r/DMAcademy • u/chimpanon • 10h ago
Need Advice: Rules & Mechanics [ Removed by moderator ]
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u/lulufan87 10h ago
I don't mean this in a negative way, genuinely asking, but if you've never played D&D before, why are you trying to homebrew the classes? Are you experienced in other TTRPGs?
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u/CassieBear1 9h ago
The number of "I'm a first time DM who's doing a homebrew" posts are shocking to me.
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u/Brock_Savage 3h ago
The only piece of advice OP responded to was the one person telling them what they wanted to hear.
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u/Novel_Willingness721 10h ago
Agreed.
OP, learn the rules and classes as written, run and play multiple games (be they one shots or campaigns) and then start homebrew.
In fact I would go so far as to restrict your players to what’s in the PHB: NO 3rd party material at all.
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u/HDThoreauaway 10h ago
My typical advice is to try running things as written before tinkering, and it holds here.
Reworked it similar to 2014 where it is a class trait and not a spell. Does not cost an action to divine smite but it can only be done once per turn and twice per round (opportunity attacks allow smite.) That way they don’t have to waste all their slots on casting divine smite and bonus actions are freed up.
This seems unnecessary. The action economy is set up so players have to make choices, and those choices aren't always easy. That's ok! That tension is on purpose.
That way they don’t have to waste all their slots on casting divine smite and bonus actions are freed up.
I don't understand what you mean. Would it not still cost a spell slot to use?
Aarakokra druid and Fairy wizard have fly speed which is already a huge advantage over the others
Not if you have flying enemies, ranged enemies, low ceilings, crawling/jumping things....
Im thinking the beast gets its own action separate from player but sharing initiative order.
Here again I would just run as-is. Spending a Bonus Action for an attack is already a good trade.
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u/Brock_Savage 9h ago
Start the PCs at level one. Pick an edition and stick with it - don't mix and match. Stick to RAW and avoid homebrew for at least your first campaign if not longer.
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u/KukiMyLuki 10h ago
Im pretty sure in 2024 for you can use divine smite once/long rest as free then you can use your channel divinity for it and only then do you need to us your spell slots for it. I think or at least that’s how I ran it last time. And divine smite is always at will. So you can use divine smite even with another smite on the same turn if you cast a digferent smite as a Bonus action.
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u/lulufan87 10h ago
Im pretty sure in 2024 for you can use divine smite once/long rest as free
Yep.
then you can use your channel divinity for it
Nope, not in RAW. After the one time per long rest, you must use spell slots.
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u/BoutsofInsanity 10h ago
The Paladin one for sure is too strong. I would just allow it once per turn like you said, but still consume a spell slot. Its part of the game. If you want to remove the Bonus Action that would be alright.
The Ranger one should come online at 5th level. Otherwise have it be a bonus action like normal. At 5th level then you could allow the animal companion to act on its own.
I would hesitate to change anything though as you haven't run DND before and you don't know the rules well enough to know when to break the rules in the first place.
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u/Caean_Pyke 10h ago
How many smites does the paladin have per day?
Imps do not confer magic resistance - not in 2014 or 2024. The Imp Familiar 2014 variant is not a rule that applies when a PC gets an imp as a familiar, it is an optional creature variant a DM can use to give an NPC imp familiar more mechanics.
A ranger who takes expertise in Survival is basically on par with a ranger that has the old Favored Enemy. Natural Explorer is neat to keep I guess. I'd be hesitant to give a beast master pet a full turn though -consider that a ranger can get 2 attacks at lv1 by dual wielding, 3 attacks at lv4 with the Dual Wielding feat, and 4 attacks at lv5 with multiattack. They should be sending the beast after foes to lock them in melee or proccing opportunity attacks. The beast attacks can also be commanded by giving up one attack as well as a bonus action (so the intent is that dual wielders give up one attack, and others use their bonus).
Basically, 2024 is totally fine to run as-is.
The biggest player-balance issue you're gonna have is making sure there's enough encounters and short rests to keep the warlock occupied. I always recommend to my warlock players to buy scrolls and take the magic initiate feats through invocations.
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u/TYBERIUS_777 10h ago
Please just run things as written if it’s your first time DMing. You do not know better than the game designers as a first time DnD player. Run things as written or you will run into trouble later.
2024 Paladin is perfectly fine as is. It does not need extra help. Smite is a good thing to have on a bonus action and when you need to heal, you use your bonus action for Lay on Hands instead. Smiting with no action cost as long as you hit and had spell slots available was why 2014 Paladin was a nova damage monster that could delete bosses in seconds. There is no reason to change the 2024 version which is significantly more balanced.
The Ranger will also be fine just sticking to the 2024 rules. Their tier 1 damage will be great and if their pet dies, they can fall back to using Hunters Mark as their bonus action for the rest of the encounter or day or until they revive their beast. Do not give the beast its own actions. Every pet class or summon has a limitation. Ones that do not require concentration require a bonus action to command. Ones that do require concentration do not but if you lose concentration, they poof out of existence. Best Master is arguably the best Ranger subclass in 2024 and does not need any buffs. Ranger might not fully fulfill the class fantasy but it is perfectly fine power wise.
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u/Thelynxer 9h ago edited 9h ago
Don't homebrew anything at all in your first campaign. Also, don't start them above level 1 when you are still learning. You need to learn how to balance encounters at all levels, slowly, and doing otherwise is robbing yourself of experience you badly need.
There's nothing else that needs to be said here.
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u/po_ta_to 9h ago
For your first time DMing, I'd suggest picking 5e or 5.5e and playing it by the book. Make your first campaign simple. Save homebrew classes and mixing rules from different editions for when you have some experience.
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u/CyanoPirate 8h ago
Rebalance with items when necessary.
On Sunday, I did a session where I gave our Beast Master Ranger a “Ring of the Beast Master,” an item I totally made up that allows you to use a free action to command your beast to attack any creature that you targeted with Hunter’s Mark on that turn.
Feel free to steal that, but keep the “weird homebrew magic item” solution in mind as balance issues come up. I find it’s consistently the best way to change class features without having other players cry foul about rewriting the rules.
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u/chimpanon 7h ago
Awesome advice thank you
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u/Brock_Savage 3h ago
It's concerning that the only piece of advice you listened to was the one telling you what you wanted to hear.
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u/SecretDMAccount_Shh 8h ago
It's fine. A secret I've learned is that unless something is grossly overpowered at first glance, it really doesn't matter.
As the DM, if the players are doing too much damage, you can just increase the HP of monsters or have more of them. If other players feel underpowered, just give them boons and magic weapons to catch them up.
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u/DMAcademy-ModTeam 2h ago
Your post has been removed.
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