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Ah, travelers! We don't get many such as you in these parts, not since the Marquis' men took control of the pass. I suppose you're wondering why you can't post images or links on this Fifthday?

Thursdays are Text-post Only Days on /r/DnD. We're disabling picture and link posts for 24 hours to encourage discussion posts.

We originally began this trial about six months ago and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I've personally enjoyed a lot of the conversations that have sprung up on these days (and a smarter mod would have bookmarked some of them to use as examples* in this post).

As of now we're planning on keeping the experiment running indefinitely. We're always looking for feedback, so please let us know of your experience. Have you been enamored with a discussion post that arose one Thursday? Have you mourned having to wait one more day to see your comic update? We welcome all takes.

The switch is still happening manually, so it will happen around about midnight Eastern US time. If anyone is aware of a way to automate the process, please message the mods.

Perhaps you could discuss this...we've heard tale of a path through the eastern ridge. If such a trail exists we could circumvent the Marquis' blockade and supply this rebellion. Won't you help us, strangers!?

* The first Thursday after making this post, someone posts the most classic question imaginable. This is what it's all about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Td1B8Ne3k

Wonder if it has a connection with Neverwinter Nights!

Me and my friends have been going through a campaign and are reaching the end and I'm up next to DM so were going ahead and planning my campaign. I was asking everyone about their characters, and one of them is saying she's going to repeat her character, even though I asked her to make a new one for my campaign. I really want to see knew characters, and to be honest I really do not like her current character.

UPDATE: Compromise was made. I made her change the first letter of the characters name and will now be using this as a social experiment. How much will a character change if you make such a small adjustment? In future campaigns what change can you make again that nudges it even more in another direction? At what point can it not be classified as a variant of the same character, but rather one entirely new?

UPDATE 2: Its less of a compromise more entirely my idea. If something can be made an experiment than I want to do that, so I was not "conned" or anything.

Just wanted to share my basement "dungeon". Outside of some furnishing, everything was DIY. Was a great family bonding experience.

Few design notes - the shield slides to the left to reveal a hidden storage area for miniatures, the bare area houses a mini fridge for beverages, the fireplace has an electric heater that flickers like flames, and the lights all contain flicker bulbs to set the ambiance of torch light

Consider Sharn's Boromar Clan. In 3.5, their leader, Saidan, is a rogue 8. In the 4e adventure "Dead for a Spell," at level 7 (in a 30-level system), the PCs get to kill Saidan in a side encounter only tangentially related to the wider adventure.

Back in 2021, I ran an Eberron game. There, at level 5, during a side encounter unrelated to the wider plot arc, I let the PCs wipe out Saidan and his inner circle. The players found it entertaining enough.

Forge of the Artificer has other ideas on how fighting Sharn's Boromar Clan should play out. Specifically, it proposes that such should be a 20-level epic saga:

Levels 1–4. The characters investigate petty crimes—pickpocketing, burglary, blackmail, and such—and help bring several Boromar Clan members to justice. The inquisitives find the Sharn Watch unhelpful in dealing with these criminals, though, and some legitimate businesses and law-abiding citizens start shunning or insulting the characters, angry at their interference with the "hometown heroes" of the Boromar Clan.

Levels 5–10. Ostensibly trying to mend the poor relationship between the Sharn Watch and the inquisitives, a Watch officer recruits the characters to bring a Daask gang to justice. The Watch helps, and the characters catch several Daask criminals. However, the characters' Watch allies don't seem concerned about whether any Daask members are hurt or killed in the final confrontation. Indeed, it turns out that the Boromar Clan arranged the operation to remove a dangerous group of rivals.

Levels 11–16. Boromar leaders try to recruit the characters to their side, offering exorbitant fees and extravagant gifts as payment for simple jobs. If bribery doesn't work, the gang tries to coerce the characters into helping them, using friends, family members, or contacts as leverage. Along the way, the characters learn that a trusted NPC ally is firmly in the pocket of the Boromar Clan.

Levels 17–20. Assuming the characters haven't joined the Boromars, the clan leadership tries to eliminate them. The Boromars can't muster a physical threat to challenge characters of this level, so they wield their political power instead. Under pressure from Boromar leaders, the city council declares the adventurers a threat to Sharn's safety and security. Officials revoke their inquisitive agency's operations permit and ask the characters to leave Sharn.

(Oh no, the level 20 demigods have been asked to leave the city. How did it even reach this point, as opposed to the PCs just completely demolishing the Boromar Clan much earlier, at tier 2 or thereabouts?)

Same goes for Daask, another criminal gang. Daask is composed of monsters, but said monsters are not that much stronger than the Boromars. I do not see why "down with Daask" needs to be a 20-level epic saga, either:

Levels 1–4. The characters investigate crimes perpetrated by Daask against businesses they eventually discover are affiliated with the Boromar Clan. The Sharn Watch might hire the characters to help bring a Daask gang to justice, but the inquisitives eventually learn that the Boromar Clan seeks to use the Watch and the characters to strike back at Daask.

Levels 5–10. What seems like a routine case of a wealthy noble disappearing into a drug den while looking for thrills leads the characters to dig into Daask's trade in dragon's blood, a mysterious and dangerous new drug. The investigation drives the characters into conflict with increasingly powerful monsters affiliated with the gang.

Levels 11–16. Daask operatives kidnap a prominent figure in Sharn, but the freed "victim" turns out to be a doppelganger. The characters are hired to retrieve the real victim, who is undergoing a ritual that will eventually transform them into a hag.

Levels 17–20. While Daask stirs up riots in the Cogs and Malleon's Gate, the characters discover that the gang has also planted arcane explosives across the city. The characters must find the explosives before Sharn is thrown into utter chaos.

Even if we assume that the characters are actually tackling multiple such arcs concurrently, it seems weird to suggest that a DM should let the PCs vanquish some criminal gang in a city only at tier 4.

What makes suggestions like the above stranger is that the exact same book is capable of laying out campaign arcs that more justifiably go up to tier 4, like this one:

Levels 5–10. A few strange and apparently unconnected events mark the characters' adventures during these levels. A demon flies into a rage at the sight of a dragonmarked character and attacks only that character. A mysterious figure in disguise tries to hire the characters to carry out a bizarre mission in a very specific way. The characters find their path through a dungeon cleared out ahead of them, with mangled monster corpses left in the wake of whatever horror preceded them—but the ancient relic they seek there is undisturbed.

Levels 11–16. The Lords of Dust try to manipulate the characters to use the ancient relic to kill a dragon, prominent dragonmarked individual, or political figure. The Lords believe that the characters using the relic in this way will fulfill part of the Draconic Prophecy and serve as an important step toward the overlords' release. At some point, an evil dragon (an agent of the Chamber) warns the characters against this manipulation, explaining the nature and goals of the Lords of Dust to them. If the characters refuse to cooperate with the lords, powerful Fiends attack them to claim the relic and place it in the hands of more pliable adventurers.

Levels 17–20. Apparently by coincidence, the adventurers' latest expedition—the crowning achievement of their careers—leads to the discovery of an Underdark site where an overlord lies imprisoned. A horde of demons appears and attacks, each one throwing itself on the overlord's prison when it is slain. As each creature's ichor spills over the prison, cracks appear in the stone surface. Can the adventurers fend off the demons and the ever-increasing manifestations of evil without freeing the overlord and unleashing destruction on the world?

Though even this seems like it could be compressed into a much smaller number of levels.

What do you personally think of this idea of "every campaign premise needs to be able to go up to level 20"? I find it unrealistically optimistic.

Looking for monsters I can have my party encounter that inherently have alternate ways to resolve the conflict?

In our last session one of my players (a Grave Cleric) encountered a group of ghosts. She was thrilled to realize that in the description of ghosts in the monster manual it says “the surest way to rid an area of a ghost is to resolve its unfinished business”

The player’s feedback after the session was that getting to figure out the unfinished business and help the ghosts instead of fighting them was really fun for them so I’m looking for other monsters with similar features

Thanks!

(TLDR: WOTC doesn’t include or explain some important fundamental rules for running the game. I’ve had to use many 3rd party sources to fill in the blanks.)

There’s many mechanics that aren’t explained or explained well enough or they’re scattered around the books or between the DM and players guide.

For instance the dungeon crawl mechanics and overland travel mechanics were not explained well and mostly glossed over.

I had to watch a video on the older school 10 minute turns for dungeon crawls in order for this part of the game to make more sense.

I’m grateful for the huge DnD community here, on YouTube and other platforms but WOTC 5E RAW seems to have become a bit lazy and/or unorganized.

If I had any advice for WOTCs next DM guide it would be to include more fundamental mechanics for running the game and give a few different ways of running each mechanic.

I’d love to see an easy, medium and difficult mode for travel or dungeon crawls already built into 5E instead of having to search 3rd party sources to make running these very basic parts the game easier for newer DMs.

It seems there’s allot more vibe based gameplay in 5E vs previous versions. Which can be fine but it also adds allot to the DMs plate to fill in the blanks.

Anyway that’s my mini rant. I could go on with more complaining about other parts of the game and mechanics or lack there of but this one I wanted to get off my chest for whatever reason.

If I received inspo while up, then drop to 0 HP, can I use my bardic inspo on death saves? Language specifies that you need to hear it to receive it, and can use it on saves, but doesn't specify your condition. 5e description below.

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You can inspire others through stirring words or music. To do so, you use a bonus action on your turn to choose one creature other than yourself within 60 feet of you who can hear you. That creature gains one Bardic Inspiration die, a d6.

Once within the next 10 minutes, the creature can roll the die and add the number rolled to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw it makes. The creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the Bardic Inspiration die, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once the Bardic Inspiration die is rolled, it is lost. A creature can have only one Bardic Inspiration die at a time.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain any expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Your Bardic Inspiration die changes when you reach certain levels in this class. The die becomes a d8 at 5th level, a d10 at 10th level, and a d12 at 15th level.

Pact of the Blade states: "As a Bonus Action, you can conjure a pact weapon in your hand—a Simple or Martial Melee weapon of your choice with which you bond—or create a bond with a magic weapon you touch"

It says bonus action but doesn't say anithing about being a magic action. I would assume that it is magic based, so an Anti-Magic Field would prevents a warlock conjuring a pact weapon.

What is the verdict on this?

(I put the flair as 5.5 but mods if you see this please correct me if I’m wrong as I’m VERY new to D&D)

As the title suggests I am totally unsure whether I have totally wasted my money or if it’s more of its less me and more them kind of deal?

So I recently joined DnD with my partner we found a local group which I made a previous post about asking for advice on my character sheet, now I made this on DnD beyond and with the thought that the people who we were joining played the most up to date version because nothing said otherwise (or in my haste I didn’t notice I am still unsure) and so having gotten all the information from this thread I brought myself the players handbook, the newest players handbook.

Here is where the problem begins, we rock up to the session and I’m immediately told I don’t need that book as they use the 2014 rules which they had a book for and also that my characters core rules were wrong and needed to be changed to the 2014 ones that’s fine the £30 something I spent on the book however is not.

We then spoke to one of my partners friends who DMs and as they’re starting a new campaign and told them that I had the new book and they made a face like it was a wrong choice but didn’t say anything specifically, so now I feel I made totally the wrong choice and I’m down nearly £40.

Did I make the wrong decision or is there hope for me yet? And if I did make the wrong choice is it worth even getting the 2014 one now?

TL:DR I brought the new players handbook and have been told it’s not the one our group use and now I’m unsure if I wasted my money

Please forgive if I used the wrong tag, I'm not super familiar with this subreddit yet. If its wrong, I will change it. Thanks.

As the title says, I have never really enjoyed creating characters/OCs. Every game I play with customization (ex. Sims, Baldurs Gate, etc) I use the randomize feature if it has one. If a game has clothing options for characters, I either go on the best stats alone or I use the default. Best case scenario, I'll try to make a character who looks like myself, but only vaguely. Its difficult for me to be creative enough to come up with these things, and it feels like a chore because of that.

All that said, I love the storytelling and immersive aspect of DND. I enjoyed theatre and improv when I was younger, and I love watching and listening to people play the game. I think if I was assigned a pre-built character, I would enjoy it, but obviously thats not how the game works and I know its part of the experience to create one. Its more personal and unique that way.

I'm still very new to DND (only been in one campaign and the DM basically helped build my character from scratch while I said yes or no to their suggestions). And while I enjoy playing that character, now that its come time to get into fully developing their backstory and motivations, I'm lost again.

Does anyone else experience this? Any suggestions on what to do? I feel like if I don't figure out this part, my first campaign will also be my last.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Thanks to everyone who replied so far :] I can see I had a misconceived notion of how things work, I didn't realize pre-made characters were so common. I guess I should have been more specific: The main reason I was concerned is the campaign I'm in (where the DM helped me make the character already) is very, very backstory intensive. All characters are getting dreams and flashbacks of their past struggles and childhood. Its fascinating to hear from others who have done hours of work talking to the DM about their backstories - And terrifying to know my turn will be coming up eventually with little plans. I'll definitely be taking advice given here either way, its comforting to hear that this is not an uncommon struggle. Thanks again <3