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grailfinders · 2 years

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Fate and Phantasms #249

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're building the hero we need, Asclepius! He is an Alchemist Artificer to brew up experiments for his vic-patients, and... that's it. Artificers are good, y'all.

Check out his build breakdown below, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: The Maoudonalds combo meal!

Race and Background

Asclepius is part god, so you can probably guess he's an Aasimar by now. What you might not have guessed is we're trying out the new Mordenkainen book! That means he gets +2 Intelligence and +1 Wisdom, as well as Celestial Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage, Darkvision to peek into all those crevices in a person's rib cage, the Light cantrip for the other doctors, and Healing Hands. Healing your proficiency bonus in d4s per day with just a touch feels like cheating, but let's take what we can get.

You're also something of a Cloistered Scholar, giving you proficiency with History and Religion. You might not like the gods but you at least know about them.

Ability Scores

Your healing comes from your Intelligence since you're always pushing the boundary of medical science, so make sure that one's high. After that is your Dexterity. That staff you fight with is a giant scalpel. Giant Scalpel = dagger, dagger = finesse. Plus most people don't trust a surgeon with a twitch. Your Wisdom is also pretty good, since that's the ability score medicine is actually tied to. Your Constitution has to at least be passable, otherwise you'd be getting sick as often as your patients. We're not dumping Strength since you were tutored by Chiron and I can't imagine he'd let you get out of Phys. Ed. that easy. But we are dumping Charisma. Experiment with a patient one time and you never hear the end of it...

Class Levels

Starting off as an artificer is cool, it gives you proficiency in Constitution and Intelligence saves, as well as Medicine for the whole point of this build and Sleight of Hand for expert scalpel work. You also get Magical Tinkering, so you can implant minor effects in tiny objects. Scalpels that emit noise are super useful since it lessens the chance of leaving them inside the patient. You also learn Spells that you cast and prepare using your intelligence. Since you can change your spells over short rests they aren't super important to get perfect, but spoiler: grab healing spells. Cure Wounds, False Life, Purify Food and Drink, etc. Also, pick up Identify to figure out magical ailments quickly, and Tasha's Caustic Brew. Sometimes treatment requires your patients to have less skin than they came in with, no biggy. For cantrips, Spare the Dying helps stabilize your organic allies, and Mending will help Babbage and Katou Danzo.

Second level artificers get one of the biggest draws of the class, the ability to Infuse Items with magical effects. You get four blueprints to play with, but you can only have two of them up at a time, swapping between them on long rests. Check out Enhanced Weapon for a sharper scalpel, Enhanced Arcane Focus for a stronger snake, or the Alchemy Jug for your base alchemical needs. You can also create a Mind Sharpener for when you need a bit of adrenaline to keep your concentration going.

When you hit third level you finally become an Alchemist, allowing you to expand the limits of medical science with some Experimental Elixirs. At the end of a long rest you can create one of these elixir for free, or by spending a spell slot for each extra. Upon creation, roll a d6 for each one to determine its effects. There's a lot, so we won't go over them here, but they're all good. Probably. You also get some alchemist spells, like Healing Word and Ray of Sickness. You can also create The Right Tool for the Job at the end of a short rest, magically crafting any kind of artisans' tool you might need, though you can only have one of them at a time. Finally, as a third level Aasimar you undergo a Celestial Revelation, granting you a Necrotic Shroud for up to a minute per day. You can transform as a bonus action, forcing a wisdom save on nearby creatures and frightening them if they fail. Also, once per your turn you can deal necrotic damage on an attack. This is pretty similar to the old version, though there are differences. Your necrotic damage is now equal to your proficiency bonus, not level, but to balance that out you can't frighten your allies any more. I'm not saying you'd ever use a dirty scalpel, but it would get those wounds infected really quick.

For our first Ability Score Improvement pick up the Skill Expert feat to round out your Intelligence score as well as get proficiency in Perception and doubled proficiency in Medicine. Still weird that it's attached to wisdom, but it's not like you care now.

Fifth level alchemists are Alchemical Savants, adding your intelligence modifier to the healing/ acid,fire,necrotic,or poison damage of a spell. (And since necrotic shroud deals necrotic damage, this works on any spell you cast while transformed, bringing your total bonus damage to +7, which is better than it'd be right now as an old Aasimar!) This only affects one person hit by the spell, but most healing spells are single-target anyway. You also get second level spells now. Your freebies are Flaming Sphere and Melf's Acid Arrow, but if you'd rather heal than deal (damage), check out spells like Aid, Lesser Restoration, and Protection from Poison. Also maybe Enhance Ability to make your medicine checks even stronger.

Sixth level artificers get an extra free elixir per day, plus some Tool Expertise. Your proficiency bonus gets doubled in every artisan's tool check you can use it in, which annoying doesn't include healer's kits. On the plus side, you get two more infusions, and can use up to three at a time. Radiant Weapon is just cool, turning your scalpel into its own flashlight! Handy. Alternatively, use Resistant Armor to avoid disease by getting resistance to necrotic or poison damage. Or other types, but the cleanliness factor is the most important one.

Seventh level artificers have Flashes of Genius, letting you add your intelligence modifier to a check or save near you up to your intelligence modifier times per day. That means you can now have a +12 to your medicine checks, which is pretty nice for this early in the game.

Remember how I was complaining about healers kits not working with tool expertise? Well the Healer feat just about fixes that, letting you stabilize a creature at 1 HP instead of zero when you use a healer's kit, or you can use it as an action to heal a creature for 1d6+4 plus their level once per creature per short rest. Sometimes people just get regular scrapes, and if you're not keeping them alive until they contract something incurable, who will? Medea?

You know what this build doesn't have enough of? Healing. Thanks to the Restorative Reagents you put in your elixirs, drinking one will also give the drinker 2d6+your intelligence modifier temporary hit points. Plus, you can cast Lesser Restoration Int modifier times per day for free using your alchemist's supplies. You also learn third level spells. Gaseous Form isn't that in character, but you bet Mass Healing Word is. You can also use Catnap to speed up your allies' metabolisms, granting an hour of rest in 10 minutes. Dispel Magic can remove a lot of disease-like magical effects, and Revivify is a much less complicated way to bring people back from the dead compared to waiting for your NP to charge.

Tenth level artificers are Magic Item Adepts, so you get an extra attunement slot and you can craft low-grade magic items in a quarter the time and half the cost. You also learn Guidance to boost your medicine checks further, and can learn two more infusions, with one more up at a time. The Periapt of Wound Closure is an automatic stabilization device, while Ventilating Lungs are the best plague doctor mask money can buy. They let you breathe in any environment, and you have advantage on saves against harmful gases. (You can also use them to create a gust of wind once per day, but we're here for medicine, dammit.)

At eleventh level you can create a Spell-Storing Item at the end of a long rest. This sticks a 1st or 2nd level spell into a weapon or focus, and a creature wielding that object can then cast the spell using your intelligence. They can use that spell up to twice your intelligence modifier times per object.

Now that you can heal good, you can use this ASI to max out your Intelligence for the smartest spells and flashes.

Thirteenth level artificers get fourth level spells. Blight isn't really your style, but Death Ward is about as close to reviving the dead as you can get in FGO, so it's cool that you get it for free. You can also use Summon Construct from this spell level to create your very own giant metal snake. Technically it's supposed to resemble a golem or modron, but flavor's free and flaming robo snakes are cool.

At fourteenth level you become a Magic Item Savant, giving you yet another attunement slot, and you can ignore all requirements when it comes to attuning magic items. You can also cast Sword Burst for a melee snake attack, and you get the standard infusion boost. Pick up Amulet of Health to give you (or an ally) a 19 in their constitution score, and also pick up a Helm of Awareness for more adrenaline for advantage on initiative rolls and immunity to surprise.

Fifteenth level alchemists get a third freebie elixir per day, as well as some Chemical Mastery. You now have permanent resistance to acid and poison damage, as well as immunity to being poisoned. You also can cast Greater Restoration and Heal for free once a day. This is a great boost to your already impressive healing, and also the sole reason you're not also a divine soul sorcerer. Their healing boost doesn't come online until level six, so they're mutually exclusive.

Use this ASI to finally bump up your Wisdom score, for better medicine checks. Yep, we're out of ways to get around it, we finally have to deal with the stat that medicine is actually attached to. The horror.

At seventeenth level you can finally cast fifth level spells like Cloudkill and Raise Dead. You can also cast Greater Restoration more frequently. Yeah, there's not a lot of fifth level spells we need here. Feel free to experiment though, I think Asclepius would enjoy that.

Eighteenth level artificers are Magic Item Masters. There aren't many more item-based bonuses you can get, so this is just a sixth attunement slot. That being said, you get another infusion of infusions. The Spell-Refueling Ring is always useful for an extra spell slot, and the Eyes of the Eagle will help you with finer surgeries.

I guess we can't get around it. Use your last ASI to boost your Dexterity for better AC and scalpel usage.

The capstone of Artificer is flat out busted. Thanks to your Soul of Artificer you get +1 to all saves for each attuned item you have, and you can prevent getting reduced to 0 HP by destroying and infusion. So that's a +6 to all saves, and you can die six times before it sticks. Oh sorry, forgot about death ward. seven times.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Yeah no artificers are strong. You can just say no to so many bad things. Dropping concentration? No. Dying? No. DM not giving you magic weapons? No! You'd be really good even if you don't keep that amulet of health for yourself, but if you do you've got almost 200 HP, which is huge for a healer.

You are so good at supporting your team. Not only do you have so much healing, you can also just hand out your medical equipment if you want to make your entire party a bit stronger. Plus you can use Enhance Ability and/or Flash of Genius to help them with their skill checks, if you want.

Speaking of skills, you're good with them. Obviously your medicine is best with a +15, plus 5 from flash, and plus advantage from Enhance Ability or an extra d4 from guidance. But those last three things can be added to just about anything you're doing, and with good intelligence and wisdom a majority of skills are your playground.

Cons:

The big caveat in that team support thing is "if you want to", since with your dumped charisma you'll likely see a lot of friction when it comes to working with them.

You're also terrible at dealing non-magical damage, with only a +3 in dexterity and a knife at your side, getting stuck in an anti-magic field will not be fun.

You're also heavily dependent on your equipment like most artificers. If you end up in the wilderness or a gladiator arena, pray your party members are willing to help out.

#fgo #fate grand order #DND #D&D 5e #Asclepius #Artificer

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nerdythebard · 2 years

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#45: The Songbird [Bioshock: Infinite]

chk-chk-pshhhht.... screeeeeeeee!!!

Another request from another long-time reader. This one's for the amazing @melancholic-lionness. They've decided to order a build of the Songbird from Bioshock: Infinite. This one had many possibilities, but I'm actually quite satisfied with what I've cooked up. Let's see if you are as well!

Next Time: sigh... Say the line, Bart.

YOUR SOUL IS MINE!

So, what do we need to get this Big Bird Leather Daddy airborne?

Fly on the Wings of Love: The Songbird has unlimited flying capabilities. In official D&D, there are only four or so playable races able to do this.

Living Juggernaut: hint hint... ekhm... The Songbird has monstrous strength and stamina (and quite a bit of nimbleness on him), plus his senses and bond with Elizabeth hints at him being a good tracker. He's also gigantic, so it would be a good idea to implement it somehow.

Primal and Tireless: The Songbird doesn't use any special weapons, just his talons and body mass. As a construct, it also doesn't require much to live. We probably won't be able to put it all together along with his size.

---

We have a few options when it comes to the Songbird's race. There are owlins, winged tieflings, avens, fairies, kenku, etc. We will, however, keep it very simple and pick the Aarakocra (the version from Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse). We start with a +2 and a +1 to two ability scores of our choice (Strength and Constitution respectively), we have the 30 feet of ground speed (with a flying speed matching it), and the ability to speak Common and one language of our choice. We also have natural weapons in the form of Talons that deal [1d6 + our Strength modifier] slashing damage on a successful melee hit.

Since the Songbird is technically the guardian of Columbia, we can use the City Watch background here. We gain proficiency in Athletics and Insight skills, two languages of our choice, and the Watcher's Eye feature; we can get a feel of the law enforcement of the area we arrive at, can spot the local lawmakers' posts or the areas where the criminal underground and the rule-breakers might gather.

ABILITY SCORES

We will start with Strength, as the Songbird tears through Elizabeth's tower walls like they're paper. Constitution is next, we might be less used to the deep sea pressure, but we handle damage and high altitude pressure with ease. Dexterity will be next, we can manoeuvre in the air easily.

Charisma is the first on the lower end. The Songbird's not a looker, but he's got the intimidation part down. Intelligence will be on the lower end, and we're dumping Wisdom. We will remove the negative modifier later, but for now we don't need these abilities. We are, after all, a bird-brain.

CLASS

I thought of several ways to make this, both multiclass and not, but this seems like the most optimal way, and I will explain myself later. We're going Barbarian start to finish. We get the the highest possible Hit Dice, a d12, as well as [12 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiency with light armour, medium armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. We need no armour nor weapons. For the cosmetic purpose, ask your DM to have leather covering your entire bird body without any AC bonuses. Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Intimidation and Perception).

Level 1: We start by flicking our eyes from green to red by being able to Rage. As a bonus action, we can activate the Instant Kill Mode for 1 minute (or until we're knocked unconscious or hadn't attacked or taken damage on our turn) and gain the following benefits:

An advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throw;

A +2 bonus to damage rolls for our melee weapon attacks (I would count the talons, since they're called natural weapons), which increases as we level up.

Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

We also cannot cast spells on concentrate on them while raging. Thanks to Unarmoured Defence, our AC becomes [10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Constitution modifier] when we're not wearing any armour. We can still use a shield to gain this benefit.

Level 2: Our enhanced eyes are even better now thanks to Danger Sense. We get an advantage on Dexterity saving throws against all effects that we can see (traps, spells, etc.) granted we're not blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.

We can also abandon all strategy and reason, and use Reckless Attack. When we make the first attack on our turn, we can do it recklessly and gain advantage on all Strength-based attacks that we make during that turn. Subsequently, all attacks made against us until the end of the round also have an advantage.

Level 3: We pick our subclass, our Primal Path. Now, this one will be controversial, because while we do have a subclass that could simply double down on our attacks, there is something else that focuses on being an unstoppable siege machine. We're going with the Path of the Juggernaut from Matt Mercer's Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting: Reborn.

"Now, hold on, Nerdy!" I hear you saying "You said at the very beginning of this site, you're not gonna use any homebrew and sourcebooks that are not from Wizards of the Coast!"

Yes. I did say that, and I will defend my logic here. Exandria, the world of Critical Role, IS technically canon in the official D&D Multiverse. The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount (and the upcoming Call of the Netherdeep adventure) are both set in that world. In Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus adventure, we meet a character who visited Exandria before. I'm allowing myself this loop-hole as an excuse to use these here subclasses!

Now, Path of the Juggernaut starts us off with Thunderous Blows. When we hit a creature with a melee attack while raging, we can choose to push it away. If the target is Huge or smaller, it must make a DC [8 + our proficiency bonus + our Strength modifier] Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 5 feet in the direction of our choice. When we reach 10th level, we can push the target up to 10 feet away.

We are also blessed with the Spirit of the Mountain. While raging, we cannot be knocked prone on moved on the ground against our will.

As an aarakocra, we also get the Wind Caller ability at this level. Once per a long rest, we can cast the Gust of Wind spell without a need for material components.

Level 4: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement. Before we start increasing our abilities, let's quickly pick the Fighter Initiate feat. This lets us pick a Fighting Style from the Fighter's list, and Unarmed Fighting will benefit us here. Our punches (not talon swipes) now deal [1d6 + our Strength modifier] bludgeoning damage on a successful hit. If we aren't wielding a weapon or a shield, the d6 turns into a d8. We can also choose to deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage at the beginning of our turn to a creature we grapple.

Level 5: Thanks to Extra Attack, we can now attack twice during a single Attack action. We also gain extra 10 feet of walking (and by proxy flying) speed if we're not wearing heavy armour thanks to Fast Movement.

Level 6: We get our first subclass upgrade. With Demolishing Might, our melee weapon attacks now deal extra 1d8 damage to constructs, and deal double damage to objects and structures. That tower in Columbia was made of tissues. Thanks to Resolute Stance, we can shift our mode into defence. When we choose so, at the start of our turn (as a free action), we change into defensive mode until the start of our next turn. While in this mode, we cannot be grappled, attacks against us are made with disadvantage. However, we also make our weapon attacks with disadvantage. Think of it as the reversed Reckless Attack.

Level 7: Our Feral Instinct grants us advantage on initiative rolls. Additionally, if we're surprised before combat (and not incapacitated), we don't have to roll with disadvantage and don't lose a turn provided we Rage at the beginning of combat.

Level 8: Finally! We can increase our stats with ASI. Let's get one point in Strength and one into Wisdom.

Level 9: With Brutal Critical, we can roll one more weapon die for when we manage to score a critical success.

Level 10: Halfway through the build, and we get another subclass upgrade. Thanks to Hurricane Strike, we can now send our enemies flying. As a reaction, when we push a creature at least 5 feet (for example with our Thunderous Blows), we can then leap into an unoccupied space next to that creature. The creature then has to make a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. The leap costs no movement and doesn't provoke opportunity attacks. Additionally, if we push the target into a space within 5 feet of our ally, that ally can use their reaction to make a melee weapon attack.

Level 11: As our Rage evolves, we can now tap into Relentless Rage. If we drop to 0 Hit Points while raging, we don't die outright; instead, we can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw and recover 1 Hit Point on a success. Each subsequent use of this feature before a short or long rest increases the DC by 5.

Level 12: Time for another ASI. This time, let's bump our Constitution by two points.

Level 13: At this point, our Brutal Critical increases by one extra die.

Level 14: Time for our final subclass upgrade. As a true Juggernaut, we're now Unstoppable. While raging, our speed cannot be reduced in any way, and we're immune to being frightened, paralysed, prone, or stunned. If we're under one of these conditions and we're not raging, we can use a bonus action to enter Rage and shake it off.

Level 15: Our Rage reaches another level. With Persistent Rage, our Rage ends only when we fall unconscious or choose to end it.

Level 16: Time for another ASI. Let's put two point into Strength to cap the damage dealing.

Level 17: Our Brutal Critical once more increases by one extra die.

Level 18: Whenever we make a Strength check, and the total result is lower than our Strength score (not modifier), thanks to Indomitable Might we can replace that result with our Strength score.

Level 19: Time for the final ASI. Let's get rid of the negative Wisdom modifier by putting two points into it.

Level 20: Our capstone is Barbarian 20, and that gives us access to the Primal Champion feature. We can now Rage unlimited number of times, and our Strength and Constitution scores both increase by 4 and can go over the maximum score of 20.

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And that's the guardian behemoth of Columbia - Songbird. Let's see what we ended up with:

First of all, we're a powerhouse of physical strength. This is the first build with a score over 20 (Strength: 24 / +7) and a second 20 (Constitution). With the mobility granted by our natural flying and with the ability to push Huge or smaller creatures around, we're a living siege weapon (with vitality to spare).

Our AC is 17, we have a +2 to our initiative, and the average Hit Points of 206.

Unfortunately, similarly to the previous build, we're a one-trick pony; even if the trick is pretty effective. We have little variety, only granted some by flying, and our purpose is pretty clear: front of the line, soak-in damage, and dish out double the amount.

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That was actually pretty fun! While we didn't get to grow to a massive size, our presence is that of a giant! I hope you guys enjoyed this one, and I'll see you for the next one!

- Nerdy out.

#dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons #dnd #character building #d&d 5e #d&d #barbarian #bioshock #bioshock infinite #songbird #aarakocra #path of the juggernaut #critical role #tal'dorei campaign setting reborn

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thatboomerkid · 3 years

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Giff -- SpellJammer Race for Pathfinder

Giff -- SpellJammer Race [19 RACE POINTS] for First Edition Pathfinder

Known to the gnomes of Markovia as the nilski konj vojnici, to the Hin plantation-owners of Covington Farms as los mercenarios gigantes del río, and to the human field-workers laboring near New Arvoreen most-often simply as “those big goddamn bastards,” the giff -- as they are called in their own guttural, roaring language -- represent a recently-contacted species of huge, violent, powerfully-built, terrifyingly-focused, and dangerously cagey combatants.

In the little-over-a-century since their discovery by the Hin, platoons of giff have already carved a bloody name for themselves across the wilds of Verdura -- and far beyond -- as unparalleled river-guides, rowdies, strike-breakers, mob debt-collectors, private enforcers, heavy-weapons units, siege engines, bodyguards, and elite soldiers of fortune.

Brought to you absolutely free to enjoy, to test & to share – as always – by the fine folks of my Patreon.

original image by the incredible Claudio Pozas, here

Type: Monstrous Humanoid (3 RP)

Ability Score Modifiers: Mixed Weakness (-2 RP)

+2 Strength, -4 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom

Size: Large (7 RP)

Giff gain a +2 size bonus to Strength and a -2 size penalty to Dexterity (already included above). Giff also suffer a -1 size penalty to their AC and a -1 size penalty on all attack rolls; they gain a +1 bonus on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and suffer a -4 size penalty on Stealth checks.

A giff takes up a space that is 10 feet by 10 feet and has a reach of 5 feet.

Base Speed: Normal speed (0 RP)

Languages: Standard (0 RP); giff speak their own eponymous, curiously poetic language, and most are -- in the modern day -- also conversant in Low Kozah-Talosii (usually spoken with a thick, pompous Verduran accent).

This bastardized dialect, the so-called “Common tongue” favored across Pyrespace for use in international, intercultural, and interplanetary trade, is a degraded mongrel variant of High Kozah-Talosii: the ancient root-tongue of both Arvorean and Brandobarin, still employed by the Church of Yondalla for use in sermons, hymns, and in all official records.

Big Damn Guns: Giff are treated as gnomes for purposes of the Experimental Gunsmith Archetype. (0 RP)

Darkvision: Giff have 60 ft. darkvision (0 RP); giff have relatively poor eyesight while out of water, which is easily corrected with simple lenses -- such as a monocle -- for use while reading. This vision is not poor enough to impart a mechanical penalty on Perception checks or attack rolls made by the giff.

Natural Armor: Giff have +3 natural armor (4 RP)

Natural Attack (Headbutt): Giff receive one natural attack, which is treated as a gore attack that deals 1d8 bludgeoning damage. (1 RP)

Natural Swimmers: Giff have a swim speed of 30 feet and gain the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants. (1 RP)

Powerful Charge (Headbutt): Whenever a giff charges, it deals twice the standard number of damage dice with its headbutt plus 1-1/2 times its Strength bonus. (2 RP)

River-Sense: Giff can sense vibrations in water, granting them blindsense 30 feet against creatures that are touching the same body of water. (1 RP)

Slow On Land: Giff often select the Clumsy, Easy Target, Magically Inept, Nearsighted, and Slow Reflexes Major Drawbacks (0 RP)

Spell Resistance (Greater): Giff have spell resistance equal to 11 + their character level. (3 RP)

Sporting: The species-wide love of warfare exhibited by the giff draws a sharp line of distinction between “sporting” and “unsporting” combat (see below). (-1 RP)

Sporting combat includes arm-wrestling, fisticuffs, darts, cards, dice, checkers, chess, billiards, cricket, rugby, skeet shooting, tennis, and golf, alongside tests of boasting, carousing, headbutting, toast-giving, swimming, push-ups, and a complex, ritualized sort of thunderous, unarmed mixed martial-art performed solely while stripped down to breeches & undergarments, usually in ankle-deep to waist-deep water, ending in pin or submission, which -- up to a point -- also serves as a type of flirting.

The military mentality of the giff even makes special allowances for a variety of “sporting” duels to the death. Establishing a proper duel requires a huge number of complex ritual elements that -- in the end -- mostly boils down to both giff formally acknowledging that:

Both giff are armed with approximately the same quality of weapons & armor (warhammer, combat knife, pistol, full plate, etc.)

Both giff have equal access to military support, including healing

Both giff have a grievance, no matter how petty

Both giff are suffering approximately the same level of injuries

Both giff have made arrangements for their estate, and for the treatment of their body after death

Once a “sporting” challenge to the death has been agreed-to by both parties, anything up to and including outright murder of one’s opponent is considered fair game.

Several major holidays each year celebrated by the giff include a “violent dueling festival” as part of their celebration; to outsiders, these events have a very bizarre, genteel, 1800s-Victorian-Teddy-Roosevelt-meets-The-Purge sort of feel to them:

“Happy holidays, friend; best of health this year to you and to your kin. And I say, old chap, don’t suppose it’s high time for a kukri-duel, eh, wot wot? Seeing as you got drunk on my finest brandy, made a pass at the missus, wiped your prodigious buttocks with my table linens, and micturated in my hedge-row as of Christmas last, well ... in lieu of an apology, what say I have Jenkins fetch the carving blades, eh? See which of has the moxie, shall we? Cheerio and have at thee then, old sport?”

If this formal challenge to a lethal sporting-duel is declined, the challenger must make all possible accommodations to guarantee the immediate physical safety of the giff she just challenged (at least until such time as the two giff part ways once more): providing the giff with weapons, armor, food, water, medicine, reading materials, a place to sleep, liquor, smoking tobacco, and anything else a gentleman or lady of high breeding could reasonably expect to have access to (even while imprisoned).

In short: if the challenged giff dies immediately after declining a duel, it is considered very embarrassing for the challenger.

For his own part, the declining giff must treat her challenger with the very utmost level of respect ... or risk being guilty of unsporting conduct, a fate far worse than mere death.

Any giff who finds herself about to violate the terms of properly “sporting” conduct instantly becomes aware of the error, just as if she were wearing a phylactery of faithfulness and, at all times, actively contemplating the thought of doing bodily harm to another giff: this behavioral limitation is not built as a trap for players to accidentally stumble into, but -- instead -- as an interesting roadblock to navigate around.

If two or more giff find themselves forced into a position of armed conflict against one another on a battlefield, both groups traditionally retire for at least a day of drinking and sorting-out ranks; on rare occasion, one platoon will join the other; more likely, all giff involved in any part of the operation will quit their current hirings and look for work elsewhere.

Any giff who engages another member of her own species in any type of unsporting combat -- attacking another giff with a weapon, for example, or with magic -- immediately suffers a -2 penalty on all skill checks, ability checks, attack rolls and saves; she continues to suffer this penalty until such time as she is able to make amends: presenting her victim with a formal written apology, or seeking our her victim’s family to beg their public pardon.

Each month, this penalty increases by 2. Guilt is a poison that grows by degrees, after all: ever-gnawing.

While she is suffering penalties in this way, if the giff is presented with the chance to punish herself – or a non-giff opponent! – while presented with something that reminds the giff of her betrayal, she may find herself compelled to do so regardless of the consequences:

Any time her betrayal is directly brought to her attention, the giff must make a Will save (DC = 10 + her character level + the Charisma modifier of the wronged giff). Failure means that the giff falls into a rage of abject self-loathing, completely focused on her own guilt for a number of rounds equal to the DC, above. Until she has finished with this exercise in hate, the giff can take no action other than to harm the reminder of her failure or enable herself to harm it: grappling a human shipmate who mentioned her old friend so that she might headbutt the human while strangling them, for example, or calmly loading a shotgun so that she might shoot the human dead in cold blood.

Note that the giff, while wracked with guilt & grief, is not required to do anything or harm anyone: she may simply stare at an old photograph and feel sad, for example, ignoring everyone around her.

During the fury of this black tempest, the giff suffers a -2 penalty to her AC.

Once the giff successfully makes amends, either with the wronged party or with the victim’s next-of-kin, all of the above penalties are removed. Entire subsets of giff society -- mediators, arbitrators, and negotiators -- are explicitly adapted to making absolutely certain that any errors in sporting conduct among giff are resolved quickly, and to the satisfaction of all parties.

Should she fail to make amends before her death, any giff who has harmed another giff in an unsporting way invariably rises again as an undead horror of some kind (often a blood knight or graveknight): reborn as a rotting, lurching mountainside of infinitely destructive hated.

Note that the Sporting Racial Trait is not purely social, but rather acts as a species-wide ingrained psychological virtue: two giff living on Fenris who never expect to see the wide rivers of Verdura again are still bound by the rules of “sporting” conflict; neither could shoot the other in the back any more than either of them could grow wings and fly to the moon.

Undead giff do not possess the Sporting Trait, which is seen -- by living giff -- as the most abhorrent and disturbing quality imaginable.

Note, also, that the desire to behave in a sporting manner extends only to fellow giff: Chaotic Evil giff will routinely massacre unarmed non-giff by the thousands, bellowing with laughter as they do so, and even a Lawful Good giff will rarely think twice before sucker-punching a crude human making drunken threats and impolite remarks at the bar.

-------

Giff Timeline:

1603 A.D. (118 years ago): The colony of New Arvoreen is established on Verdura; giff make contact with Hin (and their human servants) for the first time.

1620 A.D.: First generation of giff who have always known about the existence of Hin, humans, and -- most importantly! -- firearms fully comes of age.

1636 A.D.: New Arvoreen is significantly expanded.

1667 A.D.: Nation of Markovia -- the technological-marvel nation named for its Founder, Monarch and Supreme Leader, Dr. Adlai Markovitch -- founded on Verdua; diplomatic trade established with New Arvoreen.

1669 A.D.: City of New Arvoreen significantly expanded.

1702 A.D.: New Arvoreen significantly expanded; land officially cleared for Covington Farms, soon to be the largest agricultural facility in the system; rates of forcible immigration of indentured humans to New Arvoreen tripled.

1721 A.D.: (current year)

original image here

Giff Ranks: Lieutenant, General, Colonel, Major General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant Colonel, Captain General, Brigadier General, Field Marshall, Major, Captain, Sergeant Major, Commandant General, Wing General, Lieutenant Colonel General, Staff Sergent, Master Sergent, Master General, Grenadier General; note that “Lord” may be added to any military rank, alongside the designations of “First” and “First Class” (for example, “First Lord Brigadier General First Class”)

Giff military ranks are, effectively, meaningless noise to everyone except the giff themselves: every member of the species is a decorated officer of some complex rank within some elite military company or another, but such ranks are largely ceremonial and may be inherited, purchased, or passed through elaborate, bombastic ritual.

Further, the only thing preventing a young giff from forming an entirely new military organization & immediately naming herself -- of example -- Supreme Acting Field Commander and Secretary General of the Armies and Navies at Wartime is -- up to a point -- her own willingness to do so.

Male Giff Names: Any invented male Hin name.

Female Giff Names: Any invented female Hin name.

Giff Family Names: Any invented male Hin first name

Society

The giff are military-minded, and organize themselves into squads, platoons, companies, corps, and larger groups. The number of giff in a platoon varies according to the season, situation, and level of danger involved.

A giff "platoon" hired to protect a gambling operation may number only a single soldier, while a platoon hired to invade an illithid stronghold may number well over a hundred.

The giff pride themselves on their weapon-skills, and any giff carries a number of swords, daggers, maces, and similar tools on hand to deal with troublemakers.

A giff's true love, however, is the gun. A misfiring weapon matters little to the giff (occasional fatalities amongst soldiery are simply to expected); it is the flash, the noise, and the damage that most impress them.

Even unarmed, the giff are powerful opponents. Against non-giff, they’ll often wade into a brawl just for the pure fun of it, tossing various combatants on both sides around to prove themselves the victors.

Once a weapon is bared, however, and the challenge becomes “unsporting,” the giff consider all restrictions off: the challenge is now to the death.

The giff prize themselves as top-quality mercenaries, and to that end take great pride in owning -- if not always wearing -- elaborate suits of full-plate armor. These suits usually include massive helms featuring hyper-detailed, semi-realistic images of exotic monsters on the crests, inlaid with ivory and bone along the largest plates.

Armor repair is a major hobby among the giff, although great skill at the craft is surprisingly rare.

The giff are deeply suspicious of magic, magicians, and magical devices; their legendary foes, the Five Tiger Princes, are despised for their esoteric abilities as much for their wicked deviltry.

image here

Family

The giff are, for the most part, happiest among fellow members their own race, intermingling broadly with the Ghoran -- whom the giff utilize as an edible, inexhaustible workforce -- and the Tengu: another unofficial “servitor race” of the giff, most often used as messengers and household servants.

Ghoran living on giff lands are stoic: dutifully tending the fields of the giff in exchange for protection from ten-thousand other, vastly more predatory dangers. For all that giff treat the ghoran as disposable -- a ghoran living on Verdura produces one seed each year, and can grow a new member of the species in a single month -- the giff do not want the ghoran hunted to total extermination. That, for the ghoran, is saying something,

Tengu, on the other hand, are deeply prized by the giff as staff, usually in the roles of personal assistants, groomers, decorators, butlers, bartenders, man-servants, attaches, major domos, and maids. Since all giff are “wealthy land owners,” to one degree or another, the true power & prestige of a giff can be accurately measured by the number of tengu he employs.

Giff otherwise consider anything larger than them deeply threatening, yet also complain bitterly -- in private -- about the fragility of the smaller races. Outside their own platoons, the giff are happiest among military organizations with a strong chain of command.

For this reason, giff hold the Church of Yondalla in exceptionally high regard.

Giff especially despise the catfolk: although they don’t speak of it to outsiders, a century ago the giff were on the verge of extinction: hunted for sport and trophy by servants of the Five Tiger Princes, their people nearly cut to nothing and their lands held by only a few remaining families. Since their acquisition of firearms -- and the arrival of the Hin -- the catfolk have broadly retreated.

Every giff -- male, female, and giffling -- has a rank within their greater society, which can only be changed by a giff of higher rank. Within these ranks are sub-ranks, and within those sub-ranks are color-markings and badges. The highest-ranking giff gives the orders, the others obey. It does not matter if the orders are foolish or even suicidal: following them is the purpose of the giff in the universe. A quasi-mystical faith among the giff -- who claim to worship, in a vague way, the Golden General Bahamut, who was killed and eaten by the cowardly Five Tiger Princes in order to steal his strength -- confirms that all things have their place, and the place of the giff to follow orders.

This makes the giff very happy.

Giff platoons can be hired from their sprawling, palatial riverside plantations and mountain hunting-lodges by anyone looking for muscle. The social leaders among the giff are contractors: these specially-trained giff review prospective employers according to ability to pay, then make a recommendation to powerful warlords and famous adventurers among the giff. The leaders, in turn, consider the danger of the job, and whether taking it will enhance their giffdom.

Giff jobs are usually paid in firearms & gunpowder, though they often will accept other weapons and armor. Aboard ship, the giff require their own quarters, and will often request to bring on their own large weapons. They favor fire-projectors and bombards for ground work, and will happily blaze away at opponents regardless of the tactical situation.

The giff require the ships of others because they have -- for the most part -- no spellcasting abilities among them.

Giff of both sexes serve in their platoons, and both fight equally well. Giff young are raised tenderly until they are old enough to survive an exploding arquebus, then are inducted fully into the platoon.

The giff practice equality among the sexes in battle and in childrearing. They live about 70 years, but do not take aging gracefully. As a giff grows older and begins to slow down, he is possessed with the idea of proving himself still young and vital, usually in battle.

As a result, there are very, very few old giff.

#pathfinder #SPELLJAMMER #race #options #1st edition

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paperanddice · 3 years

Photo

Image ID: Three pictures of game stat blocks. The first is a 5th Edition D&D stat block for the shrieking terror, the second is a 13th Age stat block for the shrieking terror, and the third is a 13th Age stat block for the vargouille. Full text available under the read more. End ID.

Fiends constantly seek out ways to better guide their own brand of evil. Whichever of them created the shrieking terror managed to unleash a new form of horrific monstrosity to make the world a significantly worse place overall. Despite its name being vague and applicable to a great many potential creatures, the shrieking terror does live up to it. It shrieks, and it is a terror. All that’s left is to try and describe it in a more specific way.

The shrieking terror is the result of fiendish experimentation on vargouilles. An almost forgettable fiend when they’re not an active menace, vargouilles are most notable for being able to spread themselves with a vile kiss. Any humanoid that a vargouille kisses risks being cursed, and over the course of a day their head transforms into a new winged fiend, eventually ripping itself off and flying away to continue the spread. It was most fortunate that they could only curse humanoids in this way, as the possibility of more dangerous vargouille with special abilities or greater size is far too concerning. The shrieking terror is, unfortunately, the example of what happens when someone magically modifies a vargouille to be able to curse other beings.

Flying medusa heads are one such experimental result, but they hold nothing to the violence that can be brought about when a vargouille is capable of cursing a hydra. A nest of 5 or more heads on long, serpentine necks, with the lump of flesh at the center of the heads sprouting wide wings, a shrieking terror flies through the sky with a deadly purpose; to curse or kill everyone it encounters. Five sets of venomous jaws, a scream that can paralyze with fear, and a kiss that will curse and destroy its victims, a single shrieking terror can spell the downfall of an entire city if not checked. Even its death may not stop the horror, as dozens or hundreds may transform after it is finally brought down, creating a flight of heads spreading the infection even further.

There’s also a bit of a bonus in this update, as 13th Age doesn’t have vargouille stats anywhere in its SRD, so I’m adding that in as a bonus. Can’t have a monster that turns people into a vargouille without also having a vargouille, after all.

5th Edition

Shrieking Terror Medium fiend, neutral evil Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 130 (20d8 + 40) Speed 5 ft., fly 40 ft. Str 13 (+1) Dex 18 (+4) Con 15 (+2) Int 4 (-3) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 2 (-4) Damage Immunities poison Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning Condition Immunities poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft. passive Perception 11 Languages understands Abyssal and Infernal but can't speak Challenge 12 (8400 XP) Multiple Heads. The shrieking terror has 5 heads. While it has more than one head, the shrieking terror has advantage on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, stunned, or knocked unconscious. Whenever the shrieking terror takes 20 or more damage in a single turn, one of its heads dies. If all its heads die, the shrieking terror dies. At the end of its turn, it grows two heads for each of its heads that died since its last turn, unless it has taken acid damage since its last turn. The shrieking terror regains 10 hit points for each head regrown in this way. Reactive Heads. For each head the shrieking terror has beyond one, it gets an extra reaction that can be used only for opportunity attacks. Actions Multiattack. The shrieking terror makes as many bite attacks as it has heads. It can replace any number of bite attacks with an equal number of uses of its Kiss. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage. Kiss. The shrieking terror kisses one incapacitated humanoid or hydra within 5 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Charisma saving throw or become cursed. The cursed target loses 1 point of Charisma after each hour, as its head takes on fiendish aspects. The curse doesn't advance while the target is in sunlight or the area of a daylight spell; don't count that time. When the cursed target's Charisma becomes 2, it dies, and its head tears from its body and becomes a vargouille if it was humanoid, or another shrieking terror if it was a hydra. Casting remove curse, greater restoration, or a similar spell on the target before the transformation is complete can end the curse. Doing so undoes the changes made to the target by the curse. Stunning Shriek. The shrieking terror shrieks. Each humanoid, beast, and hydra within 60 feet of the shrieking terror and able to hear it must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of the shrieking terror's next turn. While frightened in this way, a target is stunned. If a target's saving throw is successful, or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the Stunning Shriek of all vargouilles and shrieking terrors for 1 hour.

13th Age

Shrieking Terror Triple-strength 6th-level spoiler [demon] Initiative +11 Poisonous Bite +11 vs. AC (5 attacks) - 8 damage plus 4 poison damage Natural even hit or miss: The shrieking terror can replace it’s next attack this turn (if it has one) with a kiss attack instead. Miss: 4 damage. [Special Trigger] Kiss +11 vs. PD (one dazed, staggered, or stunned humanoid enemy) - 8 ongoing poison damage and the target must start making last gasp saves as it starts transforming into a vargouille. On a fourth failure, the target dies and its head rips off to become a vargouille. C: Stunning Shriek +11 vs. MD (1d4 nearby enemies) - The target is dazed (save ends) Natural 16+: The target is stunned instead of dazed. Limited Use: 1/round as a quick action, if the escalation die is even. Flight. Roiling Swirl: If the shrieking terror has at least two poisonous bite attacks left during a turn, it can expend one of those attacks to move to engage a nearby enemy as a free action (but it will take opportunity attacks for doing so). Too Tough To Trick: Whenever the shrieking terror would suffer any of the following conditions, it ignores the condition and takes 5 damage instead. Sprout 6th Head: The first time the shrieking terror is staggered, as a free action it gains 45 hit points and a sixth poisonous bite attack, and is considered undamaged at its new hit point total. Using the shrieking terror’s current hit points as a new baseline, the shrieking terror will be staggered again when it drops below 50% of that total. Sprout seventh head: The second time the shrieking terror is staggered, as a free action it gains 4 hit points and a seventh poisonous bite attack, etc. Use a new hit point baseline as before, but there is no eighth head waiting to sprout. AC 21 PD 19 MD 17 HP 180

Vargouille 6th-level mook [demon] Initiative: +11 Bite +13 vs. AC - 8 damage Natural even hit: 6 poison damage. Kiss +10 vs. PD (one dazed, staggered, or stunned enemy) - 8 ongoing poison damage. If the target is reduced to 0 hit points while taking this damage, it must start making last gasp saves. On the fourth failure, the target dies and its head rips off to become another vargouille. C: Shriek +11 vs. MD (1d2 nearby enemies) - 8 psychic damage Natural 16+: The target is also dazed until the end of the vargouille’s next turn. Natural 20: The target is instead stunned until the end of the vargouille’s next turn. Limited Use: Regardless of the number of vargouille in the battle, only one vargouille can use this attack each round. Flight. AC 20 PD 18 MD 14 HP 23 (mook) Mook: Kill one vargouille mook for every 23 hp you deal to the mob.

Originally from the 3.5 Monster Manual III. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as see my premade adventures and updates on my alchemy project, consider backing me there!

#D&D #DnD #Dungeons and Dragons #5th Edition #13th Age #homebrew #my homebrew #monster #fiend #demon #long post

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godboundrpgfans · 3 years

Text

Guts in Godbound

Guts, the Black Swordsman.

One of the most badass characters in fiction.

Not just for his sheer, unadulterated power and being everything a 90s Anti-Hero is expected to be, but also for being everything that a 90s Anti-Hero isn’t expected to be.

Guts is a much more complex character than first glances would have you believe, and I don’t think I could do his character justice by talking about it here.

Thankfully, that’s not why I’m here.

I’m here because I was bored and got the bright idea to use the Godbound Character Creation System to create Guts.

Why? Cause why the fuck not?

Now before we start, I’m going to be doing two version of this character creation.

The first will follow the standard character creation for a Godbound. You roll up/pick attributes, pick three Words, etc. For this, I will be creating Guts when he was still in the Band of the Hawk, right before he left. Since you could kind of consider that his “peak” before the Eclipse.

The second version will be the same, except I won’t be using the 6 Point limit that the game gives you at the start. Instead, I will just give Guts any and all Gifts/Artifacts and otherwise that I believe he should have at this point in the Berserk Manga.

With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Standard Creation:

Attribute Scores:

8, 16, 13, 10, 12, 18

I’ll wait until after I choose Words since those will have an affect on the Scores.

Facts:

Grew up in a Mercenary Band

The Raiding Captain for the Band of the Hawks

Has formed a deep friendship with all of the major members

Since this is Guts before the Eclipse, I feel these would be the best Facts to use as his Origin, Past Profession, and Relationship.

Armor: Medium (AC 5; -4 Save Penalty)

Weapon: Greatsword (1d10; Heavy)

Goals: Find his own Dream so he can stand next to Griffith.

I’ll put the penalty towards Evasion (Guts was never known to be very dodgy).

Divine Powers/Words:

Sword (He’s been using a Greatsword since he was about 5 years old. It’d make sense he’s really fucking good with them)

Endurance (Guts is fucking durable. Seriously, even before he became the Black Swordsman he was surviving shit that would kill normal people. See his fight with Zodd or Wyald for examples)

Luck (I was going to put Might here, but as strong as Guts is, during his time as Raider Captain in the Band of the Hawk, he didn’t do anything that really showed off physical strength. Most of the crazy shit he did (such as break through a cast iron door) was with his Sword. So, instead I’m choosing Luck as, let’s face it, Guts has been exceedingly lucky during most of his fights. While it hasn’t exactly made his life sunshine and rainbows, it’s allowed him to survive fight after fight when paired with his unending willpower)

Now to set up the Attribute Scores:

Str: 18 (+3): Check: 3

Dex: 13 (+1): Check: 8

Con: 18 (+3): Check 3

Int: 8 (-1): Check: 13

Wis: 12 (+0): Check: 9

Char: 10 (+0): Check: 11

And here’s our final scores. I set Strength and Constitution the highest for obvious reason (go watch any montage of Guts and you’ll understand). Dexterity is the way it is cause, while Guts is fast, he’s not exactly someone I could see dodging all over the place like a ninja. He’s a much bigger and easier to hit target than someone like, say, Griffith. Wisdom and Charisma are the way they are cause Guts is perceptive, just not too perceptive. On top of that, while he himself is very gruff and not much of a smooth talker, he does seem to attract the opposite sex to him a lot….even the same sex to an extent. And Intelligence is the lowest stat cause….well obvious reasons. Guts is not book smart in the slightest. He knows a lot about surviving on his own or in the wilderness, but he won’t be solving any advanced math problems.

Gifts:

Defy the Iron (While not necessarily negating the damage, Guts is able to ignore most attacks and keep moving even when they should be fatal)

Nine Lives (The dude seems to always luck out on events that would kill him. Look at his fight against Gambino or Bazuso)

Unerring Blade (Do I even need to explain why he gets this one?)

Cutting the Crimson Road (I was actually having trouble deciding between this or Shattering Hand. In the end I chose this one, since one of his most defining moments is when he fought 100 soldiers and won).

Body of Iron Will (Just to give him an AC of 3 and represent how his body is tough as shit).

With that, here’s what the final Character Sheet Looks like for Guts:

Name: Guts

Facts:

Grew up in a Mercenary Band

The Raiding Captain for the Band of the Hawks

Has formed a deep friendship with all of the major members

Attributes:

Str: 18 (+3): Check: 3

Dex: 13 (+1): Check: 8

Con: 18 (+3): Check 3

Int: 8 (-1): Check: 13

Wis: 12 (+0): Check: 9

Char: 10 (+0): Check: 11

Words:

Sword

Endurance

Luck

Gifts:

Defy the Iron

Nine Lives

Unerring Blade

Cutting the Crimson Road

Body of Iron Will

Weapons: Greatsword (1d10; Heavy; Atk Bonus: +1; Attribute Bonus: Str)

Armor: Medium (AC 5; -4 Penalty to a Save)

AC: 3

HP: 11

Saves:

Hardiness (Con): 12

Evasion (Dex): 18 (Base 14)

Spirit: (Wis): 15

And here we are, Guts before he became the Black Swordsman as a Godbound. Now then, on to what I would give him if I had full freedom and didn’t have to worry about point limits.

Free Version:

I’m keeping the same Attribute Scores, but the Facts will be different:

Facts:

Grew up in a Mercenary Band

The Raiding Captain for the Band of the Hawks

Has formed a deep friendship with all of the major members

Is marked by the Brand of Sacrifice

Has given up his Revenge against Griffith to protect/help Casca, the woman he loves

Has killed over 1,000 Demons

Wields the Dragonslayer

Wears the Berserker Armor

Is haunted by his Beast of Darkness

His companions keep him grounded

He lost his arm and eye, now he has a mechanical arm.

These are all of the obvious Facts that would be included after the current part of the manga.

Following that, I would add in these Words:

Might (By this point, and with the help of his mechanical arm, he has shown that his physical strength is just as strong as an Apostle’s)

Peak Human (Guts has gone well beyond the realm of a normal mortal by this point. He has proven that, despite not having any real, inherent magical powers, he is able to go toe-to-toe with Apostles, Sea Gods, Demons, Constructs, and just about any supernatural creature that steps in his path. By now, I’d say he’s right on the cusp of being Superhuman)

Vengeance (Though he has given up on getting revenge against Griffith, it is still a defining characteristic for him, and something he draws strength from)

Gifts:

Fear No Steel (At this point, normal weapons are like tickles to Guts.)

Fist of Black Iron (He literally has a fist of black iron)

Loosening God’s Teeth (He can cut an Apostle in half with one swing of his sword)

Contempt of Distance (Guts seems to be able to move to wherever the hell he wants when he needs to kill something)

Thirsting Razor (There are normally too many enemies in front of Guts for him to even worry about hitting Mobs)

All Natural (Guts’ abilities don’t really appear very magical, and that’s because most of them aren’t. Alot of them are from either pure sweat and hard work, determination, or his own equipment)

Mortal’s Luck (The dude never stays down)

Trained Aim (He always seems to hit whatever he aims at…it’s just that most things he aims at has enough armor or scaled hide to resist it)

Human Grit (And how. The dude is able to heal from fatal wounds faster than any other human in his world)

Indomitable Will (Do I really have to explain this one?)

Street Sweeper (Have you seen the size of his sword?)

Bloody Vengeance (Guts loves to use all or nothing attacks that immensely damage both him and his enemy)

Shattering Hand (Dragonslayer. That is all)

Artifacts:

Dragonslayer:

A great sword that is like a hunk of raw iron. This blade has bathed in the blood of so many demons that it now rest on both the Mortal and Astral planes, turning it into a magical weapon that can harm both spiritual and physical creatures. Due to its massive size, it can also be used to block projectiles and smash through any type of armor.

Effort: 5

Hunk of Raw Iron (Greater Gift): As an Action, the wielder may Commit Effort from the artifact to launch an attack at every enemy within sight, doing a maximum of 1 damage even on a miss. Mobs are automatically hit for 1d10+15 rolled straight.

Too Thick, Too Rough (Lesser Gift): As an Action, Commit Effort from the artifact to immediately break any armor, weapon, or piece of equipment in range of the sword. Any magical substance is not destroyed, but damaged to the point where it is almost useless.

The Berserker Armor:

An ancient, magical armor from the time of the first Emperor, the Berserker Armor is a black and spiked. It completely encases the wearer when it is equipped. It is considered heavy armor and can defend against most attacks, including magical ones. However, the armor’s true ability comes from its power to lock off the wielder’s nervous system, pushing their body to heights that a normal human could never reach. There is a downside to this, as the armor will remove the wielder’s sense of self and cause them to view everything as an enemy. On top of this, the armor does not heal the wearer, instead holding their body together and preventing them from dying to any injury. Once all living creatures have been defeated, all of the wearer’s damage will return full force and can kill them instantly if it is more than their HP can handle.

Effort 10

Unstoppable Rampage (Greater Gift): Commit Effort from the Artifact to immediately gain three bonus Attacks that can be used on this round only.

Jump Good (Lesser Gift): Commit Effort from the Artifact to instantly leap to any spot within double your movement speed. This does not count as an Action.

Beast of Darkness (Greater Gift): This Gift can activate whenever you kill an enemy as long as you wear the armor. At the end of a round, if you’ve killed an enemy, roll a Spirit Save. If you fail, this Gift activates. Commit Effort from the Artifact to remove all limits on your body and lose yourself to your inner beast. You lose the ability to make rational decision on the battlefield, and see even your friends as enemies. In return, all of your attacks now deal 1d12+10 Straight Damage, you gain two bonus Actions, you become immune to all mental, emotional, or psychological damage, your attacks shatter any substance even if it is magical in nature, and your attack bonus is now +10. Whenever you take damage, record it somewhere else. Once the battle is over, you must make a Spirit Save to regain control of yourself. If you fail, you must keep fighting everything around you, even if they are your allies, making a Spirit Save each round to regain yourself. If you pass, make a Hardiness Save. If you pass that Save, you only take half of the damage you took during battle rounded up. If you fail, you take the full damage straight.

So now, our final Guts sheet, looks like this:

Name: Guts

Facts:

Grew up in a Mercenary Band

The Raiding Captain for the Band of the Hawks

Has formed a deep friendship with all of the major members

Is marked by the Brand of Sacrifice

Has given up his Revenge for Casca the woman he loves

Has killed over 1,000 Demons

Wields the Dragonslayer

Wears the Berserker Armor

Is haunted by his Beast of Darkness

His companions keep him grounded

He lost his arm and eye, now he has a mechanical arm.

Attributes:

Str: 19 (+4): Check: 2

Dex: 18 (+3): Check: 3

Con: 18 (+3): Check 3

Int: 13 (+1): Check: 8

Wis: 13 (+1): Check: 8

Char: 13 (+1): Check: 8

Words:

Sword

Endurance

Luck

Peak Human

Might

Vengeance

Gifts:

Defy the Iron

Nine Lives

Unerring Blade

Cutting the Crimson Road

Body of Iron Will

Fear No Steel

Fist of Black Iron

Loosening God’s Teeth

Contempt of Distance

Thirsting Razor

All Natural

Mortal’s Luck

Trained Aim

Human Grit

Indomitable Will

Street Sweeper

Bloody Vengeance

Shattering Hand

Weapons: Dragonslayer (1d10; Heavy; Atk Bonus: +1; Attribute Bonus: Str)

Armor: Berserker Armor (AC 3; -4 Penalty to 2 Saves)

AC: 3

HP: 11

Saves:

Hardiness (Con): 15 (Base 11)

Evasion (Dex): 16 (Base 12)

Spirit: (Wis): 14

Artifacts:

Dragonslayer:

Effort: 5

The Berserker Armor:

An ancient, magical armor from the time of the first Emperor, the Berserker Armor is a black, spiked armor that completely encases the wearer. It is considered heavy armor and can defend against most attacks, including magical ones. However, the armor’s true ability comes from its power to lock off the wielder’s nervous system, pushing their body to heights that a normal human could never reach. There is a downside to this, as the armor will remove the wielder’s sense of self and cause them to view everything as an enemy. On top of this, the armor does not heal the wearer, instead holding their body together and preventing them from dying to any injury. Once all living creatures have been defeated, all of the wearer’s damage will return full force and can kill them instantly if it is more than their HP can handle.

Effort 10

Unstoppable Rampage (Greater Gift): Commit Effort from the Artifact to immediately gain three bonus Attacks that can be used on this round only.

Jump Good (Lesser Gift): Commit Effort from the Artifact to instantly leap to any spot within double your movement speed. This does not count as an Action.

And there we go. I would’ve added another Gift to the Dragonslayer, but I couldn’t think of what to put there.

So, there you go. How I would stat Guts as a Godbound.

Feedback would be appreciated, and if you think there are things I could’ve added or done better, please let me know.

#submission

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rebelcourtesan · 4 years

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My D&D 5e Build for Hordak

@firapolemos05 requested Hordak, I did some digging and thinking and came up with a build for this character. My judgement is based on what we’ve seen in the show and what I think suits his character best. Feel free to agree or disagree with this build or come up with one of your own.

Hordak, a member of a clone army that was rejected by his creator for having a defect in his cloning. He was sent on a suicide mission only to find himself taken through a portal and crash landing on Etheria. With the remains of a broken ship, he launched an Empire, taking over lands and territory and building his own army in the hopes of proving himself to Horde Prime. He serves as the main antagonist for most of the series before Horde Prime takes his place.

Long Post Below

***Stats***

Intelligence: Top stat. Hordak has a technological mind. He’s built machines, weapons, and portals and is one of the most intelligence characters in the series.

Strength: Second Highest. Reason being that we’ve seen him life heavy machinery in building the portal and throwing a slab of metal across the room. And he managed to push a huge beam off himself when it fell on him.

Constitution: Third Highest. I had thought of putting this lower on the list due to his chronic illness, but he did survive was having a crane fall on him and is managing to fight despite the illness.

Dexterity: Fourth Highest. Hordak can be quick when the needs aride.

Wisdom: Fifth Place. Hordak needed Double Trouble’s help to see through Catra’s lies about what happened to Entrapta.

Charisma: Dump state. Get. out! Hordak isn’t the most charming character in the series.

***Race***

I considered going with Variant Human again, but I just discovered the Gith- Githyanki race which I believe would suit Hordak better.

He automatically gets +1 to Intelligence and +2 to Strength.

Choose Arcana to be Proficiency skill. Hey, he must have taken time to study Etheria’s magic at one point and he has Entrapta helping him out.

Also, Hordak starts off knowing the Mage Hand cantrip.

Choose the Soldier background: This nets Hordak a Proficiency in Athletics and Intimidation.

Okay, after some thought and consideration, I’ve decided to start Hordak off as a Barbarian.

The reason for this when Hordak get’s angry, he can become quite dangerous and resilient to damage.

***Barbarian Level 1***

Hordak gets the Rage ability:

- advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. - A melee weapon attack using Strength, gains a bonus to the damage roll - resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

Unarmored Defense - armor class equals 10 + Dexterity + Constitution. His suit is more of an exo-skeleton for his health condition. And his dress is a bit revealing.

For Skills choose Perception and Survival. The first few years after crashing on Etheria must have been rough at the start.

***Barbarian Level 2***

Hordak receives Danger Sense : Has advantage on Dex saves against effects he can see such as traps and spells. He’s been fighting magical princesses for years, however he can’t use this ability if he is blinded, incapacitated, or deafened.

Reckless Attack: For the first attack on his turn, he can choose to attack with advantage with melee weapons using Strength, but attack rolls against him will be at an advantage until his next turn.

***Barbarian Level 3***

Barbarians can choose a Primal Path. For Hordak, reveres Horde Prime and conquers Etheria in his name, the Primal Path for him would be Path of the Zealot.

Divine Fury: when Raging the first creature Hordak hits on each of his turns with a weapon takes extra damage equal to 1d6 + half Barbarian level. Choose Necrotic damage he is fighting in the name of an evil cult leader.

Warrior of the Gods: Hordak is easier to raise from the dead. If any spell cast to restore life to Hordak doesn’t need any components. That’s the advantage of a having a devoted hi-tech wife.

***Barbarian Level 4***

Ability Score Improvement: Put the points into Intelligence to max it out. I know Strength is important for a Barbarian class, but there is a method to my madness.

***Barbarian Level 5***

Extra Attack: Hordak can make two attacks when he takes the attack action.

Fast Movement: His speed increases by +10 feet when he isn’t wearing heavy armor.

***Barbarian Level 6***

Path of the Zealots gives Hordak Fanatical Focus which allows to reroll a failed saving throw while Raging, but must take the new roll. Ability can only be used once per Rage.

Now you’ll see the method in my madness with a high intelligence score.

We’re going into Artificier, a class the melds magic and technology, which he learned from Entrapta and from studying Etherian magic and First Ones Tech.

***Artificer Level 1***

Talk to your DM about the Optional Firearm Proficiency. If they agree, then Hordak has a proficiency in firearms, such as laser cannons!

Being an Artificer gives Hordak Magical Tinkering: Hordak’s Tinker Tools come into play which allows him to create a spark of magic in a Tiny nonmagical object with a magic effect such as giving off light, playing a recorded message (Like the Imp), etc.

Hordak is able to use his Intelligence to create magical effects in objects through spellcasting, but use his tools to do so. So choose plenty of offensive spells for Hordak to use against Princesses. I would recommend for cantrips:

Acid Splash: You hurl a bubble of acid. Choose one creature within range, or choose two creatures within range that are within 5 feet of each other. A target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 acid damage.

Fire Bolt: You hurl a mote of fire at a creature or object within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 fire damage. A flammable object hit by this spell ignites if it isn’t being worn or carried.

For 1st level spells:

Absorb Elements: The spell captures some of the incoming energy, lessening its effect on you and storing it for your next melee attack. You have resistance to the triggering damage type until the start of your next turn. Also, the first time you hit with a melee attack on your next turn, the target takes an extra 1d6 damage of the triggering type, and the spell ends. (Good for when he goes into melee against elemental Princesses).

***Artificer Level 2***

Infuse Item: Hordak can Imbue mundane items with magical infusions. At this level you can choose up to 4 infusions to know, but can replace one of them at each level.

Choose:

Enhanced Defense: Needs a suiit of armor or shield to grant a +1 bonus to Armor Class while wearing (armor) or wielding (shield) the infused item.

Enhanced Weapon: Needs a simple or martial weapon to grant +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it.

Enhanced Arcane Focus: Needs rod, wand, or staff (requires attuning) a creature gains +1 bonus to spell attack rolls.

Replicate Magic Item : Any item of your choice to replicate.

***Artificer Level 3***

The Right Tool for the Job : with tinker's tools in hand, Hordak can magically create one set of artisan's tools when needed.

Now Hordak can receive an Artificer Specialist. Take Artillerist.

Tool Proficiency: Gain proficiency with Wood Carver tools, but to better fit Hordak’s character, I would go with Smith’s Tools if the DM allows it.

Hordak gains 2 additional spells.

Shield: An invisible barrier of magical force appears and protects you. Until the start of your next turn, you have a +5 bonus to AC

Thunderwave: A wave of thunderous force sweeps out from you. Each creature in a 15-foot cube originating from you must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d8 thunder damage and is pushed 10 feet away from you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn’t pushed.

The golden part of this level is Eldritch Cannon. Hordak can create small or tiny canons. Think Horde Robots. They can have one of three effects: Flame Thrower, Force Ballista, and Protector.

***Artificer Level 4***

Ability Score Improvement: Max out Intelligence to attain more spells and make them more powerful. If Intelligence is already maxed out, you can put them into Strength so Hordak can hit harder when in melee or you can round out the other ability scores.

***Artificer Level 5***

Arcane Firearm: Hordak can turn a rod, wand, or staff into an Arcane Firearm (such as an Arm Cannon) to case offensive spells. Doing so gives a 1d8 bonus damage to spells. If the spell hits multiple targets, choose one to take the bonus damage.

Hordak can now use 2nd level Artificer spells. I recommend:

Heat Metal : Hordak can cause a metal object (armor for example) to glow red-hot. Any creature in physical contact with the object takes 2d8 fire damage when you cast the spell. Until the spell ends, you can use a bonus action on each of your subsequent turns to cause this damage again.

Also Artillerist gains two additional spells.

Scorching Ray: You create three rays of fire and hurl them at targets within range. You can hurl them at one target or several. Make a ranged spell attack for each ray. On a hit, the target takes 2d6 fire damage.

Shatter : A sudden loud ringing noise, painfully intense, erupts from a point of your choice within range. Each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature made of inorganic material such as stone, crystal, or metal has disadvantage on this saving throw.

***Artificer Level 6***

Tool Expertise: proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses your proficiency with a tool.

Also, Hordak gains two additional Infusions.

Pick Homunculus Servant so Hordak can create his own Imp, a tiny construct that obeys commands. Repulsion Shield : grants a +1 bonus to AC when using this shield. Also has 5 charges to push an attacker back 15 feet as a reaction to being hit by melee weapon.

***Artificer Level 7***

Flash of Genius: As a reaction, Hordak can add his intelligence modifier to an ability check or saving throw of a ceature within 30 feet of him.

***Artificer Level 8***

Ability Score Improvement: By now Intelligence should be maxed. Put points into Strength if you are having Hordak wade into melee battle. And/Or, you could get the War Caster feat which will make it easier for Hordak to cast and maintain spells in battle.

***Artificer Level 9***

Explosive Cannon: Eldritch Cannons now cause more damage with additional 1d8 damage and Hordak can have them self-detonate for 3d8 force damage on a failed Dex save.

Hordak can now use 3rd level spells.

Dispel Magic: Choose any creature, object, or magical effect within range. Any spell of 3rd level or lower on the target ends. For each spell of 4th level or higher on the target, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell ends. (Hordak must have been studying a means to remove magical effects, plus this spell is super useful).

Plus being an Artillerist grants two additional spells.

Fireball: A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame. Each creature in a 20-foot radius must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried.

Wind Wall: A wall of strong wind rises from the ground at a point you choose within range. When the wall appears, each creature within its area must make a Strength saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

***Artificer Level 10***

With Entrapta’s help, Hordak can become a Magic Item Adept: he can attune up to four items at once instead of just two. And it takes a quarter of the time to craft a common or uncommon magical item and doing so costs half the gold.

And Hordak can learn two more Infusions.

Spell-Refueling Ring (Unearthed Arcana) - A ring that can recover expended spell slots. (Hordak can keep throwing spells back at Princesses)

Mind Sharpener (Unearthed Arcana) - Robes (or armor) that can allow the wearer to maintain a spell as a reaction if they failed a constitution check.

***Artificer Level 11***

Spell-Storing Item: Hordak can store a 1st or 2nd level spell inside an item for a creature to use

***Artificer Level 12*** Ability Score Improvement: Intelligence should be maxed. Strength should be maxed. Also round out any Ability Scores. Or you can get the War Caster feat.

***Artificer Level 13*** 4th level spells are now available. I recommend:

Arcane Eye: You create an invisible, magical eye within range that hovers in the air for the duration. You mentally receive visual information from the eye, which has normal vision and darkvision out to 30 feet. The eye can look in every direction.

***Artificer Level 14*** With the help of his beloved Entratpa, Hordak becomes a Magic Item Savant. He can attune up to five items with magic and he can ignore all class, race, spell and level requirements to use any magical items.

And there you have it. My version of Hordak in D&D 5e. With the Barbarian levels he can deal decent melee damage and withstand receiving damage and gaining extra strength while Raging.

As part of his background and his close relationship to Entrapta, he can infused magic into items and use offensive spells against the Princesses in his conquest of Etheria.

#Hordak #dnd character build #d&d 5e #d&d character

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betabites · 4 years

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Schneeple

The simulacrum spell is a marvel of arcanery, imbuing a body of snow and ice with a shadowy reflection of life. The prevailing archaeothaumical opinion is that spell was originally developed via observation of the effects of a mirror of opposition. However, the effect has also been known to appear in nature. During the dark days of winter, when the Shadowfell and Feywild are both in close proximity to the Prime Material, icy reflections are cast, and people going out to the woodpile may meet themselves. Even whole cities have appeared in snow fields - replicas of existing cities, filled with people made of snow. People who are unaware that they are anything but normal. Most often, these illusions melt with the realization of their falseness, or at latest, when spring arrives. But not always.

Schneeple originate as reflections of people, but do not remain a soul-less reflection. Unlike the copies created by a mirror of opposition, they are not filled with loathing for the original. And unlike products of a simulacrum spell, they can learn, change, and grow. The only sure tell is that their body temperature is noticeably lower than the base creature's. In times of stress or disruptive magical conditions, they can revert to colors of ice and snow. Some Schneeple seek out such conditions, to mark themselves as different from the original.

As a rule, Schneeple tend towards the philosophical. They are aware they they are redundant, just a reflection of a 'real' person. That awareness drives them, be it to despair or great heights. And sometimes, they can co-exist quite happily with the original, not redundant at all.

Many Schneeple pursue the same class as the original did, but some are drawn to pursue different paths - either to make a break with the original or to take advantage of their icy and illusory nature. Some make pacts with powers of shadow and ice - from the Archdevil Levistus to the Unseelie Court to the goddess Auril. Others simply explore their nature as illusionists or monks.

Play a Schneeple (Schneeson?) if you want to:

Have a standard character with just a touch of unreality.

Reinvent your character over the course of play, as they break away from their original.

Grapple with existential problems (’Who am I?’ ‘What makes me me?’), in addition to fell beasts.

Tie yourself strongly to an existing character (PC or NPC), or play with ideas about twins or non-shapeshifting dopplegangers.

Re-use your last character sheet.

Variant origins. The above Schneeple origin is designed to produce a ready population - not common, but recognizable. Some games may prefer more bespoke variants - produced by a slightly less cursed mirror of opposition, or a variant of the simulacrum spell that produces a learning illusion. Schneeple exist with the intent to tackle transhuman ideas like cloning, and fear of replacement. As a bonus, playing a Schneeple is free license for the DM to break out all the twin comedy hijinks.

As a more folkloric and less planar origin: It is said that in this world, every person has seven doubles. They all share a face, and perhaps a sliver of soul. If nothing else, they are born under the same moon, and die under the same moon. They rarely find each other, but are often mistaken for another.

Variant names. Schneeple, or Snow People, may be a touch too silly for some campaigns. Alternatives: Snowfolk, Living Snow, Snow Clones, Simulacras, Lossedaid (the elvish term), Nobashmônekik (the dwarven term), Simmies, Slushies.

Rules for D&D, D&D, and D&D (3.5, 4E, 5E)

D&D 3.5

Schneeple is a template that can be applied to any type of creature. It gains the following qualities:

+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom. As creatures of shifting ice and snow, rather than solid flesh and bone, Schneeple are resistant to injury. The peculiar nature of their existence gives them a philosophical bent, and a certain level of detachment that may also be linked to their quasi-illusory status.

Living Snow. Physically, Schneeple do not require food, air, or warmth. However, their illusion of self does require all of those things, and they can only survive without them as might a normal person. Their physical make-up does give them resist cold 10. Their lack of an actual metabolism does mean that they are immune to disease and poison. Additionally, they have a 25% chance to negate any critical hit or sneak attack made against them, as per the light fortification armor property.

Illusion-sense. As creatures animated by illusion, Schneeple are unusually aware to the presence of other illusions. They receive a +4 bonus on any skill rolls to notice an illusion spell or effect, and a +4 bonus on any saves against illusion spells or effects.

Level Adjustment +1. Schneeple have several advantages over the base creature, and thus level slightly slower. I highly recommend using the LA buy-off rules. In short, a 3rd level Schneeple character may spend 3,000 XP to permanently remove their level adjustment (and catch up to their non-LA comrades).

Feats:

Icy Reason

Requirements: Bluff 12 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 6 ranks, Sense Motive 12 ranks, Spellcraft 6 ranks, Schneeple

Benefits: Your understanding of lies, illusion, truth, and faith result in complete control of your own consciousness. You are immune to mind-affecting spells and effects.

Living Ice

Requirements: BAB +6, Schneeple

Benefits: You are immune to critical hits and sneak attacks. You gain the [Cold] template, becoming immune to cold damage and vulnerable to fire damage.

D&D 4E

Schneeple is an available Theme for 4E characters. For more details on Themes, check out Heroes of the Feywild or Heroes of Elemental Chaos (among others). In short, a Theme is the Heroic-tier counterpart to Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies. Any character can take one Theme.

Starting Feature: Your origin becomes elemental. For the purposes of effects that relate to creature origin, you are considered to be an elemental. You gain resist cold 5. At 11th level, this resistance increases to 10, and at 21st level, this resistance increases to 15.

You also gain the living snow power.

Living Snow

Schneeple Thematic Power

The area around your injury is revealed as snow, and snow doesn't hurt.

Encounter ♦ Elemental Immediate Reaction ♦ Personal

Trigger: You are bloodied by an attack.

Effect: You use your Second Wind. You make a save against an ongoing effect.

Level 5 Feature: You have come to a greater understanding of your own nature, not just as a creature of snow, but one born of shadows. This manifests as a greater awareness of the world, of light and shadows, of reality and unreality. You have a +2 power bonus to Perception checks. If you make a saving throw against an illusion, you can roll twice and take the better result.

Level 10 Feature: You have come to the conclusion that, despite the falseness of your genesis, despite your memories that predate you, that you are still real and not just a dark reflection. This certainty brings with it confidence, and the ambition to prove your reality to everyone else. You have a +2 power bonus on your Will Defense.

Also, if you are affected by the dominated condition, when rolling saving throws to remove that condition, you can roll twice and take the better result.

Optional Powers: You have engaged in a deeper study of your own unique capabilities, rather than relying on those gained from your original’s heritage and training. You can take these powers instead of one of the usual powers you would gain at the listed level.

Level 2 Utility Power:

Icy Reflection

Schneeple Utility 2

You plunge your hand into the water, and draw out an exact replica of the item in your other hand.

Daily ♦ Elemental, Illusion Standard Action ♦ Personal

Prerequisite: You must e holding the item you wish to replicate. You must have access to water or snow, at least a waterskin's worth. Alternately, you can spend a healing surge to use yourself as a water source.

Effect: You create a replica of an item you can see. It has all the same properties as the original, including magical properties.

End Conditions: If the item is not in contact with you for 1 minute or if a daily power of the item is used, it melts back into water.

Level 6 Utility Power:

Mirrorstep

Schneeple Utility 6

You point, and another you appears on the battlefield.

Encounter ♦ Elemental, Illusion, Teleportation Move Action ♦ Ranged 10

Effect: You teleport to a destination within range, leaving a quasi-real illusion of yourself behind. Alternately, you create the illusion of yourself at the indicated point. The illusion has sufficient substance to engage in combat, making basic attacks, occupying a space, enable flanking, speak normally, etc, but cannot move, or deal any damage. At the start of your next turn, or once it has taken damage equal to your level, it disappears.

Sustain Minor: The illusion of you remains until the start of your next turn.

Level 10 Utility Power:

A More Perfect Reflection

Schneeple Utility 10

You wonder what your original would do here, and decide that whatever they would do, you can do it better.

Daily ♦ Shadow No Action ♦ Personal

Trigger: You make an attack roll, skill check, or saving throw, and dislike the result.

Effect: You add 2d6 to the result.

D&D 5E

To play one of the Schneeple, add the following features to any existing race:

Living Snow. Whenever you roll Hit Dice to recover, roll twice and take the better result. You have resistance to cold, but you are at disadvantage on any saves against fire damage.

Quasi-Real. You have advantage on saves against illusions. If a dispel magic spell is cast on you, you take 5d6 damage (Wisdom save for half) in addition to the usual effects. Also, if you enter an area of antimagic (such as created by antimagic field), you must make a Charisma save vs DC 20 or gain one level of exhaustion.

#D&D #Dungeons & Dragons #simulacrum #snow clone #D&D 3.5 #D&D 4E #D&D 5E

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sirblackaxe · 5 years

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Merfolk for 5E D&D

Merfolk are aquatic humanoids with a humanoid upper body and the tail of a fish. The color and patterns of their scales and fins are as varied as the fish of the sea.

Some information about merfolk culture and settlements can be found on page 218 of the Monster Manual.

Google doc at this link, which also contains the Weapon Throwing Expert feat and Water Jet cantrip.

Merfolk Traits

Your merfolk character has a number of traits in common with all other merfolk.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1. Age. Merfolk age at the same rate humans do. Alignment. Merfolk tend toward no particular alignment. Size. Your size is Medium. Speed. You have a base walking speed of 10 feet and a base swimming speed of 30 feet. You may use you swimming speed, instead of your walking speed, to determine your crawling speed while prone. Check the From Sea to Shore section for character options that grant you a higher walking speed. Amphibious. You can breathe both air and water. Friend of the Sea. Using gestures and sounds, you can communicate simple ideas with any beast that has an innate swimming speed. Merfolk Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the javelin, spear, trident, and net. Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Aquan. Subrace. Choose one of the following subraces.

Coastal Merfolk

As a coastal merfolk, you’re faster and more alert to your surroundings than Coastal merfolk are the most common race of merfolk, and can occasionally be found involved in sea trade up and down the coastline.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution and Charisma scores each increase by 1. Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill. Swift Swimmer. Your base swimming speed increases to 40 feet. Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the bard spell list. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.

(Note: Basically the same as merfolk from the monster manual.)

Deep Merfolk

As a deep merfolk, you’re adapted to the ocean depths. You’re stronger and sturdier than other merfolk, although you’re also less nimble. Your sturdiness helps protect you from the chill of the deep sea, and you can still see when you’re too deep for light from the surface to reach.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength, Constitution, and Charisma scores each increase by 1. Your Dexterity score decreases by 1. Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Abyssal Resistance. You have resistance to cold damage. Depth Dweller. Adapted to life in the ocean depths, you ignore any of the drawbacks caused by a deep, underwater environment.

(Note: Only subrace with no cantrip. Could replace darkvision or cold resistance with sorcerer cantrip? Would the light cantrip make more sense than darkvision?)

River Merfolk

As a river merfolk, your close proximity to land-dwellers has lead to to learn some of their skills and abilities. Making their homes in inland lakes, river merfolk are often considered similar to underwater humans due to their adaptability. River merfolk learn different languages and crafts depending on which other races have nearby settlements.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma scores increases by 1, and one ability score of your choice increases by 1. Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from any class’s spell list. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it. Skills. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice. Extra Language. You can speak, read, and write one extra language of your choice.

(Note: Could lock cantrip to bard/druid/sorcerer spell lists? Maybe plus Cleric?)

Wetland Merfolk

As a wetland merfolk, your scales are colored a dull blue, brown, green, or grey, that helps you blend into the swampy waters of your home. Wetland merfolk have the most insular merfolk communities, and tend to avoid outsiders or use magic to conceal their settlements.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution and Wisdom scores each increase by 1. Underwater Camouflage. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made while underwater. Marsh Magic. You know the shape water cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you learn the Create or Destroy Water and Fog Cloud spells, each of which you can cast once without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast those two spells in this way when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you may cast these spells as 2nd-level spells when you cast them with this trait. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for all three spells.

Siren Merfolk

As a siren merfolk, your voice is infused with a charming, hypnotic power. Siren merfolk have the brightest and most brilliant scale patterns, and are often as pleasing to the eyes as they are to the ears.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2. Entertainer. You have proficiency in the Performance skill. Hypnotic Voice. You know the friends cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person spell once per day. When you reach 5th level, you can also cast the suggestion spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells, and you can cast them without material components.

From Sea to Shore

While Merfolk can breathe both air and water, it is rare for them to venture onto land. If your campaign doesn’t take place in an environment that lets you use your swim speed the majority of the time, your difficulty moving over land could interfere with the adventure. Your Dungeon Master might allow you to use one of the following traits in order to keep up with the rest of the party.

Shapechanger. You can use an action to polymorph your fish tail into a pair of humanoid legs or back into their true form. While you have legs, your base walking speed is 30 feet and your base swimming speed is 10 feet. Your other statistics are the same in both forms. Any equipment you are wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. If you die, you revert to your true form. Strong Tail. You have a long, muscular tail similar to an eel or snake which grants you a base walking speed of 25 feet.

Walking cantrips (In development) Mage Feet - grants walking speed as you glide over the ground as if you were swimming through very shallow water. Still impeded by rough terrain, etc. Fins to Feet Transmutation cantrip Casting Time: 1 action; Range: Self; Components: V, S; Duration: 8 hours Your tail splits into a pair of humanoid legs. For the duration, your tail splits into a pair of humanoid legs. For the duration, your base swimming speed is reduced by half and your base walking speed increases by that amount.

Regular merfolk generally don’t have one of these options, so the reason your merfolk character does have one of these traits should be part of your character’s backstory. For example, your character may have made a deal with a sea hag to learn one of these cantrips, shapechanger could be inherited from dragon, human, or triton ancestors, and strong tail could come from naga or yuan-ti ancestry. Alternatively, one of these traits could be granted by family heirloom or magical trinket you found, like a coat or necklace. Be creative!

Racial Feats

With your Dungeon Master’s permission, you may take one of the following feats from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything:

Marid Heritage (Prerequisite: Genasi (Water) or merfolk)

Prodigy (Prerequisite: Half-elf, half-orc, human, or merfolk)

Triton Deep Magic (Prerequisite: Merfolk or triton).

#merfolk #mermay #homebrew #d&d 5e #dnd 5e #Dungeons and Dragons #tabletop #mermay2019

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hellyeahheroes · 4 years

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Building Billy Batson in D&D 5e

Hello everyone, I felt like making another build to add to the previous ones (which you can see in the Masterpost) and today....*Phone rings*

Is it done?

The Main Man always delivers. One Dark Multiverse bastish tied up like a gammon. What do ya wanna me do with that creep now?

Throw him back where he came from. I won’t let him mess with another of my builds. Now, about the payment...

-mmmmmmmpf---mmmmmph.

Shup up or I’ll shove that headband where tha sun won’t shine! Anyway, consider tha one a freebie. One of that bastich’s buddies had an indecency ta die before Main Man’s fist could explain to his face why ya don’ stab me with my own hook. Whippin’ ta smile of tha bastich’s face is now a matter of honor.

Pleasure doing business with you.

*Call disconnected*

Sorry for that. Now that we are sure NO leather-clad clown from Dark Multiverse will get his dark-matter-covered hands on my builds like he did with Supergirl, let’s make build for who might be one of the most popular characters fitting the scope of this blog. So much I worry if the inspiration for these builds, Tulok the Barbarian, won’t drop his own build soon (I mean I did say in Supergirl build I doubt he will do Superman anytime soon....and then he did). We’re tackling an actual movie star this time. You probably already know who I’m talking about, right?

Shazam, vel Captain Marvel, vel Captain Marvelous vel Captain Thunder etc, is such a nice character he already has prepared his own list of goals for his build - the Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength of Hercules, the Stamina of Atlas, the Power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles and the Speed of Mercury.

For Ability Scores, we’re always using Standard Points Array - 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8. If your game uses a different point buy or your roll the dice, treat these as guidelines, just keep your Wisdom and Dexterity high enough for multiclassing.

Strength - 13, Strength of Hercules after all

Constitution - 14, it is Stamina of Atlas

Dexterity - 10, not exactly Speed of Mercury but we can reflect that easy in other ways.

Intelligence - 8, it reflects learned knowledge and Billy is still in school and is usually portrayed as an average student

Wisdom - 15, as it represents both Wisdom of Solomon (duh) and Courage of Achilles

Charisma - 12, too bad we cannot get it higher but Shazam is MAD (Multiple Ability Dependent) by definition. Anyway, people like Big Red Cheese.

Now for the Race.... Shazam is World’s Mightiest Mortal and he is supposed to be an aged up version of Billy or recreation of Billy’s memory of his dead father, so we’ll go with Variant Human. If you would rather take any form that reflects stories where Billy and Shazam are different people switching places, there are few options - Gensai seems somewhat fitting, so does Aasimar, Filbolg, Goliath or even Elf or Half-Elf, depending on where you’d want to focus with the character.

Variant Human gets 1 free language, pick whatever is campaign appropriate, one extra skill, pick Persuasion to help your good public image, +1 to two Ability Scores - pick up Wisdom and Charisma, and a feat. Elemental Adept allows us to pick a lightning type of damage so that from now on when we deal it, it will ignore the resistance and all 1s on our lighting damage rolls become 2s. Alternatively, you can use thunder for this feat, we will be doing a lot of both.

For background we will build a custom one. Pick up Athletics and Perception for skills, any two language or tool proficiencies you find campaign appropriate, and the City Secrets Feature from Urchin Background, which allows you to, when not in combat, travel twice as fast within a city.

Now for the Class, we’ll start with Sorcerer, which gives us proficiency with Charisma and Constitution saving throws, two skills - pick Insight to further utility Wisdom of Solomon to read people and Religion so you actually know what gods granting your powers are about and, you know, don’t go looking for Greek Titan Atlas and find some other guy named Atlas (King Shazam was a stupid book ok?) - and proficiency with daggers, slings, quaterstaffs, darts and light crossbows.

Sorcerer also gets Sorcerous Origin and Storm Sorcery gives us two features - Wind Speaker lets you talk and understand Primordial language and its dialects and Tempestuous Magic allows you to fly up to 10 feet on a gust of air without provoking opportunity attacks.

Sorcerers get to learn magic. How it works is that we get to learn two spells and two Cantrips and two spell slots. We get to cast a spell using the spell slot and we get them back upon finishing a long rest, while Cantrips we can cast as many times as we want. If these spells require a spell attack we roll it with a modifier equal your Charisma Modifier and Proficiency Bonus and if they ask to make a saving throw, difficulty for that is equal to that sum +8.

Also, from Unearthed Arcana for class options, you can pick Spell Versatility, which allows you to replace any of those spells with another of the same level once per long rest.

We start knowing two cantrips and two 1st-level spell from the Sorcerer Spell List:

Shocking Grasp. You make a melee Spell attack roll with attack modifier equal your CHA modifier + your proficiency modifier (so just the last one) and on a hit deal 1d8 lightning damage to a target. As you level up it increases to 2d8 on level 5th, 3d8 on 11th and 4d8 on 17th

Lighting Lure lets you bring up the fact Wonder Woman was slightly inspired by Captain Marvel - you can make a lasso out of a lighting and on a failed strength saving throw the target is pulled 10 feet towards you and if this makes them end within 5 feet from you takes 1d8 lightning damage (scaling as Shocking Grasp)

Expeditious Retreat which, as long as the concentration is maintained for a maximum of 10 minutes, lets you dash as a bonus action when you cast and on each of your turns. This should add to some of that Speed of Mercury thing.

Jump, it triples your jump distance.

We will now jump (heh) to the first level of Fighter to gain proficiency with armors, simple and martial weapons and shields. Shazam isn’t wearing armor but you can argue his outfit could be a light armor maybe? If not, maybe consider picking up a Mage Armor instead of Jump. Or just go mad and have ARMORED SHAZAM to terrorize your enemies with. We can learn a Fighting Style and Unarmed Fighting from new Unearthed Arcana will make Shazam’s fists deal 1d6+Strength Modifier for damage, instead of static 2. If he uses two hands, or dropkicks someone, World’s Mightiest Mortal can roll 1d8 damage instead and on successful grapple check and whenever he hits a creature he is grappling he can deal an extra 1d4 of damage. You also gain Second Wind, which allows you to, on a bonus action, to regain hit points equal to 1d10 + your fighter level.

2nd Level Fighter gets Action Surge, which allows you once per short or long rest to take an additional action on your turn. This, combined with your Expeditious Retreat helps us somewhat stimulate Speed of Mercury.

If you are confused with multiclassing do not worry, from now on we will remain firmly within a single class. Our 4th level will be 1st level of Cleric. I mean, as far as we might call him Wizard, the guy giving Billy his powers is beyond a mere d&d Wizard (tho some of them are close due to how bullshit op wizards are in this game) - a god-like being who often gets invited to sit at the same table with Phantom Stranger and Zeus, sired two freaking demons and gets into arguments about human nature with personification of Abrahamic God’s wrath and pulls cavemen from time to prove a point. Wizard Shazam is your diety, might be some sort of god of magic.

1st Level Cleric gets to choose Divine Domain and with the whole motive, we have there is no better option than Tempest. You gain few proficiencies you already had from Fighter and Wrath of the Storm. An amount of time equal your Wisdom modifier per long rest you can use your reaction whenever you’re hit by a creature within 5 feet that you can see to deal it 2d8 lightning or thunder damage or half on successful DEX save.

Cleric, of course, learns spells. They work a bit differently from Sorcerer - you always know them but can only prepare a limited amount, equal your Cleric Level + your Wisdom modifier, ahead of time once you finish a long rest. Your Domain gives you extra spells you always have prepared as well. You can prepare spells on a higher level than they are normally to give them more powerful effects. And your Spell Attack and Spell Save Difficulty for Cleric spells use your Wisdom instead of Charisma. Cantrips work the same except new feature from Unearthed Arcana, Cantrip Versatility, lets you replace one you already know with another every time you gain a Cleric level.

Also, remember that since you are multiclassing casters, consult how many spells slots you should have with SRD - it’s very simple, you just sum up your Cleric and Sorcerer levels. You cannot cast spells from a level higher than you have access by the standard class spell progression, so I will still write down all spells as they would be granted on a standard level for a Cleric.

At first level you gain 3 Cantrips, 2 bonus spells and can prepare two spell slots + one for the next level

Virtue lets yu for one round grant yourself or another target 1d4+your Wisdom modifier temporary hit points.

Guidance lets you for up to 1 minute, on concentration, grant yourself or any willing creature a 1d4 to roll and add to any Ability Check.

Resistance works like Guidance but for saving throws.

Fog Cloud - you create a 20 feet fog that heavily obscures the area of your choice. You can maintain this spell with concentration up to 1 hour but it might be dispersed by wind.

Thunderwave makes you explode with the power of Zeus, dealing every creature within 15-feet away from you 2d8 thunder damage, half on a successful Constitution saving throw, and pushes 10 feet away from you all creatures that failed and everything that isn’t tied or nailed to the ground.

Guiding Bolt makes you make a ranged spell attack - on a hit you blast the target with energy, dealing it 4d6 radiant damage and giving anyone who attacks it an advantage on the next attack because of how the lingering energy makes them a sitting target.

Cure Wounds lets you hear 1d8+your Wisdom modifier of damage on a single target who isn’t undead or a construct. This may represent both your resilence in combat as well as how you inspire other heroes to keep fighting with your optimism - remember hit points are not meat points. (as an alternative you can take Healing Word which works similar except cannot be used on yourself instead can be used at distance - think of it as Shazam cheering an ally in the middle of the combat)

Protection from Evil and Good, upon casting lets you choose one type of creature - an aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend or undead. You can hold it up on Concentration for up to 10 minutes and it gives all creatures of that type a disadvantage on attack rolls against whoever you cast it on and prevents them from charming, frightening or possessing them - and if they already are, it gives them the advantage on saving throws to break free.

2nd Level Cleric learns to Channel Divinity, letting the power of Zeus grant you one of the following options once per short or long rest:

Turn Undead forces every undead within 30 feet that can see or hear you to make a Wisdom Saving Throw or be turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage, a state in which it must spend its turn using all actions to move as far away from you as it can, unless that’s impossible (then it must try to escape that effect), cannot willingly move to any area within 30 feet from you and cannot take reactions. So now you know why Nekron waited until Billy was depowered to kick off Blackest Night.

Destructive Wrath can be activated whenever you deal thunder or lightning damage and lets you just skip rolling and declare you deal maximum damage possible.

Harness Divine Power from Unearthed Arcana lets you spend your use of Channel Divinity as a bonus action to regain a 1st-level spell.

On 3rd Level Cleric gains 1 extra spell slot for 1st level spells and can now prepare 2 2nd level spells and 2 bonus spells from Tempest Domain and I will also get out of the way new Cantrip and another 2nd level spell slot we will get on 4rd level.

Word of Radiance makes you erupt with radiant energy, forcing every creature that you can see of your choice to make a Constitution saving throw or take 1d6 radiant damage (scaling with your total level like previous Cantrips).

Divine Favor is a concentration spell that can last up to 1 minute and lets you add an extra 1d4 radiant damage to your attacks

Enchance Ability is another Concentration spell that lasts up to 1 minute, it lets you grant you or someone else a bonus on Ability Checks for one Ability of your choice with some minor bonuses for physical ones - 2d6 temporary hit points for CON, preventing you from taking falling damage for DEX and doubling your carrying capacity for STR.

Aid lets you increase current and maximum hit points of up to 3 allies by 5 for up to 8 hours. It doesn’t require concentration and doesn’t count it as temporary hit points, meaning it can stack with those and you can cast it early and it should last for a while.

Prayer of Healing will be the improved version of that “Shazam cheers on his friends” deal with healing I mentioned above - now you can heal 2d8+your Wisdom modifier of damage on up to six creatures you can see.

Gust of Wind lets you play a big bad wolf - you huff and puff so much it creates a strong wind in a 60 feet long and 10 feet wide line, which can last up to 1 minute on concentration. It extinguishes any flames that aren’t protected, has a 50% chance of doing so to protected ones as well, and forces every creature caught in it to succeed a Strength saving throw or be pushed 15 feet away whenever it starts its turn in that line. On each turn you can change the direction of the line as a bonus action.

Shatter lets you bring the thunder - it deals 3d8 thunder damage to all not worn or carried nonmagical objects and every creature within the 10-feet radius from you, half as much on a successful Constitution saving throw, which inorganic creatures (like Doctor Shivana’s robots maybe?) make with disadvantage.

A situation where Enhance Ability is put to a good use

4th Level is an ability score Improvement, increase your Wisdom for better Saving Throw difficulty and more Spells prepared

At 5th Level you get Destroy Undead, which means that from now on every time you use your Turn Undead, all undead of Challenge Rating 1/2 or less who will fail their Wisdom Saving throw get instantly destroyed. You also get 2 3rd level spell slots and gain two bonus spells. And one more on 6th level.

Protection from Energy grants you or another willing creature resistance to one type of damage you choose - acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder - for up to 1 minute on Concentration.

Beacon of Hope also lasts up to 1 minute on Concentration and in this time grants any number of creatures within range advantage on Wisdom saving throws, death saving throws and make all healing spells automatically heal maximum number of hit points.

Speaking of which, Mass Healing Word lets you to heal up to six creatures in 60 feet range that you can see for 1d4+your Wisdom modifier.

Sleet Storm is your second bonus spell and it is pretty hard to explain this one in character, for now. Until it ends, and it lasts 1 minute on Concentration, you can make sleet and freezing rain fall down on an area of 40 feet radius and20-feet in height, centered on any point you chose within 120 feet radius. Flames in the area are doused, the ground becomes difficult terrain and whenever a creature enters it or starts its turn there it must make Dexterity saving throw or fall prone and every creature concentrating on a spell within the area must make a Constitution saving throw or lose concentration.

Call Lighting on Concentration can last up to 10 minutes and it creates a 10 feet tall, 60-feed wide cylinder centered on a point 100 feet above you within 120 feet radius, which makes storm erupt in that area. On each of your turns or when spell is cast you can literally call lighting on any point within that area and have lighting strike it, dealing all creatures within 5 feet to 3d10 lightning damage, half on a successful Dexterity saving throw, +extra 1d10 if you cast it in stormy conditions already. Why does that sound familiar?

Unlike what we learned in Kingdom Come and Justice League cartoon it is not advised you actually stand next to the person you’re blasting with Call Lighting.

On 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity options twice between rests and you gain Thunderous Strike - whenever you deal Lighting damage on a large or smaller creature, you can push it 10 feet away from you.

7th level Cleric gets to learn first 4th level spell, plus two bonus spells and we will also cover one spell of that level you get at 8th level:

Freedom of Movement lasts for an Hour, no concentration, and make target unaffected by difficult terrain and immune to any magical effects that would reduce its movement, paralyze or restrain it, can spend 5 feet of movement to escape all nonmagical ones like grappling and doesn't suffer penalties on attack and movement underwater.

Aura of Purity, added to Cleric’s list in Unearthed Arcana, lets you generate an aura for up to 10 minutes on Concentration. You and each non-hostile creature within 30-foot radius cannot become diseased, gains resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws on any effects that would cause it to be blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned or stunned.

Control Water lasts up to 10 minutes on concentration and lets you control any body of water in 300 feet area that would fit in a cube up to 100 feet on one side, making a flood, parting it, redirecting its flow or creating a whirlpool. No idea how that fits Shazam, maybe instead of Speed of Mercury you got Aquatics of Moses? But hey, free stuff.

Ice Storm lets you choose any point within 300 feet radius and have it becomes a center of a cylinder 40 feet high and 20 foot wide that gets BOMBARDED BY ROCK HARD ICE dealing all creatures in it 2d8 bludgeoning damage and 4d6 ice damage, half on a successful Dexterity saving throw and the ground in that area becomes difficult terrain until end of your next turn.

8th level is also dense with features. Yoru Destroy Undead now works on all undead of challenge rating 1 or less, you can round up your Wisdom with an Ability Score Improvement and you get Divine Strike. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature you can deal it an extra 1d8 thunder damage. Alternatively, you can choose to make it radiant with a possible replacement feature from Unearthed Arcana, Blessed Strikes, allowing you to add 1d8 radiant damage to any damage you deal with a hit or spell once each turn. It is more flexible but won’t increase to 2d8 when you gain 14th level of Cleric.

Yeah, being able to call upon Ice Storm does make me think Armageddon has arrived.

9th level Cleric gets a new Cantrip, one more 4th level spell slot and we will do our usual dance with 5th level spells - covering one for a slot you gain on this and next level and two bonus ones.

Light lets you make an object no longer than 10 feet in any dimension shine with bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light in following 20-foot radius and if that object was held by a hostile creature, it must succeed a Dexterity saving throw or drop it.

Our 4th level spell is Banishment, which lets you do that one trick where Shazam punched a monster so hard he created a black hole and send it to another dimension. Which he did. You choose a target up to 60 feet from you and force it to make a Charisma saving throw. If it fails, you need to keep concentration up to 1 minute. If the concentration breaks, the target returns. If a minute has passed and the target was a native to the plane you are on, it will then return. If it wasn’t, then if you keep up concentration for that 1 minute, they do not come back. Have I mentioned two of your enemies are freaking demon children fo Wizard, Blaze and Satannus? And that one of your deadliest foes, Mr. Mind has been in new continuity an interdimensional threat (and for fans of him being an alien, look up Spelljammer)? Put this baby to a good use.

Mass Cure Wounds lets you to choose up to six creatures within 30-feet radius centered on any point of your choice within 60 feet from you. Each one regains 3d8+ your Wisdom modifies of hit points. Billy further inspiring his friends to keep up hope in face of evil.

Flame Strike is another spell for the “how is he exactly doing that” category. It’s basically you choosing any point within 60 feet range from you and yelling SHAZAM! to make a 10-foot in radius, 40-feet high PILLAR OF FIRE erupt with a center on this point, dealing 4d6 fire damage and 4d6 radiant damage to all creatures within it, half on a successful Dexterity saving throw.

Destructive Wave makes a burst of destructive energy erupt from you. You can choose which creatures within 30 feet radius from you it hits and deal them 5d6 thunder damage and 5d6 either radiant or necrotic damage, whichever you prefer, half on a successful Dexterity saving throw. Those that fail the save are also knocked prone.

Finally Insect Wave. Choose any point within 300 feet radius. It becomes a center of a 20-feet in radius sphere that gets FILLED WITH LOCUST that deal 4d10 piercing damage to all creatures in it, all those who enter the area or end a turn within it, half on a successful Constitution saving throw. On Concentration, you can keep up this nightmare up to 10 minutes. Maybe that M does stand for Moses after all?

This is how it looks like when Shazam tries Banishment, minus that part where he gets sucked in as well.

At 10th level Cleric learns Divine Intervention - in time of need you can call upon your boss the Wizard and ask him for help. Roll percentile dice (1d100 or 2d10, with one serving as tens and another as ones) and if you roll equal or below your level the diety will intervene on your behalf.

11th level Cleric gets Destroy Undead increased to Challenge Rating 2 and learns a 6th level Spell. Otherwordly Form let’s you assume form of divine being. You can say SHAZAM and for one minute, with Concentration, assume either Upper or Lower Planes form and gain following benefits: flying speed of 40 feet,+2 bonus to AC, an abilitty to substitute your Wisdom for Strength when punching people and depending on the planes you picked either immonity to poison damage and poisoned condition (lower planes) or necrotic damage and charmed condition (Upper Planes).

12th level Cleric gains an Ability Score Improvement. Due to many of our spells requiring Concentration, we should invest in Constitution. Remember it grants extra hit points retroactively. 13th level grants us a single 7th level spell. Let’s make SHAZAM! the word of power it deserves to be then with Divine Word - you utter a word imbued with power that shaped the world since the dawn of creation. Choose any number of creatures with 30 feet that you can see. You force them to make a Charisma saving throw and if they fail the following results happen: if the creature had 50 or less Health Points, it gets deafened for 1 minute. If its HP was 40 or lower, it gets blinded and deafened for 10 minutes. If its health was 30 or lower it gets blinded, deafened and stunned for 1 hour. Any loser with HP below 21 is killed instantly. And if you use it on a celestial, an elemental, a fey, or a fiend and they fail a save they get kicked out to their native dimension and cannot return for next 24 hours unless someone uses a Wish spell, on top of all that deafening and killing.

This is what he is talking about and you cannot convince me otherwise.

At 14th Level your Divine Strike damage increases to 2d8 and your Destroy Undead power now works on undead up to Challenge Rating 3. 15th Level Cleric gets access to 8th level spells. Holy Aura is a Concentration Spell up to 1 minute, making you shine a bright aura in a 30-foot radius. Any creature you choose within that radius shines dim light with 5 feet radius and have an advantage on all saving throws, while everyone else has a disadvantage on all attack rolls against them and if an undead or fiend actually manages to hit them in a melee, they shine brightly for a moment, blinding their attacker for the remaining duration of the spell, unless they make a Constitution saving throw.

16th level Cleric gains another Ability Score Improvement, increase your Constitution again. Our Capstone is the 17th level of Cleric which increases Destroy Undead to now working on Challenge Rating 4 undead and gives us Stormborn, which grants you flying speed equal to your walking speed while outdoors and not underground. So assume all these insane storms were results of Billy flying up and messing with the weather above. Finally, we learn a 9th level spell slot. Upon casting you to restore up to 700 Hit Points divided as you choose between any number of creatures within 60 feet, also curing them of all disease and effects making them blinded or deafened. You know, in case Black Adam used his own Divine Word on your allies.

So this is how I would build Shazam in D&D. Storm Sorcerer 1/Fighter 2/Tempest Domain Cleric 17. Now lets us see how variable this build is. First of all, Big Red Cheese is a good person to be around, always inspiring his allies to push forward and keeping up the morale (aka healing everyone). Second he can use his might to bring terror upon the battlefield, with many area of effect spells wrecking chaos among the enemies. And in a pinch, Billy can tank damage like a champ with around 180 HP and with high Constitution and proficiency in its save he should maintain Concentration easily. You are also surprisingly mobile for a guy doing tanking and battlefield-control.

On the downsides, Strength of Hercules and Speed of Mercury are mostly maintained by casting spells and playing them off as some sorts of abilities you just have. Meaning if you want to maintain that you need to carefully consider your spells for each day and what you might need. Your strength modifier being only +1 also means that without Otherworldy Form you will often simply not hit your enemies. Even your damage in melee is mostly accomplished by fighting style and Divine Strike. Speaking of which, a lot of your damage is done in types that many creatures have resistance and immunity to and this build is too hungry for Ability Score Improvements to pick up second Elemental Adept so you cannot even deal with resistance on both lightning and thunder. Finally, a lot of your spells require Concentration, meaning you can use only one at the time. Overall, however, you are a valuable member of the team, as long as you remember you cannot do everything alone.

ALTERNATIVES:

Speaking of a team, Billy isn’t the only champion of the Wizard. So why won’t we talk about how to alter this build to make any of Billy’s siblings? Here are some quick suggestions:

DARLA: Change Ability Scores to STR 12 DEX 14 CON 13 INT 8 WIS 15 CHA 10 and use your Variant Human modifiers to round up Wisdom and Constitution. Drop fighter and Sorcerer and instead pick up a level of Monk for increased mobility and DEX-based Unarmed attacks, then a level of Revised Ranger with Favored Enemy replaced by Favored Foe from Unearthed Arcana and one extra level left spend on Cleric (from which you should be starting this build now), spend Ability Score Improvements on maxing out Wisdom and Dexterity. You will keep your mobility, decrease the MAD and be able to both move around the battlefield, deal decent damage in combat and still rely on your spells requiring a saving throw or spell attack.

PEDRO: STR: 14 DEX 10 CON 15 INT 10 WIS 13 CHA 8, two +1 spend on Strength and Constitution, replace Elemental Adept with Athlete to round up your Strength, replace Sorcerer with one more level of Fighter and pick Brute as a Martial Archetype, spend Ability Score Improvements on maxing up Strength and Constitution. Focus on Concentration based spells, especially those beneficial to you and your allies, so you can be a team tank.

EUGENE: For Ability Scores replace Charisma with Intelligence and drop a level of Sorcerer and a level of Fighter for two levels of Wizard. At second level pick up School of Lore Mastery for Spell secrets - it allows you to change the type of damage dealt by your spells and the type of a saving throw they demand to make. You’re squishier but more flexible in casting, able to make all your weird spells deal lighting or thunder damage or another way around if you run into something with resistance or immunity.

MARY: drop Fighter and Sorcerer for 3 level of Celestial Pact Warlock, on 3rd level pick up Pact of the Chain and replace one of your Eldritch Invocations with Investment of the Chain Master from Unearthed Arcana and either convince the DM to let you summon a rabbit familiar (despite it not being on the list) or agree to use stats of one of the animals on it while treating it like a rabbit in story. With the Invocation, you will get flying rabbit with magical attacks, or should I say HOPPY THE MARVEL BUNNY?

FREDDY: Drop levels of Fighter and go with 3 levels of Draconic Sorcerer to get better AC, more spells and Metamagic to let you do some crazy stuff.

- Admin

#Dungeons & Dragons #Shazam!#Shazam #Billy Batson #Pedro Pena #Darla Dudley #Eugene Choi #Mary Broomfield #Mary Marvel #DC

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digital-magus · 4 years

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Dragonborn Variant: Feathered Serpent

Wrote up a homebrew dragonborn variant, feedback would be appreciated. This is just a first draft, not yet tested, etc.

Feathered Serpent Dragonborn

Descended from the draconic Feathered Serpents of the southern jungles, Feathered Dragonborn are a rare sight outside of their native regions. A stunning sight, their mix of opalescent scales and vibrant multi-colored plumage make it easy to see why they are so revered by the other races of the region. Although they come in almost any combination of rainbow hues, they most commonly display a mix of blues and greens with hints of golds, scarlets, and purples. As Feathered Serpents are seen as avatars of the gods in these regions, the dragonborn descendants of these majestic reptiles are frequently, though by no means exclusively, found amongst the priestly castes.

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity increases by 2. Choose either your charisma or wisdom to increase by 1.

Age: Young dragonborn grow quickly. They walk hours after hatching. altain the size and development of a 10-year-old human child by the age of 3. and reach adulthood by 15. They live to be around 80.

Alignment: Although, like their northern cousins, Feathered Dragonborn tend towards extremes, they are also prone to dabble with both sides of the ethical coin. As such they tend toward neutrality on both axises, and even those who do tend one way or the other are known to “balance their scales” with contrarian choices now and then.

Size: Although they stand as tall as their northern cousins, they are considerably slimmer and more wiry. Your size is Medium.

Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Draconic Ancestry/Breath Weapon: Feathered Dragonborn are all descended from Feathered Serpents rather than the more common metallic of chromatic dragons. As such, rather than choosing a single ancestor, Feathered Dragonborn can choose a different breath weapon from the ancestry list any time they complete a long rest. However, this versatility comes at a price. A Feathered Dragonborn’s breath weapon has 2/3rds the range of their more common cousins (5 by 20 ft. line or 10ft. cone), and they roll one fewer die for damage. This ability is otherwise identical.

Damage Resistance: Unlike normal Dragonborn, Feathered Dragon recieve no racial damage resistance.

Poison Barb: The end of a Feathered Dragonborn’s tail has a poisoned barb that can be used to inflict damage in combat or harvested to be used as an injury or ingested poison.

In combat you may use your bonus action to make a dex-based melee attack dealing 1d4 poison damage. This damage increases by 1d4 whenever your Dragon Breath damage increases. You cannot apply additional doses of poison to your poison barb.

Alternatively you may milk and bottle your venom. When applied to a weapon it deals extra poison damage on the next successful attack equal to the damage your poison would normally deal. If ingested it instead deals double its normal damage two turns after being administered unless vomiting is induced or the target is magically cured. Milking in combat takes a full-round action. The poison decays and is rendered inert 1d4 days after being milked.

Your barb has 3 uses per long rest.

Liber: Feathered Dragonborns are considerably more limber and flexible than their more sturdy cousins and receive advantage on any dexterity checks made to escape bonds, graples, or to squeeze through or into confined spaces.

#D&D #d&d 5th edition #D&D 5e #d&d 5e homebrew #d&d homebrew #dungeons and dragons

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creativerogues · 6 years

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Druid: Circle of the Hierophant V1.2

The Circle of the Hierophant learns to perfect the blending of elemental and primal magic.

One feeds into the other, and their fusion energizes a great cycle through which these druids can transcend common mortality and become something greater.

Fire and wind, earth and water are theirs to command.

The elements serve these druids as they carve their name into history.

As you progress up the ladder of knowledge, exposure to elemental power slowly changes you; your mortality is stripped away until you become something akin to the primordials of old.

Elemental Insight

At 2nd level, your understanding about reality and its characteristics seems to transcend the normal limits and opens your mind to new possibilities.

When making a skill check related to Intelligence (such as a Nature check), you use your choice of your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier for the Roll.

Also, you gain Advantage on Charisma checks made to interact with elemental creatures.

Additionally, you are able to speak, read, and write Primordial fluently.

Elemental Upsurge

Starting at 2nd level, you learn to unravel and entwine the primal and elemental magics.

You can augment your attacks to deal elemental damage onto creatures.

You have a pool of energy represented by a number of d6s equal to your druid level.

When you roll damage for a spell or melee attack, you can increase that damage by spending dice from the pool.

You can spend a number of dice equal to half your druid level or less.

Roll the spent dice and add them to the damage as either acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic or thunder damage (Player’s Choice).

If you cast a spell or hit a creature with a melee attack which has been augmented in this way, you or an ally of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you regains 2 hit points per die spent to increase the attack’s damage.

You regain the expended dice when you finish a long rest.

Adding Flair...

Being able to add extra elemental damage to Anything sounds like it would be useful, but more often than not you’ll find that most creatures have Resistances and not Vulnerabilities.

Where one GM might say that using this ability to augment a spell with acid damage would do more damage to a building, cold damage slows a creature down, etc., another GM might not...

Elemental Transcendence

At 6th level, elemental power eliminates your weaknesses and girds you and your allies against damage and infirmity.

Starting at 6th level, you can transform into an Elemental with a Challenge Rating as high as your Druid level divided by 3 (rounded down).

In addition, over the course of a short rest, you may enact a sacred invocation of the elements to impart you and your allies attunement to these forces.

You can choose up to a number of creatures equal to your Wisdom Modifier (minimum of 1) within 30 feet who stay within range for the entire short rest to receive this attunement.

At the end of the short rest, each creature gains resistance to either acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, or thunder damage (your choice).

Each creature may have a different resistance but can only benefit from one source of this feature at a time.

This benefit lasts for one hour.

You regain the use of this feature after a Long Rest.

Primordial Harbinger

At 10th level, your mastery over elemental power reaches a point at which you command the embodiment of the elements without fail.

Starting at 10th level, your Spells that summon or create Elementals under your command count as one Spell Slot higher when casting for the purposes of determining the number of Elementals and the Challenge Rating Limitations of the Elementals summoned.

Furthermore, you cannot lose control of Elementals created or summoned by your Spells that have a Challenge Rating of one-third your Druid level (rounded down) or less.

If you would lose control due to losing Concentration on Spell, you instead act as if you had maintained Concentration if the summoned Elemental is of an appropriate Challenge Rating.

Conduit Of The Elemental Chaos

At 14th level, you begin to attain a perfect mastery over the elements and can call upon their power whenever you choose.

You may cast the Absorb Elements Spell at 3rd-Level At-Will.

Additionally, you may choose to instead store the Extra Damage Dice to your Elemental Upsurge pool.

You may use these Dice as normal, choosing the Elemental Damage you deal with them, but you cannot exceed your Maximum Total using this feature.

This is the latest Version, Version 1.2 of the Homebrew Druid Archetype, Circle of the Hierophant.

With a complete re-do of the Higher Levels Abilities, I feel like this is much more clear on its intents and advantages, compared to Version 1.1.

And a HUGE Thanks to @valgee for their AMAZING Critique of the Hierophant Druid.

A lot of this Version is taking inspiration from their Feedback.

And I believe that this is probably going to need one more Update, but it's almost there!

But, of course, it still needs improvements…

So Leave a Comment, Re-Blog with your Critiques, and Send Us a Message with your Thoughts and Feelings about this Homebrew Archetype!

(Tell us if you like the new Format for the Higher Level Abilities!)

And we’ll see Version 1.3 (And possibly the Final Version) soon!

#version 1.2 #druid #homebrew #homebrew class #homebrew rules #archetypes #dungeons and dragons #dungeons & dragons #dnd #dnd 5e #dnd 5e homebrew #d&d #d&d 5e #d&d 5e homebrew #community #comments #communitymade #communityresponse #CreativeRogues

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nerdythebard · 2 years

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#36: Cole, Ghost of the Spire [Dragon Age]

To whoever made this anonymous request: I did not forget about you, my darling adventurer, I promise! <3

So, to those who don't know, this Snuffkin wannabe is Cole, a once-but-not-anymore dead mage and currently one of the possible companions for the Dragon Age games. This build is gonna be so interesting, as we have to be sneaky and muddle the minds of our targets. Let's go!

Next Time: Pick a card and see your fate!

Now let's see what is needed for us to haunt our next game!

Memory Mixer: Cole has the unique ability to remove himself from a person's memory, putting them into a paranoid state of questioning their own sanity and reality.

Shadow Stabber: In the game, Cole is a master assassin, able to blend into shadows and make the most use of his faithful daggers. The game even lists him as a Rogue and Assassin, so... we've got our work cut out for us, right? ...Right?

Dead Man Walking: Cole died. Or, at least a version of him did. The Cole we're looking at now is actually the Spirit of Compassion taking his form.

---

Starting with Cole's race... there is no spirit-turned-human, but the Reborn from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is a pretty close second. We're going to modify it a little bit, though; getting the standard +2 and +1 bonus to two abilities of our choice (Dexterity and Charisma respectively), but we're going to get rid of the Ancestral Legacy feat, replacing it with the Fey Touched feat. It increases our Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma by 1, and lets us cast the Misty Step spell and one 1st-level spell of our choice: Sense Emotion lasts for 10 minutes (concentration) and gives us one of Cole's signature abilities as the Spirit of Compassion. Thanks to our Deathless Nature, we don’t need to eat, drink, or sleep (and magic can’t put us to sleep), and we have an advantage on both Death Saving Throws and saving throws against being poisoned (and resistance to poison damage). Occasionally, we can experience Knowledge from a Past Life, where we can roll extra 1d6 to an ability check that uses a skill. We can do it a number of times equal to our proficiency bonus, and we regain all uses when we finish a long rest.

The Spirit of Compassion is a foreigner to the lands of the living, so making Cole the Far Traveller seems appropriate. We gain proficiency in Insight and Perception, and with one musical instrument, we learn one language of our choice, and we get the All Eyes on You feature; our mannerisms and general behaviour is considered odd by the general public. We might be often asked to tell stories and explain things about ourselves, but that might also bring us a curious eye of a local noble, etc.

ABILITY SCORES

We'll start with Dexterity, we need to be the sharp and nimble blade in the crowd. Charisma will be next, chatting targets up is a good skill for an assassin. Constitution follows, we don't seem to be wearing any armour. We should be able to take some damage though.

We follow that up with Wisdom. Compassion does require some level of empathy and understanding life on a less academic base. Strength will be on the lower end, and we'll drop Intelligence - not a lot of opportunity to learn theory when you're a ghost.

CLASS

Level 1 - Bard: Yes. I know in the game we are told explicitly Cole is a Rogue and an Assassin. We'll get there, no worries. For now, we must focus on some mental manipulation. Bards get d8 as their Hit Dice, [8 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiency with light armour, simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, and shortswords, as well as three musical instruments of our choice. We can give Cole some light armour, as well as a dagger for the covert assassin work. Our saving throws are Dexterity and Charisma, and we get to choose any three skills (Stealth, Acrobatics, and Sleight of Hand).

Bards start with Bardic Inspiration, which lets us enhance our allies' capabilities (which can mean supporting them with Compassion :D). We get a pool of d6 Inspiration Dice equal to our Charisma modifier, which we can give to another creature as a bonus action. The inspired creature can add the die to one skill check, attack roll, or saving throw they make. The value of our ID changes as we level up.

Bards are also full-casters, so we get Spellcasting right away. Charisma is our casting ability, and we know cantrips and rituals. Bards know a fixed amount of spells and start with two cantrips:

Friends is a minor charm cantrip, which grants us advantage on all Charisma checks directed at one non-hostile target for 1 minute (concentration). When the spell ends, the creature realizes it's been charmed.

Mind Sliver is a weak psychic attack that can disorient the enemy. The target must make the Intelligence saving throw or suffer 1d6 psychic damage and if they make a saving throw before the end of our next turn, they must subtract 4 from the result.

We also start with four 1st-level spells:

Charm Person is a classic enchantment that forces a Wisdom saving throw onto one target within 30 feet of us. On a failed save, the target is charmed by us for 1 hour. When the spell ends, the target realizes they've been charmed.

Command forces a Wisdom saving throw onto one target within 60 feet of us. On a failed save, we can issue a one-word command, which the target has to execute to the best of their abilities. The command cannot make the target hurt themselves directly, and it doesn't work on the undead or creatures that can't hear or understand us.

Feather Fall protects up to five creatures within 60 feet of us from dropping down like flies (before, well, we make them drop with our stab skills). As a reaction, we can slow down the rate of descent for us and creatures around us. If we touch the ground before the spell ends (1 minute, concentration), we take no fall damage.

Id Insinuation unleashes a wave of conflicting desires onto the mind of one target within 60 feet; they must make a Wisdom saving throw or be incapacitated for 1 minute (concentration). Additionally, at the end of each turn they take 1d12 psychic damage.

Level 2 - Bard: We learn Song of Rest, which lets us enhance our party's healing during short rest; whenever our allies use their Hit Dice to restore Hit Points, they get extra 1d6 Hit Points back. Thanks to Jack of All Trades, we can add half of our proficiency bonus (rounded down) to any check connected to skills we're not proficient in.

We also learn another 1st-level spell: Sleep affects all creatures within 20 feet radius. We roll 5d8 and the result is the total amount of Hit Points affected by the spell; for example, if we roll 25, we can put to sleep one creature with Hit Points 25 or lower, or a number of creatures with Hit Points adding up to 25 or lower.

Level 3 - Bard: With Expertise we can choose two skills we're proficient in (let's pick Stealth and Insight) and double our proficiency bonus for all checks we make with them.

We also get to pick our first subclass, our College. For Cole, who moves in the shadows and is nothing more than a whisper, we're gonna pick College of Whispers. This lets us play a little more into Cole believing he's a demon. Psychic Blades lets us imbue our weapon attacks with toxic magic; when we make a melee weapon attack, we can spend one Inspiration Die to add 2d6 psychic damage once per turn. Words of Terror infuse our speech with the same toxic magic. Once per short rest, if we speak to a target for at least 1 minute, we can force a Wisdom saving throw onto them to make them frightened of us or another creature of our choice. On a failed save, the target is frightened for 1 hour or until it is attacked or takes damage.

We also unlock 2nd-level spells: Gift of Gab is a minor version of Cole's ability to not be remembered. By sacrificing 2 gold pieces, we can erase the last six seconds of conversation from all targets within 5 feet of us.

Level 4 - Bard: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement! Let's bump our Constitution and Dexterity. We also learn another cantrip: Mending lets us fix any tear or break no larger than 1 foot in diameter. The spell can also repair magic objects but cannot restore the magic.

For this level's spell, Invisibility makes us unseen for 1 hour (concentration) or until we attack or cast a spell.

Level 5 - Rogue: Jumping ships for a moment, we need to work on our stab-ability. Multiclassing into Rogue gives us proficiency with light armour (which we already have), thieves' tools, and we get to pick one class skill (Persuasion). Rogues start with Expertise, so we're clear to pick two more skills (Sleight of Hand and Acrobatics). We also know Thieves' Cant, which is a system of phrases and symbols we can use to encrypt a message or recognize places and people associated with rogues and criminal activity. Finally, we get Sneak Attack; whenever we attack with an advantage (or a target is next to another creature hostile towards it), we add extra damage to our attacks. We start with 1d6 extra damage.

Level 6 - Rogue: With Cunning Action we can use the Dash, Disengage, and Hide actions as bonus actions.

Level 7 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 2d6.

We also pick our second subclass, our Roguish Archetype. And yes, we're sticking to what the game tells us. We're taking the Assassin archetype. With Assassinate, we have an advantage (and can therefore use Sneak Attack) on every creature that a turn in combat, and all attacks we use on them count as Critical Hit. We also gain proficiencies with the disguise kit and the poisoner's kit.

Level 8 - Rogue: Time for another ASI. Let's raise our Charisma by two points before jumping classes yet again.

Level 9 - Bard: Coming back to the showman class for a moment, we gain Font of Inspiration; we can now recover our Inspiration Dice during a short or long rest. Our IDs also change from d6 to d8.

We also unlock 3rd-level spells: Nondetection lasts for 8 hours and completely shields us (or any creature/object we touch) from any form of divination magic and scrying spells.

Level 10 - Bard: Halfway through the build and we learn Countercharm. As an action, we can spend the entire round to perform a protective charm which grants all friendly creatures within 30 feet of us advantage against being frightened or charmed. The effect ends if we are incapacitated, silenced, or we choose to dismiss it.

We also get another subclass upgrade. Thanks to Mantle of Whispers, we can assume the form of a humanoid that died within 30 feet of us by capturing their shadow. We can store it for later use (it remains until the next short or long rest). The disguise lasts for 1 hour and we gain access to surface thoughts and basic information about the creature whose shadow we're wearing.

For this level's spell, Dispel Magic ends one magical effect (even affecting people and objects) within 120 feet radius. Spells of 3rd level and lower end immediately; for higher level spells, we need to roll an ability check with our casting ability against the DC of [10 + the spell's level]. Alternatively, if we cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th-level or higher, we immediately end one spell as long as the slot we used matches the spell or is higher.

Level 11 - Bard: We don't get any new class features, but we do unlock 4th-level spells. Dimension Door lets us teleport up to 500 feet to a location we can see, visualize or describe. We can also bring objects and one willing creature.

Level 12 - Bard: For another ASI, we're going to raise our Constitution by two points again. For this level's spell, we're gonna get Locate Creature to pinpoint our assassination targets better. For 1 hour (concentration), we know the location of a creature we name, as long as it's within 1 000 feet of us.

Level 13 - Bard: This is our final level in this class. Our Song of Rest changes from a d6 to a d8. We also unlock 5th-level spells, and we can finally get Cole's memory power! The Modify Memory spell forces a Wisdom saving throw on one creature within 30 feet of us. On a failed save, we can reshape the target's memory about an event from the last 24 hours. We must concentrate on a spell for 1 minute for it to take hold. When we do, only the Remove Curse or Greatest Restoration can fix the target.

Level 14 - Rogue: Time to get better with those knives. Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 3d6, and we get Uncanny Dodge. Whenever we can see the attack we're hit with, we can use our reaction to reduce the damage by half.

Level 15 - Rogue: We get another shot at Expertise. We can now boost our Perception and Persuasion.

Level 16 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack is now 4d6. We also get one of the best abilities in the game: Evasion. Whenever we are forced to make a Dexterity saving throw that would make us take half damage on a success, we instead take no damage (and half damage if we fail).

Level 17 - Rogue: For another ASI, we're actually going to raise our Intelligence by two to get rid of the negative modifier.

Level 18 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack is now 5d6. We also get another subclass upgrade, Infiltration Expertise. By spending seven days and 25 gold pieces, we can create a false identity for ourselves completed with documentation, clothing, and everything to certify our identity. We cannot assume somebody else's identity.

Level 19 - Rogue: For the final ASI of this build, we're gonna cap our Dexterity to a full 20.

Level 20 - Rogue: Our capstone is Rogue 11. For the final confrontation, our Sneak Attack is now 6d6. We also get Reliable Talent; whenever we make an ability check that adds our proficiency bonus, we cannot roll lower than 10.

---

And that's how I would play Cole in D&D! Let's see what we got:

First of all, with a combination of Bard and Rogue, we're a skill master. We have Expertise in all skill we're proficient with, and the rest is affected by Jack-of-all-Trades. Additionally, Reliable Talent makes it impossible for us to roll a Nat 1 on any skill, as Jack applies some of our proficiency bonus into non-proficient skills, so I would allow it. We also make our enemies abuse their Wisdom saving throws which, although the most common, are also the most useful.

Our AC is 16, we have a +4 to our Initiative and the average of 149 Hit Points.

We do have several resources to manage (Inspiration Dice, spell slots, Sneak Attack dice), and our spells aren't really damage-dealing. Plus, we only have one spell slot to cast our signature trait, Modify Memory.

---

Phew. That was a lot. The anonymous submitter was right, this really was a challenge. I'm sorry it took so long, it's been a difficult time since my last update, but I hope we can kick off some good vibes now. I love you all, hope you're having a great day, and I'll see you in the next one!

- Nerdy out!

#dnd build #dungeons and dragons #character building #d&d 5e #dnd 5e #dnd character #dragon age #cole #dragon age inquisition #reborn #bard #rogue #college of whispers #assassin

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probablyhomebrewrpgideas · 6 years

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Feats (and Humans)

Feats are the biggest area where I feel 5e has trouble. They’re an optional system, but most players use them, and they are by far the most unbalanced area of the game. I like how they let you customize your character though, so ditching them isn’t fun. Let’s make them more complicated instead!

Half Feats. When you gain an ability score increase, you can choose from the normal options of +2 to one ability score, +1 to two ability scores, or a feat, but you also gain two additional options: gain a +1 bonus to one ability score and select a half feat, or select two half feats.

Any feat besides Elven Accuracy, Heavy Armor Master, and Resilient that grants a +1 bonus to an ability score no longer grants that bonus, and is instead considered a half feat. For reference, these are: Actor, Athlete, Heavily Armored, Keen Mind, Lightly Armored, Linguist, Moderately Armored, Observant, Tavern Brawler, and Weapon Master.

In addition, Charger, Dungeon Delver, Elemental Adept, Ritual Caster, Skilled, and Skulker are considered half feats.

The concept of half feats allows a character can safely choose a half feat without having an odd ability score to boost by 1. They can also take two half feats and save increasing ability scores for later, or pick an ability score they actually want a +1 to and get a half feat along with it. This allows Keen Minded fighters, Actor wizards, etc. without unnecessarily penalizing them.

Plus It allows me to reduce otherwise weak feats to half-feat status, and opens up a lot more design space for smaller bonuses from feats.

Humans. Variant humans are not available. Regular humans receive an extra half feat.

Variant human is the most powerful racial choice. A feat is worth +2 to your favorite ability score, so they end up with the power equivalent of +4 to one of their scores and +1 to another, assuming they pick a relevant feat. That outweighs the benefits of pretty much any other race. But normal humans, with just +1 to all ability scores, kind of suck. So this is a middle ground that is now possible due to the half feat rules.

The Feats

In addition to the general changes, here are all of my tweaks to the existing feats.

Athlete. Swimming also does not cost you extra movement. This is in addition to counting as a half feat.

Charger. In addition to counting as a half feat, replace the feat’s effect with the following: When you take the Dash action on your turn, you can take the Attack action as a bonus action during that turn. You can make only melee attacks or shoves as part of this action. For the rest of the turn after you take this bonus action, if you have movement remaining, you can use it only to move directly towards a creature or object you have shoved this turn.

Crossbow Expert. You also no longer need a free hand to load a crossbow that you are wielding.

This makes it less ambiguous whether or not you can use this feat while wielding a shield. I would normally rule yes, but this clears it up.

Dual Wielder. In addition to its normal effects, you can also make two attacks, one with each weapon, when you are wielding two weapons and make an opportunity attack.

Dungeon Delver. Counts as a half feat.

Durable. Removed as a feat.

This feat’s effect is wrapped into Resilient (Constitution).

Elemental Adept. You can select poison as the affected damage type. If you do, it’s effects apply to necrotic damage as well. If you select thunder or lightning, the feat applies to both thunder and lightning damage. This is in addition to counting as a half feat.

This allows poison dragon sorcerers the same cool feat that the other ones get, and improves the number of spells lightning dragon sorcerers can apply it to. The poison/necrotic and lightning/thunder combinations are also represented in my sorcerer tweaks, which will come later.

It is also a half feat because the only characters that want it are those that rely mostly on one damage type, who are already at a disadvantage compared to more versatile characters. i.e. it’s partly a tax on certain character types, and the “1s are 2s” effect is not super powerful.

Elven Accuracy. Does not provide a bonus to an ability score. Is not a half feat.

This feat is... very powerful as written. It doesn’t need the extra bonus.

Grappler. You also no longer need a free hand to grapple a single creature. Additional creatures each require a free hand as normal.

Great Weapon Master. You can apply the bonus damage only once per turn, but should you miss, you can continue making attacks at -5 until you hit and apply the damage bonus. If you are below 5th level, the damage bonus is 5 instead of 10.

This is one of the two biggest offenders in feat imbalance. I decided not to nerf it all the way to “once per round”, instead allowing you to try again if you miss, but only get the damage bonus once.

Heavy Armor Master. Your Strength is not increased, but neither is this a half feat. The damage is reduced by your proficiency bonus instead of 3. The damage need not be non-magical.

Linguist. You also become proficient in forgery kits, and have advantage on all checks made to decipher codes, riddles, and prophecies. When you read or hear a language that you do not know, you can unfailingly identify which language it is, unless it is so alien or ancient that you could not possibly have heard of it. You can also make a DC 15 Intelligence check to understand the vague gist of its meaning, even without body language or tone: a warning written in ancient script on the wall, a friendly greeting, a challenge, something to do with money, a plea for help, etc. This is all in addition to counting as a half feat.

Martial Adept. If you do not already have superiority dice, you gain two superiority dice, instead of one. If you already have superiority dice, you still gain only one more. If you later gain superiority dice from another source, you keep only one of the dice from this feat, as if you already had superiority dice when you took it.

This feat is, weirdly, better for battlemaster fighters than it is for the partial multiclassing it’s intended for. This makes it not a terrible choice for non-battlemasters.

Medium Armor Master. You can also sleep in medium armor without gaining a level of exhaustion.

Assuming you use the rule that sleeping in medium or heavy armor causes exhaustion.

Polearm Master. The “attack of opportunity” this feat grants must be with one of the listed weapons, and is no longer an attack of opportunity, but instead is just an attack. It therefore does not benefit from Sentinel or other similar effects.

Attacks with the opposite end of your weapon do not count your weapon’s Heavy property, if it has that property, and thus cannot be combined with the second effect of Great Weapon Master.

You must wield a quarterstaff in two hands in order to attack with its opposite end. Spears are added to the list of weapons this feat benefits, but likewise must be used in two hands in order to attack with the opposite end.

This is the other half of the biggest offender of Great Weapon Master, and unfairly combos with Sentinel. Adding quarterstaves and spears feels natural.

Resilient. You can take this feat multiple times; once for each ability score. When taken for Strength, Intelligence, or Charisma, Resilient is a half feat. When taken for Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom, it is a full feat, but still does not provide +1 to an ability score. Each version also provides additional benefits:

Strength. If you would be forcibly moved, you can spend your reaction to reduce that movement by up to 20 feet.

Dexterity. You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks made to avoid or escape a grapple.

Constitution. You gain the effects of the now removed Durable feat: When you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, the minimum number of hit points you regain from the roll equals twice your Constitution modifier (minimum of 2).

Intelligence. You can add your proficiency bonus to any Intelligence check made to resist, avoid, escape, or detect any spell, ability, or other effect that allows such a check, such as illusions or the maze spell. If you would already add your proficiency bonus, you add double your proficiency bonus instead. This applies to passive checks as well.

In addition, each time you are faced with a new illusion that allows you to make an Intelligence (Investigation) check to notice it is an illusion, the DM compares your passive Intelligence (Investigation) against the illusion’s DC. If your passive check meets or exceeds the DC, you notice the illusion as if you had taken an action to investigate it and succeeded.

Wisdom. If an effect that causes you to be frightened also forces you to move, you can choose not to move as it directs, up to and including not taking the Dash or Dodge action as it directs. You still cannot move closer to the source of your fear, however.

Charisma. If you would make a Wisdom saving throw against being charmed, you can make a Charisma saving throw instead. At the end of your turn, if you are charmed by an effect that allows any saving throw (at any time), you can make a Charisma saving throw against the effect, ending it on a success. You can do this only once per effect.

Ritual Caster. You can learn rituals from any class. Instead of selecting a class, select Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. This is your spellcasting ability for all rituals in your ritual book. This is in addition to counting as a half feat.

Making Ritual Caster a half feat on top of powering it up may initially feel way too powerful, but the reasoning is that there are two times you will be taking the feat: 1) Your party has no ritual caster and needs one. In this case, this is more of a feat tax because no one chose wizard or cleric. 2) The party is already covered, at least partially, for rituals. In this case, the feat is much less powerful and only lets you perform a few extra rituals not on the lists of others, and allows you to cast rituals faster, since more people can use them at once. Not an extremely huge benefit.

Savage Attacker. The effect is limited to once per damage roll, not once per turn.

This means a little more rolling, but players can roll two sets of damage dice at once to speed things up.

Sharpshooter. You can apply the bonus damage only once per turn, but should you miss, you can continue making attacks at -5 until you hit and apply the damage bonus. If you are below 5th level, the damage bonus is 5 instead of 10.

As with GWM, this is now no longer by far the best way to deal damage.

Skilled. Counts as a half feat.

“Three skills for just a half feat?” you may ask. Well, you can only take it once, and even with this change players still aren’t super keen on taking it. It’s nice for the new human rules though.

Skulker. Counts as a half feat.

Weapon Master. You gain proficiency in all simple and martial weapons. This is in addition to counting as a half feat.

This is not a very good feat as written, to say the least.

#probably rpg ideas #D&D #homebrew

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vortexofdeduction · 7 years

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Dungeons, Dragons, and Neurodiversity

So it’s not surprising that D&D documentation says nothing in about mental illness. Of course, there’s nothing to stop you from giving your character a mental illness for roleplay reasons (whether that’s to experience mental illness or to show other people what your illness is like. Side note: I say mental illness here since most things I list fall into that category, but technically I mean any kind of neurodiversity). However, I’ve been thinking that it would be really interesting to add some game mechanics for various mental illnesses. Note: these are obviously not Adventurer’s League legal, but feel free to use them in your homebrew games (credit would be nice, especially if you share my rules somewhere else). I included several well-known mental illnesses that I thought would work well in D&D. When I could, I tried to strike a balance between positive and negative features so that nothing is too game-breaking. Feel free to tweak as needed, and please provide feedback if you have suggestions of what to change and/or what to add. Under the cut is a list of mental illnesses and their mechanics, as well as the mechanics of coping mechanisms.

Overall things to consider:

How did your character get their disorder? Some people are just born that way, others are affected by mental illness as the result of physical or psychological trauma. Trauma in the world of DnD could be like trauma in our world (abuse, survivor guilt, etc.), but there is also potential for DnD themed trauma (mind-controlled and forced to harm loved ones, trapped in a dungeon for an excruciatingly long time, etc).

How does the disorder affect their personality? For example, people with anxiety disorders may be more anxious and nervous in general, and people with autism may talk a lot about their special interests.

What are their coping mechanisms? Coping mechanisms can can help temporarily ease the negative effects of mental illness. Players and DMs must discuss what coping mechanisms are appropriate to the character but also keep the game balanced. A few examples of positive coping mechanisms:

Medicine: can be bought from most stores in between campaigns (or any time the character can go to a store). Each disorder has its own medicine that diminishes all effects of your illness (positive and negative-- sorry that’s how medicine works) for a certain amount of time (usually one day) until the next dose is needed. However, it’s quite expensive and working as a freelance adventurer probably means you don’t have insurance to cover it. Also, there may be side effects. To be extra realistic, include a withdrawal mechanism which means you just can’t go on and off medication whenever you feel like it.

Meditation: spend a few minutes calming yourself in order to diminish negative effects of your illness. This cannot be done during combat (kind of hard to meditate when you and your friends are being attacked)

Support from friends: have one or more of your party members make a persuasion or performance check as they attempt to cheer you up. On a natural 1, your symptoms temporarily worsen. On a successful check (DM determines DC), the negative effects of your illness are diminished.

Some coping mechanisms are negative and thus have unpleasant side effects in addition to diminishing the negative effects of your illness. For example:

Self harm: make an attack roll against yourself using a melee weapon and take the damage you roll.

How do they feel about their mental illness? Do they hate it, have they gotten used to it and just come to accept it, do they think it makes them stronger, etc.

Do they have comorbid disorders? The more mental illnesses you add to one character, the more complicated it gets to keep track, so you probably don’t want more than 3. But hey, that’s between you and the DM.

OCD

The character may have one or more types of OCD permanently, and/or they may temporarily gain a type of OCD after certain situations. Suggested situations that may cause a character to have OCD: head trauma (waking up after being unconscious or dead), psychological trauma (e.g., watching a friend die), taking psychic damage. However it happens, the character gets an OCD type from the following list. The character may choose to make a wisdom save to try to resist. The first time it is DC 20. The DC decreases by 5 with each successful save and increases by 5 with each refusal to try to resist. (Players can decide whether their character is more likely to resist or to give in and whether the character knows what will be the effect of trying to resist.) The character no longer has that OCD type after the save DC is 0. If the save DC raises to something practically impossible (e.g., 35), the character may permananently have OCD, or the player may need to work with the DM to determine what can reduce the DC (perhaps look at the Coping Mechanisms section)

OCD types

Second-guessing: for every ability check, the player must make two rolls and take the second roll. This doesn’t apply in cases where the player has advantage or disadvantage.

Cleanliness: each time the character takes damage, they must spend their next turn in combat (or the next 5 minutes out of combat) cleaning themselves. No action, movement, or bonus action may be taken. The character also has advantage on perception or investigation checks related to "dirty" things (dirt, slime, blood, etc.)

Scrupulosity: the character is obsessively concerned with morality. The character switches to lawful alignment (good/neutral/evil stays the same) and must act according to a strict set of moral/religious rules. Clerics, paladins, and any other characters bound to an oath or a deity may become so concerned with upsetting their god or breaking their oath that their abilities related to their god or their oath (e.g., a cleric’s spells) may be less effective

Need to tell: the character has disadvantage on any deception checks and has a chance of blurting out information that should be kept secret.

Repeating: the character is compelled to repeat certain actions (DM determines which actions this affects). For example, the character may cross a bridge, feel like once wasn’t enough, and go back to the other side and cross the bridge again. To determine how many times an action is repeated, roll a die (DM determines which dice type).

Lucky/Unlucky numbers: roll two d20 dice (reroll if the number is 1 or 20). The first number is the lucky number; any ability rolls of this number automatically succeed as long as success is not impossible (e.g., a lucky number would succeed a DC 30 check to unlock a door, but fail at an attempt to pick a lock that cannot be picked). The second number is the unlucky number; any ability rolls of this number automatically fail (treat the roll as a natural 1).

Hypochondria: the DM picks a disease. The character now believes they have this disease. The symptoms are psychosomatic, but they do exist. The disease is not contagious. The disease can be cured by several successful persuasion checks from other party member(s) (follow the same decreasing DC rules as stated earlier for OCD types, but don’t increase the DC at any point) or any spell or potion that can cure a disease.

Counting: every time the character sees something countable (treasure, creatures, etc.), they are compelled to count. This could be time consuming and inconvenient. However, the character is better (faster and more accurate) at counting than someone without this type of OCD.

Autism

Poor social skills: the character's charisma score can be no higher than 5 which means the modifier is -3. Note: this does mean those points can be used for other attributes. The character also has disadvantage on any checks involving reading people (e.g., an insight check to tell if someone is lying)

Special interests: the character gains the equivalent of the ranger features Favored Enemy, Natural Explorer, and Fighting Style. Basically, choose an enemy, a terrain, and a fighting style and you are especially good when dealing with these things. For rangers with autism, the DM and player should work together to figure out appropriate features, either different ranger features or different autism features.

ADHD

Attention deficit: to maintain any sustained action (concentration spells, rituals, etc), the player must make a DC 10 wisdom save each turn of combat (or every few minutes out of combat) or lose focus. For players who can cast concentration spells, this replaces the DC 10 constitution save for concentration checks.

Hyperfocus: 3 times per long rest, the player may choose to take take two actions instead of one during a round of combat. After a short rest, one charge of this ability is regained.

Fidgeting: all that fidgeting around has gained the character a permanent +2 increase to their dexterity score.

Phobia

Fear: the character is afraid of a certain type of enemy (e.g., goblins), object (e.g., traps), type of magic (e.g., necromancy), or fighting style (e.g., archery). Whenever possible, the character will avoid the feared enemy or object or anything/anybody using the feared magic school or fighting style. The character will have disadvantage interacting with (using, attacking, etc.) the subject of their fear.

Knowledge: the character has advantage on any ability checks related to the object of their fear. For example, if the character is trying to identify a creature’s tracks, the DM may make another roll in secret and take the higher roll because the tracks are of the feared enemy.

PTSD

Traumatic memories: the rules for PTSD are similar to Phobia, except that the fear comes from a specific traumatic memory rather than an irrational fear. Also, a character with PTSD may have up to 5 triggers (taken from the categories mentioned in the Phobia section).

Flashback: instead of having disadvantage on interacting with one of their triggers, each time the character interacts with one of their triggers, roll a d4. On a 1 or 2, the character has a flashback. In combat, this takes up their turn. Out of combat, this simply means the action is not performed. Flashbacks cause characters to lose concentration.

Hypervigilance: while conscious, the character cannot be surprised.

Bipolar disorder

Mania: at certain times (DM’s choice, player’s choice, random dice rolls, or predetermined triggers decide when and how long mania occurs. DM decides which of these methods to go by.), the character goes into a manic state. During this state, the character may complete every action twice as fast. This applies to actions in combat, any out of combat actions that take a significant amount of time (e.g., ritual casting), and sleep (better than a trance; no “quiet time” needed, they can get right back to work). The character also has an elevated mood, meaning they have advantage on any saves against psychic damage and/or being charmed. They also have advantage on any saves against attempts to be demoralized (e.g., if an enemy tries to intimidate them). However, they are more reckless and thus have disadvantage on any ability checks involving dexterity or relating to impulse restraint.

Depression: immediately after the mania ends, the character enters a depressive state for the same length of time as the mania was. The low mood means they have disadvantage on any saves against psychic damage and/or being charmed. They also have disadvantage on any saves against attempts to be demoralized (e.g., if an enemy tries to intimidate them). For every turn in combat, first roll a d4. On a 1, the character focuses on past regrets and thus misses their whole turn. Before making an ability check, the character or another party member must motivate the character by making a wisdom save or a persuasion check, respectively. On a failed save/check, the character’s self confidence is too low to carry out the action. The character also needs twice as long to sleep.

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Alters: create several different (but significantly different) character sheets, one for each alter (note: it is helpful to pick 4, 6, or 8 alter. More than that is a lot. If you choose a different number, you may need to make a table in which some alters are represented by more than one number). At time intervals as determined by the DM, roll a die to see which alter surfaces. (Optional rule: instead of choosing at random, have the player and DM discuss ahead of time which alter should surface when.) Use that alter’s character sheet. Apply the xp and loot gained from each session to all alter.

Schizophrenia

Hallucinations: at certain times (DM’s choice, player’s choice, random dice rolls, or predetermined triggers), the character experiences a hallucination. The DM rolls on a random encounter table (can be a regular random encounter table, or a table full of encounters that that specific character is likely to hallucinate). The character believes the hallucination is real and acts accordingly until either the hallucination finishes (after a predetermined amount of time) or the character succeeds on several wisdom checks to determine it is a hallucination (following a decreasing DC mechanism like with OCD).

Delusions: the character is living under one or more false beliefs, or delusions. These delusions have a significant impact on the character’s way of life, despite the fact that they are not true. Any attempts to convince the character that they are delusional will fail. However, the character may sometimes be convinced to act in opposition to their delusions.

Disordered: the character’s thought and speech patterns are often disordered and may be confusing to other people. The character has disadvantage on ability checks relating to attempts to communicate with others (persuasion, intimidation, etc).

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