Ring Side Report-Keeping It Classy: The Cleric

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Product– Keeping it Classy: The Cleric

System-Dungeons and Dragons 5e

Producer– DMs Guild

Price– $ 5.95 https://www.dmsguild.com/product/290873/Keeping-It-Classy-The-Cleric?affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR– Routinely amazing 93%

290873

Basics-Time for class options for my favorite class-the cleric!  How does this one stack up compared to the others?

Mechanics or Crunch–  This is a well done book with a few things that I would not have done myself.  The book has new cleric domains. That was a given, and these are well done mechanics.  Perhaps a few too many rely on playing with the channel ability, but I like them all. The book has new items.  Again, solid things I expected. The book also has a new race. This I am less a fan of. It’s well done, but I want all the races set out before I start a game.  That’s just preference. What I would like instead is more spells and feats. But, that’s again a personal preference. What is here is solid, but I would just like more.    4/5

Theme or Fluff–  The Keeping It Classy series keeps it classy here.  The race is well done. The domains feel right. The items have good fluff to make you feel them in the world.  I love what is in this book! 5/5

 

Execution–  PDF?  Yep! Hyperlinked?  Yep! Ok, all the things I want standard in a book written in 2019!  It uses public domain art well to break up the flow and makes the book easier to read, so this honestly is how I want books written out.  New art is nice, but for the price you can’t beat what is here! Text is well laid out. If you want solid design of a book, this is a good example to use.  5/5

 

Summary-The Keeping It Classy series is a precision machine that keeps spitting out precision product.  Think less McDonald’s machine and more Fine Dining expectations-the routine should be phenomenal.  And this is true. The book has good races, items, and class parts that if you want new options for your cleric, then this is worth your time.  I’m not as much a fan of new races as other DMs, but the race is well done. I’d just like more other “things” like feats and spells, especially for this spell casting class.  However, that boils down to the problem of me wanting more from this book, which means I like what’s here. This is as always a routinely amazing book from a routinely amazing team.  93%

Daily Punch 12-6-19 The Way of Anger monk monastic tradition for DnD 5e

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I’ve been known to fly into a crazy rage and I’ve got a black belt. Let’s get some peanut butter into the chocolate!

The Way of Anger

Not all monks practice the art of silent meditation and delicate self-discipline. Some monks fuel their abilities on the anger that burns in their soul. These monks learn to harness that anger and release it at their enemies when the time arises.

The Way of Rage

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn to harness your anger to move faster and hit harder. You enter a fugue state where only combat matters as a bonus action on your turn akin to a barbarian’s rage. You gain the following benefits

  • You have advantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws.
  • When you use a bonus action to make an attack, you may make an additional unarmed attack. This stacks with bonus action attacks from ki point use.
  • Melee attacks against you are made at disadvantage.

If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while in this state.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

You can do this a number of times per day equal to your level /3 + 1, minimum 2 per day. Once you have raged this number of times, you must finish a long rest before you can rage again.

Any effect, ability, or feat that would affect a barbarians rage also affect this ability as well.

All Out Attack

At 6th level, your training in focusing for combat bleeds into your ferocity during your rage. If you declare one target as the soul person you will attack this round at the start of your turn, you gain two ki points that you must spend this round in attacks against this target or in advancing on the target. If the target dies or is incapacitated during your round, you may not attack another target but may continue to attack the target’s body or remains.

Hatred

Beginning at 11th level, you now enter a state where you no longer experience the outside world during your rage state. During your rage, you gain resistance to psychic damage and have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.

Only Violence

At 17th level, you gain the ability to literally let rage keep you alive. If you would be knocked out or killed while in a rage, you are allowed to stay conscious while making death saving throws. Increase the number of death saving throws you are allowed to make before dying by 3 while in a rage. Each round you automatically fail your death saving throw if you stay conscious in a rage. Critical hits on you increase the number of failed death saving throws you have failed by 2. While using this ability, you can not be healed or regain hit points. Each round you gain a number of ki points equal to your number of death saving throws you have currently failed. These addition ki point occur after abilities like perfect self have increased your ki pool. As a free action, you can voluntarily end your rage at the start of your turn and fall unconscious and stabilized at 2 death saving throws failed.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 12-5-19 Gloves of the Rock Crusher wonderous item for DnD 5e

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Time to help those unarmed characters characters crank up some damage!

Gloves of the Rock Crusher

Wondrous Item, very rare

These warm leather work gloves betray the magic inside. While wearing these, you add double your Strength or Dexterity modifier to damage rolls you make with unarmed strikes and natural weapons. Such attacks are considered to be magical.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 12-4-19  Path of the Brawler Barbarian primal path DnD 5e

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I like barbarians who go with their hands. True, back to basics, run by instinct fighters. Let’s make that happen!

Path of the Brawler

Only the weak use weapons.  When the anger takes you, you drop the metal you are holding and fight with fist and fury.  You feel every crunch and pop of your foes bones and revel in the carnage you cause as the light leaves their eyes.

Fists of Fury

Starting when you choose this path a 3rd level, your unarmed attacks deal 1d6 damage.

When you enter a rage, treat your unarmed attack’s damage as equal to a monk of your level.

Spirits Fear Your Hate

Beginning at 6th level, for the duration of the rage your unarmed attacks count as magic and silver and you can use a bonus action each round to make an additional unarmed attack each round.

Up Close Violence

Beginning at 10th level, you master the art of crushing unarmed force. While raging, any unarmed attack you make can instead be a grapple attempt.

Any creature you have grappled automatically takes damage equal to a single unarmed attack from you at the start of its turns while you are raging.

Strangler of Great Beasts

Starting at 14th level, you can grapple up to two creatures at once and have no size restrictions nor penalties to grapple a creature while you are raging.  While you have a minimum of one limb free, you make all unarmed attacks as normal.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 12-3-19 Spear of the Defender magic weapon for DnD 5e

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Saw the news and I saw a hero we didn’t know we deserved step up to something and it inspired me.

Spear of the Defender

Weapon (spear), very rare (requires attunement)

This simple spear can be made from any long pointed object. The object is treated as a +1 magic spear, but the wielder can declare a target in 30 feet as his enemy as a bonus action. The target is allowed a DC 20 Wisdom save to not be affected. On a failure, for one minute the target must only attack the wielder of the spear. The affected creature can use spells and area effect abilities, but the wielder of the weapon must be in the area or spell. The wielder of this spear gains resistance to all damage from the affected creature and gains advantage on all Constitution based saves from effects caused by the affected creature. The wielder of this weapon can only affect one creature in this way at a time and the ability is reusable after a short rest.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 11-22-19 Elemental Savant metamagic for DnD 5e

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This come hot on the heels of the last spell.  Lot’s of these spells specify one type of element, but why would a sorcerer play by those rules?

 

Elemental Savant

When you cast a spell that has an elemental damage type of acid, cold, fire, or lightning, you can spend 2 sorcery points to change the damage to another elemental damage type of acid, cold, fire, or lightning.  All other parts of the spell remain the same, but continual damage is changed to the new damage type if you so choose.

 

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 11-21-19 Fist of Flame spell for DnD 5e

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Been on a kick lately hitting all the majors with each spell I make, so we have to do DnD 5e!

 

Fist of Flame

1st-level evocation

Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: touch
Components: V, S, M (piece of coal)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You wreath the targets hands and feet in fire. Unarmed melee attacks from the target do an additional 1d6 fire damage on a successful hit.  The fire provides light up to 30 feet.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for every two slot levels above 1st.

 

Thoughts?