Category: DnD 5th Ed.

Daily Punch 1-11-16 Discovered Fury feat for DnD 5e

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I like the feats that let you splash a bit of a class into your current class.  Let’s build on those and start with the barbarian!

 

Discovered Fury

You have learned the ways of angry, fury, and how to let those protect you in the heat of battle.  Gain the following:

  • Increase your Strength or Constitution by 1, to a maximum of 20.
  • Choose one skill a barbarian gains at 1st level.  You are now proficient in that skill.
  • You gain the Rage ability of a barbarian.  You can only enter a rage once per day, but you gain all the benefits of a barbarian of your level.

 

Thoughts?

 

Daily Punch 1-8-16 Trapfinding feat for DnD 5e

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5e thieves get some good tools to deal with traps, but how about the rest?  Here is a feat to help anyone else who want to try dealing with traps.

 

Trapfinding

Everyone who survives the dungeon needs someone who knows how to deal with the pesky traps. You’re that someone.  Gain the following benefits:

  • Gain proficiency with thieve tools, gain proficiency in Dexterity(slight of hand), or gain +2 to Dexterity(slight of hand).
  • When looking for traps, increase your passive perception by +5.  And, gain advantage on all Wisdom(perception) and Intelligence(investigation) checks only when looking for traps.
  • When disarming traps, you gain advantage on the Dexterity(slight of hand) check.

 

Thoughts?

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

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Product-Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

System– DnD 5e

Producer– Wizards of the Coast

Price– $36

TL; DR-A doughnut-great fluff, but no crunch! 87%

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Basics-Welcome to the Forgotten Realms!  The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide is the first player and dungeonmaster book for DnD5e.  It focuses on the world of the Forgotten Realms and more specifically the Sword Coast.  The book builds the current Realms and provides the standing of the world, as well as giving players some new backgrounds, class archetypes, and race options.

Mechanics or Crunch-The best description of the mechanics in this book is “What mechanics?”  Most of the crunch in this book is confined to one chapter.  It’s a decent chapter, but it only supports a few classes with some classes not receiving any new toys.  They do get some Forgotten Realms specific story, but no new crunch/mechanics to drive it home.  This book also only has one feat in it, and that is an optional feat.  There were high expectations for this book, and I feel it didn’t meet them.  What’s here is good, but there is just not enough here to really make this worth it for every crunch heavy gamer. 3.75/5

 

Theme or Fluff-I love the Forgotten Realms, and this is a decent introduction to a part of it.  As the title suggests, this book focuses on the Sword Coast.  What the book focuses on is great!  Each area gets a great description really building out the world in interesting ways and telling how the Realms have changed since 4th edition.  However, it mentions the rest of the world.  That’s good, but they don’t provide a map the the rest of the world.  That’s my main problem with what is here.  There are parts mentioned in a sentence that are not shown.  The previous editions’ Realms books showed me the world,gave it a one line description, and then left it at that.  This book doesn’t even give me the geography past the coast.  This wouldn’t be a problem except the novels, adventures, and the Adventurer’s League all take place in the parts of world not covered in depth by this book. 4.75/5

Execution-This book covers a ton of ground, and it does it reasonably well.  Everything has pictures, which is awesome, so the book sufficiently breaks up the text.  There are a few walls of text though.  The art is good, the font is nice, and the maps are amazing.  I’d like this book to be a bit thicker to give space for more breaks and more information, as well as to justify the price a bit.  However, I liked the way this book was laid out and built overall.  4.5/5

Summary-I wasn’t thrilled with this book.  The theme is great.  New players in the Realms will get a ton out of this book.  Even people from 4th edition will have a lot to learn about the new realms.  The overall execution of the book is great, if a tad pricey.  However, the biggest problem is the lack of mechanics.  This is the first real expansion to the system, and it doesn’t do or provide much expansion to the system.  This book isn’t bad, but stacked up against the core books, I wasn’t impressed with this book.   87%

Daily Punch 1-6-15 Weapon Halo spell for DnD 5e

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Time for the last Eldritch Knight spell for a bit-the Weapon Halo!

 

Weapon Halo
4th-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Personal
Components: V, S, M (a weapon)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

When you cast this spell and touch a melee weapon, you are instantly surrounded by fiery and icy floating versions of the weapon.  For the duration of this spell, any creature that attempts to attack you with a melee attack has disadvantage and takes 2d6 cold and 2d6 fire damage.  The creature that succeeds at a Constitution saving throw  reduces the damage by half for each type of damage.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 1-5-16 Force Backswing spell DnD 5e

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I’m working my way up from level 1 to 4 for the Eldritch Knight, so today will be level 3 and the Force Backswing!

 

Force Backswing
3rd-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: touch
Components: V, S, M (a weapon)
Duration: 1 minute

When you cast this spell and touch up to two melee weapons, these weapons take on a ghostly aura as force echos of the movement follow them wherever they move.  For the duration of this spell, any creature you strike with a weapon under the effect of this spell takes an additional 3d6 force damage as the echos rip through the target.

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 1-4-16 Lighting Rod spell for DnD 5e

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How about we continue the spells for DnD 5e and the Eldritch Knight?

 

Let’s keep building on the them of the Eldritch Knight.  How about some weapon based spells for above 0-level?

 

Lighting Rod
2nd-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet or touch
Components: V, S, M (a weapon)
Duration: instantaneous

Choose a target in range, and either make a melee spell attack roll or a ranged spell attack roll.  On a hit, the target takes damage equal to the weapon’s damage  plus your spellcasting ability modifier as you throw or strike the target with the weapon.  Next, the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw.  On a failure, lightning shoots from the sky and does target takes 4d6 lightning damage.  On a success, the spell fails, but the spell slot is not used.  In either case, the weapon returns to your hand.

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 12-30-15 Second Sword Spell for DnD 5e

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Let’s keep building on the them of the Eldritch Knight.  How about some weapon based spells for above 0-level?

 

Second Sword
1st-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: touch
Components: V, S, M (a weapon)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
When you touch a weapon while casting this spell, you imbue it with a piece of your will.  This weapon can float five feet high, move, and make attacks for you while you concentrate on the spell.  Each turn as a bonus action or action, you can command the weapon to make one attack for you using your melee spell casting attack bonus.  The weapons damage type is the same are the weapon’s normal damage.  When you move, you can mentally command the weapon to move up to 30 feet as well.

When the spell ends, the weapon flies back to your hand.  If your hands are full, then it falls at your feet.

Daily Punch 12-29-15 Spell Swing feat for DnD 5e

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I think Eldritch Knights get a bit of the short stick (or sword!).  Let’s work on making them that much more awesome!

Spell Swing

Enemies fall before your sword as much as your spells, and you’ve learned to effectively combine the two to become a spell storm of destruction.  Gain the following benefits:

  • Increase your Constitution, Dexterity, or Strength by 1, to a maximum of 20.
  • When you cast a wizard or sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, as a bonus action, you may take an attack action taking all attacks that action would grant you.

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 12-11-15 Underdark Etiquette optional background feature

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I haven’t done some 5e stuff in a while, so let’s go back to that with the Out of the Abyss season and an optional background feature.

 

OPTIONAL FEATURE: UNDERDARK ETIQUETTE

You have met the hostile races the call the Underdark home, and while you might not be everyone’s friend, you didn’t end up on their menus.  If you fail a Charisma ability check against an Underdark creature, you may remake the check with disadvantage.  You must accept the results of the second roll.

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 12-1-15 Sonic Shove cantrip for DnD 5e

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I’ve been designing spells for something secret and reading the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide.  Let’s combine those two.

 

Sonic Shove

Evocation cantrip

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 5 feet

Components: V, M (a weapon)

Duration: Instantaneous

As part of this action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell’s range, otherwise the spell fails.  On a hit the target suffers the attack’s normal effects, and a sonic boom infuses the area.  That creature must make both a Strength and Constitution saving throw.  If it fails the Strength saving throw, the creature is moved 5 feet away, knocked prone, and you are no longer considered engaged if the creature does not have reach to attack you with one of its melee weapons.  If it fails the Constitution saving throw, the creature is dealt an extra 1d4 thunder damage.

This spell’s damage and thrown distance increases when you reach higher levels.  At 5th level, the spell’s thunder damage increases to 2d4 and the thrown distances increases to 10 feet.  The distance increases to 15 feet and 3d4 thunder at 11th level, and to 20 feet and 4d4 thunder at 17th level.

 

Thoughts?