@DanielZastoupil Actually only 1 official baddie (the shadow) is technically vulnerable, but many have some of their abilities disabled when they take damage from it
"At 3rd level, during your turn, if you make a melee attack against a creature, that creature can't make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn"
but really swashbuckler is about allowing a rogue to fight with two weapons well against a single opponent while darting in and out of combat with them
Unfortunately, you can't hold a line with it, and most enemies have over 30 speed anyway.
Or have some kind of dumb engage.
At later levels, I found I basically played almost like a ranged character using melee attacks. Used my mobility to harass with melee attacks before the enemy reached us, and hoped the enemy was near dead by the time it reached our ranged fighters.
@DanielZastoupil Yeah it actually works really well with allies despite the intent because if you retreat near allies you can set up situations where they might have to take OAs to chase you.
Illusory Script can be really fun if you want to leave messages in plain sight.
I remember putting up an illusory script in a bar for a specific contact (I was a Harper). To everyone else, it was a cheap-ass job for crap pay on a boat for a year. To him, it was details to where I was and what I needed from him. I put it right next to the front door in bold print for him to read.
It'd be one thing if it were a bonus action, or if as an action you could grant advantage to someone else. Then you might synergize intra-party with a rogue or GWM or Sharpshooter....
Hey all. Jumping in - I hope I'm not breaking etiquette. I asked a question earlier and want to get different folks' perspective. I'm playing a half elf lore bard in a party with a blasty sorc, a moon Druid, and a smiting pally. I plan to dip Knowledge Cleric for armor (prevent damage, less conc saves), but I'm worried that I won't have good damage output. Should I dip warlock? Or will I be able to control the fight enough that the occasional vicious mockery is enough?
This is my first full Caster. I usually stab things in the face.
@HenryWLee1066 Hey, there, no problem. Important thing here, take a look at what your team ALREADY has, and pay attention to what they lose with you gone.
You are the ONLY person in that group with any kind of dexterity, subtlety, or espionage.
On the other hand, the group already has two melee fighters.
Yes, and I'll have skills to spare, so I probably will Help a lot. But in combat, my team would lose "control" of the battlefield without me. Is casting sleep or hypnotic pattern once then vicious mockery enough? Or should I grab more damage output?
I'm so used to directly killing monsters that specializing in combat control unnerves me. I suppose there's enough damage dealing that what they'll really need is someone who can manage the battle. I suppose that's the bard's job.
@Rubiksmoose I think the advice @DanielZastoupil gave is super useful - "what would they lose without me", and it ain't damage. It's control of the battle. I don't want to take away from that.
@LukeSommers I haven't started yet. The second session is Sunday, and I'm jumping in. Using point buy.
@HenryWLee1066 I'd say that damage output shouldn't be your worry. (The blaster and the smiter have that covered, as it were.) That should be lower on your list than, say, battlefield control (both terrain/effects and the occasional hold X), counterspell, and skills.
Concept: A rogue who has kleptomania and the only reason they are a rogue is because they thought "If I can't control myself, I might as well not be caught."
I feel like the Champion doesn't get enough love, and the Brute does all the same things. It's a little more consistent, where the CHampion is a bit more bursty, but it balances out to be about the same.
I would have liked the Brute if it had things where you could sacrifice accuracy for damage, and cause saving throw mishaps against enemies when you miss. Would have been super flavorful.
But as of right now it's "when you hit stuff, you hurt them real bad".
"When people hit you with stuff, it don't hurt so bad"
THey don't even get anything like expertise on intimidation checks.
A wizard might be able to figure out how to sneak with intelligence, paying attention to when to move and routes and such, but he's still not as silent as a thief.
I'd make the difficulty higher (effectively the same) when I started, but Stalker0's alternate skill challenge manifesto began turning me around on that, and Fate's "what are you risking?" frame changed my mind for good.
There's always going to be exceptions, but I try to come up with ways to push people out of their elements.
To make it less about being something perfect and specialized, and more about being a character they want to RP, even that means less optimization for combat.
@DanielZastoupil I like this, but I think that penalizing people for using an approach you didn't expect or can't easily imagine isn't going to accomplish that goal very effectively.
A lot of games deal with this kind of creative innovation as a baked-in part of their core rules, and in my experience making it harder to do something isn't a good way to encourage people to try that thing.
Fate, for example, frames using an unusual skill for a task by asking what you're risking by using that skill.
I can imagine it, and it can definitely make sense. I'm very open to changes with the skill sets (Medicine as a wisdom check?), but I also like rewarding players who are more willing to take risks to play their character the way they want.
3rd level Brute fighter with +3 DEX/STR, not including Action surge, can do 2d8+6+2d4 damage if both attacks hit. If they use action surge, that goes up to 4d8+12+4d4 if all attacks hit
