In the Encounters League I just started playing in, the party befuddled the DM for a bit because we actually successfully disguised ourselves and bluffed our way into a bad guy stronghold, when the campaign only had stuff inside for if the party is assaulting the base before or after they've alerted the cultists in town.
The DM told us that we'd gone outside of what was spelled out in the book, so he needed a moment to figure things out. We took a five-minute break and then the rest of the session was all of us pretending to be guards and whatnot trying to learn about the layout of the place and figure out where the cultist leaders were staying so we could know the best time to attack.
Okay, so Warlock spell casting. I don't really get how it works I guess. I was using a staff as a focus and a shield, but then my friend and the dm said that I can't, I need a free hand. Okay, so shield and free hand then. I think they are upset that I have such good AC as I have great DEX, plus mage armor and shield the spell and a regular shield.
They were calling out rules on me after we had already agreed how they worked. I asked if I could use staff and shield and they agreed. They also said ignore components as just flavor.
joshgotroDeviled EggThe Land of REAL CHILIRegistered Userregular
Eldritch Blast does require some somatic component but requiring you to drop the staff, which won't change you AC, seems silly. "I wiggle my fingers when I cast."
Glasya of Malbolge and Mephistopheles of Cania sent the party to obtain the true name of Levistus, lord of Stygia, ostensibly so that Glasya could get revenge against him for his murder of her mother Bensozia. They revealed to the party that the true names of the rulers of each layer of the Hells can be found in the lowest layer of Nessus, Asmodeus' domain. The archduke of Stygia's true name was inscribed on a stele at the bottom of a pit of water drawn from the River Styx in a tower in a secure demiplane whose only entrance is the top floor of a fifty-mile high tower in Malsheem, Asmodeus' mindbogglingly-huge fortress at the very bottom of Nessus. The party befriended another daughter of Asmodeus named Misha who allowed them to teleport in, then hi-jacked a hellship to fly to the top of the fifty-mile-high tower while fighting multiple dukes of Nessus, used a modified sphere of annihilation to penetrate the top floor of the tower, battled Levistus' right-hand man Eridan Alaka and allied aspects of Cryonax, Imix, and Moloch (the last of which the party captured and stupefied with the mind-affecting Stygian water), and used the spell reverse gravity to make all the Stygian water flow up out of the pit just long enough to recover the true name inscribed at the bottom.
Unfortunately, once the party had decided to utilize reverse gravity to temporarily drain the water Levistus resigned as archduke of Stygia, meaning that once the party reached the stele the true name engraved belonged to Levistus' longtime rival for rulership of Stygia, Geryon. The party, incensed that Levistus had kept his true name from them, ordered Geryon to teleport them to Levistus' glacier prison in Stygia. Once there they notified their contact, a duke of Phlegethos named Bathym, that they wished to ally with Glasya and Mephistopheles and utilize Geryon to try and penetrate Levistus' glacier prison and destroy him.
Glasya and Mephistopheles sent two of their allies to meet the party. One was Mephistopheles half-elemental daughter Burning Soul, while the other was Amon, consort of Glasya and loyal servant of Geryon. Amon revealed to the party that Glasya was in truth the one who slew Bensozia, not Levistus. Glasya was enamored with Levistus and had multiple sensual encounters with him, but the lord of Stygia was secretly also in a relationship (both carnal and conspiratorial) with Bensozia, who intended to ally with Levistus to dethrone her husband Asmodeus. Their plans were thwarted when Glasya stormed her way into Levistus' palace to see him only to find the duplicitous devil with her mother. In a fit of rage she killed her mother, a crime that Levistus was framed and imprisoned for. Killing Levistus wouldn't do, Amon explained, as Glasya truly wanted control over him to force his obedience in all things, including utter devotion to her. Further, Amon was a loyal ally of Geryon's, and he could not abide the idea of mortals controlling his lord.
After a short battle the party proved to be far too much for Amon and Burning Soul to handle, with Amon himself being decapitated. Just before the party could get the finishing blow on Burning Soul her father Mephistopheles interjected, pulling her to safety with a gate spell before unleashing a meteor swarm upon them. All but one member of the party managed to survive, though her allies resolved to resurrect her immediately. Before they could do so, however, they turned to see that a tsunami spell had also been cast and was sending a colossal wave their way...
So for Amon and Burning Soul's stats I used Borborygmos and Rakdos from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica and, uh, they both got stomped immediately. After dealing damage with Rakdos' statblock the player hit actually said "that's it?"
I think I'm gonna start outfitting monsters with magic items and buff spells.
What level are players? How many of them? Do they have NPCs in tow?
The players are 16th-level, but the majority of damage is dealt by the Oath of Enmity Paladin.
Last session had a fight that made the players sweat a bit, but 1) they had already went up against two pit fiends, an erinyes, four horned devils, two ice devils, six barbed devils, two beholders, and a flesh golem without a long rest, 2) two of the monsters were homebrewed by me and had both damaging auras and caused those who hit them with melee attacks to take damage per hit, and 3) they both had resistance to all damage thanks a warding bond spell effect (until someone cast dispel magic, that is).
If I realised that one of my players didn't have their spellcasting focus after doing a load of awesome shit, I'd either handwave it away as "I guess they didn't recognise its value and you still have it", or introduce it as a mystery to be solved
Maybe a Warlock's patron was bored/confused or something, and now expects you to pay the price for all that sweet free magic
Yeah, like, holy shit, this is a great chance for a ...
Dresden Files (whole series)spoiler ...
”Harry, I believe you when you say your mind hasn’t been tampered with. But ... why haven’t you used any fire magic?!”
The DM let us all know nothing’s getting rolled back, so that’s good news for us
Anyway I sat down with him and asked what he wants this to go, how could this make the module go back on track for him - he clearly doesn’t want to do “nudist Druid and fighter go on a hilarious unarmed underdark romp while the rest plot escape in a cell”. I suggested that since we were out of resources and for the moment hidden, that we could just rest for 24-48 hours giving him plenty of time with the rest of the party to get where he wants to go
He points out a few problems, which I agree with, me and the fighter might spend a long time doing nothing. Also, the other 3 players are what you would call “passive players”. They rarely move the action forward and prefer to just be along for the ride, waiting for their moment to shine to arrive (which is fine!). He asked for my advice since I’ve been doing this longer and since my tomb of annihilation is so far off the rails its basically the Willy wonky crazy tunnel and it feels to him like everything’s “going according to plan” (side note: hahahahahahaha)
I suggested that, logically, the drow are going to be ever so slightly absolutely livid, and that I have zero spell slots, the fighter has been tortured for days and she is exhausted (2 levels). We’re hidden in a small cave we had to gaseous form into. The drow priestess was left alive, humiliated, and soaking wet, but she will get out, dry off, and be incandescent with rage. Priestesses have all kinds of divination spells right? Well, logically, we shouldn’t be hard to find! He doesn’t have to abide by a creature’s spell list, they’re clerics, find a cleric spell that solves this puzzle.
So it seems like we’re going to get recaptured by the priestess and it’s very likely all the (male) guards are going to be executed for incompetence, the module isn’t “completely” reset, he says that hell be subtracting enemy forces at other parts in the module, after all this drow house doesn’t have UNLIMITED soldiers. I am happy with this, and also it establishes my (new) character with the party as a force to be reckoned with
I’m glad things worked out, that was a really tense ending.
So here's the thing. You've escaped your captivity - quite spectacularly, but escaped nonetheless. That's what you're supposed to do. Quicker than he planned maybe, but so far you're still firmly on the rails of this adventure.
They feel like a relic that could've been streamlined away entirely and not lose much. Same way as "well if you're a Cleric then you can pick your spells every morning, but if you're a Bard then you need to lock yourself into your choices except via level up wiggle room"; oh gosh yes, Bards would be entirely too powerful if they could just pick Plant Growth at any point, who'd even want Druids then.
Okay, so Warlock spell casting. I don't really get how it works I guess. I was using a staff as a focus and a shield, but then my friend and the dm said that I can't, I need a free hand. Okay, so shield and free hand then. I think they are upset that I have such good AC as I have great DEX, plus mage armor and shield the spell and a regular shield.
They were calling out rules on me after we had already agreed how they worked. I asked if I could use staff and shield and they agreed. They also said ignore components as just flavor.
Just like anyone else, you need an arcane focus or component pouch in a hand to cast a spell with material components (note that per RAW the focus replaces components that don't cost money and the component pouch has unlimited amounts of components, assuming you would already have collected them). There's an invocation you can take that turns your Blade Pact weapon into a focus, and of course a familiar can cast a touch spell.
EDIT: The focus/pouch are only for material component spells, you can do verbal spells with both hand occupied and somatic spells with just a free hand (for example you can use your free item action to sheathe a weapon then cast a spell).
I dislike components so much. I know it is used to balance out magic-users, but geez is it a PITA to shop for them if you've leveled up in the wild.
Our DM is pretty lenient. Unless it's a big one time cost competent you basically have it.
On the other had it's made Chromatic Orb basically a no brainier. Cause we always have a diamond.
I think this is how it should be, and I'm glad 5e finally recognized it with spell focuses and component pouches and whatnot. Nobody wants to count how many uses of bat guano you have your pockets. But we sure are going to count how many diamonds are used up when casting Revivify!
Good intro, got the players to buy into the story by flat out reading them the Adventure Introduction as written in the module. Then I paraphrased the Ordening section, just to familiarize them OOC with Giants and how they work in D&D. "Things your characters would have at least an idea of, being alive in the region." kinda stuff. Brought them over from Phandalin to Triboar, popped right into the pub, where they met innkeeper Urgala (whom the Barbarian Nat20's a persuasion check to makes some sweet moves on her, adventurer to adventurer) and also met a new player! A bard who was making the rounds, earning some coin entertaining the crowds for the past couple of weeks and romancing farmers daughters. So, you know, he had a vested interest in moving on. I handed them a copy of the tagged Triboar map, telling them that this was a kind of sandbox game. Tell me what looks interesting and I will simulate any part of this world as they so choose (to paraphrase a line I stole from Jerriford K. Holkrims). There was some hesitation and hemming and hawing, so I described the evening falling into night as when the screams were heard and we moved right into the Attack on Triboar!
Axebeak riding Orcs running down civvies. Magmin lighting shit on fire here and there. Various town defenders (Named NPC's & milita) doing what they could, but the camera focused on the party. I had them face half the Orcs as a warm up encounter. Then after easily taking care of that, they moved to Tower of the Lord Protector where I had them face off now against the Orogs and the Magmin. The wizard and one of the rogues made their way to the stop of the building and starting plinking away at range while the rest of the party did their thing. The NPC's taking down most of the Magmin in the background. So picture a pitched battle with heroes vs Uruk-Hai (how I described the Orog's to the D&D newbs) with random explosions taking place around them. This whole time the giants were digging away in the field. The cleric finally remembered that he has Spirit Guardians, so that helped.
When it came time to throw down withe fire giants, the new Bard used Major Illusion to conjure up a White Dragon to attack them! Which worked for one round, allowing the tank and meat shield duo we have to close in unmolested. But giants gotta giant, and some thrown rocks got the illusion dispelled and the bard took a face full of boulder, putting him down. The grunts then got involved, focus firing on one giant. Spirit guardians and sneak attacks ensued. The front liners took a few lumps, and the damage output of a giant surprised the party. So job done. I ruled that the male sacrificed himself for its mate, who fled the field without her prize, but still her Vodin-whatever dowsing rod. They took down the male, and unfortunately we had to wrap up there as the Bard player had to get back downtown from the 'burbs and the last express bus was leaving soon.
We'll pick up next session with "the aftermath" where I'll likely have the PC's meet all the important NPC's at once and be in a better position to dole out side quests and such.
Okay, so Warlock spell casting. I don't really get how it works I guess. I was using a staff as a focus and a shield, but then my friend and the dm said that I can't, I need a free hand. Okay, so shield and free hand then. I think they are upset that I have such good AC as I have great DEX, plus mage armor and shield the spell and a regular shield.
They were calling out rules on me after we had already agreed how they worked. I asked if I could use staff and shield and they agreed. They also said ignore components as just flavor.
A focus can go in the same hand as you use to cast somatic components. So you were in the clear with your “High AC”
I think next session I'm gonna start out with the party immediately in an over-the-top encounter and see how long it takes them to try and plane shift. After all, they ARE in the Hells and have pissed-off Glasya, Mephistopheles, and Geryon.
Everyone’s Hell is of their own making, but I always like to throw in multiple groups fighting each other as well as the party. It’s a really fun chaotic dynamic.
The fighter has some gum that cause his next attack to be with advantage and cause a wild magic surge, on a special table, he got "Your body and equipment now adhere to any surface as if they were coated in sovereign glue, this expires on your next long rest"
And then a hill giant jumped on him
Most hilarious unconscious yoyo ever as he gets pushed further and further into this hill giant's nethers while the other hill giant tries to extricate him (at the expense of most of his bones)
So here's the thing. You've escaped your captivity - quite spectacularly, but escaped nonetheless. That's what you're supposed to do. Quicker than he planned maybe, but so far you're still firmly on the rails of this adventure.
Yeah but... the DM really wants us to like, go through whatever event is in the book, and if hiding means we'll miss everything
anyway as I told him, if they so much as have locate creature or locate object, or even a hound type creature with a good sense of smell, we're boned anyway
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joshgotroDeviled EggThe Land of REAL CHILIRegistered Userregular
So here's the thing. You've escaped your captivity - quite spectacularly, but escaped nonetheless. That's what you're supposed to do. Quicker than he planned maybe, but so far you're still firmly on the rails of this adventure.
Yeah but... the DM really wants us to like, go through whatever event is in the book, and if hiding means we'll miss everything
anyway as I told him, if they so much as have locate creature or locate object, or even a hound type creature with a good sense of smell, we're boned anyway
Out of the Abyss is supposed to be a dread simulator. Barely surviving, can't see more than sixty feet in from of you, everything is probably only trying to kill you.
Getting through those first few levels was maddening for my players but now they're half way through the book surviving, treating with factions of the underdark, and just having a great time killing everything trying to kill them.
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Zonugal(He/Him) The Holiday ArmadilloI'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered Userregular
There's a Kickstarter I've just seen today called Reroll, has 5-6 days left. It's a cell phone app that lets you make a 16-bit pixel character portrait, has tons of different options for what gear you're wearing, weapons, mini base, etc. It's $8 for a single back and it gets cheaper if you back for multiple keys (like for your party.) It also has a 5th edition character sheet function.
Thought I'd mention it here; was a pretty easy instant back for me at that price.
There's a Kickstarter I've just seen today called Reroll, has 5-6 days left. It's a cell phone app that lets you make a 16-bit pixel character portrait, has tons of different options for what gear you're wearing, weapons, mini base, etc. It's $8 for a single back and it gets cheaper if you back for multiple keys (like for your party.) It also has a 5th edition character sheet function.
Thought I'd mention it here; was a pretty easy instant back for me at that price.
I backed this a few days ago as well.
I hope they make it to their last stretch goal for the marketplace to happen.
Well this is significantly less useless than the previous classes, but I'm super disappointed at all the "+1" class features. Oh, I can choose to either deal damage or heal with a feature. The only bit that grabbed my attention was the robo mind subclass.
They didn't really do much for the other two, I vastly prefer the revised-revised one I posted a few days ago that eliminated the pet from alchemist and gave them the ability to store self only spells as potions (int mod at any given time)
The forge once is a legitimately good gish but I keep wondering why the other ones even have extra attack, they should have more powerful spellcasting or pets instead
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Zonugal(He/Him) The Holiday ArmadilloI'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered Userregular
My issue with their version of the Artificer is it reads as being really complex & convoluted, which seems opposite to the primary goal of 5E's design: simplicity.
There's a Kickstarter I've just seen today called Reroll, has 5-6 days left. It's a cell phone app that lets you make a 16-bit pixel character portrait, has tons of different options for what gear you're wearing, weapons, mini base, etc. It's $8 for a single back and it gets cheaper if you back for multiple keys (like for your party.) It also has a 5th edition character sheet function.
Thought I'd mention it here; was a pretty easy instant back for me at that price.
I backed this a few days ago as well.
I hope they make it to their last stretch goal for the marketplace to happen.
I'm in on this as well. Seems like a neat project. You can export your characters as PNG to use for whatever as well.
Well this is significantly less useless than the previous classes, but I'm super disappointed at all the "+1" class features. Oh, I can choose to either deal damage or heal with a feature. The only bit that grabbed my attention was the robo mind subclass.
I love that I gave the last version a bunch of shit for adding a new spell that's just "Hex/Hunter's Mark, but now for a third class!" and then the rework not only kept that part the same but also added a new subclass that smites like a paladin, a feature they also already handed out to warlocks.
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The DM told us that we'd gone outside of what was spelled out in the book, so he needed a moment to figure things out. We took a five-minute break and then the rest of the session was all of us pretending to be guards and whatnot trying to learn about the layout of the place and figure out where the cultist leaders were staying so we could know the best time to attack.
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They were calling out rules on me after we had already agreed how they worked. I asked if I could use staff and shield and they agreed. They also said ignore components as just flavor.
rules as written do dictate you need at least one hand free otherwise
why even use a staff in the first place? keep that hand free and carry a component pouch and you never have to worry about it.
Can a spellcasting focus for a Bard, for example, be used as a spellcasting focus for non-Bard spells?
Glasya of Malbolge and Mephistopheles of Cania sent the party to obtain the true name of Levistus, lord of Stygia, ostensibly so that Glasya could get revenge against him for his murder of her mother Bensozia. They revealed to the party that the true names of the rulers of each layer of the Hells can be found in the lowest layer of Nessus, Asmodeus' domain. The archduke of Stygia's true name was inscribed on a stele at the bottom of a pit of water drawn from the River Styx in a tower in a secure demiplane whose only entrance is the top floor of a fifty-mile high tower in Malsheem, Asmodeus' mindbogglingly-huge fortress at the very bottom of Nessus. The party befriended another daughter of Asmodeus named Misha who allowed them to teleport in, then hi-jacked a hellship to fly to the top of the fifty-mile-high tower while fighting multiple dukes of Nessus, used a modified sphere of annihilation to penetrate the top floor of the tower, battled Levistus' right-hand man Eridan Alaka and allied aspects of Cryonax, Imix, and Moloch (the last of which the party captured and stupefied with the mind-affecting Stygian water), and used the spell reverse gravity to make all the Stygian water flow up out of the pit just long enough to recover the true name inscribed at the bottom.
Unfortunately, once the party had decided to utilize reverse gravity to temporarily drain the water Levistus resigned as archduke of Stygia, meaning that once the party reached the stele the true name engraved belonged to Levistus' longtime rival for rulership of Stygia, Geryon. The party, incensed that Levistus had kept his true name from them, ordered Geryon to teleport them to Levistus' glacier prison in Stygia. Once there they notified their contact, a duke of Phlegethos named Bathym, that they wished to ally with Glasya and Mephistopheles and utilize Geryon to try and penetrate Levistus' glacier prison and destroy him.
Glasya and Mephistopheles sent two of their allies to meet the party. One was Mephistopheles half-elemental daughter Burning Soul, while the other was Amon, consort of Glasya and loyal servant of Geryon. Amon revealed to the party that Glasya was in truth the one who slew Bensozia, not Levistus. Glasya was enamored with Levistus and had multiple sensual encounters with him, but the lord of Stygia was secretly also in a relationship (both carnal and conspiratorial) with Bensozia, who intended to ally with Levistus to dethrone her husband Asmodeus. Their plans were thwarted when Glasya stormed her way into Levistus' palace to see him only to find the duplicitous devil with her mother. In a fit of rage she killed her mother, a crime that Levistus was framed and imprisoned for. Killing Levistus wouldn't do, Amon explained, as Glasya truly wanted control over him to force his obedience in all things, including utter devotion to her. Further, Amon was a loyal ally of Geryon's, and he could not abide the idea of mortals controlling his lord.
After a short battle the party proved to be far too much for Amon and Burning Soul to handle, with Amon himself being decapitated. Just before the party could get the finishing blow on Burning Soul her father Mephistopheles interjected, pulling her to safety with a gate spell before unleashing a meteor swarm upon them. All but one member of the party managed to survive, though her allies resolved to resurrect her immediately. Before they could do so, however, they turned to see that a tsunami spell had also been cast and was sending a colossal wave their way...
Because I'm a noob who thought I had to have a focus.
I think I'm gonna start outfitting monsters with magic items and buff spells.
The players are 16th-level, but the majority of damage is dealt by the Oath of Enmity Paladin.
Last session had a fight that made the players sweat a bit, but 1) they had already went up against two pit fiends, an erinyes, four horned devils, two ice devils, six barbed devils, two beholders, and a flesh golem without a long rest, 2) two of the monsters were homebrewed by me and had both damaging auras and caused those who hit them with melee attacks to take damage per hit, and 3) they both had resistance to all damage thanks a warding bond spell effect (until someone cast dispel magic, that is).
Yeah, like, holy shit, this is a great chance for a ...
Dresden Files (whole series)spoiler ...
... moment.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Anyway I sat down with him and asked what he wants this to go, how could this make the module go back on track for him - he clearly doesn’t want to do “nudist Druid and fighter go on a hilarious unarmed underdark romp while the rest plot escape in a cell”. I suggested that since we were out of resources and for the moment hidden, that we could just rest for 24-48 hours giving him plenty of time with the rest of the party to get where he wants to go
He points out a few problems, which I agree with, me and the fighter might spend a long time doing nothing. Also, the other 3 players are what you would call “passive players”. They rarely move the action forward and prefer to just be along for the ride, waiting for their moment to shine to arrive (which is fine!). He asked for my advice since I’ve been doing this longer and since my tomb of annihilation is so far off the rails its basically the Willy wonky crazy tunnel and it feels to him like everything’s “going according to plan” (side note: hahahahahahaha)
I suggested that, logically, the drow are going to be ever so slightly absolutely livid, and that I have zero spell slots, the fighter has been tortured for days and she is exhausted (2 levels). We’re hidden in a small cave we had to gaseous form into. The drow priestess was left alive, humiliated, and soaking wet, but she will get out, dry off, and be incandescent with rage. Priestesses have all kinds of divination spells right? Well, logically, we shouldn’t be hard to find! He doesn’t have to abide by a creature’s spell list, they’re clerics, find a cleric spell that solves this puzzle.
So it seems like we’re going to get recaptured by the priestess and it’s very likely all the (male) guards are going to be executed for incompetence, the module isn’t “completely” reset, he says that hell be subtracting enemy forces at other parts in the module, after all this drow house doesn’t have UNLIMITED soldiers. I am happy with this, and also it establishes my (new) character with the party as a force to be reckoned with
I’m glad things worked out, that was a really tense ending.
However, I imagine a Bard could cast spells gained through Magic Secrets via their focus, since at that point they become their spells.
It might affect the quality of the sound, but who'd know?
Our DM is pretty lenient. Unless it's a big one time cost competent you basically have it.
On the other had it's made Chromatic Orb basically a no brainier. Cause we always have a diamond.
Just like anyone else, you need an arcane focus or component pouch in a hand to cast a spell with material components (note that per RAW the focus replaces components that don't cost money and the component pouch has unlimited amounts of components, assuming you would already have collected them). There's an invocation you can take that turns your Blade Pact weapon into a focus, and of course a familiar can cast a touch spell.
EDIT: The focus/pouch are only for material component spells, you can do verbal spells with both hand occupied and somatic spells with just a free hand (for example you can use your free item action to sheathe a weapon then cast a spell).
I think this is how it should be, and I'm glad 5e finally recognized it with spell focuses and component pouches and whatnot. Nobody wants to count how many uses of bat guano you have your pockets. But we sure are going to count how many diamonds are used up when casting Revivify!
Spoilered for those who don't care:
Axebeak riding Orcs running down civvies. Magmin lighting shit on fire here and there. Various town defenders (Named NPC's & milita) doing what they could, but the camera focused on the party. I had them face half the Orcs as a warm up encounter. Then after easily taking care of that, they moved to Tower of the Lord Protector where I had them face off now against the Orogs and the Magmin. The wizard and one of the rogues made their way to the stop of the building and starting plinking away at range while the rest of the party did their thing. The NPC's taking down most of the Magmin in the background. So picture a pitched battle with heroes vs Uruk-Hai (how I described the Orog's to the D&D newbs) with random explosions taking place around them. This whole time the giants were digging away in the field. The cleric finally remembered that he has Spirit Guardians, so that helped.
When it came time to throw down withe fire giants, the new Bard used Major Illusion to conjure up a White Dragon to attack them! Which worked for one round, allowing the tank and meat shield duo we have to close in unmolested. But giants gotta giant, and some thrown rocks got the illusion dispelled and the bard took a face full of boulder, putting him down. The grunts then got involved, focus firing on one giant. Spirit guardians and sneak attacks ensued. The front liners took a few lumps, and the damage output of a giant surprised the party. So job done. I ruled that the male sacrificed himself for its mate, who fled the field without her prize, but still her Vodin-whatever dowsing rod. They took down the male, and unfortunately we had to wrap up there as the Bard player had to get back downtown from the 'burbs and the last express bus was leaving soon.
We'll pick up next session with "the aftermath" where I'll likely have the PC's meet all the important NPC's at once and be in a better position to dole out side quests and such.
A focus can go in the same hand as you use to cast somatic components. So you were in the clear with your “High AC”
Edit: under material components page 203 phb
The fighter has some gum that cause his next attack to be with advantage and cause a wild magic surge, on a special table, he got "Your body and equipment now adhere to any surface as if they were coated in sovereign glue, this expires on your next long rest"
And then a hill giant jumped on him
Most hilarious unconscious yoyo ever as he gets pushed further and further into this hill giant's nethers while the other hill giant tries to extricate him (at the expense of most of his bones)
Yeah but... the DM really wants us to like, go through whatever event is in the book, and if hiding means we'll miss everything
anyway as I told him, if they so much as have locate creature or locate object, or even a hound type creature with a good sense of smell, we're boned anyway
Out of the Abyss is supposed to be a dread simulator. Barely surviving, can't see more than sixty feet in from of you, everything is probably only trying to kill you.
Getting through those first few levels was maddening for my players but now they're half way through the book surviving, treating with factions of the underdark, and just having a great time killing everything trying to kill them.
Thought I'd mention it here; was a pretty easy instant back for me at that price.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
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I backed this a few days ago as well.
I hope they make it to their last stretch goal for the marketplace to happen.
The forge once is a legitimately good gish but I keep wondering why the other ones even have extra attack, they should have more powerful spellcasting or pets instead
Edit: And I still want to see an option for a clockwork arm!
I'm in on this as well. Seems like a neat project. You can export your characters as PNG to use for whatever as well.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I love that I gave the last version a bunch of shit for adding a new spell that's just "Hex/Hunter's Mark, but now for a third class!" and then the rework not only kept that part the same but also added a new subclass that smites like a paladin, a feature they also already handed out to warlocks.