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Dungeons and Dragons Megathread

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shepsquared said:
Yeah, buy them from WotC... Wait, they still aren't making pdfs for 5e.

Seriously, whats the problem here?
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Wizards of the Coast set it as their policy to never release first-party materials in the PDF format because they assume - rightfully or not - that PDF files are easy to pirate and share. Instead, they would rather you buy materials from their approved vendors (Beyond, Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, Foundry) or buy physical.

Unfortunately, since D&D Beyond is essentially an ordinary website, it's infinitely more piratable than any PDF could possibly be.
 
Yeah, Paizo PDFs put the name you put on the website plus the email address (plus a number and the date) on the top and bottom of each PDF page as a watermark.
So you either just share it with friends - in which case, sharing those should be NBD - or if you just wanna share a bit of text or an image or whatever, you just import it into any image editing software and snip out what you wanna share.
Which you do anyhow because that way it's easier to see what you wanna share?

Like it's something to be aware of if you wanna buy a book and share it with your friends and keep your name secret for trans reasons or whatever, but that's not "don't ever buy from this company" material IMO.
 
Hasinaw said:
Wizards of the Coast set it as their policy to never release first-party materials in the PDF format because they assume - rightfully or not - that PDF files are easy to pirate and share. Instead, they would rather you buy materials from their approved vendors (Beyond, Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, Foundry) or buy physical.

Unfortunately, since D&D Beyond is essentially an ordinary website, it's infinitely more piratable than any PDF could possibly be.
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And that had definitely stopped people from creating PDFs and sharing them illegally...

Plus they went and edited published material on those approved vendors, so there's no reason to trust them long term.
 
Kaiya said:
Just FYI, if you buy PDFs from Paizo, they put your name and email on every page of the PDF. So, you know, don't buy from Paizo.
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And that's a problem why, exactly? Anyone that I'd be sharing my PDFs with already knows my name and email address. And people who do put their PDFs on Bit Torrent know how to redact the watermark.

EDIT: You know what Paizo can't do? Take away the book after I've purchased it, the way that WOTC does with books purchased on D&D Beyond. Once the PDF is on my hard drive, it's mine forever.
 
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Christ you paizo people are thin skinned. Did kaiya say anything about paizo's pdf policy sucking versus WotC or is that something you're all just injecting into the conversation as a kneejerk reflex
 
Yaminator said:
Christ you paizo people are thin skinned. Did kaiya say anything about paizo's pdf policy sucking versus WotC or is that something you're all just injecting into the conversation as a kneejerk reflex
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What are you talking about? Kaiya was the one who was "injecting in the conversation" apropos of nothing. Nobody was even talking about PDFs, she just posted out of nowhere "don't buy from Paizo" because "they put your name and email on every page of the PDF" as if that was some sort of revelation. It's right there in the post I quoted. You can go back and see the context if you want (there is none, nobody was talking about that). People are quite rightly pointing out that what she just said doesn't make any sense. If you go into any thread on SV and say something nonsensical, then people are going to tell you why you're wrong.
 
Well, not wrong, but it did seem quite the odd non sequitur.

Honestly if we're talking Paizo then the new War of Immortals book is right there to talk about.
 
Queshire said:
Well, not wrong, but it did seem quite the odd non sequitur.

Honestly if we're talking Paizo then the new War of Immortals book is right there to talk about.
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So hey, that's a good suggestion, let's talk about War of Immortals.

So first, there's two new classes. Lots of people are really exicted about Exemplar - it's a strong martial class that gets to do really cool things, including clearly magical things.
But we're gonna talk about Animist now because we're more excited about that.

Animists are a divine, wisdom-based spellcaster class that binds to several spirits (Apparitions) each day (two to start with, up to four as you level up). You can swap those out on a daily basis. These each provide the following:
  • two Lore skills which scale up to Master proficiency
  • a Cantrip
  • a unique Focus Spell, though you can only access the Focus Spell from one Apparition at a time (it takes 10 minutes of Refocusing to swap that out, or 1 action for one subclass)
  • one spell of each spell rank that you add to your apparition spell repertoire. Almost all of these are not on the divine spell list
  • one Avatar-form, though that only matters at 19th level when you can turn into an Avatar of your Apparition, rather than of your Deity.
Animist spellcasting works like this: you get 2 spells/rank that are prepared spells from the divine list, and 2 spells/rank that are repertoire (spontaneous) spells based on what apparitions you are bound to on that day.

The focus spells are all 1-action spells that you can sustain for up to 1 minute, and they all have pretty strong effects - a lot of the class power budget goes into them.
Here's a list of the Apparitions, their spells, and their focus spell. Note that the "where they are found and what they are like" section has no game-mechanical impact, though it can of course impact your roleplaying:
  • Crafters in the Vault are found in dungeons and workshops, and while they enjoy creating they are jealous when others intrude upon their expertise. They provide Architecture and Engineering Lore, and spells that interact with items. Their Vessel Spell gives you scaling proficiency in Crafting and Thievery (up to Legendary), and by taking 10 minutes to cast it lasts 8 hours - and at the same time lets you craft any item you can craft instantly, with the drawback that it vanishes if anyone other than you uses it. Perfect for making a quick consumable at the cost of money
  • Custodians of Groves and Gardens are found in particularly beautiful landscapes or carefully tended gardens or fields, and are quiet and adverse to conflict. They provide Farming and Herbalism Lore, and their spells are healing and plant-related spells. Their Vessel Spell provides healing in a 10-foot emanation, perfect for out-of-combat healing or for staning in the backline and topping off your frontline.
  • Echoes of Lost Moments are memories that everyone has forgotten, and are drawn to Animists that are orderly and responsible and would not let such a thing happen. They provide Fortune-Telling and Genealoty-Lore, and their spells are illusion- and time-altering ones. Their Vessel Spell provides an extra reaction.
  • Impostors in Hidden Places hoard secrets and ponder unknowable truths. They provide Fortune-Telling Lore and Underworld Lore, and their spells are ones that help avoid detection. Their Vessel Spell makes everyone (friends included, but not the Animist) in a 5-foot aura make a Will-save or gain Disadvantage on Attack Rolls.
  • Lurkers in Devouring Dark are found in the depths of oceans and in outer space. They provide Ocean Lore and either Sailing Lore or Dark Tapestry Lore, and their spells are cold-based ones (which can be changed to void damage). Their Vessel Spell provides a Tentacle Attack with Reach and Grapple, and later lets you change into a Shark and then a Water Elemental.
  • Monarchs of the Fey Court are pretty obviously capricious spirits from the fey realm. They provide Art and Fey Lore, and their spells are Charm-spells. Their Vessel Spell Confuses enemies in a 10-foot aura, with affected enemies never attacking the Animist.
  • Revelers in Lost Glee take immense glee in causing harm to others. They provide Circus Lore and Fortune-Telling Lore, and their spells are Dizzying Colours (Colour Spray) and related offensive illusions. Their Vessel Spell is Mirror Image that harms enemies that destroy them.
  • Stalker in Darkened Boughs are drawn to Animists that harbour violent thoughts without being overcome by them, and are moody and impulsive. They provide Forest and Hunting Lore, and nature/animal related spells. Their Vessel Spell is just various ways to turn into animals.
  • Stewards of Stone and Fire are drawn from volcanoes, hot springs, old rock formations, and similar places, and are often quick to anger. They provide Mountain and Volcano Lore, and their spells are various offensive fire- and earth-spells. Their Vessel Spell is a repeateable but smaller fireball (remember, for 1 action)
  • Vanguards of Roaring Waters encourage chaos and are easily bored, being born from rapid rivers and other unpredictable currents. They provide Mountain and River Lore, and their spells are various water-themed ones. Their Vessel Spell makes the Animist faster and leave behind difficult terrain while moving.
  • Witnesses to Ancient Battle are the spirits of fallen soldiers. They provide Battlegrouns and Heraldry Lore, and their spells are various buff spells. Their Vessel Spell gives a big bonus to attack and damage rolls, as well as proficiency in martial weapons and Reactive Strike
As you can see, not only can you build an Animist in a bunch of different ways, you can also easily change what they do during the day (e.g. switching to being a backline healer via Groves) or from day-to-day.
 
I've seen Animists often described as a complex class, and I suppose that's true. For me it's easy to think that you just have a handful of spells you can do yourself while the Apparitions are basically picking out what kind of gun you want.
 
FaeGlade Plural said:
So hey, that's a good suggestion, let's talk about War of Immortals.
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Sure, sounds good. The book also introduces mythic play, which isn't level 20+ (you can start a Mythic character at level 1, funnily enough) which fits with the game design's lateral rather than vertical growth. This comes with mythic points, a Calling, a special track for mythic feats up until 10th level, and a 'mythic destiny' archetype starting at 12th level.

Mythic Points are the action currency for this mode - you use them to activate mythic abilities, spells, and so on - which replace Hero Points but work similarly. You get Mythic Points at the start of the session (a pool of 3 points, which is also your maximum to hold at any time), and recover them in play via overcoming mythic opponents or accomplishing mythic deeds, or by acting in concert with your Calling (which is essentially the narrative you've meshed yourself into via becoming a mythic character).

Mythic also makes the character harder to kill than normal - you treat dying mechanics as normal until you hit Dying 4 (or whatever modified Dying value would cause you to die, more on that in a moment) at which point you clear your Dying value and mark a stack of Doomed, and stabilize at 0 HP. This repeats, and you only actually die if you get whomped badly and repeatedly enough to have enough Doomed that your maximum Dying value is 0 - my copy of the PDF is saying Doomed 4, but I have to assume that would still be modified by Diehard and was an oversight that will be corrected.

So as I said, a mythic character has a Calling, which is your personal narrative and destiny. This comes with an attached edict (which when you follow it, gives you a mythic point) and anathema (which if you cross it, empties your mythic pool as a one-time thing), plus a series of actions that you can choose to spend a point on to roll with mythic proficiency (mythic proficiency is mod+level+10), and a once-a-day means of recovering a mythic point via critically succeeding on those associated actions. For example, the Artisan's Calling has the associated actions of Craft and Repair, an Edict to 'be the first to test an item you created/seek out or create formulas for ever more complex creations' and an Anathema against 'destroying the creations of other artisans/refusing earnest requests to repair something broken/using items created by others, except as a way to understand its construction so you can make your own.'

Mythic feats are basically just a mechanism for giving you things to do with your mythic points, and the lower level ones generally have an associated action - you can use mythic proficiency by spending a point, and often have an additional effect when you do. For example, at level 2 there's a feat called Binds That Tie focused around grappling that also gives you bonus damage on a successful check. At 10th, there's one called Eyes That See Eternity that gives you a minute of truesight and mythic proficiency on Perception checks.

Finally, there's Mythic Destiny, or to be more flowery the Paths to Immortality. Each of these are essentially a means of making your character into an immortal archetype. These are:
  • Apocalypse Rider (daemonhood; you become one of the Four Horsemen, basically)
  • Archfiend (any type of fiend other than daemons, player's choice; you craft your own hellish dominion)
  • Ascended Celestial (self-explanatory)
  • Beast Lord (despite the name, this is open to all types of non-familiar companions including artificial constructs)
  • Broken Chain (immortal revolutionary; ideas are bulletproof)
  • Eternal Legend (congratulations, you're a Heroic Spirit now)
  • Godling (So You Want to Be a God)
  • Prophesied Monarch (King Under the Mountain stuff)
  • Wildspell (Wizard++)
 
Strunkriidiisk said:
Sure, sounds good. The book also introduces mythic play, which isn't level 20+ (you can start a Mythic character at level 1, funnily enough) which fits with the game design's lateral rather than vertical growth. This comes with mythic points, a Calling, a special track for mythic feats up until 10th level, and a 'mythic destiny' archetype starting at 12th level.

Mythic Points are the action currency for this mode - you use them to activate mythic abilities, spells, and so on - which replace Hero Points but work similarly. You get Mythic Points at the start of the session (a pool of 3 points, which is also your maximum to hold at any time), and recover them in play via overcoming mythic opponents or accomplishing mythic deeds, or by acting in concert with your Calling (which is essentially the narrative you've meshed yourself into via becoming a mythic character).

Mythic also makes the character harder to kill than normal - you treat dying mechanics as normal until you hit Dying 4 (or whatever modified Dying value would cause you to die, more on that in a moment) at which point you clear your Dying value and mark a stack of Doomed, and stabilize at 0 HP. This repeats, and you only actually die if you get whomped badly and repeatedly enough to have enough Doomed that your maximum Dying value is 0 - my copy of the PDF is saying Doomed 4, but I have to assume that would still be modified by Diehard and was an oversight that will be corrected.

So as I said, a mythic character has a Calling, which is your personal narrative and destiny. This comes with an attached edict (which when you follow it, gives you a mythic point) and anathema (which if you cross it, empties your mythic pool as a one-time thing), plus a series of actions that you can choose to spend a point on to roll with mythic proficiency (mythic proficiency is mod+level+10), and a once-a-day means of recovering a mythic point via critically succeeding on those associated actions. For example, the Artisan's Calling has the associated actions of Craft and Repair, an Edict to 'be the first to test an item you created/seek out or create formulas for ever more complex creations' and an Anathema against 'destroying the creations of other artisans/refusing earnest requests to repair something broken/using items created by others, except as a way to understand its construction so you can make your own.'

Mythic feats are basically just a mechanism for giving you things to do with your mythic points, and the lower level ones generally have an associated action - you can use mythic proficiency by spending a point, and often have an additional effect when you do. For example, at level 2 there's a feat called Binds That Tie focused around grappling that also gives you bonus damage on a successful check. At 10th, there's one called Eyes That See Eternity that gives you a minute of truesight and mythic proficiency on Perception checks.

Finally, there's Mythic Destiny, or to be more flowery the Paths to Immortality. Each of these are essentially a means of making your character into an immortal archetype. These are:
  • Apocalypse Rider (daemonhood; you become one of the Four Horsemen, basically)
  • Archfiend (any type of fiend other than daemons, player's choice; you craft your own hellish dominion)
  • Ascended Celestial (self-explanatory)
  • Beast Lord (despite the name, this is open to all types of non-familiar companions including artificial constructs)
  • Broken Chain (immortal revolutionary; ideas are bulletproof)
  • Eternal Legend (congratulations, you're a Heroic Spirit now)
  • Godling (So You Want to Be a God)
  • Prophesied Monarch (King Under the Mountain stuff)
  • Wildspell (Wizard++)
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No Archfey ones? Seems odd considering that's effectively what canonical Mythic Character from 1e Baba Yaga did.
 
Arawn_Emrys said:
No Archfey ones? Seems odd considering that's effectively what canonical Mythic Character from 1e Baba Yaga did.
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It's pretty easy to reflavor the options for fey. The only one that might be tough to reflavor for fey might be Apocalypse Rider, though even then you could do something with the Wild Hunt.
 
So, as an example of how Mythic Destinies work, here's the feats that the Prophesied Monarch can get:
  • Prophesied Monarch Dedication (12th): You pick up to five allies to be your Knights. You always know when they are in danger, but more importantly as long as you are conscious their Doomed condition can't rise above 3 - yes that's right if they are Mythic that means they can't die as long as you aren't downed. Also as Exploration activity (=10 minutes) you can make a check to reduce a Knights Doomed condition by 1 (2 on a crit), and also grant them the benefits of Refocus, once per day per Knight.
  • Bloom of Health (14th): 1 action, once per day. All Knights who hear you gain Fast Healing = half your level for 1 minute
  • Decree of Banishment (14th): 1 action, once per day. A creature within 60 feet must make a Will Save or must spend it's next turn moving as far away from you as it can. Then, for one week, if it tries to move within 60 feet of you, it must make a Will save to do so. If you spend a Mythic Point while doing this, the land within a 10-mile radius of you rejects the creature as well - they gain a -4 untyped (!!) penalty on basically all social stuff while in that area, and you automatically learn if they are in the area.
  • Decree of Prosperity (14th): 1 action, once per day. All Knights who hear you treat all failures (but not crit fails) on Skill Checks as Successes for 1 minute. Remember that this can apply in combat in a bunch of ways - Athletics maneuers, Bon Mot, Intimidate, Recall Knowledge, etc. If you spend 1 MP doing this, the land in a 10-mile radius is blessed, granting the affected allies +2 status to Earn Income and the ability to find jobs at their level, as well as free lodging and some social benefits, for a month.
  • Might of the Realm (14th): 2 actions. Strike an enemy, deal (2x # of visible Knights) bonus damage, counts as two attacks for Multi Attack Penalty. If it's a Crit, the enemy is Enfeebled 1 for 1 turn.
  • Kneel Before the Rightful Heir (16th): 2 actions. All enemies within 40 feet make a Will Save or take 6D6 persistent damage (3D6 on success, 0 on crit success), on Crit Fail they are also Clumsy 2. This only ends if they Drop Prone where you can see them for 1 whole turn. They are then immune for 24 hours.
  • My Kingdom, My Blood (16th): 3 actions. Stride (Fly, Swim, etc.) then plant your weapon in the ground, creating a 60 foot emanation for 1 minute. Whenever an ally in that aura takes damage, you can use your Reaction to take half that damage (don't apply your resistances etc.). Whenever you take damage, an ally can spend their Reaction to take half your damage (don't apply their resistances etc). Really good for making sure no one goes down. This ends if you drop to 0 HP.
  • Noble Sacrifice (16th): Reaction when one of your Knights within 15 feet of you would take damage from a Strike. Spend 1 MP. The Knight steps, you Stride into the space they were in, this ignores terrain. Then you take the damage, and the enemy is Off-Guard until the end of your next turn. If you have Shield Block, you can apply it as part of this reaction.
  • Protect the Royal Line (16th): 1 action, need to be flanked by at least two enemies. You Reposition or Shove one flanking enemy with a +2 circumstance bonus (+4 if a Knight is adjacent to you), and if you Succeed you Critically Succeed. If you already Critically Succeed, add +5 foot distance.
  • Decree of Execution (18th): 3 actions, once per day. One creature within 60 foot makes a Will Save, then is immune for 1 year. On a crit success nothing happens. On a succes targets 14th level or lower drop to 1 HP, targets 15+ level take 50 spirit damage. On a failure, targets 14th level or lower instantly die, targets 15+ level take 50 spirit damage (and instantly die if this drops them to 0 HP) and gain weakness 20 to all damage for 1 minute. On a crit failure, any surviving target is also Slowed 1 for 1 minute. This has the Incapacitation trait - unless you spend 1 MP.
  • Decree of War (18th): 3 actions, once per day. All Knights who can hear you can use their Reaction to Stride Twice towards an enemy, then Strike. If you spend 1 MP, bless the area within 10 miles to give you free food, lodging, and repairs - and also 10 minutes warning from friendly citizens or critters before any enemy group can engage you.
  • Fated Duel (18th): 1 action, once per week. Spend 1 MP and pick an opponent within 30 feet. If they reject your Challenge, you can Intimidate them as a free action at Mythic Proficiency, and regain 1 MP. If they accept, neither of you can move more than 30 feet away from the other, and are immune to everything another creature does - but you both become Doomed 1 for each minute that you spend in that duel.
  • Legacy of Monarchs (20th): If you're slain, any of your Knights can take up your mantle - becoming you for all intents and purposes (gear, levels, skills, etc). If you are returned to life, you can reclaim your mantle, reversing this effect.
  • Once and Future (20th): You can't die expect from old age as long as a Knight is within 30 feet of you. The first time each year you would die for any reason other than old age, you instead instantly return to life with 2xlevel HP and 1 MP. If you actually die, you are reborn as a child with all your abilities.

As you can see, there's a lot of feats each level.
And that's an example of how Mythic Destinies work.
 
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I'm not sure how Binders play, but Animists are all about the various small spirits. That could be kami if you're from Tian Xia, actual ghosts, shamans drawing power from totems and so on.

All animists can communicate with or channel their spirits. That's where the various lore skills they give you come from, but only one subclass innately give them a physical form as a familiar.
 
FaeGlade Plural said:
I don't see where the Digimon part comes in?
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They unambiguously talk, and you eventually gain the ability to fuse with them to access their super mode. I'd have said Pokémon, but they don't seem to be a minion class.
Queshire said:
I'm not sure how Binders play, but Animists are all about the various small spirits. That could be kami if you're from Tian Xia, actual ghosts, shamans drawing power from totems and so on.

All animists can communicate with or channel their spirits. That's where the various lore skills they give you come from, but only one subclass innately give them a physical form as a familiar.
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...Except for that one subclass, apparently! I think it'd be funny to have a different subclass for Yugioh/Bakugan/TCG types. Some way of hot-swapping your bound spirit based on consumables, maybe?
Parzival said:
Binders seem to play pretty different from this class. Like, Binders didn't have normal spellcasting at all.
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Fair. I'm talking broad concept (here meaning "getting possessed for fun and profit") more than mechanics.
 
HoratioVonBecker said:
They unambiguously talk, and you eventually gain the ability to fuse with them to access their super mode. I'd have said Pokémon, but they don't seem to be a minion class.
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You only get the ability to cast Avatar at 19th level - that's pretty late, and thus really not that relevant a part of the class.
It's also mechanically not that different from what a Cleric can do - it literary uses the same spell as "become an Avatar of your Deity", just with different attacks and effects (but the same general power level).

Though I'd note that if you want the class to be "have the ability to turn into a combat form" it does provide that about as well as the Druid does - with the same caveat that you'll have to upgrade to higher-level combat forms over the form of your career, rather than being able to stick to a specific animal form or such.

The comparison to Digimon mostly fails IMO because, well, the Apparitions don't have a physical presence - I suppose you could do that with the Shaman who gets to manifest one of their Apparitions as a Familiar, as someone else mentioned.
 
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HoratioVonBecker said:
They unambiguously talk, and you eventually gain the ability to fuse with them to access their super mode. I'd have said Pokémon, but they don't seem to be a minion class.

...Except for that one subclass, apparently! I think it'd be funny to have a different subclass for Yugioh/Bakugan/TCG types. Some way of hot-swapping your bound spirit based on consumables, maybe?

Fair. I'm talking broad concept (here meaning "getting possessed for fun and profit") more than mechanics.
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That subclass is about as much of a minion class as a wizard with a familiar is.

There is a subclass that lets you be possessed by one of your spirits in order to strengthen your defense against mind & emotion effects, but the Avatar spell comes up about as often in play as any feature you only get access to at 19th level does.
 
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