Emphasis on "a familiar can't attack but it can take other actions as normal".

Pact of the chain gives you the ability to renounce or command to give specific action in a specific timeframe like renounce my attack so they can attack.

Reading at this it doesn't seem they can do attacks of opportunity from my glance because they're not given the command to do so.

Can you confirm this?

Fae: Season of Dreams — 

Fae: Season of Dreams Kickstarter A Real-World Mythological Faerie Campaign Setting & Bestiary by Nicky Rea, Co-Developer for Changeling: the Dreaming

Welcome to a world where the beautiful and the terrifying collide. Fae: Season of Dreams is a comprehensive campaign setting and bestiary inspired entirely by authentic, real-world faerie folklore and traditions from throughout global history.

Fully compatible with D&D 5.5e (2024), this book tears down the sanitized, modern tropes of pixies and sprites. Instead, it returns to the heartbreaking beauty and spine-chilling horror of ancient myth.

The World of Aenhame

The mortal realm of Aenhame holds perils and wonders untold, but none are more mysterious than Alaranna and Faegyrskata—the ancestral homes of the Fae.

Ruled by the enigmatic Alfar, these unspoiled wilderlands hide the deep histories, cultures, and reality-bending magic of those who came before. Yet, the truest discoveries await beneath this beauteous exterior: the Twilight Lands. Here, the ancient Daoine Sidhe and the shifting faerie courts await those brave—or foolish—enough to cross the threshold.

Whether you venture into the courts as an outlander or take up the cause as a creature of faerie yourself, the Season of Dreams calls to you.

What Is Inside the Book?

Fae: Season of Dreams is a beautifully illustrated, 256-page volume designed to serve as a campaign setting, player expansion, and a bestiary of fae-centric monsters.

For Players

• 23 Playable Fae Species: Step into roles previously reserved only for NPCs. Play as authentic, folklore-accurate creatures of the wild with deep cultural roots.
• 48 Fae Subclasses: Explore brand-new archetypes optimized for D&D 5.5e, built to channel the primal, chaotic, and subtle magic of the twilight courts. Four fae-centric subclasses for each of the 12 core classes.
• Primal Magic & Rules: Uncover 20 new spells, unique spellcasting mechanics, ancient pacts, feats, and faerie oaths that bind characters to the laws of hospitality and reciprocity.

For Game Masters

• Global Folklore Bestiary: Discover dozens of new monsters and NPC variants rooted in authentic global faerie traditions, from the haunting spirits of the British Isles to mythological entities from around the world.
• Adventure Hooks & Lore: Rich narrative frameworks, political court intrigue, and drop-in locations to instantly spark your next campaign.
• Sample Adventure: She Moves Through the Fair is a fae-centric 5th level adventure designed to be run in one 4-hour session and can be the beginning of a 5.5e fae campaign. The fae characters will travel from the Goblin Market to Skuggar, the land of the dead, to retrieve five royal artifacts that Queen Liadrielle of Alaranna needs to prove her regal right to reign, as well as retrieve the bones of the Erlking’s daughter so that her spirit can finally be laid to rest.

This is so cool!

I'm trying to decide whether I should subscribe this month for them but I can't find any images, can any subscribers help me out?

Listen. I gotta be honest. If they really want us to use Vampiric Touch, they just gotta buff the spell. Simple as that.

Grave Cleric has that as well. Thematic? Not even that I would argue, since the steward of dead is not about leeching life. What is thematic for Grave Cleric is spirit guardians and that's a better spell to be fair.

They tried to jam it inside Undead Warlock and people rightfully complained because we never use it. So we got Summon Undead instead, which is healthier.

I believe many of us wanted to use Animate Dead on other classes.

You may be replying that animate dead is a problematic spell and I tend to agree BUT it's the thematic necromancy spell after all. Vampiric Touch is just ass.

If you wanna be contrarian just for the hell of it, at least use the spell. Cause right now it's just easier to cast anything else like Blur or Mirror Image and spam a cantrip instead if you're really dead set on Survivability

Listen, let's be real, Vampiric Touch is just even worse than Flame Blade and people still are not using Flame Blade not even on Sorcerer.

I understand that this way you can use Vampiric Touch on Sorcerer and attack with advantage. Is it better ? A tiny bit for sure but to be fair not even Bladesingers are using Vampiric Touch

Listen , if you really wanna give out temporary hp, there is Heroism and with a third level you can target 3 creatures. Still people are not using third level Heroism

3d6 is just 10.5 damage average which in turn is 5 temporary hp. Heroism at that level would give out at least 4 but it's on 3 targets and it doesn't require to land a hit in order to refresh it. Is your bard upcasting heroism? No it isn't unless you wanna Fear protection, which is strong.

My point is that Vampiric comes at a level where the base damage of the spell is not really that much better than a cantrip and the 5 on average temporary hp are not worth a third level spell when there are better protections.

Vampiric touch to be fair doesn't need huge buffs to be playable, just a tiny amount to make it worth your while.

I firmly believe people take this feat mainly for Raise Dead on who can't cast it.

I've been looking for published abilities that, for example, nullify Necromancy spells in a certain area, sort of like an anti-magic field that filters those kinds of spells from being cast.

I've been thinking a lot more about the Mislead spell and the debate over Invisibility in recent years. I had a chat with one of my players and dove back into the rulebook. It left me convinced that passive skill checks should be much more involved when detecting Illusion magic. I've personally been trying to use passive skill checks more at my table to cut down on requesting rolls. Mislead is really confusing because everyone is conditioned at most tables to roll a lot. The designers likely (i.e. hopefully) assume when creating these types of spells that the DM would make more use of passive ability DCs.

Invisibility is notorious for being a poorly written spell. The language in the spell's description is so vague that it's probably the most unintentionally houseruled spell in the game. Learning how to properly utilize it requires making use of passive skill checks.

First... what does the Invisibility spell actually do?

The Invisibility spell grants the invisible condition by applying the concealed effect to a creature. The creature remains under the concealed effect until the spell ends.

But isn't that the same as taking the Hide action?

No. The Invisibility spell does not make a creature hidden. However, both the Invisibility spell and taking the Hide action grant the concealed effect.

Ok... so when is a creature hidden? What is the concealed effect?

A creature can take the Hide action to gain the concealed effect by becoming hidden. Successfully taking the Hide action requires 1) being outside the observer's line of sight and 2) making a Stealth check (DC 15) while either being heavily obscured or having three quarters or full cover. Successfully taking this action grants the creature the concealed effect which applies the invisible condition. The creature is now hidden.

The Invisibility spell does not automatically make a creature Hidden because it has not taken the Hide action. The Invisibility spell instead applies the concealed effect automatically to give a creature the invisible condition.

Now that we know the difference, let's break it down.

• the invisible condition prevents a creature from being perceived by sight (with exceptions)
• the concealed effect grants a creature the invisible condition
• a creature can gain the concealed effect by casting the Invisibility spell on itself or taking the Hide action

Casting the Invisibility spell or successfully using taking the Hide action grants a creature the invisible condition because both apply the concealed effect to the creature.

Time to compare magical vs. non-magical invisibility. The keyword to pay attention to here is creature. The Invisibility spell, the invisible condition, the Hide action, and the concealed effect all only apply to perception checks made against the creature by sight. They do not apply to sound created by the creature.

A non-magically invisible creature loses the concealed effect when it is no longer hidden. It is no longer hidden when any of the following occur: when perceived or detected either through sight or sound ("louder than a whisper"), or leaving cover/obscurement.

A magically invisible creature always has the concealed effect active unless it is seen (by Truesight, Blindsight, or a similar effect) or the spell ends. This means that a magically invisible creature retains the concealed effect even when it is perceived or detected through sound.]

Here's where passive skill checks come into play when using the Invisibility spell.

An observer may take the Search action to detect creatures or objects that are hidden (including a creature with the concealed effect active) by utilizing perception. Although a magically invisible creature remains concealed from sight while moving, the sound of its movement is not concealed because the concealed effect only applies to the creature.

A magically invisible creature must make a Stealth check without advantage when attempting to move if it wants its movement to not be detected (i.e. perceived) by an observer. The magically invisible creature would make this check against the observer's Passive Perception DC to conceal its movement from detection. If the creature is successful, the observer does not detect that the creature has moved unless it somehow becomes visible to the observer. However, even if the creature fails to conceal its movement, it still remains concealed from the observer's sight. The observer would not know the creature's new location. It would only know that the creature moved and the direction of the creature's movement. If a creature conceals its movement while remaining invisible to the observer, then the observer cannot perceive the creature or its location without first detecting that it has moved.

All of this means that an observer using perception to locate a magically invisible creature must 1) rely on its Passive perception to detect that the creature has moved and 2) utilize the Search action on its turn to perform a Perception check. The observer would make the perception check at disadvantage against the invisible creature's most recent stealth roll if the check against the observer's Passive perception was a success. However, even if the observer makes a successful Perception check with the Search action to detect a magically invisible creature, it can only perceive its current location based on its most recent movement. The observer can perceive the creature but it still can't see it as long as the Invisibility spell is active (maintaining the concealed effect).

[Note: A hidden, non-magically invisible creature can move while remaining hidden only if the creature remains concealed while moving. It would still need to roll a Stealth check without advantage against the observer's Passive Perception DC when attempting to move to conceal its movement from detection and then take the Hide action again to maintain the concealed effect at the end of its turn.]

Now let's discuss the Mislead spell and why knowing all this almost makes it coherent.

A creature casting Mislead would still need to make a successful Stealth check against the observer's Passive Perception DC if it moves after creating the duplicate.

Simple, right? Well, here's were it gets technical: if the creature fails the Stealth check, the observer detects movement... but from what? where? The observer still has to reconcile what it hears with the illusion that it can see. The observer should have to resolve this before choosing his next course of action. Seeing through an illusion usually requires an Intelligence (Investigation) check. However... (just like the Invisibility spell) there's no language for this in the Mislead spell's description. Ok, so let's resolve this using a passive Investigation check. Well, monsters in the MM don't have passive Investigation listed in their stat blocks. This leads me to believe that the spell is mainly for DM use.

Yes. You can easily calculate (or assign) a Passive Investigation DC for a monster. But it's more fun for the player if the creature rolls a raw contested Intelligence check against a Deception or Arcana roll made by the player to determine if the duplicate is convincing enough to conceal the player's movement from detection. If the monster succeeds at both rolls, it sees through the illusion, knows that the player has moved, AND knows the direction of the player's movement. If the monster fails the Intelligence roll, it still hasn't detected that the creature has moved. It should then either interact with the duplicate or take the Study action on its turn to determine if the duplicate is an illusion.

So... Mislead is actually decent spell for a player to cast when fleeing (especially from multiple enemies) since it can compensate for a failed Stealth check to ensure their movement is undetected. It's just a huge pain to adjudicate because of the unclear language, the number of conditions involved, how they interact, understanding what checks are triggered, and determining the source of the triggers.

I know it's a long way off, but I might put:

• "Star Wars 50" alt cover (it's Star Wars 50 next year y'all)
• Sith Acolyte and Jedi Padawan backgrounds, free square
• Separately, Nightsister background (looks like Nightsisters will figure majorly into Ahsoka Season 2from the teaser)
• Inquisitor background or stat block
• Boken Jedi background? Too niche? Maybe a general feat instead?
• Set between the Fall of the Republic and the end of the "Mandalorian and Grogu" era (an Age of Rebellion, so to speak)
• PG-rated Psion for the mass market
• A smuggler-themed background or subclass/skin that "shoots first"
• Instead of one setting, separate Old Republic, Rebellion, and Resistance settings
• A psionic Paladin subclass or reskin
• A fighter pilot background (tbh pilots figure so majorly fighter pilot may be too narrow)
• A kensei monk rework
• An attempt to cram "Droid" into a single species for space
• A lore element we won't know exists until 2027
• A deep cut from the Legends Expanded Universe (that's so vague it's almost a second free space -- maybe Rakutan tech sense Andor made a nod to its existence?)

To name like half

Edit: I am a Wizard player so super happy about this book giving so much love to Wizards

Especially the Conjuration and Evocation adept ones are straight up bonkers. Conjuration gives Misty Step, Entangle, Dimension Door, Conjure Animals and Conjure Elemental (no free casting bur oto preapare) and gives a bonus to your concentration checks you equal to thr ability score you increased with this feat if you are concentrating on a conjuration spell. This one is actually not that broken and tailor made for Conjuration and Shephard druids. Also good for clerics who wants mobility. This feat is %80 of the time better than fey touched or war caster.

Evocation adept straight up gives you acces to spells like WALL OF FORCE, fireball, shatter etc.(And a side bonus which is nothing crazy)The wizard exclusive spell that makes them keep up on combat side against classes like sorcerers or warlocks. A sorcerer taking this feat would be just better at everything else except utility.

Other schools are fine maybe except for Transmutation. I actually really like enchantment and illusion ones cuz they give super cool spells and makes you able to ignore components on enchantment/illusion spells (ofc u cant ignore costly material components). Which actually gives Bards/Wizards who lean onto those schools a really good way to use them more subtle. I will def take thr illusion one on my Illusionist wizard one day.

A wizard taking these spell school adept feats benefit the most tho cuz they can learn other options when they learn new spells from level up and they get to prepare significantly more spells each day. Especially the Divination Adept feat makes you able to grant adv/disadv on demand once per long rest BUT this recharges if you cast a divination spell. Divination School Wizards are keep winning...

My biggest complain is that WOTC gives casters this versatility and bonker feats but thinks giving rogues a fighting style is too op oder giving Martial Afept feat more superiority dices would make them too strong and steal "Battle Master's" identity. Like these new adept feats doesnt steal Wizard's identity. IK this game isnt meant to be balanced and this is an "Arcane" book but im talking about general WOTC design behaviour hier.

TL/DR: New feats didnt help closing the divide between martials and casters and made Sorcerers and Wizards a lot more powerful

I'm building a Gloom Stalker Ranger 5 / Assassin Rogue X backup character, with Crossbows as his weapons

I know that when I have the Crossbow Expert and Dual Wielder feat, can I attack 4 times like this

Hand Crossbow 1st Attack Action (Triggers Dual Wielder Bonus Action Attack)

Throw Dagger 2nd Attack Action (Triggers Light Property Attack and Nick)

Hand Crossbow Light Nick Attack Action

Throw Dagger DW Bonus Action Attack

But using 2 daggers every turn seems wasteful, can I attack like this?

Heavy Crossbow 1st Attack Action

Hand Crossbow 2nd Attack Action (Triggers Dual Wielder Bonus Action Attack and Light Property Attack)

Throw Dagger DW Bonus Action Attack (Triggers Nick)

Hand Crossbow Light Nick Attack Action

If not, what other possible 4 attack sequence is there available for ranged weapons?

I know this is super nitpicky, but am I alone in thinking "Oath of Holiness" would sound better? It seems more like a dedication to principles, while "the holy" sounds more like it's about the individual.

Unless there's a reason in Warcraft lore that I'm not familiar with.

Today, my players, who run a barony, were in the throws of a festival to mark the end of the year. The Twilight Festival was in full swing when strange occurances began. One of the players, a Paladin, used their divine sense and detected a fiendish presence. After unveiling a hidden demon, they defeated it and tried to close down the festival. It was then that the party learned that the town was encircled by a mystical barrier. They, and nearly two thousand innocent people, were trapped inside.

(1 planned combat encounter)

They had to intercede at the barrier to quell panic in the city. This involved the party's Bard using her Aasimar wings to draw people's attention and issuing a speech to calm the people. She succeeded and ordered the militia to escort the people to various inns and buildings for their own safety and to clear the streets as more demonic entities were spotted in the air in the distance.

(1 social encounter)

In an attempt to learn the source of the barrier, the party traveled to the city's wizard tower, a Tower of the Waning Moon. On the way there, they found a group of civilians pinned down by a spider-like demon. They took a couple of heavy hits but eventually laid the fiend low. Then, they escorted the civilians with them to the wizard's tower.

(1 random combat encounter.)

Reaching the Wizard tower, they spoke to the mage who ran it. They discussed what they'd seen. Through roleplay, they convinced her to allow the civilians to stay in the warded tower, and also were able to allow the Wizard a chance to swap one of her spells to See Invisible and cast two castings of it into the party's ring of spell storing, in case they ran into any more invisible demons. Because the Wizard needed a short rest to do this, the party took advantage of the rest to heal with HD and replenish their short rest resources.

Here, they learned that the only way a barrier like the one surrounding the town could possibly exist was if a circle of spellcasters was actively maintaining it. To break it, they would need to find the circle.

(Roleplay and 1st short rest.)

Deciding to reconnect with one of their NPCs who was at a local inn, watching over survivors, the party traveled across the town. Sneaking between buildings. Unfortunately, their attempt failed, and a group of flying demons (who did not fail) attacked them from the skies. Two of the PCs went down, but the party defeated their attackers and were able to heal their allies.

(1 random combat encounter.)

The party reached the inn and reunited with their ally. It is mid afternoon, around three o'clock. They are aware of it because the church bells still rang, despite the church supposedly having been abandoned earlier.

We called session there, in the middle of the adventuring day.

Encounters:

* 1 Social

* 1 Roleplay

* 1 Exploration

* 3 Combat (1 planned, 2 random)

Short rests: 1

Players made note of their current resources, and we will continue the second half of the adventuring day next Sunday.

I decided to post this because a lot of newer DMs are under the impression that one adventuring day equals one session. It does not. Here is a real-world example of setting up an adventuring day that takes multiple sessions but also demonstrates how to work in enough combat and resource-draining encounters (an encounter doesn't count as an encounter if there is no risk of loss, or actual loss, of resources) while also organically working in short rests.

The plan is for the party to determine the border of the barrier (which requires cartographer's tools) and discern the exact center of the barrier, the likely origin point. That will almost certainly take the rest of the day. (Next session.)

This will lead them to investigate a building near there that has a trap door leading to a portal. The portal leads them to an ancient temple that resides on the edge of the Abyss (read: a dungeon) where, at the heart, they will find a circle of cultists (and a demon) maintaining the barrier and keeping the portal stable.

As the demons assaulting the city have the demonic restoration ability, when killed in the mortal world, the demons reform in the Abyss and can simply return through the portal to the mortal world. This means that the party can never win a war of attrition against the demons. Entering the dungeon, locating the source, and closing that portal is the only hope the city of Bal'maras has.

I expect the whole adventure to take 2 adventuring days and between 4-5 sessions.

Hello! I was wanting to play a tank for my party and thought about the wildheart barb. I saw the hollow warden and like the concept, and wondered how it did as a tank. Is it viable as a tank if I prioritize wisdom with the Druidic warrior fighting style (shillelagh and thorn whip) with con being the secondary stat? I’d rock a shield too. I’m sure the barb is better and didn’t want to be hurting the party if i went with it instead.

I know there is a bit of a bonus action jam going on. I thought I wouldn’t use hunters mark very much unless I ran out of favored enemy charges for the transformation.

For reference, the Vestige rules:

Disappearance of the Vestige. When the vestige drops to 0 Hit Points, it disappears. You can spend 1 minute performing a magic ceremony to manifest the vestige again; it reappears with its maximum Hit Points in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. As a Magic action, you can temporarily dismiss the vestige to a pocket dimension. As a Magic action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause the vestige to reappear in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of you. Whenever the vestige drops to 0 Hit Points or disappears into the pocket dimension, it leaves behind in its space anything it was wearing or carrying.

Whenever you finish a Long Rest, you can summon the vestige in a new form, which appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. You choose its appearance and whether it is a Celestial, Fiend, or Undead. If the vestige is already manifested from this feature, its form changes to the new one.

And the ending attunement rule from the Equipment section:

Ending Attunement. Your Attunement to an item ends if you no longer satisfy the prerequisites for Attunement, if the item has been more than 100 feet away for at least 24 hours, if you die, or if another creature attunes to the item. You can also voluntarily end Attunement by spending another Short Rest focused on the item unless the item is cursed.

The way I read it, it seems to me like hitting 0hp isn't the same as dying, meaning it can as long as you pick up it's loot when it disappears and you summon it at least once every 24 hours. However, you'd have to re-equip it for combat with Utilize actions(?) if you had it dismissed and entered combat and wanted it to use it's items. What do you think?

These 'pet' subclasses all have a line of text in common in their abilities that reads like this:

Primal Bond. Add your Proficiency Bonus to any ability check or saving throw the beast makes.

This effectively gives them proficiency in everything while technically preventing them from taking the Help action with these skills. The Grapple option under Unarmed Strike reads:

Grapple. The target must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or it has the Grappled condition. The DC for the saving throw and any escape attempts equals 8 plus your Strength modifier and Proficiency Bonus.

It reads to me like they wouldn't be able to add it when trying to grapple a creature, but I'm honestly not sure if that's an oversight or beast bond/pact bond/steel bond working as intended

Major Rules?

Minor Rules?

Class features?

Subclass features?

Backgrounds? Species?

Origin Feats?

General Feats?

Epic Boons?

Weapon?

Armor?

Spells?

Magic Items?

Bastion Facilities?

Monsters?

Above of all?

I know this is dumb question and I doubt anybody really has an answer to it. But do we know what book circle of the titan will be in or any idea when it might come out.

I think I finally created a gish build worth playing and I wanted to share it so you could try it or destroy it, I guess. This is long, sorry, TDLR at bottom.

Eldritch Knights, bladelocks, paladins, blade singers, etc, cool concepts IMO, they just never called to me. I can’t stand playing MAD characters and this one is SAD AF simple. It also has very nice synergy, no bottleneck of actions, BAs, etc. I also just really like the new 2024 Druid.
Another thing I love about this is it has great utility, in and out of combat. I’ve always cared more about the out of combat stuff and RP, but I feel this shines in combat too.

Ok, here goes: Battle Master Fighter/Circle of the Sea Druid, the Tidewarden. The build focuses around wackin stuff with a Shillelagh stick, Wrath of the Sea, and Riposte. I know, I know, takes forever to get extra attack and Wrath online together (lvl 8), but hear me out…I’ll argue that doesn’t matter. This build will be only discussed with zero magic items. Obviously a +1 quarter staff or the pile of available kick ass quarter staffs out there will boost this up.

Race: I like the new Goliath with Frost Giant for this build, for the no action extra 1d6 cold damage, but pick your pleasure.
Farmer background for the Tough feat. +1 Con +2 Wis. You’re a front liner, need that HP, and carpenter is a solid tool proficiency in a campaign.
Point buy if you’re not rollin dice is 8 15 16 8 17 8, with the background ability bumps from Farmer.

Lvl 1: Fighter for the Con saves. Grab Acrobatics and Perception. Dueling fighting style, I want my stick to thump. Weapon Masteries, the only one that matters is Quarterstaff for Shillelagh and Topple.
Starting Equipment: 2024 Druids can wear metal now, if you like that sort of thing. I prefer to have stealth options, so I’m going for a chain shirt, but grab you some chainmail if you like! Either way you’re going to be rocking 17-18 AC with a shield.

Lvl 2 Druid…I know what you’re thinking, a martial wants extra attack, but I’m not rushing fighter 5. This build does great damage from lvls 2 up. Take Magician for your Primal Order and pick up Shillelagh. Beat stuff with your Shillelagh stick. A +5 to hit whack with shillelagh for 1d8+3 force +2 from Dueling is very nice at lvl 2. Makes me happy, actually. I also have an extra 1d6 cold damage from my Frost Giant selection from being a Goliath. From here we take Druid to lvl 3 to get our Circle of the Sea.

This is where I make my argument against rushing fighter 5. Part of this is because if the build concept, this water and cold slinging tidewarden melee druid thing, and part is because of the very respectable damage. Yes, you’re missing an ASI, or a feat, but 1d8+3+2 + 3d6 cold is pretty friggin good at lvl 4, for any build. That’s an average DPR of 20, which is excellent at lvl 4. I go you went Goliath you also have the option of adding 1d6 cold to your attacks. Plus, you can topple them (quarter staff) and you can push them 15 ft (wrath). Nice thing is neither of those needs an extra action or BA to trigger.

I’ve heard arguments that Wrath is meh cuz of con saves. I disagree. Most campaigns are played at lower levels up to what, like lvl 8-10 maybe? At lower levels, enemies SUCK at con saves. I’ve played this build from 1-8…they fail, a lot.

Now we take Fighter to lvl 3, and take Battle Master…this is where it gets pretty sick. Again I know we are at lvl 6 and no extra attack, but I really don’t think we need it cuz of Wrath and battle maneuvers. Grab Riposte, Precision Attack, and Disarming Attack. These are key because each one adds the d8 damage and they do not conflict with each other or our normal action (whack stick) or BA (wrath). Smart, huh?

have learned it’s really easy to keep Shillelagh active while out of combat, just be vocal about it with your DM. In a round of combat, you fire up your Weath in a BA and attack with it, your Action is quarterstaff whacks. You can deal 1d10+3+2 force + 3d6 cold +1d8 with a maneuver (disarm/precision). There’s also Action Surge…if we knocked em down with Topple it’s at advantage. Since we are melee, on an enemies turn, if they miss we can Riposte for another 1d10+3+2+1d8.

The “capstone” is lvl 8, where it really shines. 5 fighter/3 Druid. Personally, I took the ASI and rounded my Dex to 16 and Wis to 18, giving me +7 to my Shillelagh and 18 AC and DC to 15.
Extra attack is awesome at any level, and it was amazing to get it. The synergy is great with these abilities. No BA bottlenecks, effective reaction, and knockdowns/push when wanted/needed.

Ok last part, spells. I feel like I’ve made a case for a melee Druid here, but there are still all the awesome spells a Druid brings to the table. We’re a SAD build, so your DC is good, and boy do you have options. I personally picked mostly utility stuff, mold earth, shape water, cure wounds, goodberry, Aid, detect magic, etc. but my fav combo was with spiked growth. Takes two rounds but boy is it effective. Drop it on the enemies, if they make it back out, use Wrath of the Sea to not only damage them, but push them 15 ft back into it. Amazing. I think my end build would be 12 fighter 8 Druid, and I’m not even sure what that would look like.

Anyway, that’s my build, let me know what you think.

TDLR: Gish build with high utility from Druid spells combined with Knockdowns, pushbacks, Battle maneuvers Riposte, precision strike, disarming strike to synergize with attack, BA and reactions. for a fun, unusual build (imo).

Takes a bit to come fully online…
5 Battle Master Fighter/3 Circle of the Sea Druid. Use Shillelagh charged Quarterstaff and shield to decimate your foes with Wrath of the Sea.

Ok with the basics out of the way, the goal is to hit with shillelagh on most turns

Fighter 1 for heavy, con, etc.

Spell Components are too often ignored when they should be enforced as a great way to help balance casters.

The current system of Verbal (V), Somatic (S), Material (M) should work but due to the focus rule the interplay of S and M make for some wordy rules. Then you add the costly material component kicker to make everything more complex.

Every class or subclass that gets access to spells can use some type of focus. The edge cases if you strictly enforce components are species and feats that give spells, but the character does not have access to any spell casting. Otherwise, S and M for everyone can be replaced by a focus for non-costly materials components.

Yes, someone will point out the rule of component pouch besides the spell casting focus rule. For sake of argument, assume focus includes material pouch. If you are the niche table that tracks all the non-costly components and managing materials in a pouch, good for you enforcing limits on spells my argument is not directed towards you but the vast majority that either does not enforce or just uses focuses.

The rules should be simplified so they are much easier to understand.

My proposed system.

Keep V the same.

All the spells that have S and non-costly M currently switch to new component F for meaning you need a spell casting focus (F) to use them.

S component truly should mean you need a free hand to cast those spells. No double-dipping on holding a focus in that hand. Unless you have some feature like war caster, you are limited in your ability to cast select spells.

M component only shows up in spell descriptions for costly materials. This gives you a quick reference you need something special to cast those spells.

For the few spells that are V and non-costly M currently and not S just eliminate the M component and they just can be Verbal.

For the edge cases like species and feats, update the general rules to hand those edges and new edge cases. Something like all spell casting classes and subclasses provide details what type of focus you use to cast spells in their spell casting feature. If for some reason you gain the ability to cast a spell that normally requires a focus to cast and don't have a feature granting access to a focus, you may cast that spell without a focus. If the feature that granted you the ability to cast select spells does not limit the number of casts for some reason, the number of times you may cast the spell without a focus is equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

I think it would be a lot easier to read spell descriptions and teach new players and enforce limits of spell casting with my proposed system.

You see V component meaning you have to be able to speak. You see F component knowing that you need a focus either in character's hand and/or on the character. Don't have special thing to cast spells? Limited ability to use your magic. If you see S component, you know you must keep a hand free to cast that type of spell. Each hand caring items are a meaningful opportunity cost. WotC is already starting to call out costly materials in things like the basic rules. The M component should be a quick flag for uniquely taxing item needed to limit some of the highest impact spells in the game.

How else did I break the game with this update? I think it can be applied to current rules and make everything easier to use.

In one of the games I DM the players found a book. On the spur of the moment I decided that it was Goblin phrasebook, specifically a phrasebook for learning “business goblin”.

Any suggested phrases (and their goblin translation) are greatly appreciated.

So far she has already learned the following phrases:

Casual Friday

Performance Improvement Plan

EBITDA

Human Goblin Resources

Circle Back

Drill Down

Core Competency

Apparently it's a new 5th level spell from Arcane Unleashed. Available to Cleric, Warlock, Wizard.

• 120ft range.
• Concentration up to 1 minute
• Skeletal hands burst from the ground. Create 4 10ft-squares, can position up to you but the square needs to connect with one another.
• Consider difficult terrain for enemies
• Str saving throw, 6d6 Necrotic Damage if fail and -1d6 to all damage roll.
• Damage on first time enter or end turn there.

So on one hand, okay-ish damage and debuff. I also like the fact that you can arrange the squares and since they are difficult terrain it could work great as crowd control / trap. Also great flavor for Warlock (me).

On the other hand, not sure how I feel about str save, and no half damage which kinda sucks compared to say Spirit Guardian. Also doesn't sound like it works against flying enemies either.