Dungeons and Dragons Megathread

KageX · Feb 8, 2020

Alright making a setting deliberately to "do things differently" with the various Races much like Ebberron did. Can be 5E or Pathfinder.

Humans: the descendants of an ancient Magically Advanced Kingdom long since destroyed. They are now Gypsy Expies inspired by DnD Vistani and Pathfinder Varisians.

Mistrusted by many due to their wandering ways and strange magics most are afraid to anger them and risk their strange and mysterious Magics.

Dwarves: a decadent empire run by Industrialized Magic and Alchemy. Their society is built on the back of enslaving other Races and aggressive expansion.

The Dwarvish Race is fully convinced of their superiority to other races, and that only through them can these "Savages" attain any measure of civilization.

(Basically think Victorian Dwarves)

Elves: the "Youngest Race of the world" born of beings who emigrated from the mysterious and alien Feywild due to a a Magical Alignment opening a portal escapingfrom the warring Chromatic and Metallic Dragon Lords who reign there. They serve as the "Barbarians" of the setting, eschewing Arcane Magic and embracing Primal Magic due to the Arcane's link to their former Draconic masters.

As such while they produce Sorcerers of Draconic Ancestry quite often said Sorcerers are banished from their tribes once their Magic awakens. Most seek out their fortunes in the world, but some have congregated to form the heretical "Dragon's Blood Clan" who seek ever increasing mastery over Arcane Magic.

Gnomes: The "Drow" of the setting, a cruel and manipulative race that lives underground. The Dwarves and Gnomes are hated enemies, each claiming the other destroyed "Stone Home" their shared subterranean ancestral homeland. While the ancestors of the Dwarves emigrated to the surface the predecessors of the Gnomes stayed undergound and the evolution of the "Dwergaz"diverged into the two.

Some Gnomes have rejected the cruelty of their people and established isolated community's on the surface, but find the Dwarves little better then their own people.

(Dwergaz is believed to be the origin of the term Dwarf in Germanic Languages.)

Orcs: a people of devout faith to their gods the Pentad.

The Gold Father: God of the Sun, Law and Justice.
The Silver Mother: Goddess of the Moon, Mercy, Healing and the Afterlife.
The Green Son: God of Architecture and Agriculture.
The Red Daughter: Goddess of the Hunt and the Wilds.
The Grey Seeker: God of Truth, Knowledge and Wisdom.

And the last Goddess once counterpart to the Grey Seeker.

The Black Exile: Once goddess of Travel and Protection her wanderings led her to "dark places" and she became fascinated by the Lower Planes, becoming the Goddess of Evil and Death.

The Orcs fight against the ever expanding Empire of the Dwarves and seek to free the many races the Dwarves have enslaved. So yes the Orcs are the "Generic Heroic Race" we often see Humans slotted into in Fantasy Settings, while the Humans are "mistrusted wandering mystics".

Goblins: a quickly reproducing and industrious race who once hosted many prosperous nations divided amongst several subspecies. Most of these Kingdoms were conquered by the Dwarves and what few remain rely heavily upon the aid of their Orcish Allies.

Hob Goblins: a race descended from Goblins who dwelled in forested mountain regions and embraced the worship of the "First Master" a member of their Race who Ascended to Godhood through study and meditation. Their culture revolves around enriching ones life through spiritual meditation, and even the most simple tasks are seen as ways of furthering oneself to enlightenment.

However they also have a Caste System based on their belief in Reincarnation. Only by passing a series of trials and dedicating oneself to a temple can one "rise above" their station and become a Monk, who due to their role as the Spiritual Leaders of the Community are ranked as high as Nobles.

(Yes Hob Goblin Monks)

Lizardmen: a formerly pacifistic race steeped in respect for the natural world once led by their Druids. One of many races now enslaved by the Dwarves, forced to assist in stripping their beloved homeland of it's resources.

Due to this many of the "Free Scaled Folk" have resorted to Guerilla Warfare to combat their Dwarvish Opressors.

Kobolds: Magically Powerful and Mysterious servants of the Feywild's Dragon Lords. They seek to advance their Masters goals, the Chromatic's Domination of the Feywild and "Mortal World" and the Metallics to "protect peace and justice". However the Metallics are split, some wishing for the Freedom of the Shorter Lived Races, others believing that such beings cannot create a lasting peace due to their short lifespans. As such Metallic Dragon Politics is a quagmire, with their agents in the Mortal World often working at odds with other Metallic Dragon Factions as much as the Chromatics.

It is because of this Division that the Chromatics have been able to stalemate the Metallics.

Halflings: once a proud and prosperous empire, for centuries they were reduced to scattered tribes driven from their homeland into the deserts of the Southern Continent.

Long ago the Priest Kings of their empire attempted to raise an Undead Army to combat the Ancient Human Empire for mastery of the world. Their ritual failed, some say disrupted by Human Mages, and the resulting backlash destroyed their homeland, raising the dead as hostile Undead who prowl it to this day. In this Tainted Land anything that dies is brought back as an Undead within 24 Hours.

The Halflings have never forgiven the Humans and boast that their Gods destroyed the Human Empire in retaliation, though few other then themselves believe it.

In the past two centuries they have begun to rebuild along the Southern Continents Coast and are eager to reclaim their status as the "Greatest Empire in the world".

Most consider them just as greedy as the Dwarves, but unlike the Dwarves who are utterly convinced of their "Manifest Destiny" the Halflings are willing to sell to anyone barring Humans, becoming widely renowned as Merchants, albeit ones that everyone thinks will do their best to squeeze out as much of a profit as possible.

------------------------------------------------

So that is the basics. Again this setting is built up on "flipping the table" on certain stereotypes.

How does it look so far?

Segev · Feb 8, 2020

KageX said:
How does it look so far?

The take on dwarves and humans are interesting, and I like the contrasting rivalry between humans and halflings. However, while the idea is to flip stereotypes on their heads, a lot of this feels more like swapping stereotypes. The takes on the stereotypes are interspersed enough on their own; the seeming swaps feel awkward and like deliberate obfuscation rather than use ful twists.

For example, orcs and elves feel just swapped. Making the IRC's the primal mage barbarians feels natural; adding that they, not the elves, are exiled from the feywild and making them somewhat alien would be a neat twist without feeling like you're repainting orcs as elves.

Making elves the freedom fighters with a bit of an honorable warrior culture vibe (what you've got for orcs now) fits for them while being very different from their "dying fallen ancient people" norm; the fact that they're opposing dwarven expansionism feels natural while putting a new twist on a stereotypical rivalry.

Humans and halflings feel similarly switched. Halflings as semi-distrusted Romani-nomads has been done before, but not to my knowledge as a fallen magic empire's remnants who are feared as much as distrusted due to their mysterious and powerful magics. Humans as their rival fallen empire that is rebuilding is a more familiar role for humans while still being a unique twist.

I'd actually keep the halfling fallen empire having be the one trying for the undead army that the human empire thwarted, the backlash breaking both empires. I love the mental image this gave me of the setting's stereotype for undead being that they're halfling corpses rather than medium humanoid corpses.

Giving humans the "rebuilding empire, but not like those nasty dwarves" vibe would also allow for typical humans-as-heroes stuff while making the cause different.

I like the world building in this so far; I just think that, in trying to flip the table, you're losing the opportunity to break stereotypes to the mistake of simply swapping them wholesale. Play with them more, and keep the surface notions of the original ideas for the races while switching up how they interplay and their backstories.

Fey orcs and warrior underdog elves are different without being able to be pointed at and say, "oh, so elves are orcs and orcs are elves?"

(Edited to clean up what autocorruptions my phone put in it that I noticed on a quick read-through.)

samdamandias · Feb 8, 2020

So bit of a technical question here:
In 5E, cubes say that you can exclude the point of origin. Does that mean that this is a valid cube?

/X0X/
/XXX/
/XXX/

I ask because right now my 5e game is just getting to second level, and Thunderwave is our primary damage-dealing spell, and it's a 15-foot cube with the caster as the origin point.

I'm a little embarrassed that I completely forgot one of my class features as a Tempest Cleric, namely the thunderous rebuke or whatever it is called.

Dylan101 · Feb 8, 2020

samdamandias said:
So bit of a technical question here:
In 5E, cubes say that you can exclude the point of origin. Does that mean that this is a valid cube?

/X0X/
/XXX/
/XXX/

I ask because right now my 5e game is just getting to second level, and Thunderwave is our primary damage-dealing spell, and it's a 15-foot cube with the caster as the origin point.

I'm a little embarrassed that I completely forgot one of my class features as a Tempest Cleric, namely the thunderous rebuke or whatever it is called.

If you decide to include yourself in the range of thunderwave you can do so, but you would be damaged by the spell.
If you choose to exclude yourself then you create a 3x3 square where the square touches your square at some point. If you include yourself you are at one of the x's and the face you are touching is the bottom/top face of the cube and can be at any point in the cube(except the center)

samdamandias · Feb 8, 2020

Dylan101 said:
If you decide to include yourself in the range of thunderwave you can do so, but you would be damaged by the spell.

That's where the confusion arises, because the PHB says that Lines, Cones, and Cubes may exclude the point of origin from the area of effect. So what exactly does that mean?

Dylan101 · Feb 8, 2020

samdamandias said:
That's where the confusion arises, because the PHB says that Lines, Cones, and Cubes may exclude the point of origin from the area of effect. So what exactly does that mean?

That your point isn't a square included in the 3x3 squares
IE: You make this by default
c
xxx
xxx
xxx

not this
cxx
xxx
xxx

If you need an imaginative then imagine the point of origin is your hand. you point outwards and the cube expands from that. Your hand is not included. Thus the point of origin(which is defined by the square you are on) is not by default included.
However you could for example target yourself by having the point of origin be your feet and pointing upwards(or have your hand above your head and pointing downwards) so that the cube includes you. However you have chosen to be in the cube and so take all effects.

Edit: what the ability to choose if the point of origin is included or not says is that you have the ability to say if your pointing whatever away from you or at yourself. If you don't include yourself then the point of origin is excluded and the effect starts from the square you are targeting. If you do include yourself then your square is part of the effect and you are effected.

samdamandias · Feb 8, 2020

Dylan101 said:
c
xxx
xxx
xxx

In that arrangement it looks like the point of origin is still included in the area of effect, since for a Cube the point of origin is somewhere on a face of the cube. In this example you posted, the point of origin is the square border between "c" and the top left "x".

cxx
xxx
xxx

Here the point of origin is along the upper or left edge of C's space, so by excluding the point of origin, wouldn't that mean that C's space is not included in the AOE despite otherwise looking like it would?

If it seems like I'm trying to milk this for all it's worth, I am, we've just hit level two and all our fights so far have involved at least five opponents, most of whom like melee. Thunderwave is the damage-dealing spell we have.

Dylan101 · Feb 8, 2020

samdamandias said:
In that arrangement it looks like the point of origin is still included in the area of effect, since for a Cube the point of origin is somewhere on a face of the cube. In this example you posted, the point of origin is the square border between "c" and the top left "x".

Here the point of origin is along the upper or left edge of C's space, so by excluding the point of origin, wouldn't that mean that C's space is not included in the AOE despite otherwise looking like it would?

If it seems like I'm trying to milk this for all it's worth, I am, we've just hit level two and all our fights so far have involved at least five opponents, most of whom like melee. Thunderwave is the damage-dealing spell we have.

The point of origin in dnd isn't the literal point of origin where the spell originates from. It is the square you are on. So the square c is on is the point of origin. There isn't any such thing as the point of origin being the border
If you cast it by the 1st way you have chosen to exclude the point of origin. If you chose the second way you have included the point of origin. You don't get it both ways. The AOE will always be 3x3x3

See Sage Advice

I think Thunderwave is the red area. My friend argued it is the yellow. Who is correct?

D&D Sage Advice ·

www.sageadvice.eu

You can just choose to create the cube in such a way that it would include the square you are on if needed. But by doing so you have included the point of origin into the spell effect.

Edit: Just imagine a cube. If you are including the point of origin then you are inside the cube touching the face. This causes you to be affected. If you are excluding the point of origin then you are outside the cube touching the face. You are not affected

samdamandias · Feb 8, 2020

Dylan101 said:
The point of origin in dnd isn't the literal point of origin where the spell originates from. It is the square you are on

Per PHB, page 204:

Typically a point of origin is a point in pace, but some spells have an area whose origin is a creature or an object.
...
You select a cube's point of origin, which lies anywhere on a face of the cubic effect. The cube's size is expressed as the length of each side.
A cube's point of origin is not included in the cube's are of effect, unless you decide otherwise.

In any of these:
coo //oco//ooc
xxx//xxx//xxxx
xxx//xxx//xxxx
xxx//xxx//xxxx

The point of origin is included in the area of effect and is on the border between the square c occupies and one of the squares marked x. Spheres and cylinders always include the point of origin in the AOE, so a cube being able to not include the point of origin would then mean that one of the squares on the outside of the cube would not be affected, else why call out cubes as being able to optionally exclude the point of origin?

azoicennead · Feb 8, 2020

samdamandias said:
Per PHB, page 204:

In any of these:
coo //oco//ooc
xxx//xxx//xxxx
xxx//xxx//xxxx
xxx//xxx//xxxx

The point of origin is included in the area of effect and is on the border between the square c occupies and one of the squares marked x. Spheres and cylinders always include the point of origin in the AOE, so a cube being able to not include the point of origin would then mean that one of the squares on the outside of the cube would not be affected, else why call out cubes as being able to optionally exclude the point of origin?

I think this is a mixture of the rules trying to be a bit too specific and you overthinking the rules.
The point of origin is not the entire square. The point of origin is either a point or a creature/object. If the point of origin is inside the AoE, it doesn't allow you to create a safe square; it only protects the point of origin (i.e. your DM can't claim that extending your hand slightly into the AoE of your Thunderwave means you hit yourself with it).
That's it. The cube extends from the point of origin, which can be along any face or edge.
Cubes are called out specifically because they're used for spells that project directly from the caster that aren't meant to inherently deal damage to the caster. Cones and lines have the same wording.

Strunkriidiisk · Feb 9, 2020

samdamandias said:
So bit of a technical question here:
In 5E, cubes say that you can exclude the point of origin. Does that mean that this is a valid cube?

/X0X/
/XXX/
/XXX/

I ask because right now my 5e game is just getting to second level, and Thunderwave is our primary damage-dealing spell, and it's a 15-foot cube with the caster as the origin point.

I'm a little embarrassed that I completely forgot one of my class features as a Tempest Cleric, namely the thunderous rebuke or whatever it is called.

Per the PHB Chapter 10 (DNDBeyond, so I can't give a page number - look under "Areas of Effect"):

Cube
You select a cube's point of origin, which lies anywhere on a face of the cubic effect. The cube's size is expressed as the length of each side.

A cube's point of origin is not included in the cube's area of effect, unless you decide otherwise.

...The point of origin is simply where you draw the cube from.

Chloe Sullivan · Feb 9, 2020

PhoenixMercurous said:
PF1E question. Does anyone have favorite classes/archetypes for villains?

Spirit Blade Armorist or a combination of classes that result in a monster pet build.

WOE BE TO HE WHO MISTAKES THE RIDER FOR THE STEED.

PhoenixMercurous · Feb 9, 2020

Chloe Sullivan said:
Spirit Blade Armorist or a combination of classes that result in a monster pet build.

WOE BE TO HE WHO MISTAKES THE RIDER FOR THE STEED.

Armorist looks interesting, though I'll have to clear Spheres of Power with the main GM in case any of these villains reappear in the main campaign. It's an interesting looking alternate rule system, I'll have to dig into it more.

I'm not sure I've heard of a "monster pet" build before. I'm guessing it's a build focusing on making a companion animal (or similar) as powerful as possible.

Mechanical · Feb 9, 2020

I made a 5e domain for the cleric, and I'm interested in hearing people's opinions on it.
I think it's pretty balanced.

"Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry!" - Oliver Cromwell

As the world has changed, so have the gods. Gunpowder gods tend to be minor deities, subservient to greater war gods – but as gunpowder enables the peasant to slay the knight, perhaps one day these petty gods will rise to greater heights. Gunpowder gods teach worshippers to use care and patience with their actions to avoid explosive mishaps – until the time comes, when one should explode (metaphorically, and sometimes literally) into action to win the day.

Gunpowder clerics are a strange lot, with a fanatic devotion to their firearms, and always eager to adopt new and more advanced weapons. While their guns can't match the range or speed of a crossbow or bow, the power of a musket is unmatched, and their spells similarly reflect their focus on slaying foes of their god from afar.

1st level spells: Hunter's Mark, Hail of Thorns
2nd level spells: Magic Weapon, Pyrotechnics
3rd level spells: Conjure Barrage, Melf's Minute Meteors
4th level spells: Ice Storm, Guardian of Faith
5th level spells: Conjure Volley, Swift Quiver

Bonus Proficiency
At 1st level, you gain proficiency with all gunpowder weapons. In addition, gunpowder weapons count as a clerical focus for you.

It is recommended a DM allows a player to begin with a gunpowder weapon (Renaissance items, DMG268) should they choose this Domain.

Guided Fire:
At 1st level, being within five feet of a hostile creature doesn't impose disadvantage on your attack rolls, and you ignore half cover.

Channel Divinity: Artillery Strike
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to fire a spell from long range.

As an action, you enchant a shot with a spell that costs spell slots and fire it from your weapon. Choose a creature or non-occupied square within the maximum range of that weapon.

You can use that square as the origin point for a spell you cast, as if you were standing on that square. If aimed at a creature, roll a ranged weapon attack against them as normal. On a hit, they take the damage of your shot and the spell triggers from that square. On a miss, they do not take damage from the attack, but the spell triggers anyway. Any rolls the spell requires are separate from the ranged attack roll.

Volley Fire
Starting at 6th level, when you cast a spell that uses spell slots, you may make a single ranged attack as a bonus action.

Divine Strike
Starting at 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your shots with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a ranged weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 piercing damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Ricocheting Shot
Starting at 17th level, your shots ricochet between foes. Upon hitting a foe with your Divine Strike, the shot can ricochet to a creature of your choice within 30ft. The same rolls are used for the second creature, but you do not get the additional damage of Divine Strike.

If this is used with Artillery Strike, you may choose whether the spell is cast from the original target or the second creature.

HoratioVonBecker · Feb 10, 2020

KageX said:
Humans: the descendants of an ancient Magically Advanced Kingdom long since destroyed. They are now Gypsy Expies inspired by DnD Vistani and Pathfinder Varisians.

Mistrusted by many due to their wandering ways and strange magics most are afraid to anger them and risk their strange and mysterious Magics.

This is kind of cool as an interpretation of the Bonus Feat version. (As a highly tangential side note, I'm pretty sure the term currently in favor is 'Roma' - apparently 'gypsy' has historically meant someting much less flattering than 'awesome magic circus people'.)

KageX said:
Dwarves: a decadent empire run by Industrialized Magic and Alchemy. Their society is built on the back of enslaving other Races and aggressive expansion.

The Dwarvish Race is fully convinced of their superiority to other races, and that only through them can these "Savages" attain any measure of civilization.

(Basically think Victorian Dwarves)

...Huh. You know, it's fresher than Victorian Elves. I'll take it.

KageX said:
Elves: the "Youngest Race of the world" born of beings who emigrated from the mysterious and alien Feywild due to a a Magical Alignment opening a portal escapingfrom the warring Chromatic and Metallic Dragon Lords who reign there. They serve as the "Barbarians" of the setting, eschewing Arcane Magic and embracing Primal Magic due to the Arcane's link to their former Draconic masters.

As such while they produce Sorcerers of Draconic Ancestry quite often said Sorcerers are banished from their tribes once their Magic awakens. Most seek out their fortunes in the world, but some have congregated to form the heretical "Dragon's Blood Clan" who seek ever increasing mastery over Arcane Magic.

That is cool. Makes sense of a lot of things about Elves. I appreciate it!

KageX said:
Gnomes: The "Drow" of the setting, a cruel and manipulative race that lives underground. The Dwarves and Gnomes are hated enemies, each claiming the other destroyed "Stone Home" their shared subterranean ancestral homeland. While the ancestors of the Dwarves emigrated to the surface the predecessors of the Gnomes stayed undergound and the evolution of the "Dwergaz"diverged into the two.

Some Gnomes have rejected the cruelty of their people and established isolated community's on the surface, but find the Dwarves little better then their own people.

(Dwergaz is believed to be the origin of the term Dwarf in Germanic Languages.)

This seems kind of meh. Better than "bald halflings who are allowed steampunk tech in an otherwise-medieval setting", but still honestly less interesting than "Elven empire-in-exile". I suppose you could make them "Dwarvish empire-in-exile"...

KageX said:
Orcs: a people of devout faith to their gods the Pentad.

The Gold Father: God of the Sun, Law and Justice.
The Silver Mother: Goddess of the Moon, Mercy, Healing and the Afterlife.
The Green Son: God of Architecture and Agriculture.
The Red Daughter: Goddess of the Hunt and the Wilds.
The Grey Seeker: God of Truth, Knowledge and Wisdom.

And the last Goddess once counterpart to the Grey Seeker.

The Black Exile: Once goddess of Travel and Protection her wanderings led her to "dark places" and she became fascinated by the Lower Planes, becoming the Goddess of Evil and Death.

The Orcs fight against the ever expanding Empire of the Dwarves and seek to free the many races the Dwarves have enslaved. So yes the Orcs are the "Generic Heroic Race" we often see Humans slotted into in Fantasy Settings, while the Humans are "mistrusted wandering mystics".

The pantheon is interesting, but doesn't give me much handle on Orcs as a faction/homeland. Are they small nations threatened by neighboring imperialism? A rival empire, hoping to check the Dwarves' expansion? Rebellious former colony turned refugee hub? Several of the above? I'm kind of liking options one and three together.

KageX said:
Goblins: a quickly reproducing and industrious race who once hosted many prosperous nations divided amongst several subspecies. Most of these Kingdoms were conquered by the Dwarves and what few remain rely heavily upon the aid of their Orcish Allies.

Okay, now I'm imagining Goblin India. Which is pretty cool actually.

KageX said:
Hob Goblins: a race descended from Goblins who dwelled in forested mountain regions and embraced the worship of the "First Master" a member of their Race who Ascended to Godhood through study and meditation. Their culture revolves around enriching ones life through spiritual meditation, and even the most simple tasks are seen as ways of furthering oneself to enlightenment.

However they also have a Caste System based on their belief in Reincarnation. Only by passing a series of trials and dedicating oneself to a temple can one "rise above" their station and become a Monk, who due to their role as the Spiritual Leaders of the Community are ranked as high as Nobles.

Hobgoblin Tibet? Or in a modernization, Hong Kong. Either way, somewhat fresher than Hobgoblin Japan. I kind of like it.

KageX said:
Lizardmen: a formerly pacifistic race steeped in respect for the natural world once led by their Druids. One of many races now enslaved by the Dwarves, forced to assist in stripping their beloved homeland of it's resources.

Due to this many of the "Free Scaled Folk" have resorted to Guerilla Warfare to combat their Dwarvish Opressors.

Makes sense. Honestly though, Dragonborn, Lizardmen, and maybe Kobolds all seem like they'd be names for the same general phenomenon.

KageX said:
Kobolds: Magically Powerful and Mysterious servants of the Feywild's Dragon Lords. They seek to advance their Masters goals, the Chromatic's Domination of the Feywild and "Mortal World" and the Metallics to "protect peace and justice". However the Metallics are split, some wishing for the Freedom of the Shorter Lived Races, others believing that such beings cannot create a lasting peace due to their short lifespans. As such Metallic Dragon Politics is a quagmire, with their agents in the Mortal World often working at odds with other Metallic Dragon Factions as much as the Chromatics.

It is because of this Division that the Chromatics have been able to stalemate the Metallics.

The Kobolds are the cold war spies getting everyone else's countries involved in their proxy war. I love it. Not least because it lets us have Kobold CIA agents. And Kobold KGB agents, which might be even funnier. This is amazing.

KageX said:
Halflings: once a proud and prosperous empire, for centuries they were reduced to scattered tribes driven from their homeland into the deserts of the Southern Continent.

Long ago the Priest Kings of their empire attempted to raise an Undead Army to combat the Ancient Human Empire for mastery of the world. Their ritual failed, some say disrupted by Human Mages, and the resulting backlash destroyed their homeland, raising the dead as hostile Undead who prowl it to this day. In this Tainted Land anything that dies is brought back as an Undead within 24 Hours.

The Halflings have never forgiven the Humans and boast that their Gods destroyed the Human Empire in retaliation, though few other then themselves believe it.

In the past two centuries they have begun to rebuild along the Southern Continents Coast and are eager to reclaim their status as the "Greatest Empire in the world".

Most consider them just as greedy as the Dwarves, but unlike the Dwarves who are utterly convinced of their "Manifest Destiny" the Halflings are willing to sell to anyone barring Humans, becoming widely renowned as Merchants, albeit ones that everyone thinks will do their best to squeeze out as much of a profit as possible.

Hmm. I see two ways to go about this. The first is that you can play up the merchant angle, drop the historical grudge, and say their enmity with humans is because humans are stereotyped as thieves, bandits, and conmen - a natural outgroup for rich merchants, on account of it being easier to dehumanize them than to acknowledge the injustice of the situation.
The second is to base them on modern Israel.

KageX said:
So that is the basics. Again this setting is built up on "flipping the table" on certain stereotypes.

How does it look so far?

It looks like more of a shakeup than a facile inversion, so that's good. Elves are real cool. Where do you expect adventurers to come in?

Segev said:
I'd actually keep the halfling fallen empire having be the one trying for the undead army that the human empire thwarted, the backlash breaking both empires. I love the mental image this gave me of the setting's stereotype for undead being that they're halfling corpses rather than medium humanoid corpses.

That is pretty cool, I agree.

Segev said:
Fey orcs and warrior underdog elves are different without being able to be pointed at and say, "oh, so elves are orcs and orcs are elves?"

Honestly, my favorite part of Elves being super new is that elven longevity can actually be weird and disruptive instead of hidebound and stultifying. Their description also didn't read as terribly warlike to me, so that's about half of the (kind of nasty) Orc stereotypes which they just don't fit.

HoratioVonBecker · Feb 10, 2020

Mechanical said:
I made a 5e domain for the cleric, and I'm interested in hearing people's opinions on it.
I think it's pretty balanced.

"Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry!" - Oliver Cromwell

As the world has changed, so have the gods. Gunpowder gods tend to be minor deities, subservient to greater war gods – but as gunpowder enables the peasant to slay the knight, perhaps one day these petty gods will rise to greater heights. Gunpowder gods teach worshippers to use care and patience with their actions to avoid explosive mishaps – until the time comes, when one should explode (metaphorically, and sometimes literally) into action to win the day.

Gunpowder clerics are a strange lot, with a fanatic devotion to their firearms, and always eager to adopt new and more advanced weapons. While their guns can't match the range or speed of a crossbow or bow, the power of a musket is unmatched, and their spells similarly reflect their focus on slaying foes of their god from afar.

1st level spells: Hunter's Mark, Hail of Thorns
2nd level spells: Magic Weapon, Pyrotechnics
3rd level spells: Conjure Barrage, Melf's Minute Meteors
4th level spells: Ice Storm, Guardian of Faith
5th level spells: Conjure Volley, Swift Quiver

Bonus Proficiency
At 1st level, you gain proficiency with all gunpowder weapons. In addition, gunpowder weapons count as a clerical focus for you.

It is recommended a DM allows a player to begin with a gunpowder weapon (Renaissance items, DMG268) should they choose this Domain.

Guided Fire:
At 1st level, being within five feet of a hostile creature doesn't impose disadvantage on your attack rolls, and you ignore half cover.

Channel Divinity: Artillery Strike
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to fire a spell from long range.

As an action, you enchant a shot with a spell that costs spell slots and fire it from your weapon. Choose a creature or non-occupied square within the maximum range of that weapon.

You can use that square as the origin point for a spell you cast, as if you were standing on that square. If aimed at a creature, roll a ranged weapon attack against them as normal. On a hit, they take the damage of your shot and the spell triggers from that square. On a miss, they do not take damage from the attack, but the spell triggers anyway. Any rolls the spell requires are separate from the ranged attack roll.

Volley Fire
Starting at 6th level, when you cast a spell that uses spell slots, you may make a single ranged attack as a bonus action.

Divine Strike
Starting at 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your shots with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a ranged weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 piercing damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Ricocheting Shot
Starting at 17th level, your shots ricochet between foes. Upon hitting a foe with your Divine Strike, the shot can ricochet to a creature of your choice within 30ft. The same rolls are used for the second creature, but you do not get the additional damage of Divine Strike.

If this is used with Artillery Strike, you may choose whether the spell is cast from the original target or the second creature.

Looks fairly balanced. Pity it wants a book I don't have, but I think I'd allow it at my table. Get it threadmarked!

grommile · Feb 10, 2020

HoratioVonBecker said:
As a highly tangential side note, I'm pretty sure the term currently in favor is 'Roma'

Yes. (Both because it's the customary endonym, and because most of the exonyms have a severity of connotation ranging somewhere between "colored" and the N-word.)

Segev · Feb 10, 2020

HoratioVonBecker said:
Honestly, my favorite part of Elves being super new is that elven longevity can actually be weird and disruptive instead of hidebound and stultifying. Their description also didn't read as terribly warlike to me, so that's about half of the (kind of nasty) Orc stereotypes which they just don't fit.

Elves don't live sufficiently longer than dwarves for the "weird and disruptive" nature of their longevity to be a factor, I don't think. Dwarves will already have that going on with their expansionism and being longer-lived.

I got "war-like" from their resistance fighter thing. Regardless, my advice stands on avoiding making it look like orc-elf swap is going on. A key to using known racial archetypes in new ways is to not throw out the archetype entirely.

Otherwise, it just gets confusing, and you're better off making up your own race.

One way to look at it is this: strip off the classic fantasy race names. Including "human." Don't give physical/mental "race trait" descriptions (unless something like "larger and stronger" or "more intellectual but frail" is really crucial to the cultural description). Make sure the new names you assign aren't designed to evoke the names you stripped off.

Then see what associations people make. Do they tell you "Lerangians sound like orcs" and "Victoriam sound like elves?" Were the Lerangeians the race you originally called orcs? The Victoriam originally the race you called elves? Or were they something else?

If you get a lot of mixed results as people tlel you they sound like one thing or another, you've created a good "new culture" that doesn't feel like a cut-and-paste. If they tell you that they sound like what you labeled them, but you're happy with the differences you've introduced, you've captured enough of the race to keep the racial label you gave them. If they tell you they sound like a different race than you originally had them as, you may - not guaranteed, but may - have accidentally just done a race-name swap.

Ideally, to my mind, you'll get either a plurality of "right" labels applied - that is, people agreeing in general with your original names for the races, but enough dissent that it's clear you've made 'something new' of them - or you'll get such mixed opinions that you've actually made a truly new-seeming thing that doesn't remind anybody of a standard "classic fantasy" race. You can assign any name you want to them, either the classic fantasy race name you started with, or the new "mask" label given for the experiment, or a different one you like even better.

HoratioVonBecker · Feb 10, 2020

Segev said:
Elves don't live sufficiently longer than dwarves for the "weird and disruptive" nature of their longevity to be a factor, I don't think. Dwarves will already have that going on with their expansionism and being longer-lived.

See, that's a low-key aspect of dwarves, like "actually they're short elves, not a trademarked Tolkien creature" is for Halflings. Officially true, but rarely implemented in practice (so far as I know).

Segev said:
Otherwise, it just gets confusing, and you're better off making up your own race.

A lot of it is that the canonical races have much more interesting aesthetics than they do characterization. When I hear 'orc' I get the visual of 'big green muscular people'. When I hear 'nation of elven barbarians' I think 'tall skinny long-haired people in awesome fur coats, and also they have pointy ears'. Those are things I have mental images for already; I don't have to build an image of the entire race before I can come up with a character.
Plus, it's an effective mental shorthand. "These are Victorian Dwarves" is easier to remember than "these are the Draxanat, short industrious bearded folk serving a world-spanning slaver empire based on sea power, which you might want to remember if you ever do a campaign here and can juggle the five other names and also keep the setting straight - our names are usually much less wieldy."

Then again, we may be trying to achieve different things here. Your approach sounds much better for sci-fi settings, where the aesthetics aren't nearly so standardized.

Segev · Feb 10, 2020

HoratioVonBecker said:
Then again, we may be trying to achieve different things here. Your approach sounds much better for sci-fi settings, where the aesthetics aren't nearly so standardized.

I had assumed switching up the aesthetics was part of your goal. ^^;

Eliar · Feb 11, 2020

Mechanical · Feb 11, 2020

HoratioVonBecker said:
Looks fairly balanced. Pity it wants a book I don't have, but I think I'd allow it at my table. Get it threadmarked!

That it's balanced seems like the overall consensus, excellent.

Do I ping Havocfett or summin' to get it threadmarked?

HoratioVonBecker · Feb 11, 2020

Mechanical said:
That it's balanced seems like the overall consensus, excellent.

Do I ping Havocfett or summin' to get it threadmarked?

I think the former should work, with a link if you aren't reposting it.

Chloe Sullivan · Feb 11, 2020

PhoenixMercurous said:
Armorist looks interesting, though I'll have to clear Spheres of Power with the main GM in case any of these villains reappear in the main campaign. It's an interesting looking alternate rule system, I'll have to dig into it more.

I'm not sure I've heard of a "monster pet" build before. I'm guessing it's a build focusing on making a companion animal (or similar) as powerful as possible.

pretty much. I recently did a pet build that doesn't cohere until about level 13, but does let you shrink down and Ride Your Familiar Into Combat. (preferably a teleporting dweomercat cub)

I just love the idea of "Fools! You thought the Black Knight was the villain, but it was me, ~~Dio~~ his Artifact Lance//Giant Dinosaur Mount all along!"

Muhkat Lomorki · Feb 13, 2020

[5e]

Okay, let me know if the below item is dumb or overpowered, okay?

Power Armor
Legendary Armor (Heavy), Attument Slot Required
Requires: 15+ Intelligence, Heavy Armor Proficiency
AC: 21
Speed: 25 feet
Charges: 10
When wearing power armor, you have Immunity to the poisoned condition and are resistant to nonmagical piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage. Also, your unarmed damage is increased to 1d4.

You may expend a charge to boost your strength by +2 and increase your speed by 5 feet for one minute. You regain 1 charge back per day and if you consume all of your charges, you are immobilized until you remove the armor.

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