-the-narrative, assuming very basic optimization". (This is importantly distinct from "each build has the same number of tools", which is one of the most consistent complaints I've heard about 4E.)
Beyond that, it's something I'm aiming to preserve more than improve. Barbarian is hard for me to hack right now, and I kind of want to streamline it.

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Maybe sit down and play barbarian in a game if you can't grok its gameplay? Because it isn't hard - hit the enemy, use Reckless Attack to make sure you hit and encourage the enemy to hit you instead of the valor bard, monk or rogue, Rage when its a boss or a horde so you can do more damage and take less. Grab athletics proficiency so you can grapple & shove enemies and always make sure you have a back up weapon as well as 4 throwing weapons.

 

[Segev]

How would you edit the below:

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I would make the flight faster, at least matching the ground speed, because they aren't notably slower in the air in-series.

Also, I would give the base lifeform (and all derived armored versions) immunity to the Charmed condition. They hate with every fiber of their being. They cannot be magically compelled to like something.

I'd even give them a racial ability: "Beautiful Hate: Daleks loathe all other beings to such an extent that any Charisma-based check against them has Disadvantage."

On the up side, if you cast friends, you can't make them MORE hostile to you than they were before!

 

[Arawn_Emrys]

I would make the flight faster, at least matching the ground speed, because they aren't notably slower in the air in-series.

Also, I would give the base lifeform (and all derived armored versions) immunity to the Charmed condition. They hate with every fiber of their being. They cannot be magically compelled to like something.

I'd even give them a racial ability: "Beautiful Hate: Daleks loathe all other beings to such an extent that any Charisma-based check against them has Disadvantage."

On the up side, if you cast friends, you can't make them MORE hostile to you than they were before!

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Also, need a Kaled race for Davros.

 

[Estro]

[5e]

How would you edit the below:

Dalek Lifeform
Tiny Aberration, Lawful Evil
Hitpoints: 7 (3d4)
AC: 10
Speed: 5 feet
Ability Scores
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Str: 6(-2) Dex: 10(+0) Con: 10(+0) Int: 20(+5) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 8 (-1)
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Saves: +3 Constitution, +8 Intelligence
Skills: +8 Arcana, +8 Investigation, +2 Intimidation
Senses: PP9
Languages: Common
Challenge: 0 (10 XP)
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Actions
Pseudopod. Natural Melee Attack, +0 to hit, 5 foot reach. On hit: 1 (d4-2) bludgeoning damage.

Dalek (Soldier)
Medium Aberration, Lawful Evil
Hitpoints: 66 (7d8+35)
AC: 25 (Dalek Armor)
Speed: 25 feet, 5 feet fly
Ability Scores
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Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 20(+5) Int: 20(+5) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 8 (-1)
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Saves: +8 Constiution, +8 Intelligence
Skills: +8 Arcana, +8 Investigation, +2 Intimidation
Damage Immunities: poison
Damage Resistances: Nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning; acid, fire, cold, thunder
Condition Immunities: Exhausted, Fatigued, Poisoned
Senses: PP9
Languages: Common, Dalek
Challenge: 8 (3900 XP)
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Hover. Can remain in one place in the air and if knocked prone while flying will not fall to the ground.
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Dalek Blaster. Energy Ranged Attack, +3 to hit, 120 foot range. On hit: 22 (5d8) lightning damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for the rest of the turn.
Plunger. Weapon Melee Attack, +5 to hit, 5 foot range. On hit: 5 (d6+2) bludgeoning damage, opponent must make a DC 15 Strength check or be grappled. If they do not successfully break out from the plunger's grip, they begin to Suffocate.

Dalek (Scientist)
Medium Aberration, Lawful Evil
Hitpoints: 66 (7d8+35)
AC: 25 (Dalek Armor)
Speed: 25 feet, 5 feet fly
Ability Scores
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Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 20(+5) Int: 26(+8) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 8 (-1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saves: +8 Constiution, +11 Intelligence
Skills: +11 Arcana, +11 Investigation, +2 Intimidation
Damage Immunities: poison
Damage Resistances: Nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning; acid, fire, cold, thunder
Condition Immunities: Exhausted, Fatigued, Poisoned
Senses: PP9
Languages: Common, Dalek
Challenge: 9 (5000 XP)
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Hover. Can remain in one place in the air and if knocked prone while flying will not fall to the ground.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dalek Blaster. Energy Ranged Attack, +3 to hit, 120 foot range. On hit: 22 (5d8) lightning damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for the rest of the turn.
Plunger. Weapon Melee Attack, +5 to hit, 5 foot range. On hit: 5 (d6+2) bludgeoning damage, opponent must make a DC 15 Strength check or be grappled. If they do not successfully break out from the plunger's grip, they begin to Suffocate.

Dalek (Commander)
Medium Aberration, Lawful Evil
Hitpoints: 85 (9d8+45)
AC: 25 (Dalek Armor)
Speed: 25 feet, 5 feet fly
Ability Scores
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 20(+5) Int: 20(+5) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 12 (+1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saves: +9 Constiution, +9 Intelligence
Skills: +9 Arcana, +9 Investigation, +5 Intimidation
Damage Immunities: poison
Damage Resistances: Nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning; acid, fire, cold, thunder
Condition Immunities: Exhausted, Fatigued, Poisoned
Senses: PP9
Languages: Common, Dalek
Challenge: 12 (5900 XP)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hover. Can remain in one place in the air and if knocked prone while flying will not fall to the ground.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dalek Blaster. Energy Ranged Attack, +4 to hit, 120 foot range. On hit: 22 (5d8) lightning damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for the rest of the turn.
Plunger. Weapon Melee Attack, +6 to hit, 5 foot range. On hit: 5 (d6+2) bludgeoning damage, opponent must make a DC 15 Strength check or be grappled. If they do not successfully break out from the plunger's grip, they begin to Suffocate.

Click to shrink...

honestly, I think the CRs are a bit high. I also don't see why less than 20HP and a few bonuses to hit are worth being three CR higher.

Actually, why are they all awful shots? Like, they rarely hit the Doctor or any companions, but in general they're not terrible at shooting.

 

[Valette.Serafina]

AC: 25 (Dalek Armor)

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"Aaaand you miss. And you miss. And you miss, and miss, and miss, and miss. Oh, you hit! But,"

Damage Immunities: poison
Damage Resistances: Nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning; acid, fire, cold, thunder

Click to shrink...

Assuming capped attributes, most characters have +8 to hit by level 8. That means they need a 17 to hit AC 25, which means most of the fight will be them missing and missing and missing unless they get extremely lucky. The creature is resistant to the most common types of damage, on top of that.

It is entirely possible that entire rounds will pass without anyone hitting, even if no one rolls under ten. That's how you make combat drag.

 

[HoratioVonBecker]

What do you mean accessible? Every barbarian had rage and the only thing that turns it off is being knocked unconscious or being out of range of all possible enemies (at low levels).

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How often it should be usable, for what duration, what sort of end conditions it has, whether some of its' parts should be split off.

Or you could dump Int to have high Str and Con - but then why are you playing a wizard if you don't want to be a primary caster?

Click to shrink...

Exactly! Spending a level so my wizard can occasionally flip out and lift cars is something I would actually consider, whereas spending my entire build is just a price too high.

Am I meant to be assessing things based on homebrew?

Click to shrink...

Sort of? Guns-as-refluffed-bows is way easier to implement than a major class revision, although "Raging costs Concentration but not other spellcasting to maintain, and also works just fine in heavy armor" isn't actually that much of a step up.

The list of legacy code is extremely long and if you take it all out you aren't playing D&D anymore, nevermnd 5e.

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Oh of course. I meant it'd be useful to know what comes from where, not that it should be gotten rid of.

 

[shepsquared]

@HoratioVonBecker at this point it doesn't really sound like you want to be playing 5e. Why not play something more customisable, like pathfinder 1e with the spheres subsystem or something?