DM Basics: The K.I.S.S. Standard

After last week’s post covering tips for new DMs, I decided I would like to delve into the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) standard that I usually follow for my gatherings. These are the steps I follow to make my scenarios, simplified down to a beginner level. These steps will work if you know your group in advance, however, I would not suggest something like this if you are going to play with a group that is entirely new people to you.

4 Steps

The way I am going to handle this part is I am going to list the 4 basic steps I normally start with. After lining out those 4 steps, I will then delve into each one to show the kind of things I would do for each one.

1. Figure out a theme for the adventure. This can be as simple to as the type of wilderness it will take place in.
2. Opening Scene. This is where I am going to set the tone of the scenario. This will usually be just an introductory scene to where we are currently at if new, or a kind of recap if we are picking up where we left off from another gathering.
3. Encounters. This is where I am going to put a few paths that I could foresee my players taking.
4. Ending. I do suggest knowing where you want to end the day at in advance. That can be a time limit to actual game play or it can be a part of the story you want to be at by the end of the session. I have had many a game drag on because I did not make a good ending place.

Those are the basic steps I follow. This alone is the short method I use for my Play-Through Party Posts show casing a class each week. To use this method long-term there will need to be some additions added to it that I will go over at a later time. For now, lets take a deeper look at the steps. I will then do an example of each step.

Step One: Theme

The most important part of this step is knowing your players and their characters. You need to know how many players you have, and how each one of them likes playing. Are they all role-players? Or do you have someone who loves fighting? Or maybe you have someone who enjoys exploring the world around them? No matter their play style, this is where you will need that information. Another big thing you will need is the backgrounds of the characters. Do the characters all share the same background? Or do you have sages, hermits, outlanders, criminals, acolytes, etc? This will also help you figure out the kind of things that can happen in the story.

After figuring out the group and their quirks, ask them if there is anything specific they want to see. Maybe they will say they are sick and tired of fighting Kobolds (true story here from personal experience) and want to fight some humans or anything, just not kobolds. Maybe they will tell you they want to be in a certain environment. For example the players may want to be in a forest or in an urban setting. These are all the things that can come into play here.

To find these things out, I would suggest 1 of 2 things. Either 1, having a session 0 where you all get together to make your characters and talk about the adventures you would like to have and any other expectations they have of the adventure, or 2, sending out a mass text or email or Skype call to the group and get some input. The story that you are making is starring these people, go ahead and involve them in the making of the story. You do not need to share major plot points or anything like that, but you can get things like this from them. It will make them feel as if their input matters and it shows them you are serious about making it a fun experience for everyone there.

Example

A lot of the time, my wife and I will play 1 on 1, or two player Dungeons and Dragons. This is where her character will be the center of the story, and I usually have some bumbling buffoon running around trying to screw things up for her.

I got her to help do the redux of the Play-Through Party for the Bard with her bard we had made a few weeks back that she had not had a chance to try yet. So to get things set up for the story, I knew she was playing an Drow bard with an outlander background, that was heavy into nature (tree hugger basically). So I knew she would not want to spend a lot of time in town based on this, and I also knew that she would not want to spend excess time dealing with people as her character has no time for other people, friend or foe.

From that starting point, I told her to pick a type of environment, and she chose arctic because she has never done anything in the arctic before. With this information in tow, we know that the story needs to be in the arctic area, outside of town enough to avoid unwanted pleasantries from the townsfolk, and that she has a protective nature over her part of nature. This gives us a good starting point and some potential ideas for some plot later on in the story.

Step Two: Opening Scene

This is where we take everything we have gathered in the step one and add some meat to the bones of it. We are going to take that paragraph there and start making a little area in an unknown world(you do not need to worry about world building yet, remember K.I.S.S.) for our protagonist.

Example

Since the Play-Through Party was the initial story for her character we had to add a bit of detail to get things rolling. Based on what we know from step one, I decided to give her a small shack in the forest outside of a small coastal town. Being a Drow who ran away from the evils of her people and the under dark I did not put her in a cave home, but instead put her in a tree house about 10 feet up in between some large trees. We then proceed by describing that opening scene to the player. Flesh out the details of the shack to the player and give the forest some depth since it is the important part of the surroundings to the player.

Step Three: Encounters

For this step, this is where I put just about everything that happens in the story. You can plan your encounters, random encounter tables, puzzles, traps, chase scenes, world events, plot twists, plot points, etc. here. I will go into depth on these things at a later time. For starting out just check out the monster by environment list in the back of the DMG.

Example

I made a scenario where there was another bard person being attacked in the forest by bandits. Her character being chaotic neutral could have gone either way of her helping or walking off. So to make sure she had things to do if she didn’t help, I set up a few other different encounters that would happen if she walked away from the fight. I did this so she would not be bored because she likes fighting in DnD 5e. I then set up the encounter in the town where she would see a flying asking for local bard talent at the bar that night, knowing her character had no money to start with, she would take that bait, or at least look into it. Then I set it up to where the bard from the forest fight she avoided, would show up at the tavern for the “bard night.”

This provided a few different encounters. And it gives me an inkling of where I want to stop at in the story for the session.

Step 4: Close Up

This is the simplest, yet the hardest step. You need to figure out where a good stopping point is in the story. Sometimes that stop at a big plot twist is a great device to get your players to want to keep playing next session, however, if the cliff hanger is done too much it can get annoying. For example thing of the TV show Friends. Hugely successful show. Every season ends on a massive cliff hanger except the last one. They did this as a way to drive the plot forward. Making sure they get return viewers in the process.

You also do not want to end on a streak of crappy rolls. I know that I have been in groups where we ended it was a defeated feeling to end on a crappy roll streak. Give them a few more checks to help get out of that defeated attitude.

Example

For me I know I wanted the story to end after her “shift” at the tavern for bard night. I knew that if she just did a bunch of good rolls and got some coins, that would be a good stopping point for the quest as well. I also juggled the idea of stopping prior to the bard night at the tavern as that would give her something to look forward to, but decided against it for the sake of the actual play through showcasing the bard playing some music.

With all that said, there are dozens of different ways to play your game. Some people will plan out every little detail to their story, some will plan out nothing and make it all up improv style on the spot. I tend to follow this because I like a middle ground on the two. I like to take these steps to plan ahead then when it actually comes down to step 3 playing out is where I let my players run wild and role-play their hearts out.

Thanks for reading, good gaming, and God bless.

Play-Through Party #5: Warlock

For this week’s Play-Through Party, we are going to be featuring the warlock. Like most things in 5e, they made the warlock better than its ever been. They have made them even more distinct spell caster in 5e than they have been before.

“Caelynn looks up at the canopy of trees above her head. She can realize that the sun has begun to set, and here she is knee-deep is swamp water. She has made this trip many times before. It is her shortcut home on her trips from the ruins where she met her Patron that she simply calls Old One. She thinks to herself, “Just a little longer Caelynn. Old One watch over my foot steps.” She pushes forward, the feeling of the swamp water pushing against her every movement only getting strong with every step. She finally reaches the point where there is solid ground again, then she hears, “Caelynn, there are 2 vile creatures in my swamp. They do not belong here, get rid of them.” She replies out loud, “I will do so.. where are they Old One?”As, she finished asking her question, she sees 2 kobolds trudging through the swamp water off in the distance. They have not seen her yet. Her eyes glow with eldritch power.”

She crouches down behind a bush, giving her advantage, since she has not yet been spotted. She holds her hand out and a crackling beam of green eldritch energy sports forth from it and hits the kobold in the head. 2 dice 17 and 13. 17 + 4 connects with the Kobold. She deals the kobold 12 (1d10 + 4) damage, killing it instantly. The other turns around and, being 60 feet out runs closer and readies a stone in its sling. It rolls a 2 + 4. The stone falls short of Caelynn. She stands straight up and holds her hand out again, emitting a massive green blast of eldritch energy. (Nat 20) She deals the kobold 13 damage. The kobold goes flying through the air and slams into a tree. She dusts off her knees from crouching down behind the bush, then hears in her head “Thank you. My swamp has been cleared of vile creatures.” She replies out loud, “It was no problem. They were weak.”

“She finally reaches the edge of the swamp, and can see a camp set up in a clearing. She sees 2 men sitting around a campfire. Perception DC = 15. She rolls a 16 + 2. She sees that there is enough tents set up for at least 10 men. These 2 are obviously left here to guard the camp. This camp had not been here when she last came through a month ago. Feeling her eldritch power coursing through her, she raises her hand again. Pointing it at one of the men at the campfire. Then she lowers it… A grin washes over her face. She begins whispering vile words to a short melody through the air..”

The bandit rolls a 3 on their Wisdom saving throw. The whispers reach the bandits ears. He stands up and clutches his head. She rolls a 6 + 2 + 1. She deals the bandit 13 damage. He drops to the floor. The other bandit grabs the only weapon he can find. A light crossbow. He loads it and fires at her. She takes 5 damage. She clutches her arm where an arrow now rests, and readies herself against this foe. She holds out her hand sending forth that eldritch blast yet again. She rolls a 18 + 4. The blast connects with the bandit dealing him 10 damage. He stumbles around, trying to stay balanced and readies another bolt. He fires, and the bolt goes flying by her head. He rolled a 4 + 3. She lets loose another bolt of energy at the bandit. She rolls an 11 + 4. It connects and deals him 5 damage. He hits the ground.

“She walks into the camp. Grabs the extra bolts from the bodies for her own crossbow. She looks around. Perception DC = 15. She rolls a 15 + 2. She on a table in the main tent there is a pile of papers and a small chest. She tries the chest to see if it is locked and it opens right up. She finds 15 gold and a stack of papers. Each one of these papers has a different face on them and a name below each face. As she is looking at each paper, she tries to see if she can remember what kind of paper these are. History DC = 15. She rolls a 12 + 0. She cannot recall them. Then she gets to the last page. As she looks down she is able to tell what these are. These are wanted posters. This last page is a wanted poster for her. She then sees a note on the table. She scans it over quickly not able to read some of the over the top fancy writing she sees on the page. But she can make out one line, “these are the people who know the secret of the ruin in the swamp. They must be dealt with.” She grabs note and the papers, crams them in her bag, and goes to head out the tent. The Old One rings out in her head as she exits the tent, “RUN!”

That is it for this weeks Play-Through Party. This should give you an insight into how the Warlock works a little. It went over most of the things you can expect from a warlock. Of course, with it being the only character in the story, it is overly heavy with role play and communication with her patron.

Good gaming and God bless.

Play-Through Party #3: Bard Take 2

A couple weeks back we did a Play-Through Party featuring the Bard. Although this was fun, it did not showcase the skills of the bard really. So I decided to redo it. My wife is using her drow bard that she made, called Miní. The name is Lakota Sioux for water. She chose the name because she is an outlander who lives by herself in the wilds.

“The cold wind blows through the cracks of Miní’s small shack. This shack is perched about ten feet up between some large trees. She rolls to face the east and sees that sun is shining through the cracks already. She knows that the sun has already started its daily ascent into the sky.

She rolls out of bed and puts her armor on. She then wraps herself up in her cloak and pulls her hood up to protect her from the old wind. She approaches the trap door in the floor, opens the hatch, and descends the ladder.”

She descends the ladder safely. Acrobatics DC = 10. She rolls a 16 + 4.

“When she lands on the ground and hears shouting in the distant. ‘Jimmy banged your mother last night! And your mother last night was quite nasty with Jimmy!'”

She tries to hear where the sound is coming from. Perception DC = 15. She rolls a 13 + 4.

“She can tell that the sounds are coming from the east. She decides to head east towards the sound, but she stays off of the path, in the trees. To further try to mask her presence, she crouches down as she gets closer to the noise.

As she gets closer, she can hear multiple voices now. Again she hears, “Jimmy really liked what your mother did last night!” She reaches a point in the tree line where she can see there is a clearing. She sees one man, sword drawn, being surrounded by 3 other men. She has a good hunch that the man being surrounded is the voice that was screaming obscenities.

Miní, sees this issue as an issue that she does not need to be involved in. It does not appear that they are harming animals or the forest, so she walks back the way she came, staying in the tree line.

When she is about 65 feet back she sees hears a loud BOOM! She immediately turns on her heel and tries to see what it caused the sound behind her.

Perception DC = 20. She rolls a 1. As she turns around, she stares blankly at a tree, and can confirm that it is indeed a tree, but not the source of the sound. She becomes very disgruntled, travels back to the fight, about 15 feet back.

Perception DC = 15. She rolls a 12 + 4. She sees that 2 of the 3 guys that were encircling the other, are laying sprawled out on the ground. The third is standing about 10 feet back and staring blankly at the insulting man. This man, the one she suspects to be the one hurling insults at people is unscathed and does appear to be a bit tipsy even. She can see that there is a small keg at his feet with a mug on top. She decides that this man has this fight under control, and is even more disgruntled that a human affair like this even piqued her interest. “

She heads back west away from the fight again. She gets about 200 feet away from the fight, and a wolf jumps out of the trees at her. The wolf’s teeth are snared and it appears as if it is ready to jump any second. She decided to try and calm the wolf down.

Animal Handling DC = 15. She rolls an 18 + 2.

She throws a piece of her rations on the ground in front of the world and the wolf takes it and scampers off. After the wolf scampers away, she hears another loud BOOM! echo through the trees.

She is fed up with the human affair and will not be turned back towards the sound a second time. She continues heading west away from the sun. She passes her tree that her shack is in. She decides that she needs to go to town and restock on supplies and grab food. She keeps going west towards the town of Falkreath. As she is heading towards the town, she comes to a small clearing. She is still walking off the path. She sees two men in leather armor sitting around a campfire eating something. She sees that there is gray wolf pelt on a rock that has fresh blood on it.

Perception DC = 15. She rolls a 16 + 4. She moves closer to the campsite, but still in the trees. She sees that there are dozens of traps. Some big enough for bears others small enough for rabbits. She becomes infuriated by the fact that they seem to appear to be over hunting.

She whispers a sharp melody at the closest hunter. (Dissonant Whisper) The hunter rolls a Wisdom saving throw of 4. She rolls 14 total(3d6 + 6). She sees the hunter double over and blood starts rushing out of his ears. He hits the ground.

ROLL INITIATIVE!

Miní = 10.
Bandit = 14.

The other bandit takes his foot and shoves his ally on the ground seeing blood also pouring from his eyes as well. He grabs his light crossbow sitting next to him and readies it and jumps behind the rock.

Miní whispers another melody towards the other bandit. Saving throw of 3. She rolls a 18 (3d6 + 6). A bolt comes firing out from behind the rock, then she hears a large thud as the crossbow and something heavy hits the rock.

“She loots the crossbow, the pelt and 3 traps from them. When she sees the second mans face, she sees that his face has started to meld with the rock form the force of the mental anguish.

She now heads to town to trade in the crossbow and pelt. She walks into the shop where a midget stands on a box behind the counter. She approaches the man, and places the light crossbow, bolts, and pelt on the counter. ‘I’ll give ye 5 gold for the lot.'”

Persuasion DC = 15. She rolls a 1. She tries to say, “They are really worth 10 gold.” The midget slams his hand on the counter, and says, “Ah bull crap ot is worth 4 gold now!” She being done with the man swipes the 4 gold and scampers off. As she is walking out of the shop, she sees a flyer saying that there is a need for bards at the tavern. The date they are needed is today. She scampers off to the tavern.

She walks in and sees a few people inside. She approaches the bartender, a short, stalky, slow-witted, bald man stand behind the counter polishing glasses. She asks, “Are there any openings left for the gig tonight? I can play the shawm.” He looks at her, “Yea. We have a slot left. It is the first slot though, so won’t be as many folk here. We pay 2 gold and have a free room and meal for ya as well if you do good. You can also take tips.” She replies, “Seems fair.” She eats her free meal, and heads upstairs to her room to practice. She tries to play her shawm. She rolls a 3 + 6. Realizes she is not up to snuff. So she practices more and gets a 17 + 6. Performances DC = 15. Both checks. She kicks back and rests until her time to head down stairs.

She heads back down and readies her stuff on stage. She sees the place is filling up, about 40-50 patrons inside. She begins playing her shawm. Performance DC = 15. She rolls 18 + 6 for the beginning of the set. She rolls an 11 + 6 for the middle. She rolls a 19 + 6 for the big finish. It is at this point that people begin tossing some gold coins on stage. She takes a bow, and grabs her belongings and the coins on the floor. She counts them up and sees she got 15 gold.

“She goes and grabs her 2 gold from the bartender as well. It is at this point that the next bard takes the stage. He did not do as well as the Miní just did, so the crowd is not as into it. However, Min&iacute does realize it is the man from the forest earlier. She decides to go congratulate the other bard. “Good job, nice to see another bard.” He replies, “Yea Jimmy really likes playing the lute. Jimmy likes playing the lute. Jimmy thinks playing the lute is fun.” Miní, “I have never heard anyone talk like you before, that is unusual.” “Jimmy always talks like this. Jimmy is quite unusual.” She walks upstairs to spend the night in a well insulated building, out of the cold. “

After this post, this should give my patrons a little bit of a better picture of how a bard can function in and out of combat. Hope this clears it up compared to the last post coving the bard.

Just Me Being Racist… Dwarves!

Of all the peoples in the realms.. These people are the worst. They are loud, obnoxious little folk, who come in her getting overly belligerent. They scream all kinds of random curses at people and always try to start a fight or compare beards… yes my patrons.. I am speaking of those horrible little dwarves.

Dwarves

This week we are going to look at another one of the familiar races in fantasy games. Dwarves are the hardiest of all the people. There are strong and sturdy like the stone that they work with. They are short little folk well under 5 feet tall and can weigh as much as humans. They can live as long as 400 years old and have a memory that matches it. Dwarves tend to favor justice and they are all slow to forget any wrongs they have suffered. And if you wrong one dwarf you wrong that dwarf’s entire clan. Dwarves, much like the explorers from Europe in search of new land many centuries ago, set out with 1 of 3 things in mind: God, Gold, or Glory. Some of them set out with all three things in mind.

Sub Races

There are two sub races that are included in the players handbook; the hill dwarf and the mountain dwarf. The hill dwarves have good senses and are resilient people. The mountain dwarves are the stronger and hardier dwarves. They are used to being underground and used to difficult terrain of mountains. These dwarves tend to be taller and have a lighter complexion.

The hill dwarves have the dwarven toughness feature. This gives them +1 hit point to start and +1 hit point every time you gain a level.

The mountain dwarves being the hardier folk have dwarven armor training. They receive proficiency with light and medium armor. This makes for a fun character. This means that you could make a dwarven warlock who wears medium armor and gets up close and personal with their foes even more so.

Traits and Bonuses

Dwarves receive +2 to Constitution. Hill dwarves will get +1 to Wisdom while mountain dwarves get +2 to Strength. Because they are smaller their speed is only 25 feet. However, their speed does not decrease for wearing heavy armor. They receive dark vision as well because of their underground heritage.

Dwarven Resilience

They receive advantage on saving throws against poison and have resistance against poison damage as well.

Dwarven Combat Training

They have proficiency with the battle-axe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer.

Tool Proficiency

They also get to pick one tool of their choice from: smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies, and mason’s tools.

Stonecunning

When making an Intelligence (history) check related to the origin of stonework, you get double your proficiency bonus on the check.

Languages

Dwarves read, speak, and write Common and Dwarvish. Dwarvish is full of hard sounding consonants much like our Russians and Germans. These characteristics will spill over into what ever language they speak.

Good Race/Class Combinations

Dwarves make good clerics, paladins, fighters, and even monks. I also see how they could make good warlocks as well. In fact, I am really liking the idea of a dwarven warlock at the moment. One who is able to call upon a mighty warhammer out of no where. Yea.. good stuff. But dwarves can do what ever they want to. If you want a dwarven wizard then go for it! Anybody who reads these posts know I like making the weird class/race combinations.

My Opinion

Dwarves are a blast. They fit my real personality; belligerent disgruntled people who just want to be left to their own thing. I think a party without a dwarf is in for some sad times. Dwarves, despite their “politeness” that they are so great at, somehow they always seem to piss off someone in a tavern somewhere or do something clumsy. Like halflings you can also give a dwarf a toss into battle as well! However, this will give you a lot more of a challenge because they are after all bigger and most likely will be wearing medium or heavy armor. Get with your DM on some DCs for this.

DM Basics:Tips For New DMs

I decided to take a second to do a short post on some basic tips, I received/read when I first started DMing. I just want to include a few as this is for new DMs and do not go in-depth into the game.

As a DM you will wear many hats: story-teller, rule master, world builder, and an actor. You are responsible for properly telling the story in a way that both captivates the readers but doesn’t give so much info they get bogged down in the details and just mull over it all. As rule master, you are supposed to be able to recall, lookup(quickly, such as on your DM screen or DM binder if you made your own), or pull a logical rule out of your butt to work for the situation. As world builder you will create the world the players interact with and change. And finally you are an actor. Not only must you describe things to your players, but you must add some depth and character to the NPCs they encounter throughout the world.

Do not fret if you are not good at these things when you start. There are plenty of us who have been doing this enough to help new players and DMs out there that our little community will take care of you. Also, do not fret if there is something that you are not as good at as you are with other aspects. For example you may be horrible with the rules, such as when you get advantage. Or, like me, you may not be the best of actors. These are the things you will practice on, after you get the things down you do like. Remember Dungeons and Dragons is about having fun!

1. KISS. This was a tip I learned from my high school art teacher, KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. When you first start out DMing you do not need to start by creating an entire world of your own. Now, world building, in my opinion, is the funnest part of being a DM. Being able to create a fully functioning world that the players get to interact with, sometimes even on the spot. (I really need to add some of those places to a map as we go…) Even though it is one of the best parts, take it easy when you first start. Maybe start by running a pre-made campaign or maybe just create a town for your party to explore for their quest.
2. This is one I read recently, that had I known a long time ago I might have done: start your party at level 2 instead of level 1. Their reasoning behind this is because your players start off with low hit points and in the right (or wrong) encounter can be killed in one hit sometimes. Now this makes sense to me, it does. However, I do think that it is a great feeling physically surviving level 1 without getting man handled too bad.
3. Delegate responsibilities. As I mentioned above, maybe you are not the best with rules. If not find someone in the group that is, and have them help out with that. The responsibilities of the DM are a pretty hefty bag to carry, so when a player in the group offers to help with something like that let them. Another way they can help is let them plan the when and where and food and drink arrangements.
4. Adapt your story as you play. If you have planned out that you the players need to be here, but they are nowhere near where they need to be, adapt the story. Maybe someone comes and directs them along with information, maybe they go on a wild goose chase that brings them back around to where you wanted them. This is a good way of making sure your players are actively involved in the world around them.
5. Know your players. If your players all favor role-playing and you never give them a chance to really role-play their characters, or if you players all favor exploration or puzzle solving and you do not give them those things, they will not be having fun. Get some feed back from them about the quests as they go. Or like I mentioned in my post about getting to know your players, ask them ahead of time before you start planning or playing, what kind of things they prefer or would like to see. This keeps players involved, which will in turn make you more involved as a DM because of the good feedback from players.
6. Reward Creativity. If your players come up with a good idea, that has not been done, or is outside the box thinking, AND it works, reward them for it. Whether it be loot, or a feat, or a proficiency at something, or (in DND 5e) Inspiration points.
7. Just have fun. Dungeons and Dragons is a great game that you can play regularly, or play once a month with some friends who cannot meet often. Whomever or however you play, have fun. And remember there is no one correct way to play Dungeons and Dragons. If your players have enough imagination to come up with something good, or something smart that not even you thought of, figure out a way to make it work. As a DM yes is your best friend. Now saying yes to things like this does not mean you will let everything fly. If it is something that is outright against the rules, no is an okay thing to say.

Now I would like to brag on one of my players in my group for imagination. He was playing a fighter, and it was under 4e rules I believe. The party was in a small hallway with enemies bunched in a 2×2 square. We had a wizard who had threw oil at the lot of them, then failed on a spell hit. The fighter had bought in town prior to leaving for quest, 30 some odd flint stones. He asked me if he could tie one of those to an arrow and hit the oil and try to catch it on fire. Now something like that is not in the rules. So in this type of thing you will have to just go with it. Think it out. For this to work, that stone will have to hit at the perfect angle, but it is doable. So, gave him a pretty hard DC check on the arrow. He fired, and actually rolled a bloody 19 on the roll, without bonuses. I let him set fire and deal fire damage to them all.

Like I said, these are not in depth tips, so if there is one here you want me to delve into let me know. As of now, I am just doing general tips.

AND

If you already DM, what kind of things do you do to reward your players?

Have a good evening my patrons! Good gaming and God bless!

Play-Through Party Preparation: The Warlock

Alright, here we are almost time to look at another class’s play style. For right now we will just settle looking at the class and making ours for the Play-Through. First off, the warlock. The warlock is a spell caster who instead of studying tomes like the wizard, and instead of being imbued with magic at birth because of a bloodline like the sorcerer, warlocks get their magic based on a pact with a powerful being. They are the type of characters who love to explore all kinds of knowledge and have an addiction to power. This love/addiction is what drives warlocks to go to further levels with their patron.

Now let’s be honest here, anyone who DM’s, gets so happy when they see a Warlock in their party. In fact a warlock in the party is going to be the DM’s best friend. Why? Because the warlock receives random messages from their patron throughout their time. What does this mean? If your DM cannot figure out how to help you guys out without babying you along, the DM is gonna have that warlocks patron start pointing the way. So now instead of seeing you get sad because you are not picking up on something, you can look of there at your warlock who is just carrying on in a full blown conversation with their patron, out loud, who will then look at you and say, “Wellll… Cthulu really hates our guts.. just wanted to remind us how much.. oh.. yea?… okay. He also says go that way you imbeciles.” Ah, plot pushers.

The Class Stats

Your main ability score is going to be Charisma. Second is Constitution. Of course Dexterity and Strength would be good as well for your next highest if you are going to make an up close and personal warlock, sense they are beefier than wizards and sorcerers.

Hit Points

• Hit Die: 1d8 per warlock level
• Hit Points: 8 + Con modifier
• Level Up Hit Poitns: 1d8 (or 5) + Con modifier

Proficiencies

The warlock will get light armor, the ability to use all simple weapons, again unlike the wizards and sorcerers. Their saving throws will be Charisma and Wisdom and they get to choose 2 skills from Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidation, Investigation, Nature, and Religion.

Otherworldly Patron

As a warlock you need to choose the type of patron that gives you your spell casting ability. There are 3 to pick from: the Archfey, the Fiend, and the Great Old One. Each patron is going to offer different benefits and will give the warlock an extra set of spells to pick when leveling up.

Archfey

The Archfey is a creature of legend that holds power and secrets. They are not evil, in fact most of their desires are whimsical. With this patron the warlock will get the ability to convey their patrons presence, causing enemies to run from them. While leveling up they will gain the ability to vanish in a puff of mist then re-appear out of harms way, the ability to stand fast against charms, and the ability to plunge an enemy into a illusory realm- causing fear and confusion.

Fiend

These are the evil guys. These are not the dark “gods” but are powerful demons and archdevils. Following them gives you the ability to gain temporary hit points every time you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points. While leveling up you will get the ability to use your patrons luck when doing an ability check, the ability to become resistant to damage, and the ability to literally send your attacker to hell mid attack.

Great Old One

The Great Old One is a mysterious entity that is foreign to you and what you know as real. It can come from the Far Realm or it could come from outer space. Their motives and incomprehensible to mortals and their knowledge is so great that no library could hold it all. When you pick this patron you can communicate telepathically to any creature in 30 feet of you as long as it can speak one language. The one language does not need to be one you have in common. As you level up you will get the ability to ward yourself from attack- turning missed strikes from your opponent into advantage for you on your attack, the ability to protect your thoughts from telepathic prying, and the ability to create a thrall-giving you the ability to plague a humanoid’s mind with your alien magic.

Pact Magic

Like I mentioned above the Warlock gets spells from their patron. Thier spell casting ability is Charisma. They get cantrips (you better take freaking eldritch blast if you are playing a warlock)just like any other class. However, their spell slots are very different. Instead of having different level spell slots, their spell slots level up with them. So when they hit level three the move up from level 1 to level 2 spell slots. Any spell you use must be used as the spell level of the spell slot. For example if you have a level 2 spell and have a level 5 spell slot, you must use the spell as level 5.

Eldritch Invocations

On top of regular magic, they also get invocations that help boost their spells or abilities or allow them to use their spells at will. These do not start until level 2.

Pact Boon

At level 3 you get to pick your “path” or pact. There are also three different pacts to pick from: Pact of the Chain, Blade, and Tome.

Pact of the Chain

You get the find familiar spell and are able to cast it as a ritual. This gives you an animal companion that can also be a magical creature such as a sprite or pseudodragon. With this you can also forgo your attack to have your familiar attack.

Pact of the Blade

Use your action to create a pact weapon in your empty hand. You choose the form of the weapon and as long as it is in your hands you are proficient with it. First off, holy crap. You can summon a weapon of your choice, no matter what it is, AND you get proficiency with it. Second, it gains the magical attribute so that in regards to resistances and immunities to non magical weapons.
On top of that you can also perform a ritual to turn a magical weapon into your pact weapon. It takes an hour to do so, but when you are done, the weapon disappears and enters another realm, awaiting your call. If you perform the ritual again the original weapon will rematerialize at your feet, the new weapon taking its place on the other realm.

Pact of the Tome

Your patron bestows upon you a gift. A book, a grimoire called the Book of Shadows. The book allows you to choose three cantrips from any other class list. While you have the book on you, you can cast the cantrips at will and do not limit your cantrips known. If you lose your Book of Shadows, you can perform a 1 hour ceremony to receive a replacement from your patron. When you die, so does the book, it will turn to ash.

Background

The first backgrounds that pop into mind for warlocks are going to be the Hermit, Sage, and Outlander. As always you can have your background whatever please you, but I definitely think of a warlock as someone who is deep in a library by themselves or someone who lives on the fringes of society.

Races

For a nice character who will get bonuses you want someone who gets a bonus on Charisma. Half-elves and Tieflings both get +2 on it so they could be good choices stat wise. You could also go with those who get bonuses to their Constitution, Dwarf being the only one who gets a +2 on it. And of course Humans get +1 to everything so they would also work well. However, like the past 2 classes I have covered, I urge you to be creative, do something weird.

My Opinion

I really like the warlock and what they have done with it in 5e. The Great Old One is the coolest patron I think. The ability to mess with your opponents psychologically really gets my attention. I love the concept that you can break your enemy from the inside. However, I do feel as a Christian you should not play with the Fiend Patron. As a Christian, having a demon whispering my character’s head is nothing I want part of. However, the Archfey and Great Old One are fine by me.
Now, down to the pacts. Aw man do I love the Pact of the Blade. Being able to conjure any melee weapon into my empty hand. I mean think of the possibilities. And you get proficiency on top of that. The Pact of the Tome is pretty spectacular as well. Being able to get 3 cantrips from any class list has so many possibilities that it is pretty hard to turn up.

For The Play-Through

I really could not think of anything too weird this week, so I went with a character that makes sense in theme, but only has decent stats. I made a wood elf female who is the outlander background. Her name is Caelynn. Her patron is the Great Old One. She will eventually have the Pact of the Blade as well. You can find her here.

Play-Through Party Preparation: Bard and Rogue Touch Up

So I am new to doing these posts. That means as I do them I start figuring out better ways to do them or things I forgot to do. In light of that I would like to go back and touch up on a few things with the classes I have gone over so far, before I go over the Warlock class this week. The main thing I skipped over with each class was the different paths that each class can take.

Bard

You can find the bard prep post here.
Guess what? I still love bards. Even more so in 5e! When your beloved bard character hits level 3 you are given the ability to go to school! Well, technically they get to pick a college but still. Your bard can either gain information from the College of Lore or the College of Valor.

College of Lore

Bards who favor this college will gain bits of information and knowledge on everything. Whether it be from people folk tales/ songs, books, etc. they are gaining information from every source they can. These bards tend to favor the pursuit of beauty and truth. They would rather be honest with others than polite with fake pleasantries to those they meet. They gather in libraries and colleges alike to share their information and knowledge. They like to also meet at festivals or affairs of state where they pick apart the lies and corruption of the powerful people.

Upon joining the College of Lore you will get proficiency in 3 more skills of your choice. First off, wow. This is the only class that gets to pick from all of them in the first place upon creation, now they get another 3 of their choice on top of that? Aww yes.

They also get the Cutting Words feature upon joining that allows you to use, as your reaction move, one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to roll it and reduce the attack roll by that much. This follows the rules of Bardic Inspiration that you can do so after the dice has been rolled but must be before the DM determines whether the attack or ability succeeds or fails.

As you level up you will gain more magical knowledge with this College, giving you two more spells of your choice. From any class, not just bards spells. You will also have the ability to use Bardic Inspiration dice to increase your ability checks, eventually.

College of Valor

These bards tell the tales of old heroes long past. Tales of great deeds, feats of skill and strength, stories of new rising heroes. They gather around bonfire and tavern alike, to share these tales.

Instead of skill proficiencies, bards that favor this college will get proficiency in medium armor, shields, and martial weapons. This has the ability to make them quite opponent on the battlefield.

They will also get the Combat Inspiration ability. A bard with this ability uses their powers to inspire others on the battlefield. When you give a Bardic Inspiration die to another character, they can roll that dice to add to a damage roll instead of an attack roll. They may also use that die as their reaction for the turn and add that die to their AC as well.

At level 6 instead of spells they get the ability to make an extra attack when ever you make a normal attack. They will also get the ability of Battle Magic later on that will allow you attack as bonus actions after casting a bard spell.

My Opinion

Aw man. Both of these colleges are great. I really favor the College of Lore because I love spell casting and the like. The fact you become a beast at skill proficiencies and get extra spells. Your party is going to be running around like, oh no I failed, but this guy! This is the college for me. However, I like the concept of the College of Valor as well. Being able to get that extra attack at level 6 like a lot of melee classes get is helpful and the ability to attack with melee weapon after casting a spell is pretty advantageous as well.

Rogue

You can find the rouge prep post here.
The rogue is going to have 3 different paths that it can take when it hits level 3.

Thief

The thief hones their skills in the larcenous arts. They gain skill in stealth and speed and gain helpful skills that are useful at delving into ruins, reading unfamiliar languages, and using magic items.

Starting when you pick this path you can use your Cunning Action bonus action to make a sleight of Hand check, use thieves’ tools, or Use an object. You will also have the ability to climb faster which means it does not cost you extra movement. You will also get extra footage on a running jump. When you get do so you can jump an amount of extra feet equal to your Dexterity modifier.

Rogues who take this path will get the ability as they level up to become better sneaks, use magic devices, and gain better reflexes.

Assassin

A bard who goes down this path puts their training and skills to use in the art of death. They are contract killers, bounty hunters, etc. using stealth and deceit to kill unwary foes.

Upon taking this path you will get proficiency with the disguise kit and the poisoner’s kit. You will also get the feature Assassinate. This feature gives you advantage against anyone who has not taken their turn in combat yet. In turn, any hit against said foe you attack is a critical hit.

As they level up they will gain experience in infiltration, the ability to impersonate others, and will get the ability to deliver a devastating blow to foes they are able to surprise.

Arcane Trickster

Taking their skills of agility and stealth, these rogues mix their skills with magic, learning tricks and spells.

At level 3 they get spellcasting. The spells they get to pick from will come from the wizard spell list. They get 3 cantrips, one must be Mage Hand. Their spell slots will work similarly to how the bards do. And their spell casting ability will be Intelligence. So prepare in advance! The reason that Mage Hand is required is because for them it will be an upgraded spell just for them, called Mage Hand Legerdemain. For starters the hand can be made invisible now. You can use it to stow an item in a container on someone. You can retrieve an item from a container on someone. You can use thieves’ tools to pick locks and disarm traps from a safe distance. You can perform one of these tasks without being seen if you pass a Sleight of Hand check vs the creature’s Perception check.

As they gain levels they get the ability to ambush their foes with magic causing them to have disadvantage, the ability to use your Mage Hand to trick a foe, and the ability to block a spell and gain the ability to use that spell for 8 hours.

My Opinion

I love spells. I love spellcasters. When I saw the arcane trickster path, I was sure it was decided for me. Then the assassin sprung out from the dark at me. The feature assassinate is just so powerful to turn a blind eye to. 😉 Eh? EH? ANYONE? Anyways.. seriously now, the possibilities with the assassin to impersonate someone close to their target, surprise them, and deal crap tons of damage to their back just is way to appealing. Given that it really is a toss up on which one I would go with. It would have to depend on the other members of the group I think.

Now that I have gone back and covered the things that I missed, I can start this week with the warlock being done right.

Good gaming and God bless patrons!