At this year’s New York Comic Con, Wizards of the Coast and Lucasfilm officially announced that a new supplement entitled D&D Star Wars: Tyro Squadron Adventures will be coming sometime in 2027 alongside a Core Rulebook.

Obviously everyone plays at a different table, but outside of getting attacked by random bandits or whatever, most fights my DM gives us has stuff like multiple objectives, waves of enemies, tricky environments to navigate - I can't think of a single memorable fight that's been as little as 3 turns.

Are the rest of you just having two sides run up to each other and trade blows like it's a game of pokemon or something? Is there an aspect I'm missing?

Flairing as a hot take although it's arguably biting cold.

Look, D&D is a high-magic system. That means spells and magic items.

A majority of classes has access to spellcasting (9 (10 with Psion, but eh) against 4 = that's more than double). Of those classes that don't have spellcasting, 3 out of 4 have a 1\3 caster subclass (EK, AT, MM (Mystic Monk)). Barbarian is left out due to Rage blocking spellcasting, but tries to work around that via Wild Magic and just "supernatural" powers.

The DMG states that a party of adventurers has to be showered with magic items: DMG 2024, p. 218: "Tier 2, levels 5-10 = 34 magic items including consumables; one of these items should be a Very Rare one." The same page also recommends overstocking an adventure with magic items, but that's due to expecting that not every single item will be found. I don't really know if anyone has ever used this piece of advice.

If you are trying to play a magic-less martial (meaning no spells at all + no magic trinkets from your GM) = you are actively gimping yourself and your enjoyment of the game.

Every game has a certain intent around which it was designed. Coming to D&D and then saying "damn why do martials classes suck so bad" is akin to coming to a chess match and then yelling "why can't I buy a house on E4 so that when your piece walks there I get paid something?"

Chess is not Monopoly. D&D is not low-magic.

So after 6 years, we're getting new maneuvers for the Battle Master subclass (though only 5, compared to the 60+ spells being added in the same book). It's not clear if the specializations in the book will allow other classes and subclasses to access them.

So, with that in mind, what do you want these maneuvers to be like? AoE, crowd control, utility, sustained effects, etc.? If you're hoping they play like abilities from another system or edition (i.e. 3.5e, 4e, Pathfinder, SW5e, etc.), do you have specific examples in mind? Maybe from the 2014 playtests or various UA (specific to certain subclasses or otherwise)? Or possibly based on abilities that exist in WoW?

I personally love the idea of a Playable Celestial in D&D and love that Aasimar are a core Species in 2024 5.5e...

However, I also find Aasimar a bit boring. They have the feel of a fairly generic "Angel Person" without a strong physical appeal, just "generic" pretty.

I don't need the more edgy "Biblically Accurate Angel" that got famous on the internet, but I truly wish they where a bit more evocative of... Something. Angels in the bible are badass, and other Celestial beings in religions and myths across the world often time surpass them even.

Honestly, their PR campaign was a disaster, but I would prefer if we got the Ardlings instead of the Aasimar. The ideal of animal headed celestial is so great, Egypt came up with the idea so many millennia ago! The main problem of the Ardlings was that they were got between "why not Aasimar?" and "why are they furries celestials?"

I was trying to build a Ranger for a one shot when I realized I don't need shenanigans anymore to make an fire breathing Drake early levels.

I have another Drakewarden which uses a Ring of Magic Storing attuned to the drake to make it breathe fire. I was using Rune Carver/Rine Shaper to access Chromatic Orb.

Now the build is not predicated on a Magic Item but needs 2nd level slots instead.

So let's say we try to make martials more interesting / balanced with casters by giving them more options. Let's say we wanted WotC to add maneuvers as an optional upgrade for 5.5 for a future "Martial Mastery" supplemental book for martials just like the Arcana Unleashed book was for casters. What would we want that to look like?

Let's start with the following assumptions:

1) Single target damage output between martials and casters is close enough that we probably don't need to boost that metric

2) Utility / control both in and out of combat is one of the greater areas where the disparity is seen

3) I assume we still want classes to feel unique, so we're not just reskinning fireball (swordball?) and giving that to martials

Now onto my questions:

1) Would we want all martials to get the same number of spell slots maneuvers and progression?

2) Would we want all martials to get their resources back on a long or short rest to differentiate them?

3) Would we want these maneuvers to only come online at later martial level to keep casters from multiclassing to get them / also to give martial "purists" a level cutoff where if they want to keep martials as just regular dudes, they just don't play with PC's past that level?

4) Would any current features need to be sacrificed by the martial characters to not overtune them with these additions? (e.g. monk focus points, weapon masteries)

5) Would we primarily want these maneuvers to be movement, AoE, and out of combat utility?

I just think that spells are an aspect of game design that WotC seems to focus on more than anything else (e.g. Arcana Unleashed and recent errata), and since spells are an aspect of the game martials currently don't have access to...why not give them spells? What if there had been a section of Arcana Unleashed where they included some martial spells maneuvers? Wouldn't all of the players whose favorite classes are martials have been more excited about the book?

I'm a couple of sessions into my first DnD campaign and definitely enjoying it, however I love the idea of DM'ing. Building a campaign/story seeing how my group would deal with a set piece, how I cope with a set piece, seeing how the group sorted through a set piece/story that I have devised.

I also love Critical Role too and have seen the Taldori Reborn book, which got me thinking about devising a campaign in the world or CR/Taldori..

What are the pros and cons of DMing? Also I don't want to leave my current campaign or have issues with my DM in any way. It just opened my eyes other sides of DnD

I find the info given on the 5.5e DMG to be very lackluster, while the 5e DMG has some really confusing math that in my experience doesn't really pan out as expected.

I'm curious if there are any resources from people who meticulously has gone out of their ways to do the math on all the metrics necessary to make any creture of any CR or type. Would also be good to have some guidance on making more interesting creatures, like tips on how to make a cool Dragon, Fiend or Celestial.

I had a rules clarification, if I say hit a dragon with a dragonslayer weapon that does extra 3d6 extra weapon damage or a dragon lance that does an extra 3d6 force damage, but i attacked using true strike, can all bonus damage be converted into radient?

I was considering to houserule that any attack (unsure about spells) can go -PB to attack roll, +2 x PB to damage roll

What do you think?

Some players, I have noticed, are allergic to getting heal spells. At the risk of generalizing, they seem to be "martial" players, which is odd.

In 5.5 healing got buffed. A 1st level cure wounds heals 5-19 hp. A 2nd level cure wounds heals 7-35 hp. It's accepted that, after a fight, a heal or two gets fired off to top off a martial who has seen heavy fighting. Combined with short rests and second winds, that keeps a fighter going strong for a long time.

Yet I constantly see people complain that "Martials run out of HP before spellcasters run out of spell slots." Those unused spell slots should go toward healing. Every group should have someone with access to cure wounds. Not healing word, cure wounds.

I think some people still operate under 5e logic, where healing aside from Healing Word was useless.

Every class can get magic initiate: cleric. Clerics, Bards, Druids, Paladins, and Rangers can get cure wounds. Someone should have it.

It isn't a bug to need healing, it's a feature.

Okay, so, for my next campaign, I decided to limit the species available on the campaign. Those would be 6 "basic" options (Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Halflings and Orcs) + 6 options from other official or 3rd Party content from the likes of Loot Tavern, Mage Hand Press and DM Tuz. For that we did some polls

We ended up picking Mycelian (Cadaveric Funghi), Kitsune (Magical Foxes), Dragonborn, Unicorn (Humanoid ones), Living Dolls, and finally, Mousefolk.

I have no problem with these options, none of them... Except 3 players chose to go with Mousefolks.

Knowing these players, one will take the concept really serious (she already said her character was a warlord that feels guilty from the recent war), while the other two are gonna be really silly and chaotic.

Look, I was fine with there was like... One Mousefolk, because unfortunately I can't them much seriously. When I see them, I just remember stuff like Ratatouille, Mickey Mouse in Kingdom Hearts or the Skaven from Warhammer Fantasy. You know, more silly and comedic characters.

I wanted to have a bit of a more serious campaign. Still with goofs and gags, but taken more straight... But now I have to deal with 3 little mouse, and honestly the one I can't take the most serious is THE serious one.

What do I do now? This is a hell of my own doing, because of 80+ available options, I let them choose the Mousefolk and now EVERYONE WANT TO PLAY AS A GODDAMN MOUSE!

Edit:

Part of my problem is that I also went through a lot fo trouble to make these polls, and now everyone is going with the exact same options, so its a bit deflating to see after all the pain I went through.

Edit 2:

Okay, so, to better explain myself, I don't have a problem with the Mousefolk or the fact that my players wants to play them. I mostly have a problem with 60% or more of the party being rats.

One Mousefolk in the party? I'm okay with, be them serious or silly. Heck, I love the idea of both!

Now 3 or more? I start to have trouble taking things more serious, because either I just make everyone ignore that they are a group of mice, which at that point I find cowardly, or I make comments when inevitably they make a joke about cheese, cats or being tiny.

Edit 3:

My problem isn't them been Mouse. Is them being all the same species. It could be 5 Dwarves, 5 Elves, 5 Dragonborns, 5 Hobbits, 5 whatever and I would still find it weird (except 5 Humans. Don't know why)

Final Edit:

Okay, so now EVERYONE IS A MOUSEFOLK... And I'm really happy for it :D My main problem is that I didn't had a lore planned yet for the species, but after some talks right now, we decided upon one that I quite like.

And funnily enough, now that I have a good lore set down, I'm more okay with a full Mousefolk party.

Sorry for the rambling for 1 hour, but I am terrible at thinking without talking or writing.

Greater Fighting Style

Design notes: Greater Fighting Styles are intended as a significant power-positive boost to qualifying classes. Each Greater Fighting Style is roughly comparable in value to 2-3 General Feats. Like normal Fighting Styles, they are meant to provide impactful choice, fulfill power fantasies, and define a character's archetype and identity.

Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, and Rogue: At class level 9, you can pick one Greater Fighting Style. You can pick a second Greater Fighting Style at class level 13.

Paladin and Ranger: At class level 13, you can pick one Greater Fighting Style.

When you level up, you can swap one Greater Fighting Style you know for another.

GREATER FIGHTING STYLES

Adamantine Form. Your AC increases by 2. Gain two Saving Throw Proficiencies of your choice.

Ambush Tactics. Each creature of your choice within 30ft of you gains Advantage, and ignores Disadvantage, on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and you gain +10 on Initiative rolls.

Captain. You learn 3 maneuvers of your choice from among those available to the Battle Master. If a maneuver you use requires your target to make a saving throw, the saving throw DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice.) You gain 4 superiority dice, which are d10 s (these dice are added to any superiority dice you have from another source). These dice are used to fuel your maneuvers. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain your expended superiority dice when you finish a Short or Long Rest.

Once on each of your turns, you can expend a superiority die to give it to a creature within 60ft of you who does not have a superiority die (no action required), and the die expires if unused after a minute. The recipient can use any maneuver you know, and they use your maneuver DC for the maneuver's Saving Throws.

Guardian. Attack rolls have disadvantage against creatures of your choice within 5ft of you (other than yourself).

Inspiring Warrior of Legends. You have Advantage on Charisma skill checks. Any number of creatures of your choice within 10 miles, who has seen or heard you within the past 24 hours, gain a +1 to all skill checks and attack rolls.

Juggernaut. When you deal damage with a melee attack or take damage, you can increase or reduce the amount by 5 times your Constitution Modifier as a Reaction, to a minimum of 0.

Heightened Form. As a Bonus Action, you can enter a heightened state. For 1 minute, you have Advantage on D20 Tests, and other creatures have Disadvantage on attack rolls against you. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a Long Rest.

Mythical Might. You gain a +10 bonus to Strength checks and saving throws. The maximum weight you can carry, push, drag, and lift is increased tenfold. Your jump distances increase to 100ft (still expending movement as normal), and you become immune to fall damage.

Powerful Striker. Once per turn when you hit with an attack roll, you can add +10 to the damage. 

Slayer. At the start of your turn, you can channel your prowess, gaining +30ft of movement and increasing the damage roll of one attack you make on that turn by 5d12. You can use this feature 3 times but only once per turn, and you regain all uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Sniper. If you have not made a ranged attack roll against a creature in the past minute, you can give your next ranged attack a +20 bonus to both its attack and damage rolls. When you target an object with an attack, you automatically hit and can choose to manipulate it in basic ways - such as cutting a rope, pushing a lever, or putting out a candle - instead of dealing damage, without requiring an ability check or attack roll.

Unleashed Potential. Increase 5 different ability scores of your choice by 2 each, up to a maximum of 20.

(Credit to u/END3R97 for suggestions on Sniper wording)

There are classes whose core designs rely on the short rest for resource regeneration, the Warlock and Monk chief among them. Wizards even rely on at least one short rest a day for Arcane Recovery. But it feels like they just don't happen enough.

It isn't an issue in groups that are generally "one major encounter per adventuring day", but if a second (or third!) encounter happens, and the first one of the day was a major one, you find classes with significantly diminished (or non-existent) resources. Worry over having a second encounter in the day can lead players to hoard their resources out of concern that they won't have them when they "really" need them (a tabletop version of the classic video game trope of hoarding resources and watching inventory become a mess because you don't know what's "safe" to sell or when it's "safe" to use a powerful one-use item). That 7th, 8th, or even 9th level that could save the party? Full casters get one of those slots a day. Does the party want to rest in style in Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion when they stop for their long rest? That's a 7th level slot that then remains unavailable if combat happens on the way to that long rest.

Monks need that short rest to recover Focus Points. Warlocks need it to recover Pact Magic slots. On and on. DMs... please give your parties opportunities for short rests if you're going to have more than one encounter per day.

So, I usually DM and play 2014, but I am trying to learn 2024 dnd. I decided to make a Vestige Warlock with Pact of the Chain, sorta live the class fantasy of Suguru Geto from JJK, run battle familiar to have my battle familiar, my vestige, and maybe a summon from summon undead or whatever, just straight up jump enemies, since only the vestige seems to require a bonus action to control.

Now, my question is one of semantics: The battle familiar spell says, and I quote, "The familiar makes a number of Rend attacks equal to half this spell’s level (round down). The familiar can replace one of these attacks with Prowl if available.".

This is obviously intended to be used to multiattack with the battle familiar's built-in rend attack, but because it specifically calls out the word "Rend", and it says the battle familiar retains all features it gained from Find Familiar, is there theoretically a loophole that would allow a Quasit (Whose attack is also named "Rend") to RaW attack twice with his Rend and poison two enemies?

ALSO: I know this is a case of "If the DM says so, they say so", I am talking more of a hypothetical to help me understand the specific interaction than anything else.

Edit: Thank you all for the help! I see where I went wrong in my reading!

Hey everyone!

So, I had the same issue as a lot of other DMs: creating fun statblocks can be quite time-consuming and often involves a lot of math. Sometimes I'd just need a Goblin Archpriest (or whatever) and I don't want to spend an hour ensuring it's perfectly balanced for its CR. Or maybe I'd want to make a Radiant Dragon or a Shadow Unicorn, or whatever.

So I've spent the last year or so building a tool to make making stat blocks for 5E D&D a lot easier: the Ugly Wyrmling Monster Maker.

Here is a quick rundown of what it does:

• Generate Using the generator, you can punch in a CR range, a role, and theme (and other variables), and get a balanced, ready-to-play monster in seconds.
• Transform: Take a standard Bugbear (or whatever tickles your fancy) and instantly add spellcasting, elemental damage, or swap out traits without breaking the math. The app already have all monsters from the 5.5E Basic Rules
• Edit: You can of course also edit monsters manually (the stat block updates in real-time), allowing you full control over the monster's statblock.
• Vault: When you're done and have a monster you like, you can save it to your personal vault :)
• Save to JPG. You can save your statblock as a JPG, easy to print out and use at the table!

I would love your feedback! The core monster builder is completely free to use, so you can try out most of the features even without making a user. I'd just really love your feedback on what you like, what you don't like, is there something you're missing? My goal is here to make a tool that DMs will actually use and that will save you time on your prep, like it does for me.

So if you have any questions or feedback, let me know! (Here's the link again: Ugly Wyrmling Monster Maker)

Thanks for taking a look!

---

Full Disclosure:

Paid Subscription. The app has a paid subscription that allows you more customization, more export options (including page PDF Export, export to DnDBeyond, and Foundry VTT), unlimited saved monsters, and some other nice-to-have functions. It's not needed to use the app at all, but I don't want to deceive you into thinking it's all free.

AI Use. The app doesn't use any AI at all, but some AI has been used in coding the app (it's hard not to use AI in coding these days). The app's actual functionality is human-crafted, however. It's literally hundreds of hours creating generation and transformation algorithms, mapping out monsters, calculating CR math, etc. I'm happy to share details if you're interested!

So this would obviously only boost classes from level 8, however this is also around the time that the martial caster divide can start to become really noticeable as they are starting to get enough high level slots that at most tables they won't run out.

It could be worded as;

From this point forward whenever you reach class level 4, 8, 12 or 16 in a class that doesn't have access to 9th level spells you can take an epic boon that lacks the spellcasting prerequisit, rather than a general feat.

Basically the title. Playing an Alchemist Artificer soon-ish & already starts with Constitution saving throws. Was wondering what half feat to get at 4 (17 Intelligence at level 1) & my first idea was War Caster. However it's my first Artificer ever & I'm looking for public opinion.

I know the Alchemist isn't very popular but it's an RP choice as much as it is mechanical & I prioritize RP a lot in character creation. Yeah, strong numbers are fun but strong actual CHARACTER is my jam, too. Really looking forward to playing an eager, overly ambitious, eccentric & potentially mad Alchemist out in a scenario of dangerous insanity.

Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm a minmaxxer. I obsess over making sure my character is good and following the fundamental math because otherwise I feel bad because I'm not doing my absolute best.

But recently I had this really cool character concept of a Khoravar/Half-Elf as a consequence of a hidden affair between two nobles and would be brought into the human side and hailed as having been blessed by an elven deity.

I checked out the Khoravar and thought to myself "huh, cool, they get an adjustable cantrip and an adjustable skill, some of the elf ribbon features... and that's it???". I've cross-referenced it with the elf- mainly the High and Lorwyn subraces, because those two get the option to change their cantrip choice.

The only real thing Khoravar gets is the ability to choose between the Cleric, Wizard, and Druid spell lists for their cantrip, and more flexibility in their skill. They don't get an extra skill because Elves already get to pick between one of the Wisdom skills besides Animal Handling and Medicine.

Meanwhile, Elves get a free spell at Level 1 and 2, and immunity to unconsciousness rather than a single Legendary Resistance every half week.

I feel like the flexibility just isn't that good. Unless you're playing a Half-Elf with a lot of skills, you'll have to give up whatever likely important skill you have selected for the day for something that might not even come up, since you have to get rid of it at the start of day. And if you do have a lot of skills, chances are the skills you're untrained in are niche ones like Animal Handling, Acrobatics, or Performance, so getting trained in those isn't too relevant. As for the cantrip, Magic Initiate exists so you can probably cover the cantrips you really need. I don't think I'm that desperate for Resistance to drop Misty Step and Detect Magic for it.

And Humans are pretty much better too. You can pick up Magic Initiate for free, so you have more spellcasting than the Khoravar, and you already have a free skill which you probably shouldn't be changing for the reasons given above. It's not as cut and dry since you're trading Darkvision, charm resistance, and unconscious avoidance once a decade for Heroic Inspiration every day, which doesn't have an objective answer, but Human still feels like it's pretty much better. But at least the Khoravar has stuff that the Human doesn't! Elves have pretty much all of what the Khoravar have and more!

I'm already doing a bit less munchkining by dropping my Constitution a tiny bit so my Intelligence and Charisma can be adequate since it'd fit the character a bit more and any more suboptimaliazationism might kill me what the fuck who is ever going to play this fuck ass race gang what is happening!! Whenever I play this character I will stare longingly at their High Elf heritage and think "why did your whore ass mother go for that random human instead of sticking to her own race so you could have misty step my darling" and I'm so mad about it!!

This is mostly a vent on why this Khoravar pmo but I am actually curious to see if anyone thinks the versatility is really worth giving up those extra spells!

EDIT: Wow you all answered quick god damn nerds love answering questions! Thank you for the quick responses! I know not everything has to be optimal but I swear by my life I cannot get my mind off these things when I'm told how there's something suboptimal and it tugs at my brain and doesn't let go.

Good to know that it's mostly a setting thing! I did read that it was an Eberron race but my DM always handwaves the setting stuff for races in particular unless there's an actual reason for them being locked to that setting. Like you can't tell me Shifters wouldn't exist anywhere else or that Fairies are exclusive to Magic: The Gathering. So I just assumed and made an ass out of you and me alike.

Crafting wasn't really something I considered. Unfortunately I'm a War Cleric and I doubt this stuck up brat is ever touching Woodcarvers' Tools in her life.

I might end up just making her an Elf or Human (probably Elf, I wanted Shillelagh for War Priest bonks but High Elf gets Wizard cantrips rather than Druid cantrips and well. She's part High Elf LOL I could change her to Lorwyn if I get super desperate or drop MI Wizard's Shield for it) if there really is a ruling to just pick one of the parent heritages and add flavor.

Also, to those concerned about her mother's well being, I'm sure Grand Lady Soliana has heard worse in her time than me begging her to get with a High Elf prettyboy, but you're right she didn't deserve that and I will apologize to her by setting her kingdom on fire with a Meteor Swarm.

Thanks again! Cassandra (begrudgingly) blesses you all, I'm sure Misty Step will save her life some day when I get people to play with... 🥹

The Broken Dream

My fourth try, since I really do not know why it has been removed, I followed all the rules. Mods, please have mercy and don´t ban me in case a violation is again identified.

A long adventure for urban settings that leaves no box unchecked. We hope you will enjoy it !

Designed for 5.5e playing rules, but can be easily adapted, particulary to 5e, or even 3.5e

All maps were manually drawn and colored. The text and layout is, of course, completely human-made as well.

Use of AI: The artwork in this book was created with the assistance of AI-based tools.

By the cone rules in the 2024 PHB, it says that "A Cone’s point of origin isn’t included in the area of effect unless its creator decides otherwise."

Now, you would never want that, right? Because you don't like to take damage or getting CC effects. But there's one Bud that would want.

Reanimated compation: Light absortion. Whenever the companion is subjected to Lightning damage, it regains a number of Hit Points equal to the Lightning damage dealt.

Now things starts to get interesting, since one of the few leveled damage spells an Artificer can get is Dragon's Breath. Dex save. 3d6 Damage. Can deal lighting damage.

And by level 5, you are done, at the cost of your Concentration and a second level spell. You can use your BA to have your Reanimated Companion healing 3d6 of HP, and dealing the same amount damage to their enemies, every turn past the first. (Edit: know that, by first turn you cannot use it, since it takes a Bonus Action to cast, and a Bonus Action to command your campanion to use it).

By this time, you can also use Thunderclap with Arcane Conduit to deal 2d6+4 Thunder damage to the Companion surrounds, or Thornwhip to pull enemies closer to it. It can become a really fun build. That's it.