#many many multiclass combinations and splits

[asimovsideburns]

Hello! I saw this earlier but wasn’t able to submit my answer until now, but I think I’ve got you beaten—I went for a Strength (Athletics) check instead of persuasion, and I’ve factored in some allies (which I assume is allowed since you added bardic?)

Here’s a picture of where I worked out the math, but I’ll write it all out below, it’s a little hard to read

20 on the die

+3 from a wild magic barbarian’s bolstering magic (d3, specified because it’s the only d3 here)

+12 from a level 20 bardic inspiration

+4 from a peace cleric’s emboldening bond

+6 from a stars druid’s cosmic omen (weal version)

+4 from a wild magic sorcerer’s bend luck

+4 from a warlock’s talisman (pact boon)

+4 from guidance

+4 from the ceremony spell (coming of age effect)

+6 from proficiency (level 20 character)

+6 again from expertise (which we’ll get from our class levels)

+10 from peerless skill as a level 14 lore bard

+8 from the grappling strike maneuver as a level 3 battlemaster fighter

+6 from psi-boosted knack as a level 3 soulknife rogue

That brings us to 97 before adding ability modifiers, modifier-dependent abilities, racial traits, or magic items

As a Reborn lineage, we can add +6 from our knowledge from a past life feature (before adding any other modifiers, based on the “immediately after seeing the roll” wording) for a total of 103, but we can do better

As a Dhampir lineage, we can add the piercing damage from a bite attack we made before this check to the check’s total—which brings us to 4+con modifier

But that piercing damage also benefits from spells, so let’s have someone cast enlarge person on us for +4 more, and magic weapon upcast to give us a flat +3 (no rolling dice, and our vampiric bite DOES count as a weapon!)

So that’s 97 + 4 + 4 + 3 + con modifier, which puts us at 108 + our con modifier

Then we have to add our strength modifier, of course, since it’s an ability check

Then we have our artificer friend use flash of genius, and of course we’ll be wearing some Armor of Magical Strength they infused for us, allowing us to add our own intelligence modifier to our strength checks by expending a charge

Totaling: 108 + str + con + int + artificer’s int

I don’t think there’s any feats that will give us dice or flat numbers instead of advantage, and I didn’t go through all the magic items, but the “Manual of” items allow you to go above 20, and the belt of Storm Giant Strength sets your strength to 29, so our theoretical maximums are +9 strength, +6 con, +6 int (from our artificer buddy), and maybe we grab a circlet of intellect for +4 int ourselves if we have less than a 19. If we dumped strength and bumped int, counting on that belt, we could even have a +5

If we did, then our total is:

108 + 9 + 6 + 5 + 6 = 134

But the magic item math with specific numbers is off the cuff, I hadn’t added all that up before I started writing this

EDIT: actually I think if you drop lore bard and take your expertise from soulknife you could probably do fiendlock 6/soulknife 11/battlemaster 3 and get 10+10+8 for 28 instead of 10+6+8 for 24 but I don’t remember if that makes something else not work

d&d challenge for free homebrew!!

howdy yall :o)

so i came up with a silly little challenge ... as much as i love indie ttrpgs, i do still love and play a lot of d&d too so i wanted to do something fun with d&d mechanics

if you can answer my riddles three (this one question) you can choose any homebrew i've done and get a free download key for it!!

the question:

According To My Calculations, the highest possible skill check in d&d 5e would come out to a 68 ... all highest numbers on the dice, with max modifier and buffs. how do you get to that number?

anyone who can get it right (or correct me with a higher number and explain how they got it!!) before i publish the answer can choose a homebrew to download!!

[cagemasterfantasy]

Tempest Domain Ranking (5e)

Guide

1=useless

2=often useful

3=sometimes useful

4=perfect

Domain Spells

Level 1 Fog Cloud and Thunderwave 3 Fog Cloud is a great escape or crowd control mechanism. Thunderwave is tempting for when you get in over your head in melee and need to buy yourself some space or need to break a grapple but remember that it’s on a Constitution save and those tend to be high

Level 3 Gust of Wind and Shatter 3 Gust of Wind is very situational but Shatter is basically diet Fireball and it works with Destructive Wrath so you can maximize the damage

Level 5 Call Lightning and Sleet Storm 2 Sleet Storm is a mediocre crowd control spell and Call Lightning is frustrating and can be very difficult to use to great effect. Note that Destructive Wrath only applies to a single damage roll not to the whole spell so using it with Call Lightning is largely pointless

Level 7 Control Water and Ice Storm 2 Ice Storm is a bad spell and Control Water is only useful when you have a large body of water handy which isn’t often in most campaigns

Level 9 Destructive Wave and Insect Plague 4 Destructive Wave does excellent damage of types which are very rarely resisted but since the damage type is split Destructive Wrath only maximizes half of the damage dice. For the same 5th-level spell slot Shatter does 6d8 damage (maximizes to 48) while Destructive Wave will deal 47 on average (30 maximized plus 17 average) in a much larger AOE while also excluding your allies so Destructive Wave does still win over Shatter in the vast majority of situations. Unfortunately Destructive Wave doesn’t benefit from upcasting because it’s intended to be a Paladin spell. Insect Plague is a fantastic area control option but has some overlap with Spirit Guardians. Insect Plague uses larger damage dice but due to spell slot scaling deals roughly the same damage as Spirit Guardians. Both spells have 10-minute durations and require Concentration. Insect Plague is cast at range and has a larger AOE so you don’t need to stand in the middle of the AOE but you also can’t move it. The 2 spells are roughly equivalent but excel in different situations

Bonus Proficiencies 4 Heavy armor is great on a Cleric. Martial Weapons add a few more combat options but Clerics are bad at using weapons and martial weapons don’t change that. With heavy armor and Wrath of the Storm you might pick up a 2-handed weapon though cantrips will still be more effective as you gain levels and add extra damage dice

Wrath of the Storm 3  at low level this will outright kill enemies. At high levels it’s a mild deterrent

Destructive Wrath 3 great for when you absolutely positively need to Shatter every enemy in the room. Don’t be tempted to use this with Wrath of the Storm that’s a tragic waste of a great ability. Unfortunately Cleric’s spell list includes very few spells which qualify for this so your best options are from your domain spell list unless you multiclass

Thunderbolt Strike 3 this combines well with Wrath of the Storm when you need to get out of melee for whatever reason and since Wrath of the Storm still deals half damage on a successful save you’re guaranteed to get the push effect. Unfortunately Clerics don’t have access to any cantrips which deal Lightning damage. This would be great if it worked with Lightning or Thunder damage but it doesn’t. Like many similar effects this only specifies that you push the target away rather than directly away. This means that you’re free to push them upward and away potentially launching enemies 10 feet into the air and forcing them to fall 10 feet from where they were previously

Divine Strike 2 Thunder is among the best damage types in the game but Clerics are still bad at using weapons

Stormborn 3 near-permanent flight! Flight is absolutely crucial at high levels and getting it this easily can free up resources for more exciting things. You won’t be able to use this inside dungeons and other common adventuring locales but this is still very helpful

[dmsden]

A History Lesson - Looking back at D&D’s history

Hullo, Gentle Readers. Well, this is the 5th Monday in March, and that means I get to write about anything I want! It’s also my birth month, which means it’s my anniversary of getting into D&D (42 years!), and that has me feeling nostalgic. Coupled with a discussion I had recently with some friends, I thought it would be fun to look back at the various editions of D&D and give you all a bit of history. I’m not going to get into Gygax vs Arneson or any of that. I’m only talking about the published game itself, not its creators or its storied origins.

The original D&D (or OD&D as it’s sometimes called) came in a small box. It had three booklets inside - Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - along with reference sheets and dice. Each was softcover and roughly the same dimensions as a DVD/BluRay case. The game was pretty rudimentary - for one thing, it assumed you already had a copy of Chainmail, D&D’s direct wargame predecessor. It also recommended you have a game called Outdoor Survival for purposes of traveling through the wilderness. It had only three classes - fighting man, magic-user, and cleric - and nothing about playing other races. It did have the insane charts that 1st edition would ultimately known for, and it was possible to play a pretty fun game of D&D with it, as its popularity would come to show.

The game expanded through similar chapbooks - Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry, Gods Demigods & Heroes, Swords & Spells. With the exception of the last one, each brought new facets to the game - new classes like Thief and Monk, new spells, new threats. It was clear the game was going to need an overhaul, and it got one.

I consider this overhaul to yield the real “1st Edition”, as so much of the game didn’t exist in those original games. The game split into a “Basic” game, just called Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

The basic game was a boxed set that included a rulebook, a full adventure module, and dice...or, well, it was supposed to contain dice. The game was so popular and new in those days that demand for dice outstripped production. My copy of D&D came with a coupon for dice when they became available and a sheet of “chits” - laminated numbers meant to be put into cups (we used Dixie Cups with the name of the die written on it), shaken, and a random number pulled out without looking. It was meant to introduce new players to the game, so it was a trimmed down version. Races were human, elf, dwarf, and halfling, and classes were fighter, cleric, magic-user, and thief. The box only included rules for going up to 3rd level, with the intention that players would then graduate into AD&D. This is where I joined, with the old blue cover box set and In Search of the Unknown, before Keep on the Borderlands even existed.

AD&D was the game in its full glory. Along with the races I mention above, we got half-elves, half-orcs, and gnomes. The four basic classes also had sub-classes, like paladin and ranger for the fighter, druid for the cleric, illusionist for the wizard, and assassin for the thief. There were rules for multi-classing, as well as “Dual-classing”, a sort of multi-class variation for humans only, which, when done in the correct combination, could yield the infamous bard...which didn’t actually yield any bard abilities until around level 13 or so.

This edition had 5 different saving throws for things like “Death Magic”, “Petrification & Polymorph”, “Spells”, and so on. It had the infamous Armor Class system that started at 10 and went down, so that having a -3 AC was very good!  It also had specific attack matricies for each class; you would literally look on a table to determine the number you needed to roll on a D20 based on your class, your level, and your opponent’s armor class. It was fun, but it was very complicated.

It also had some, frankly, shitty rules. There was gender disparity in terms of attributes, which my group totally ignored. Because the game designers wanted humans to be a competitive the game, and because non-humans had so many abilities and could multiclass, non-humans were severely limited in the levels they could achieve in most classes. In fact, some classes, such as monk and paladin, were restricted only to humans.

As the years went on, things got a bit muddled. It probably didn’t help that the rules in Basic D&D and AD&D didn’t perfectly line up. In D&D, the worst armor class was a 9. In AD&D, the worst armor class was a 10. All of this led to an overhaul, but not one considered a separate edition. AD&D mostly got new covers and new books, like the Wilderness Survival Guide and Dungeon Survival Guide, Monster Manual 2, and the Manual of the Planes. It got a number of new settings, too. In addition to the default Greyhawk setting, we got the Forgotten Realms setting for the first time, details of which had been appearing in Dragon Magazine for years, thanks to the prolific Ed Greenwood. We also, eventually, got the whole Dragonlance saga, which yielded the setting of Krynn.

In this new version, Basic D&D broke off into its own game system to some degree. Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling started being treated like classes rather than races, with specific abilities at different levels. Higher level characters could be created using progressive boxes - Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal, each with its own boxed set and supported by Mystara, a completely different setting that got its own updates over the years. It was odd, because D&D essentially was competing for players with AD&D, and I remember arguments with friends over which version was better (I was firmly in the AD&D camp.)

In 1989, when I was in college, they finally brought forth 2nd edition D&D. This streamlined things a little. Armor Class still went down, but now attack rolls boiled into a single number called To Hit Armor Class 0, or THAC0. It made the whole process of figuring out what you needed to roll a bit less cumbersome, but it was still a bit awkward. The classes got a lot of overhaul, including making Bard its own core class. But what I remember best about 2nd edition was the boom in settings. This was the age of settings, and many beloved ones got started, including Dark Sun, Planescape, Ravenloft, and Spelljammer.

It was also the age of the “Complete Handbooks”. They brought out splatbooks about every class and race in the game, as well as books expanding several concepts for the DM, such as the Arms & Equipment Guide, the Castle Guide, and the Complete Book of Villains. There were also splatbooks about running D&D in historic periods, such as Ancient Rome, among the ancient Celts, or during the time of the Musketeers. The game got new covers for the rule books again, and a bunch of books about options started coming out. It was a boom time for books, but many people complained there was too much.

Without going too deep, TSR ended up in severe financial troubles. They declared bankruptcy, and there was real fear of the game going away. And then Wizards of the Coast (WotC) stepped in. They helped TSR get back onto its feet, and they helped produce some modules specifically engineered to help DM’s bring an end to their campaign...possibly even their whole campaign world...because something big was coming.

That something big was, of course, 3rd edition D&D. The game got majorly streamlined, and many sacred cows ended up as hamburger. AC finally started going up instead of down. Everything was refined to the “D20″ system we’ve been playing ever since. Races could be any class. There were no level or stat limits for anyone. After years of the game being forced into tight little boxes, it really felt like we could breathe. I had stopped playing D&D, but 3rd edition brought me back into the fold. I often say that 3E was made for the players who’d felt constricted and wanted more flexibility.

The trouble with 3E, and its successor 3.5, is that it was still a dense and difficult game for newcomers to get into. It’s been acknowledged that D&D essentially created many of the systems we see and know in other games - experience points, leveling up, hit points, etc. But trying to break into the experience for the first time was difficult. The look of 3E was gorgeous, but I understood that it must seem awfully daunting to someone who’d never played.

4E and its follow-up, Essentials, was an attempt to course correct that. They tried to make this edition incredibly friendly to new DMs, and, frankly, they succeeded. By creating player classes and monsters and magic-items that were all very plug and play, they did a great job of creating a game that someone who had never DMed before could dive into with no experience or mentor and start a game pretty easily. Encounter design was given a lot of ease, and there were promises of a robust online tool system that would help out with many of the more tedious aspects of playing.

There was also a lot of shake up in terms of choices. Suddenly, new classes and races were proliferating like crazy. We got the dragonborn, the tiefling, and the eladrin right in the core book, but we said good-bye to the gnome and half-orc at first. Suddenly the warlock was the new class everyone wanted to try. We got paragon paths and epic destinies that would really shape a character as time went on. The game went very tactical, as well, which some of us loved. The concept of rituals came into the game. Later books like the Player’s Handbook 2 and 3 gave us back gnomes and half-orcs, and also gave us minotaurs, wilden, shardminds, and githzerai. We got new psionic classes, brand new class concepts like the Runeknight and the Seeker...

But there was a tremendous backlash. People felt that, in making the game so very plug and play, they’d taken a ton of choice away from the players. Without the tools (which were never that robust, frankly), it was almost impossible to navigate the massive panoply of options. And, worse, it was harder and harder to develop encounters without those tools. People complained that the game had gone more tactical in order to sell miniatures and battlemats. Given that I have never played the game without miniatures and battlemats (since I started in the days when D&D was still half-wargame), I found this odd, but I also understand my style of play isn’t everyone’s.

The one argument I will never understand is that it didn’t “feel” like D&D, or it was somehow ONLY a tactical game and not a role-playing game any more. Again, given that the original game didn’t even call itself a role-playing game, this felt odd. Personally, I roleplay no matter what game I’m playing. If I’m playing Monopoly, I’m roleplaying, doing voices, and pretending to be something I’m not. I honestly enjoyed 4E, and I know a lot of folks who did, too. A lot of it may simply come down to style of play. But I also enjoyed all the games that came before, including Pathfinder. To paraphrase the YouTube content creator The Dungeon Bastard, “Does your game have dungeons? Does it have dragons? Great. I wanna play.”

As a sidenote, in the months leading up to 4E’s release, a lot of internet videos were released by WotC emphasizing the nature of change and talking about differences in the rules. They also released some preview books showing the direction they were heading. WotC must have anticipated that people were going to find this edition very different indeed. They also cleverly brought in some very funny folks - Scott Kurtz from PVPOnline and Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade - and got them to play D&D for podcasting purposes. Looking back, this must’ve brought in a lot of listeners who might never have played D&D and given them a reason to try it out.

After its release, WotC clearly noted that missteps had been made, as this edition of the game was losing them players. They began work on what they referred to as D&D Next, and, this time, they did massive amounts of playtesting, some of which I participated in.

I don’t feel like I have to describe 5E to any of you, Dear Readers, as you could go to virtually any store and pick it up. I am a big fan of 5E’s simplicity and elegance, and I suspect this is the edition of D&D we’re going to have for some time to come, especially given its popularity. Given the effect of podcasts like Critical Role (and I might save an article on Critical Role’s importance to D&D until my next Freestyle article), D&D is likely more popular now than it’s ever been, with a much wider and more diverse audience than ever before.

I know I’m painting with broad strokes here, but I hope this was, at least, entertaining, and maybe you learned something, Gentle Readers. Until we next meet, may all your 20s be natural.

[self-loving-vampire]

What makes an RPG combat system good?

Combat is, for better or worse, a big part of most roleplaying games. It is definitely possible to have a good RPG with terrible combat or even no combat at all, as some games have proven throughout history, but generally it is still treated as the core mechanic of the genre. What does it mean to do it right? What are some common ways in which combat fails to be interesting or engaging?

For this post I will be limiting myself to turn-based combat systems, as I feel that action combat tends to have a whole different set of strengths and weaknesses that are much more readily apparent and often more related to technical issues and janky animations than design flaws.

So, here are some relevant areas.

1- Variety

Generally, the more viable, meaningful, and fun options are available to the player the better. 

At the most basic level, this typically takes the form of different character classes, spell schools, or specializations. However, truly great games go beyond the bare minimum of “Fighter/Mage/Thief” in what they offer to the player and frequently also include multiple distinct ways to build each character type.

For example, let’s look at some of the games I just said have great turn-based combat systems.

The Temple of Elemental Evil is a very faithful adaptation of a D&D 3.5 adventure of the same name. As such, it has all of the core Dungeons and Dragons classes, such as druids and monks. As the game is taking from the established tabletop system, there are also many ways to build each class and multiclassing is also an option.

As the game is party-based and loaded with options, you can have various types of party compositions (or even try a solo run). For example, you could use barbarians or paladins as your front-liners instead of fighters, or you could use a druid instead of a cleric as your healer.

The two Pathfinder CRPGs go even further, having a character creation system worthy of Dark Souls boss music. Wrath of the Righteous adds to this by also including a variety of cool mythic paths with tons of overpowered new abilities and nice aesthetics.

Wizardry 8 doesn’t have nearly as many options as the Pathfinder games, but still has a respectable amount (11 races and 15 classes) that is enhanced by the fact that you start the game by creating a whole party rather than a single character and making a lot of its classes rather unique rather than merely hybrids of the others. For example, the Gadgeteer class can pick locks and disable traps just like a rogue and shoot guns from a distance, but their signature mechanic is actually the ability to combine various items into useful gadgets that can essentially recreate spell effects and can be used at the cost of stamina rather than mana.

However, while party-based gameplay can help in this area by adding issues of party composition to considerations, it is not necessary. 

In UnderRail, you control only a single character yet there is an incredible variety in playstyles. You can play a sniper, a sneaky silent assassin, a melee tank, a hand-to-hand combat specialist, a psionic, a trap expert, and more (including combinations of the above). The game uses a classless system where your character is specialized primarily through their stats and Fallout-style perks. You can build a character here to see what options are available.

However, I would say that the free roguelike Tales of Maj’eyal still goes harder than any of these in the variety department. You start out with only a few basic (but still well fleshed-out) classes, but as you accomplish things in the game you can unlock more for future playthroughs.

There are 37 classes in total, and each can be built in radically different ways. Some of these classes are quite unique as well, such as timeline-splitting time mages, psionic solipsists who can shape reality with their will, cursed warriors who can curse all the equipment they pick up, and much more.

You are always doing both cool and interesting things in that game and even simpler classes have their appeal.

2- Depth

Combat should be more involved than just attacking, using stronger attack options (like spells) where possible, and healing when needed.

There should be not only several viable playstyles in general, but each individual combat should present at least some level of complexity that requires planning and then also adapting those plans as circumstances evolve.

If variety is done well then half of this point is already taken care of. The best way to expand upon that even further is through enemy variety and good encounter design.

Besides just having different attributes and resistances, enemies should have different tactics, more interesting weaknesses, and also immunities to certain abilities.

D&D/Pathfinder-based games often have this built-in, as the tabletop systems they use have a huge variety of distinct enemies. However, I think the game I want to highlight in this area is UnderRail, which I have written about previously.

Encounter design is a bit more complicated, but at its core it means that as many fights as possible should be at least somewhat interesting. This is one area where few RPGs, even ones that have otherwise great combat, don’t go that far.

As my D&D books say: A group of enemy orcs in a plain 30x30 room is boring. A group of orcs with bows behind cover at the end of a narrow bridge is far more thought-provoking. Most CRPGs are far closer to the former than the latter.

UnderRail once again comes through as particularly good in this area, as it features many environments that not only feel natural (as opposed to game levels) but also make a huge difference in how fights play out, especially given the player’s ability to sneak through areas and prepare traps and ambushes.

Of course, environments are not the whole of making interesting encounters (things like balance and interesting combinations of enemies are also things to consider), but out of the many factors that compose it I feel like this is one that is often overlooked in turn-based RPGs.

These two things: Variety and depth, are probably the most important to me when it comes to evaluating turn-based RPG combat. However, there are still other things that are more minor but still helpful, such as good animations and sound effects.

[theworldbrewery]

multiclass your... WIZARD

Wizards have a lot of flexibility depending on subclass, so I’ll be selecting the best choices for a multiclass for each basic Arcane Tradition you could pursue. Keep in mind that wizards can cast spells in armor that they are proficient in, so if you’re planning to multiclass into a melee group, you don’t have to prioritize Dex to avoid taking too many hits.

Abjuration Wizards

Take a melee-oriented class such as monk or fighter. Your Projected Ward at 6th level only works on creatures within 30 ft of you, so to make use of it you should expect to be in melee range. An Eldritch Knight fighter could get you some sweet sweet bonus spell slots; and if you’re going to be in melee range of enemies, a couple of higher hit dice won’t hurt. As for monks, you can use those ki points best for Patient Defense and Step of the Wind, keeping a squishy spellcaster from taking too many debilitating hits.

Conjuration and Illusion Wizards

Take a skill-based class such as rogue or ranger. Rogues get expertise, which can let you increase your intelligence-based proficiencies, and taking the Arcane Trickster subclass if you go that far can get you a handful of bonus spells and spell slots (using the same spellcasting ability, Intelligence!) (you can also try out the Eldritch Knight fighter, which is like the Arcane Trickster in its spellcasting) As a ranger, your abilities in the skilled area can enhance your wizard’s utility outside being a glass cannon. Rangers can also serve as excellent ranged attackers, so you can stay at a distance while still attacking if you’re running low on spell slots.

Divination Wizards

Divination spells have the most overlap, generally, with clerics; with a reasonable wisdom ability score, you can regain spell slots when you cast a divination spell, and you’ll learn all those delicious cleric spells without having to inscribe them in a spellbook, so it won’t cost you anything to do what you do best--at least with lower-level spells taken with the cleric multiclass.

Enchantment Wizards

Enchantment wizards get one ability at 14th level that relies on their Charisma ability score, so if you’re hoping to take a Charisma-oriented class, now’s your chance. With a decent Strength and a decent Charisma, you can take a few levels in Paladin to both increase your total spell slots and grant yourself a little Lay on Hands if you need it. As a plus, you don’t have to have a great dexterity to pull this off, because when you multiclass you gain proficiency in light and medium armor. 

Alternatively, you can dip into Warlock, Bard, or Sorcerer for extra spell slots sooner and some bonus cantrips. Sorcerer’s metamagic lets you do some things that are similar to your Arcane Tradition ability Split Enchantment, but it could still be worth the overlap.

Evocation Wizards

Evocation grants you a lot of damage-dealing effects, so you don’t need much in the way of weapons abilities. For this reason, I recommend rounding your Evoker out with classes such as rogue for its Cunning Actions or monk for ki point bonus actions for avoiding damage after you’ve moved into range for a clutch spell. Monks take more skill to multiclass (two ability score prerequisites instead of one) but are worth more to a glass cannon thanks to their Unarmored Defense and Unarmored Movement abilities.

Necromancy Wizards

Necromancers don’t have any need for getting up into melee, since they have undead to do that for them. Instead, choose a class like druid (choosing the druid Circle of Spores or Circle of Wildfire at second level). These subclass options let you choose a different effect when you use Wild Shape, instead of transforming into an animal--this allows you to continue casting spells while having Wild Shape active. Circle of Spores is useful to increase your HP and deal additional damage, while Circle of Wildfire gives you a creature to command on the battlefield while you deal damage from a distance.

Transmutation Wizards

Transmuters can create transmuter stones that grant them special perks while in combat, and can later polymorph themselves without using a spell slot, both of which allow them some up-close combat if they so choose; but the transmutation spells themselves tend to be buffs and debuffs that you don’t want to lose concentration on. Take a level or two in monk, fighter, or rogue to enable bonus actions, greater speed, and higher AC (either through dexterity, armor proficiencies, Unarmored Defense, or some combination of the above) to help you keep your concentration up on those buffs and debuffs.

Wizards might be the toughest class to multiclass in, seeing as how they’re the only class that relies on Intelligence, what the fuck (with a handful of Int-based subclasses thrown in) but I’ll be damned if I can’t give you a list of at least a few decent options!

If you like what we do here on The World Brewery, consider buying us a coffee!

[jace-the-writer-guy]

A dream game of mine

These are the ideas I often come up with for a dream game, and it just combines so many elements from different things I've played or watched videos of into one huge and crazy thing that would be amazing to see and play. It's pretty much a pipe dream in this lifetime of mine but I can't help but imagine it. So without anymore stalling, here's all my ramblings about it.

I would just really love a game like Skyrim is, but just... more. Like Skyrim has a bunch of the adventure/exploration elements I love in a game, but I didn't think it had enough diversity in scenery and it all felt cold because of the part of the world it was set in.

I would love a game that was like Elder Scrolls Online in size with all the different provinces you can go to with all that land to explore between the snowy areas, desert areas, and forest/jungle areas and all the settlements that would be scattered throughout. And all the scenery in that game was beautiful to me. And along with that, add the crafting/blacksmithing stuff from ESO too, because that was the main thing I did when I played the game. I created everything I used from different swords and armor.

And speaking of swords and armor, I'd love the game to have what ESO does, which was have there be different styles of weapons and armor you can craft after you read the plans or whatever for it. Like a steel sword can be one style, or you can craft it in another style but it would have the same stats, just a different look. Same with armor too. Or a greatsword could be more on the skinny side, or you could make it be a massive weapon like what the Buster Sword is.

Whatever weapons you favorite will be visible on your character and you can choose where you want something specifically placed. For example, a Ranger could have their bow across their chest and back and their quiver of arrows at their back either behind either shoulder or at their waist, or on their thigh while they have a dagger on one hip and a sword on the other. You can't have too many weapons on your body though. There would be a weapon wheel you can bring up that lets you choose between what weapons you have favorited.

The weapons and armor would be highly customizable too. Like with armor, you could mix and match different pieces or furs to make something unique to you, and for weapons you could add different accessories to them like jeweled hilts or carved bow shafts.

As for the exploration, I think it would be a phenomenal thing to focus on in a fantasy game. With so many environments like what I mentioned above with forests to snowy areas, there can be some absolute magic to be discovered like beautiful lakes or ponds, or something like my Heaven's Clearing area I created in my RWBY AU. Mountainous areas with waterfalls cascading down the rocks? Giant trees in a gorgeously lush forest with a treehouse village? A snowy village deep within the mountains? An ancient and run down fortress in a canyon with only one small valley to access it? Sprawling cave systems in the mountains? Tropical beaches? A beautiful oasis hidden in the middle of a vast desert? Explore and you can find stuff like this and more.

Examples of the sights you could see. I don't know the artists sadly. I found these all on Reddit at r/imaginarylandscapes)

And if and when you find this stuff? Build there if you want! It could be like Fallout 76 with the C.A.M.P. thing, but you have such an extreme amount of freedom to build kind of like in Minecraft, and have the building be like a mix between Minecraft, 7 Days to Die, and Ark. Build what you want from a nice, cozy little cabin in the woods, or a big estate on the mountainside with the waterfalls going under the house. Make it as big and as grand, or as small and as cozy as you want it to be with loads of decoration stuff you can build, and with different variations to the decorations. Different styles of beds, candles, wardrobes, chests, doors, windows, whatever. Just give unmatched variety. And of course for all of them, you would have to go out and find the materials, like for a simple cabin you would have to go out and either buy the lumber, or cut it down yourself. Or if you want to just dig into the side of a hill or mountain and mold your home from there, you absolutely can, given you have the equipment to dig it all out. Or you could just be a nomad and camp around anywhere you wanted while you travel and not be held down to one place.

Character customization would let you be able to make the character you want for a fantasy game like this is in my imagination. Loads of different hairstyles, body types, eye/hair/skin colors, customize your height to be the size of a Goliath (in D&D) or a gnome and so on. Pick from a variety of races from human, different races of elves, dwarves, halflings gnomes, goliaths, orcs and tabaxis', mix races, and more. And in game, you can really pick any type of clothing/armor style you want from even more choices. And along with that, you can of course pick different classes for your character to be from a fighter/warrior, to a ranger, to a magic user, to a bard, or whatever. You pick your skills from a huge list of stuff for each class and you go around and do what you want to do as that character. And like with Dragon's Dogma (one of my favorite games), you can change your class instead of being tied into one class at really any point in the game that you felt like. And you can multiclass too and combine any two classes you want to try.

Magic in the game would be more... magical. Like you start out with basic spells if you're one of the magic using classes with sorcerers getting a bit more, but it all starts out as just looking very dull. And when you train and level up your magical abilities and find new spells out of the huge selection of them in the game, the magic gets more and more bright, vivid, colorful, vibrant, and flashy too so you can actually see the results of all the levels you poured into your magic.

It wouldn't just be exploration though, considering weapons, armor, and magic would be in the game. There would be so many different jobs and ways to make gold to choose from, and there would be multiple long running quests you could accept that would be like something from D&D. And a thing for that is that the game can either be single player and you can pick a party of NPCs to join you through your adventures, or you could switch it over to multiplayer and invite a few of your friends in to explore the world together or do these quests and split the rewards from both the journey itself and the reward for completing the quests. The questscan have different styles, like serious ones and some where there can be some fun, like a Borderlands mission.

And as something in between these quests, you could have different jobs you can choose from like I mentioned. You can start your own mine or lumber yard to sell ores, precious gems, or wood to anyone (NPC or player) that wants/needs it. You can do guard duty for someone, you could scout an area out for any dangers for someone wanting to build a house or for military, or chart out unknown parts of the world and draw a map of it (provided you take a cartography skill) and sell them to people. You could even just be a simple hunter and hunt game to provide meat and pelts for yourself and for trade. Or be a bard and make some music between more somber songs or uplifting ones, or ones where you just tell the tales of events that have happened in the game. And for that, the game would have a huge score of music. And there would be bounty hunting quests as well, and sometimes they can lead into something more.

You have the choice between if you want to be a combat focused character or a trader/craftsman focused character or something along those lines. In single player, you could hire an NPC bodyguard and they would be extremely competent (unlike the referees in WWE games :p) in battles in order to protect you. Or in multiplayer, your friends could provide your protection while you create trade routes or gather materials, or explore the world for treasures. And it could be the other way around with you being the bodyguard and your friend being the one you're protecting too.

Choose your own backstory from a huge list of options. You could have a backstory as a simple farmer, a guard, a soldier, a trader, a blacksmith, a mercenary, or a craftsman to name a few. Each backstory comes with a specific set of gear depending on the backstory and an area of the world you start out with and in. Like a mercenary would start with light armor and a battle axe, having just completed a job in the colder regions so you would have fur cloaks and armor or you could have just completed a job in a more tropical spot of the world.

And romance too! You could have your character romance any NPC in the game no matter if they're male or female, unless they're already married. Or if you want to do a bit more, romance them both! Start a family with them, and hire bodyguards to protect them while you're out adventuring, if your spouse doesn't have any combat skills of course. Or hire bodyguards anyway to secure your childrens' safety.

See a dog you want to adopt? Adopt it! Same with cats or any other animal you might see up for adoption or for sale from somewhere. Each province have different kinds of pets you can get, so traveling the world for your perfect hunting/travel buddy or housemate may be something to do. And you can name your pet too. Or you could even capture and tame a wolf or tiger or something in the wild too if you wanted. Also, you can pet your pets. Give them attention!

For travel, you could either carry the bare essentials on your character and just walk either alone or with a companion by your side, or you could save your gold for a horse or go tame a wild one to ride through the world. And on top of that, you can buy different types of wagons to carry all the things you need to set up a larger camp for yourself or for your companions. Larger wagons mean the need for an extra horse. And you can also buy or craft accessories for your horse and wagons, like different saddles or canopies respectively.

And also for travel across the seas, you can either pay for passage on a ship or save up gold to buy your own and hire your own crew to go on voyages. Along with that, one thing you could do is become a pirate if you chose to in case you didn't want to just spend your days on land, or become a trade vessel to transport goods from place to place, or you could even just have it become a passenger ship and take gold to take people across the sea. Search for buried treasure and pillage other ships as a pirate, or discover an island to claim for yourself and your friends.

One thing that would be in the game would be hunting, from small game all the way up to dragons. The hunting is something I enjoy so much in Red Dead Online that I would love to see it in a game like this with so many animals and creatures. Of course there would be stuff like boars, deer, bears, and animals like that but there would also be fantasy creatures to try to hunt, and the biggest, baddest, most difficult, and most rewarding would be dragons if you chose to hunt them. But you could just stick to hunting normal animals too, because that can be very rewarding in its own way like with what I said before about hunting. And of course, you could go fishing at one of the many rivers, streams, ponds, or lakes in the game too.

There would be two separate modes you could do between a more casual experience or something more hardcore. The casual mode would be that you don't have to worry about eating, drinking, sleeping, or worrying about temperature to survive while the survival mode would include all those things, plus the need to watch out for poisons, venom, or diseases or anything like that so players can enjoy the game how they want to enjoy it.

One thing about the game is that there is single player and multiplayer of course, but the multiplayer would have private servers and public ones for if you only wanted to play with friends, or if you wanted to take it online and interact with a bunch of other players. And on top of that, there would be separate servers for players who only want to have a peaceful time with other players where they can't attack each other at all, and servers where PvP is fully on for the players that want the danger of dealing with other players that want to take them out so there aren't those types of people in the same servers. Choose your server, choose your experience.

Another thing that would be a part of the game is full, unrestricted mod support. Create mods for the game to craft it into something truly special either with different weapons, armors, spells, quests, races, or anything. Download any mod you want at your discretion, no matter what it is. And the mod support would span all platforms the game is on with absolutely no restrictions regardless of platform or the content of the mods.

To make the game even more special, you can create a new character at any time you want, and your previous character will still be wondering the world while you're starting anew. And if you end up finding your other character, you can form a team with them and easily switch back and forth between the two. That would make it possible to create your own adventuring party rather than hire NPCs or relying on your friends. Or, you can just have your characters be completely separate. And if you wanted to, you could possibly romance your own characters if you can't find the right NPC in the huge world.

The hud would be something very simple, with a health and energy/mana meter, a mini map, and radar. Each thing here can be toggled on or off so you could just have your health and energy/mana showing while turning off the radar and map, or you could have it all be turned off to have nothing on your screen for a more immersive experience. You can switch between third and first person to increase that even more.

Basically what I want is some huge fantasy exploration/adventure/action/RPG, something so huge with so many things to do that it has such an immense amount of playability and replayability. Something set in an hugely detailed and gorgeous world with multiple large provinces/climates/biomes. It would take an insane amount of time to try to explore every little part of the world, along with completing all the quests. And there would never really be a shortage of quests because they would keep being added every once in a while to the game through free updates, along with the ones added through mods.

That's all I have to share about this huge, crazy, borderline impossible dream game of mine right now. I might add more to it if/when I think of more. I hope you all enjoyed the read if you decided to read it. I'd love to hear what you guys think, and I'd love to hear your own ideas if you have them.

[kleeboy]

okay im deleting and reposting this because i put a swear word in the tags and it wasnt even showing up in searches for my personal, and i don’t trust the mobile editor to fix my problems but its time 4 me to make a post

Here's what I’ve got for a Thunderbirds D&D AU! I'm not gonna get into numbers and stats and levels because I do that enough when I play normal d&d and I'm gay and tired. Also, there’s probably gonna be a touch of rule bending not only to reconcile d&d with the Thunderbirds canon but just to boost the fun factor a bit. It’s not like we’re setting up a playable campaign so it doesn’t really matter as long as we’re not making it unrecognisable as part of the d&dverse. At that point, you might as well just call it a fantasy AU (still lit tho lmao). This is mostly TOS based but I’ll add some notes on TAG stuff now and then in italics because I’m here to provide. It’s hefty, so everything's under the cut. Hopefully comprehensible.

IR (presumably going by some other name but we’ll just stick with that for sake of ease) is still a rescue organisation - it operates on a somewhat smaller scale but access to magic means it’s got a pretty big reach for typical d&d technology. It’s centred around an ancient deity that few people have heard of and even fewer worship. There’s only one known temple dedicated to said deity and it had been abandoned for a long time before they found it, so it’s currently being restored - if rather agonizingly slowly. Anyway, IR is deity-based because nothing screams “fight for a cause” like paladins! They’re paladins, mostly, is what I’m saying.

Jeff is likely an ex-adventurer, probably a paladin but I’m seriously considering cleric just for interest’s sake so sue me, I love clerics. His party did some pretty cool stuff back in the day, and adventuring pays well as long as you don’t die, so he’s pretty well off. He left the party and settled down in one place when Scott was born, and the rest of them presumably disbanded and went about their own lives eventually. Or maybe they’re still out there causing a ruckus. Who knows. Pretty easy to just say “and he’s not there anymore” for TAG, rationalise his disappearance as you please. Either way, at some point he decided to start an organisation that would make saving lives a bit more structured than the usual “Let's hope a squad of adventurers stumbles on our predicament” that people have been relying on.

Scott is a Battle Master archetype fighter who multiclassed into paladin. Battle Master provides the most appropriate mechanics for a field leader, and also seems like the sort of thing Scott would have been doing previous to IR. He’s the least proficient spellcaster of the group if only by virtue of his class, but access to paladin magic gives his fighting an extra kick which, along with the Battle Master maneuvers, makes him pretty damn dangerous with a sword. It also means he can cast Find Steed, and because said steed’s form can go beyond normal when permitted by the DM and we’re making the rules here I’m giving him a pegasus, which is about the fastest flying mount you could get as far as the monster manual goes. A roc would just be too much. Very VERY cool. But too much.

Virgil is a College of Lore bard into paladin. When it comes to support classes, nothing beats a College of Lore bard for versatility. He’s got the range, darling. Slap an arsenal of magic items on that and you’re well on your way to the d&d equivalent of Thunderbird 2. He has some good offensive spells and weapon training but mostly works to keep others from getting hurt. With a high constitution, the Tough feat, good armour and a shield he pretty much becomes a mobile wall to be put between danger and anyone who can’t take too many hits. Find Steed again lets me give him something interesting to ride, and what better than an owlbear. A big one. Not quite as appropriate stat-wise as the pegasus for Scott but when it comes to aesthetics I’m yet to find something as good as a bear-shaped and -sized owl.

John is predominantly a Divination wizard, with a low paladin level - two maximum - giving him access to a lot of powerful magic but leaving him, how do you say, squishy. Divination is gameplay-wise pretty underwhelming, with not many spells to its name, but for someone whose job is centred around keeping an eye on things, the ability to see very far away and receive premonitions is gonna be useful. The system by which distress calls are sent is giving me some concept trouble but when it comes to receiving it’s as easy as a focus with some capability to project images and sound, gear already necessary to cast Scrying. So, as in canon, rather than going out on missions (at least for the most part), it’s John’s job to keep tabs on incoming signals and active operations. This is all based in the previously mentioned temple - out of the way enough to let me call it a T5 equivalent. He also has the secondary job of making sure nothing else tries to take up residence in the decrepit building. They had to clear it of goblins the first time. As far as Eos goes I don’t have room for all my thoughts (so many) but let’s call her a sentient magic item. Additionally, TAG John probs gets a level or two in cleric.

Gordon is a paladin into druid, Circle of the Land (Coast). He and Alan didn't have any previous class levels before becoming paladins. Neither of his classes give any bonuses for it beyond proficiency for paladins but nobody can stop me from making his primary weapon a longbow, plus the Sharpshooter feat is helpful. Coast druid is the only subclass of any d&d class that has a specific focus on water and what could go wrong if we let him turn into animals? It also has some good circle spells, when he gets to that point. He’d probably have a lot of fun with Mirror Image. There was probably an incident that catalysed his becoming a druid, I'd like to think it's the equivalent of the boat crash just placed on a different point in the timeline. Might get into it at a later date.

Alan is just pure paladin, it's all he's really had time to do with his life so far beyond being a kid and growing up, y'know? I’ll get a little into the subclass here, all of IR’s 3rd level or higher paladins take Oath of Devotion. From the PHB: “These paladins meet the ideal of the knight in shining armor, acting with honor in pursuit of justice and the greater good.” Devotion’s core tenets are honesty, courage, compassion, honor, and duty. Also their Channel Divinity: Sacred Weapon is just really cool. Who doesn’t like glowing stuff, man. Alan's got some more powerful paladin abilities than any of his brothers but probably has the lowest total level regardless. Giving him the Athlete feat, which lets him jump and climb a lot easier, feels appropriate. He snuck a griffon home when it was a baby, and is trying to train it. It's not very well behaved and causes a ruckus when it gets bored but he adores it. One day it’ll make a phenomenal companion. For now, it will continue to attempt to eat his fingers.

Brains is an artificer! Love that class. Artificers, rather than casting spells (though they can do that), make magic items. The artificer class is from Unearthed Arcana and a lot of the mechanics can be hit or miss, it’s been revised many times by lots of different people. But when it comes to the basic idea, it’s the obvious choice for Brains. The less common a magic item, the longer it takes and harder it is to make. The higher level an artificer the more, and more powerful, their creations are. Pretty simple. Also pretty much every version of artificer you come across has some sort of option for a mechanical companion so there’s MAX for you.

Tin-Tin is also an artificer, with a few levels in paladin for good measure. Her time is split between making and repairing gear and going out on missions, and when on call is incredibly useful for lightning fixes and is incredibly creative when it comes to the ways magic items (and nonmagic items) can be used to get out of predicaments. This is the character who constantly has Inspiration. Kayo is an Assassin archetype rogue into paladin. Assassins do… a lot of damage. If you know much about d&d rules (I don’t expect you to), the only thing scarier than a bard, stat wise, is a rogue. +10 to stealth is pretty easy to get by 5th level, combine that with Sneak Attack and Assassinate and you can deal up to 26 damage in one hit with a dagger alone. I said I wouldn’t do any maths but I lied.

Penny doesn’t necessarily have any class levels, though rogue would be appropriate. She falls more under the NPC umbrella, somewhere between Noble and Spy, perhaps? NPCs have a lot less restrictions when it comes to what they can and can’t do laterally, but it’s harder to make them powerful without assigning a class. I also think it’d be really neat to use the fantasy setting to make her nonhuman. High elf would be fitting and cool, but she’d also make a fantastic tiefling. Though, like, call me biased, everyone would make a fantastic tiefling.

I think that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter right now. I have a lot more specific details that I’ll get to eventually but this post is more of a jumping off point listing some options for anyone else who might want to mess around with a d&d AU but doesn’t know where to start. Pick out things you like, ditch things you don’t, add whatever sounds cool, and honestly? Congratulations on getting through this whole thing. This post is kind of in shambles. And thanks! I love taking any excuse to pore over these books.

Shoot me an ask or something if anything’s too incomprehensible or there’s something up with the formatting. Later, skaters.

[infinitree-blog1]

Camp Camp Characters in a Tabletop RPG

Well I say tabletop rpg like it’s a general category, but really I mean Pathfinder since it’s close enough to D&D for most people to know it but it has more options. Campers are around level 3, which is way more than most people get in their whole lives but gives me enough to work  with, while the counselors are level 10.

Max: Rogue, no question about it. He steals things, breaks into places, sneaks around, basically all the things rogues are best at. He’s pretty good at mechanical stuff too given that catapult from episode 2, so he’s at least decent at engineering. He’s also pretty good at getting people to follow him, but his revolution turned on him pretty quickly, so it’s hard to say how he is with social skills.

Neil: Nerris called this one, he’s an alchemist. High intelligence, probably disregards his actual class abilities in favor of capitalizing on that. The moment he finds a compatible sci-fi expansion he’s doing whatever it takes to retrain his class levels into the most intelligence-based class it offers.

Nikki: That’s a tricky one. She likes nature, but she also likes to fight. I’m guessing a level each in barbarian, ranger, and druid so she gets a mix of them. Maybe she’ll settle on a direction as she levels up but for now she’s good with her mix of classes.

Nerris: She calls herself a sorceress, but she doesn’t have any innate magical power. Sorry about that Nerris, but at least you get to have this conversation: yer’ a wizard Nerris. She likes magic but doesn’t have any of her own, she has the patience to memorize all the rules of the various games she loves use, she’d be willing to study if it meant magical power. She does like her sword though, so one of her levels is probably in fighter.

Harrison: The magic kid is a sorcerer all the way. You will not find a greater proponent of the prestidigitation and minor illusion cantrips. He does everything he can to boost his sleight of hand skill and most of his spells are illusion spells, so it can be hard to tell when he’s actually using his magic.

Preston: Could you see him as anything other than a bard? Everything he does is for the sake of upping his perform and profession skills. People might find it weird he actually chose a profession despite having player character levels, but any sap can be an adventurer, he just wants to be a playwright.

Nurf: You might think barbarian, but he remains pretty articulate even when he’s angry so I’d say fighter with a specialization in light one-handed weapons given his propensity for knives. He has a surprisingly high intelligence, accounting for his strong grasp of psychology, but his wisdom isn’t high enough for him to make good decisions based off of that.

Space Kid: He may not actually have any class levels, though like Neil he’s waiting for a sci-fi expansion so he can find a way to get to space. It doesn’t really affect him though, he remains relentlessly cheerful. Whether through sheer rng luck or DM favoritism, he managed to get an item that not only boosts his armor class and damage reduction to ludicrous enough levels to take bullets without harm but also gives him immunity to airborne poisons and diseases.

Dolph: Not really a fan of the adventurer classes, he’s in the same boat as Space Kid. Unlike SK, he still took levels in the expert NPC class so he could specialize in art and craftsmanship.

Ered: No clue. Between high charisma and good social skills, she’s yet to actually do anything class related on her own, instead convincing others to do it for her. The high charisma, combined with the possibility that she knows the charm person spell, indicates she may have at least one level in bard or sorcerer.

David: This bright sunshine man splits his levels between bard and druid, accounting for the musical talent and the nature skill. Survival, performance, and knowledge (nature) are the only skills he reliably invests in, the rest of the time he puts a single point into various profession skills so he knows as many disciplines as possible in order to cover a wide variety of fun activities for the campers. 

Gwen: Gwen never really focused on a single class, instead multiclassing into several different ones because they all interested her at the time or seemed useful. By now she regrets not focusing on a single class, as she doesn’t have any of the nifty high-level abilities she would have gotten from any of them if she’d stuck with them.

The Quartermaster: No one knows and no one is brave enough to ask. Some suspect that he has levels in a class from some expansion made for evil characters. The more prominent, and justifiably dreaded, rumor is that he has no class levels, but an entry in the monster manual.

Campbell: He took one level in ranger, then went with rogue the rest of the way. He still brags about his skill in nature despite spending far more time scheming, conning, swindling, lying, and otherwise being a conman.

[peridot-slytherin]

Homebrew Dnd 'Crsytal Gem' -Rough Draft!-

This race is unique in the fact they have specialized weapons (they may carry one in a pocket dimension) and natural armor. They can be identified by their unusual skin color which would be the same color as their Gem and by the Gems located somewhere on their body. Their Gem is one part of their body they can not change, not even its location. Their Gem is always a precious or semi-precious cut stone.

They can temporarily change their looks (to include changing to other races, animals and objects) at will but the longer they stay outside their permanent form they must roll percentile for form instability. They can not change their color for these changes (If their skin is purple and they turn into a pot, they will change into a purple pot).

To change part of their look permanently they must go into an unconscious state for 1 D10 days. They may attempt to rush the change but must roll percentile for instability.

Unconcious full Gems will recede into their basic gem forms. They are vulnerable damage in this state. But will not have to make death saving throws unless hit with attacks (auto-stabilize?). When rendered to this state they will remain so for 1D10 days to regain form and may use percentile to experience a permanent change to form.

Unconcious half Gems will not go into a basic Gem form and must make saving throws. They can not be healed or saved through healing magic. In order to heal Gems must take a short (using hp die) or long rest.

Ageless. Gems choose they age in which they appear but how long they live is thousands of years. Most Gems choose to appear as adults.

Gems do not have to eat but may choose to do so. Many do not and find the act of eating brutish and disgusting.

Half gems will need to eat.

Gems do not have to sleep, some do choose to participate in this and when they do they also get the chance to dream. When they do not sleep they may choose to meditate instead.

Half gems will need to sleep to avoid exhaustion.

Gems and half Gems may fuse with other willing creatures they share a race with. Fusing takes half a round. There is no fuse limit but only 1 fuse may happen per action.

Each Fusion will:

Their Gems will combine into a new gem type for the duration of the fusion, skin will change to match.

Increase size by 1 category.

1.5x movement speed

Split class benefits and attack types (multiclass)

Post fusion any who participated in the fusion must take 1 point of exhaustion. Fusion is concentration based VSM. Two Gems may permanently fuse if they roll a percentile dice.

Race stats:

+1 strength

Low light vision

Can not gain proficiency in any armor class