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Discussion Tavern: The Wary Wolf

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OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
Considering I'm going to give Smacktard a respec to redo Moonsprout how he wants anyway... I had a thought...

Moonsprout doesn't really... Bard. He's not been that into the performance of it all, so much as the beauty of nature and tripping off of whatever he can find.

As far as I'm feeling, Moonsprout wants to be a druid. He's hung around Short Order enough to pick up some tricks and appreciation of nature, and now the spirits have reached out to him. This is also reinforced by my feeling that Moonsprout wouldn't give a fuck about colleges and would think they're part of the establishment.

So at least for now, Moonsprout is a Bard 2 / Druid 1.
 

Moonsprout Beandirt

Connoisseur of fine video games
Considering I'm going to give Smacktard a respec to redo Moonsprout how he wants anyway... I had a thought...

Moonsprout doesn't really... Bard. He's not been that into the performance of it all, so much as the beauty of nature and tripping off of whatever he can find.

As far as I'm feeling, Moonsprout wants to be a druid. He's hung around Short Order enough to pick up some tricks and appreciation of nature, and now the spirits have reached out to him. This is also reinforced by my feeling that Moonsprout wouldn't give a fuck about colleges and would think they're part of the establishment.

So at least for now, Moonsprout is a Bard 2 / Druid 1.
I just want to clarify that Moonsprout is def a bard. A really shitty bard, but a bard nonetheless 😁 I'll try to find some time to respec... Can you just give me a QRD of what to respec?
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
I just want to clarify that Moonsprout is def a bard. A really shitty bard, but a bard nonetheless 😁 I'll try to find some time to respec... Can you just give me a QRD of what to respec?
A few posts back I summarized the bard colleges. You'd need to pick one of those if you're just sticking bard.

And my thought certainly wasn't to make him stop being a bard at all, just give him more nature to work with.

Things like Goodberry to make magical snacks, beast bond letting you make a telepathic link with an animal, sleep seems a very Moonsprout spell.

But your call, my dude. I'll let you respec when you're back from vacation anyway.
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
The biggest thing I thought of with the bard stuff was college of creation, thinking Moonsprout would make tiny mote mushrooms around everyone. The rest of the colleges don't really sound very Moonsprout though, at least as far as I've understood him. If you have other plans, go for it!

1000005691.jpg
1000005692.jpg
 

Moonsprout Beandirt

Connoisseur of fine video games
I'm not sure I understand the mote of potential thing? What's its benefit?

College of creation makes sense for Moonsprout. The idea of him trying to make rocks and trees learn to sing is very Moonsprouty.

There's another school that sounds a bit like it fits him. College of Lore, after the Attenborough stuff, although the part that most caught my eye was the part where the people in this college often sing sarcastic songs about authority figures. Moonsprout is very anti-authority.
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
I'm not sure I understand the mote of potential thing? What's its benefit?

College of creation makes sense for Moonsprout. The idea of him trying to make rocks and trees learn to sing is very Moonsprouty.

There's another school that sounds a bit like it fits him. College of Lore, after the Attenborough stuff, although the part that most caught my eye was the part where the people in this college often sing sarcastic songs about authority figures. Moonsprout is very anti-authority.
Mote of potential specifically, it just boosts your Bardic Inspiration.

  • If you give someone Bardic Inspiration and they use it on an ability check, they can re-roll the Bardic Inspiration dice and pick which roll to use. Basically Advantage on your Bardic Inspiration.
  • If they use it on an attack roll, any target within 5 feet of whoever used Bardic Inspiration has to succeed on a CON saving throw or take thunder damage equal to the Bardic Inspiration die.
  • If they use it on a saving throw, they gain temporary hit dice equal to the Bardic Inspiration die + CON mod.

So, it just makes giving people Bardic Inspiration more useful. It was mostly the "The mote looks like a musical note, a star, a flower, or another symbol of art or life that you choose." part, as it seemed like an opportunity to make dicks fly around someone or something.

And in general I thought the concept of colleges and structured uniformity might go against Moonsprout's anti-establishment angle.

To summarize the others, I guess;
  • College of Eloquence - Seems all about improving your ability to converse with people. Doesn't seem very Moonsprouty, although he might think he's perfectly adapted to using big words, but completely incorrectly.
  • College of Glamour - Mostly crowd-control by making people think you're the shit.
  • College of Lore - Does seem more tailored towards the well-read story-teller reciting legends and stuff. It could perhaps be swung into a wildlife biologist angle, but the abilities don't really support that much.
  • College of Swords - Fighting. Certainly doesn't seem to fit Moonsprout.
  • College of Valour - Still fighting/combat based. Lets you use Bardic Inspiration and add it to weapon damage as well, extra attacks, etc. Not something Moonsprout would use.
  • College of Whispers - Mental fuckery, causing psychic damage and so on. Doesn't seem like something Moonsprout would want with the whole pacifist angle.
So... Yeah... Creation seems to be the most whimsical non-combat based one. Lore would work too, though it's mostly buffing/debuffing ability checks with a couple more spells which is boring.

I thought you were already peaced out and not going to be participating for a bit though, so if you still want Moonsprout set up like you want him and to just be run like that, by all means.

EDIT: And I suppose just historically, from watching how you play, you're not really using Bardic Inspiration or any of your other bardy spells as often as you could be. Certainly get that it's probably mostly to play up the character, but going for things that buffed an ability you don't commonly used seems antithetical. :shrug
 
I've only picked out one new spell so far, but it seems I've lost a cantrip (though I gained two permanent spells). I need one more spell and then to see if I want to subclass or go straight druid (leaning toward straight druid since his goal is to become a normal druid again)
 

Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
I had always intended to go Battle Smith at rank 3... but early on, I went more with the ranged because it was hitting better and I didn't have the AC or avoidance to really stand toe to toe in melee. I STILL think I'm gonna go Battle Smith but Artillerist seems to be more in line with the ranged stuff my character has been doing. But the idea of having a mech wolf pet that is a great defender for ANYONE melee...

That's a tough choice for me...

Plus, they both get Shield, which feels OP as fuck. I'm torn. But if I go Battle Smith, I need to create a martial sword of some kind to really rake in the damage.

@Ben - I think I know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway. Ur'kokk becomes essentially useless to a Battle Smith, right? Actually to either. Because I have to use a bonus action to make Ur'kokk, the guardian OR the cannon do anything, having a guardian AND homunculus they can't both attack in a turn, right?
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
I had always intended to go Battle Smith at rank 3... but early on, I went more with the ranged because it was hitting better and I didn't have the AC or avoidance to really stand toe to toe in melee. I STILL think I'm gonna go Battle Smith but Artillerist seems to be more in line with the ranged stuff my character has been doing. But the idea of having a mech wolf pet that is a great defender for ANYONE melee...

That's a tough choice for me...

Plus, they both get Shield, which feels OP as fuck. I'm torn. But if I go Battle Smith, I need to create a martial sword of some kind to really rake in the damage.

@Ben - I think I know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway. Ur'kokk becomes essentially useless to a Battle Smith, right? Actually to either. Because I have to use a bonus action to make Ur'kokk, the guardian OR the cannon do anything, having a guardian AND homunculus they can't both attack in a turn, right?
Yeah, they'd all share the same bonus action requirement, so they don't really work to overlap.

Honestly the turrets sound more useful. You can do damage, up close, at range, and "heal" with it. That seems a bit more useful than... An off tank? Do you really need that?
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
I put Moonsprout back to a level 3 bard. College of Lore. If you still want to change it you can later, @Smacktard, but I think leaning in on the Moonsprout Attenborough thing is as good a reason as any. It gives me an idea for where to take your character further on, actually.

1711835305223.png

I picked every animal spell I could find, for him.
 

Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
Yeah, they'd all share the same bonus action requirement, so they don't really work to overlap.

Honestly the turrets sound more useful. You can do damage, up close, at range, and "heal" with it. That seems a bit more useful than... An off tank? Do you really need that?
Not really an off tank. The guardian would make any attack against ANY of the melee fighters (Zesty, Aims and Nac all would be up close) be at a disadvantage.
 

Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
Also, the guardian does significant damage. As much as the two offensive turrets I can make. And he's permanent while the turrets aren't. He's also easily revived, unlike the turrets that are temporary.

Sucks, this is a harder choice than I thought it'd be.
 

Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
OK, so more debuffing... Fair, I guess.

Though Moonsprout also has Heroism so there's overlap there. You could take Thunderwave for lulz.
I mean, I get both, I believe. Shield is the lure, honestly. it feels super powerful. It's a reaction, triggers on an attack and gives +5 AC until my next turn. It's really useful. Neither Heroism nor Thunderweave are spells I'd expect to use, honestly.

The decision really comes down to melee vs. ranged in the end. I had expected to be melee from the start. Why I had the dagger and was dual wielding weapons in the beginning. But not being able to successfully use melee made me just go ranged. If I choose BS, I can move back into what I originally intended.

The turret is interesting, but I don't know if it's as interesting as the guardian... especially if my homunculus becomes obsolete either way.
 

Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
So, looking deeper into some of the spells and later abilities, I think I really do want to go Battle Smith. The spells they get are far better (read: more fun for me lol) with BS over Artillerist. The extra attack is also far better at 5 than Arcane Firearm, which would only really be useful with something like Magic Missile that would turn that into a powerhouse. Even with overlap, Heroism, Aura or Vitality, Warding Bond, Fire Shield are all much better than the Walls from the Artillerist.

That with the guardian being a force and the cannon being... meh... in terms of interest, I think I'd have more fun playing the BS.

That said: @Ben - Am I able to create a magical martial weapon to take advantage of it? I'd need to find a vendor of sorts otherwise. Also, am I able to change my infusions at will during a long rest? I couldn't find that answer.

EDIT - The answer I've found regarding Infusions here is like cantrips. I can change one per level up. Still don't know about the weapon though
 
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Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
Another question @Ben - I just noticed I have Hellish Rebuke which seems to be a second level reaction spell. I am NOT able to cast this as yet, because I haven't got any level 2 spell slots, is that correct?

EDIT - For this, I've discovered Hellish Rebuke is a powerful tiefling 3rd level ability. It's once per long rest and is castable to it's own separate spell slot irrespective of the 3 I have per long rest. It's also silly powerful dealing essentially a reaction damage on something that attacks me to the tune of 2d10 damage when it fails a DEX saving throw, or half that if successful.
 
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Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
I don't like putting 4 posts in a row here, but I wanted to summarize my changes for @Ben and anyone else that cares to know.

  • I chose Battle Smith and created Boltzmann, my Steel Defender. He's going to take on the shape of... what else but a metal Wolf. I'll let Ben get creative with his imagery.
  • For my level up cantrip change, I've dropped Poison Spray and added Green-Flame Blade. Add a little AOE damage if I'm going to go melee.
  • For my level up Infusion change, I've dropped Mind Sharpener and added Enhanced Weapon.
  • I've dismissed Ur'kokk (RIP), so that I can enchant a melee weapon. Until I've found/bought a sword, I've put this on my dagger.
The only thing I'm unsure of, is I have The Right Tool for the Right Job, which says I can use my Thief's Tools to create another set of tools that last till I use the spell again. I'd like to create Tinker's Tools, but I can't see how to do it on D&DB. So, for now, I've just added a set of Tinker's Tools to my inventory.
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
I don't like putting 4 posts in a row here, but I wanted to summarize my changes for @Ben and anyone else that cares to know.

  • I chose Battle Smith and created Boltzmann, my Steel Defender. He's going to take on the shape of... what else but a metal Wolf. I'll let Ben get creative with his imagery.
  • For my level up cantrip change, I've dropped Poison Spray and added Green-Flame Blade. Add a little AOE damage if I'm going to go melee.
  • For my level up Infusion change, I've dropped Mind Sharpener and added Enhanced Weapon.
  • I've dismissed Ur'kokk (RIP), so that I can enchant a melee weapon. Until I've found/bought a sword, I've put this on my dagger.
The only thing I'm unsure of, is I have The Right Tool for the Right Job, which says I can use my Thief's Tools to create another set of tools that last till I use the spell again. I'd like to create Tinker's Tools, but I can't see how to do it on D&DB. So, for now, I've just added a set of Tinker's Tools to my inventory.
I don't think it's supposed to GIVE you tools in your inventory. It makes them in a place. So you're like, making a workbench, and it'll go away when you are done.
 

Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
I don't think it's supposed to GIVE you tools in your inventory. It makes them in a place. So you're like, making a workbench, and it'll go away when you are done.
Oh, totally misread that then. I'll delete from my inventory in a few then. I'll have to use it before a long rest I suppose then. Until I buy tinker's tools anyway. I only saw "it goes away when you cast the spell again" so I assumed permanent. But that makes sense what you're saying. That they would be permanent in that spot until cast again.
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
Another question @Ben - I just noticed I have Hellish Rebuke which seems to be a second level reaction spell. I am NOT able to cast this as yet, because I haven't got any level 2 spell slots, is that correct?

EDIT - For this, I've discovered Hellish Rebuke is a powerful tiefling 3rd level ability. It's once per long rest and is castable to it's own separate spell slot irrespective of the 3 I have per long rest. It's also silly powerful dealing essentially a reaction damage on something that attacks me to the tune of 2d10 damage when it fails a DEX saving throw, or half that if successful.
You can. It comes from infernal legacy.

1000005694.jpg
 
Man, artificers sound complicated lol. And here I am with one button to rage and then right-click to attack-move.

Ez.

Though I've been trying to craft something fun for Aims in terms of a second class, but other than more single minded melee nonsense from fighter I got nothing I like. But I also haven't hit the books yet. I'm perfectly fine with how things are now until lvl5. Maybe even do 6. Gotta do some more reading.
 
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Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
Man, artificers sound complicated lol. And here I am with one button to rage and then right-click to attack-move.

Ez.

Though I've been trying to craft something fun for Aims in terms of a second class, but other than more single minded melee nonsense from fighter I got nothing I like. But I also haven't hit the books yet. I'm perfectly fine with how things are now until lvl5. Maybe even do 6. Gotta do some more reading.
I love the options. And the abilities they have are right up my alley. I wish I was more creative for inventions. Thank goodness Ben is.
 
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Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
((I do keep remembering that I needed to do the google thing...))
google GIF

Driving Road Trip GIF


Same thing, amirite?! :link
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
Let's see, your party consists of:
  • A half-orc barbarian who's suddenly part werewolf or something.
  • A dwarf monk who is so drunk he essentially cannot be hit
  • A gnome druid who always picks the nuclear option but also now has a spirit dog.
  • A tiefling artificer who now has a robot dog.
  • And a halfling bard in a Baby-Bjorn who's about to start a Faerûn nature documentary.
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
Man... I really gotta make a decision on the spell components, though... I've kinda just let you guys get away with not following the material components to the letter, but I imagine those are there in part to make really strong spells harder to cast. I don't know that I should just forego materials entirely. Seems for a lot of it you'd have to go out of your way to find the stuff needed, though.
 

Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
Man... I really gotta make a decision on the spell components, though... I've kinda just let you guys get away with not following the material components to the letter, but I imagine those are there in part to make really strong spells harder to cast. I don't know that I should just forego materials entirely. Seems for a lot of it you'd have to go out of your way to find the stuff needed, though.
To be fair, I've purposely avoided picking spells with material components. I've ignored them myself because the materials I haven't seen yet. The exception being the poison spell that needs the rotten food (that I still have, but I've never cast that spell).
 

Moonsprout Beandirt

Connoisseur of fine video games
I have a bit of downtime so I'm trying to respect for LVL 3... I removed vicious mockery and replaced it with Friendship as a spell... I also should have access to Cutting Words from College of Lore, but I'm not able to add it as a known spell.

I was also thinking for characterization/backstory, my "College of Lore" was really only a "College" of Lore, and more of a free-spirit nudist hippy commune that lived in harmony with nature.
 
OP
D&D Character

Dungeon Master

Blind Guardian
I have a bit of downtime so I'm trying to respect for LVL 3... I removed vicious mockery and replaced it with Friendship as a spell... I also should have access to Cutting Words from College of Lore, but I'm not able to add it as a known spell.

I was also thinking for characterization/backstory, my "College of Lore" was really only a "College" of Lore, and more of a free-spirit nudist hippy commune that lived in harmony with nature.
Cool.

... Can it be canon that Moonsprout experimented with Druidism in 'college' but it was just a phase?
 
Man... I really gotta make a decision on the spell components, though... I've kinda just let you guys get away with not following the material components to the letter, but I imagine those are there in part to make really strong spells harder to cast. I don't know that I should just forego materials entirely. Seems for a lot of it you'd have to go out of your way to find the stuff needed, though.
I think the only spell of mine I cast with a component so far is ice knife, and that just needs water. We've been basically surrounded by water, and I assume we tend to have water with our rations.
 

Zesty Zapcrackle

Diplomatic Immunity
Hey @Jon. I went a little more steampunky with it, but one of the early versions of Boltzmann that I got came out looking more or less like Robocop.
Not gonna get a complaint from me. I love what you've done with it. Steampunk fits Zesty's style well, and I kind of thought of the steel defender as a robocop in dog form, so this is awesome to me! I mean, you had to know I was going to go wolf with the look. :link

If I had my pick of colors, like I was paining a mini of this, it would be a gun metal colored metal and black and grey fur with glowing red eyes... like a robocop in wolf form. So I'd say you nailed it, man! Can't wait to see him in combat!

And at least you don't have to talk about Ur'kokk anymore.
 
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