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How to Make Combat More Interesting

My favourite part of DND is the Roleplaying and a session filled with purely combat would be torture for me. Okay, not torture but not great either. Although if my Game Master can come up with an idea to spice up the combat, it could make the experience more fun and engaging for me and the other players.

A Cool Environment

Creating a cool set piece or environment for combat to take place in can make the combat more engaging for the players. Describing cool or unique locations for your Players to fight in will will paint a clearer picture of the combat in their head and will help the players to focus on the combat and be more engaged in your game. An example of a memorable location is: perhaps a floating island in the sky, with pools of lava splitting off into small streams in every direction with the source of the lava being a large lake in the centre of the island.

Environmental Hazards

The Environment I have just described is interesting, but there is also something else good about it. This environment has environmental hazards that the players could interact with, the players could throw their enemies into the lava and they would also have to avoid falling in the lava during the combat. In order to inspire your players to use your environments in interesting ways during combat, you should demonstrate what
would happen to an NPC who falls into the lava (or whatever environmental hazard you have chosen) by having one of the bad guys slip into the lava, this may spark the idea in the Player’s head that they can use the environment to their advantage in combat.

Enemy Variety

Your Players may get sick of fighting nothing but Goblins for the past 3 sessions, If you were to switch it up and have players run in to the Goblin’s Giant Spider pets, then this variety will help to keep the combat fresh and more memorable than if the combat was just another fight with the Goblins.

What Is the Goal of the Combat

Some combats will be a fight to the death where the goal is to kill the enemies before they kill you, this type of combat is good, and if the fight is difficult , it will make the stakes of the fight higher. This would engage the players as if they have the fear
of death in their minds they will take the combat more seriously and therefore be more engaged in the combat.

But there are other ways to make the combat more engaging without having the Player Characters lives on the line. Changing the goal of the combat from simply trying defeat the enemies to something more unique will make your combat more interesting and fun for the players. Although be sure not to overuse the same goal for your combats over and over, as this could cause your unique idea to become the new norm.

Below are some Examples of Having a Different Goal for your Combat:

The goal of the combat could be for your players to defend an area from enemies before the enemies reach the location and slaughter the innocent townsfolk taking refuge behind the Players. If your players care about the lives of these NPC’s then they will still be engaged in the combat even if their Characters are not likely to die.

Perhaps the combat will end automatically after 6 rounds and the Player Characters will have to survive an onslaught of enemies for 6 rounds.

Your Evil NPC could be immortal when he is holding his sword and the Players have to first find a way to remove the sword from the Bad Guys hand before they can damage him. Or, perhaps if the Bad Guy is separated from his sword for 6 rounds he instantly dies, this would make the combat turn into a game of hot potato where the players have to pass the sword between each other during the combat.

Evolving Combat

Another way to improve your combat encounters is to have the combat change halfway through, for example, a new enemy could be introduced or the environment could suddenly change due to an earthquake or avalanche which changes the landscape the fight takes place on, or perhaps a thick fog rolls in which give disadvantage to ranged attacks due to the poor visibility. The change in the combat doesn’t have to affect the mechanics of the combat, it may just affect the way you describe it, but either way this will peak your players interest and keep them paying attention to the combat.

Outroduction

If all Game Masters used these tips, then perhaps I wouldn’t cringe every time I hear “roll for initiative”. That is why I encourage you to use these tips and any other methods you can think of, to spice up your combat encounters.

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D&D – Roleplaying Tips

Today’s blog is about Roleplaying, some love it, some are uncomfortable with it, some a bit of both. I will give you some simple Tips on how to be a better roleplayer, this small introduction has gone on long enough so without further ado, hear are the tips.

Keeping Track of Your Items

Remember the items your character is holding. I remember I was playing the game and some of my group would scribble down items on their character sheet and those items would never be seen again. They could have used those items in cool and creative ways, but instead they were lost the moment they were written down. If you know what your items are, keep them in mind, they will come in handy, you may even think of a clever use for some item you would never have thought of, if you hadn’t had it in mind. For example, you could use a length of rope as a lasso or throw an empty potion bottle in the distance to distract a guard or, furl up a scroll, stick it in a flask of oil and light the scroll, creating a timed explosive, none of this would be possible without keeping track of the items your Character has on them. If you actually were the character, you would know what you had on you, so you, as the roleplayer, should know as well.

Speaking In Character

Come up with a voice, it doesn’t have to be amazing, it could be as easy as speaking slower than you would in real life, or slightly quicker, as long as it is clearly your characters voice. Speaking as your character will put you in your characters shoes and will force you to think about what they would say in the scenario they are in. This is essentially what roleplaying is, it’s doing and saying hings as a character. Another positive benefit of putting on a voice is that, other players at the table will always know when you are speaking in character and when you are chatting as yourself.

Creating a Backstory

If you are going to roleplay, you need to know who you are roleplaying as, for this reason when you are creating your character, start with a backstory. Come up with a backstory that is interesting to you, and think, how would this character act today, based on the events of their past.

If you are struggling to think of a backstory, you can try a different route, ask yourself the question, what class would I like to play, would I like to be a raging barbarian or would I like to be a wizard who casts spells. Once you know what class you want to play, the next step is to figure out how your character came to develop their combat or magic abilities, this is one piece of the puzzle that makes up your characters backstory. Then, you could think, what was my character doing before they acquired their abilities, thinking about this, adds another piece to the puzzle, try and think about more events that could have happened in your characters life, keep doing this until the characters history is fleshed out in your mind .

You don’t have to know everything about your characters backstory, but creating key events in their life will help you to understand what drives that character and therefore, how they would react in the world your GM describes.

Focus on One Thing at a Time

If you are new to d&D roleplaying may still feel alien to you. Roleplaying as a character may seem overwhelming. I would suggest that you find a word or an action that your character would perform or say on a regular basis. For example a raging barbarian with a big warhammer could pound his chest before combat, a wizard could shout a specific word when he conjures a fireball or a righteous paladin could say a prayer shortly after waking. Focus on saying or doing that thing during the game, doing this small thing once or multiple times in the game, will help to build your confidence as a roleplayer and get you roleplaying as the character you envisioned.

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D&D – Teamwork

Introduction

In this blog I will give you hints & tips on how to work as part of a team in your roleplaying group. This blog will not only help you with your career and your personal life, but most importantly, it will also help you pretend to be imaginary characters around a table with your friends.

Teamwork Tips & Tricks

Talking to Much, Listening to Little – We should all love yourselves, but not too much. Although it’s good to voice your ideas while trying to solve a problem as a group, you should always make sure you allow other time to speak.

Be Supportive of New Players– If you have a player who is new to roleplaying, now is the most important time to be supportive of them and to encourage them to roleplay. If the player speaks up or has an idea, listen to them and build on what they said to make them feel included and more confident in using their voice.

Bringing People into the Conversation – If you notice a player at your table who doesn’t seem to be engaged in the conversation or the game, ask them a question, talk to them, get them engaged and bring them in to the discussion.

Pay Attention to the game – Whilst playing the game, your attention should be focused on the Game Master or whoever is speaking at the time. This also extends to combat as well, when your turn comes round, don’t be the only one at the table who hasn’t thought about their next move. You slowing down the game because you were not paying attention, will make the experience worse for all of the other players.

Bonding with Your D&D Group – During the game it is important to pay attention and stay focused, because of this, you need to find the time to chit chat with your group outside of the game, to get to know them better. This especially applies, if you are new to the group and don’t know the people you are playing with yet.

Being a Good Game Master – If you are a the GM for your group, first of all condolences, but second of all, it is important to remember that although you often have to control monsters and enemies that work against your players, you still have the same goal as your player, to have fun. It may sound a bit corny, but if you and your players remember that you are all on the same team and working towards the same goal the game will be tension fee and fun for all.

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D&D Tips, Tricks and Campaign Creation

(For Noobs)

The essence of a role-playing game is that it is a group, cooperative experience.
— Gary Gygax.

Gary Gygax summed it up when he said this, essentially boiling d&d down to its core, which is having fun as a group and giving the gift of a great experience to all of the other players at the table.

This is especially true as a Game Master, as it is your responsibility to ensure that the group is having fun, and that you are creating an amazing experience for your players.

However, this is not always easy as the Game Master, it is after all very challenging to be GM, which is why not too many people do it. But, with the help of this weekly blog (every Sunday) I will help you to: create campaigns, captivate your players and give you tips and tricks to ensure that you, and your players, create everlasting memories and experience D&D at its best.

How to Run Downtime in D&D

What do I mean by Downtime? I mean the time between adventures where characters are in no rush to complete a goal and can spend some time relaxing or achieving something unrelated to your main plot. Downtime is useful to give your players variety and to give them more chances to roleplay.

Downtime for me is fun and feels like an adventure in itself, that is why I run Downtime and role-play all the NPC’s the players could encounter in their downtime, unless the players want to skip forward in time, I will let the downtime play out, but still offer plot hooks or opportunities for encounters throughout, just in case the players fancy an adventure. If they are in the mood to start an adventure then they can “bite” on to my plot hooks.

How to Make Your Players Downtime Better

During downtime you will want your players to feel like their adventures are having an impact on the world. For example, you could have an NPC thank the players for ridding the town of their bandit problems. As well as this if you should also show your players any negative consequences of their actions, this will make your players think carefully about their future decisions as they know that whatever they decide it will affect the world around them.

It also is good to remind the players of cool stuff that happened in their previous
adventures. For example You could have an NPC mention a previous adventure that he had accompanied the Players on and this will remind the players of that adventure and hopefully the fun that they had whilst playing through it. As well as this by making the players reminisce about the good times it will also motivate your players to want to go on the future adventures you have planned for them, so they can have more of the enjoyment they experiences in the previous adventures.

During the Downtime you could describe events that have happened in the town
to the PC’s to indicate that this is a changing/real world. You could also
provide plot hooks to make your players interested in the next adventure. For
example an NPC mentions how there have been mysterious disappearances on the
east side of town or mentions how there have been a lot of soldiers marching
through the town and heading west. Hopefully your players will be interested
in one of these plot hooks and will bite, if they aren’t interested in your
plot hooks, let them have more downtime, although keep finding ways to include
plot hooks for potential adventures.

Let them do what they want to do, if your players want to spend 2 hours gambling or setting up a business in town, let them and describe their escapades to provide them with entertainment. In the end you should be trying to create a fun experience for your players and if your players are ignoring your plot hooks and always putting off starting the next adventure, let them, carry on letting them do what they want to do. In fact you could adapt your adventures to revolve around the things your players have decided to accomplish, for example maybe they need to acquire staff members or materials for their business that they will only be able to find on an adventure.

Is Alignment Good or Evil?

In this post I will list my views on Alignment, why I think it can be useful, but mostly it will be a rant about why I think it sucks and why I don’t pay very much attention to alignment when I’m playing D&D or when I’m creating a character.

What is Good and Evil?

Morality is subjective, although there are some things that most people agree on. If you consider “Good” to mean what you personally think is right then your “Good” decisions could be deemed as “Evil” by another player at the table who has a different opinion to you.

As well as this players might not even agree on what “Good” and “Evil” means an example of a character who could be argued to have a “Good” or “Evil” alignment is
Thanos. In the Marvel films Thanos’s goal is to eradicate half of the life in the universe in order to leave a recourse rich and prosperous world for the 50% of life left behind.

Is Thanos a “Good” Character or an “Evil” character, most people would agree that killing Trillions of people in not a good thing, but Thanos’s goal is pure and he does these things for what he thinks will help others. Because he has good intentions, does that make him a “Good” or “Evil” Character?

Creating a 2D Character

Just because they have an alignment of “evil” doesn’t mean the character will always act selfishly, for example, sometimes a usually selfish character could be sympathetic to a street orphan, growing up in similar circumstances to the way they grew up. This character could do a selfless thing for this particular NPC that does not necessarily conform to their alignment.

Chaotic Stupid or Chaotic Smart?

It would be more helpful to look at Alignment as what the Characters would do in an ideal world. It is not always smart or Practical to act upon your Characters alignment in some circumstances. For example your Level 1 Choatic Good Fighter is invited to a banquet hosted by a King, Your Character may not like the way the tyrannical King treats his servants during the Banquet, but that doesn’t mean your level 1 Character will intervene at the risk of death. Similarly your chaotic evil rouge may want to steal the crown directly off of the Kings head, but that doesn’t mean that your character needs to act on that desire.

It Could Constrict Your Roleplaying

I also think that sticking too close to alignment can limit your ability to roleplay as a believable character who’s opinions can change, instead of some cartoonishly evil villain or a goody two shoes who have never made a decision that goes against there alignments. I also think that if you only allow yourself to make decisions based on your alignment, it can cause your player character to never develop or have any character arcs.

Should I Even Care About Alignment?

Although I personally think you shouldn’t pay much attention to alignment, I still think it has it’s uses. The main use for alignment is a quick summary of what your character will be like in the Game. Saying “I’m a Chaotic Good Fighter” will give the other players at the table a quick impression of your character, keeping it simple and saving time. I think evidence of alignment being used in this way is obvious when you think how many times you’ve heard people use the phrase “I was playing (Insert Character Name Here) he is a Lawful Good Fighter Or “I was playing (Insert Character Name Here)” she is a Chaotic Neutral Rogue.

I still think using your alignment as a vague preview of your characters personality is useful and I personally think that choosing your alignment after you have created your characters backstory is fun. I also enjoy the character alignment memes were people have placed famous Characters into an alignment chart, but over than that I don’t think alignment is very important.

Feel free to keep alignment in mind whilst playing your character or being the Game Master but I would also keep in mind that sticking too closely to alignment can cause your roleplaying and potentially even your fun at the table to suffer.

D&D – How to be the Worst Player

I have previously posted my tips and tricks on how to work in a team around the D&D table, but what if you think teamwork is lame and making others happy is overrated, well then your in luck, simply follow all of the following tips and you will for sure be the most hated player in your game.

A Great way to frustrate your fellow players is to act before discussing it with your team, especially if your team are tying to plan and come up with a clever solution to the problem they are faced with. Make sure to always charge into the problem head first. This will ensure that you don’t get bored with all the potential talking and strategy.

Hogging the Limelight will establish you and your character as the most important at the table. If another player at the table does something cool, you can’t allow them to look better than you, make sure that you one up them in any way you can.

Only Use this tip if you are fully committed to getting kicked out of your D&D Game. The only issue with this tip is that you need to learn the rules of D&D word for word. Despite all the effort you’ll need put in, you will find that being a Rules Lawyer is extremely satisfying , especially when you get undermine the GM, whenever they make a decision that is different to the rules as written.

Listening is overrated, make sure that you are not paying attention when the GM is speaking. When the GM is speaking you should be thinking about what your having for dinner that night, or even the meaning of life. As long as you are not paying attention to the GM, you are sure to annoy everyone, when you ask the GM to repeat what they have just said. The golden rule is this, If you are listening more than you are speaking, you are probably doing something wrong.

Envisioning a character who doesn’t work well in a team or who has the opposite goals to the rest of your party, would mean that you are constantly in conflict with the others at the table. This is perfect, you will be able to be antisocial and antagonistic to your teammates and although they may start to hate you, you can hide behind the fact that you are roleplaying and it’s not you that’s constantly betraying them, it’s technically your character.

D&D Spellcasting: Paladins

Paladins are those that take sword and spell to fight in the name of their god. Paladins have sworn an oath that they will execute the will of their gods and that they will abide by the Tenets of their faith. Because of this, paladins take a more frontline role in combat and in conflicts than Clerics and are brutal up close. Clad in armour and wielding martial weapons Paladins usually share a commitment to righteousness and will fight the forces of evil with magic or steel.

A great example of a paladin would have to be Michael Carpenter, from one of my favourite book series: The Dresden Files.

Michael Carpenter swore an oath to be a knight of the cross, wielding the holy sword Amoracchius, which he uses to consistently fight the forces of evil, whilst sticking to his beliefs and the religious oath he swore to God. Michael Carpenter has always chosen to stick to his oath, even when it was difficult and even offered the worst of people salvation and forgiveness, when it could jeopardise his own personal safety.

The Mechanics of Paladin Spellcasting

Paladins can prepare a new set of spells every long rest, which you can choose from the list on page 208-209 of the Players handbook. Every time you change out your spells your Paladin must spend time spent in prayer and meditation, to reflect the divine nature of their spells.

Paladins have less spells available to them than other spellcasters like Druids and Clerics and have no cantrips available to them, however, some of the Paladins unique abilities are very strong (*cough cough* Divine Smite) and often boost the effectiveness of the Paladin’s melee attacks.

Paladin Abilities

At level 1 Paladins get the ability Divine Sense that lets them search the surrounding area within 60 feet, using their divine sense, for Celestials, Fiends and Undead. So long as they are not behind total cover, e.g. behind a wall, the spell will reveal their location and their type, be it Celestial, Fiend or Undead. The spell also detects any “consecrated” or “Desecrated” object or place. For example it would detect a church or a holy cross, or an unholy site such as land that has been used to complete an evil ritual.

Also at first level Paladins get a strong ability to heal their allies using a limited pool of hit points equal to their current level x 5. You can use these hit points to heal one or multiple creatures so long as you don’t go other the pool of hit points you are allowed. So for example at level 1 you have a pool of 5 hitpoints so you could heal one ally by 3 hit points and another by 2 hit points, but then you would have to complete a long rest to replenish your available pool of hitpoints.

Paladins can enhance their melee attacks with their ability Divine Smite allowing them to expend a spell slot whenever they hit an enemy with a melee weapon to do extra damage. If they expend a 1^st level spell slot they do an extra 2d8 damage meaning they roll two 8 sided dice and add the result to their damage. If they expend a spell slot higher than 1^st level they deal an extra 1d8 with each spell slot level above 1. E.g. if they give up a 3^rd level spell slot they would roll 4d8 and add it to their damage.

At 3^rd level paladins also become immune to all disease, because why not.

Fighting Styles

Paladins have been trained in the use of martial weapons, so at level 2 you must choose a fighting style that will give you different bonuses when in combat, you can only choose 1 fighting style.

Defense – Whilst wearing any armour you gain a +1 bonus to your Armour class basically making you harder to hit.

Dueling – when you wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons you gain a + 2 bonus to your damage roll with that weapon . This fighting style also allows you to carry a shield in your other hand as it is not considered a weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting – when you make a terrible damage roll of either a 1 or a 2, with a two-handed weapon, you get to re-roll the damage. You must use the re-roll even if it is worse than the original roll.

Protection – when an enemy makes an attack against any creature/ally within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on that enemies attack making them roll twice and take the lower of the two rolls, lowering their chance to hit your ally.

Swearing an Oath

At 3^rd level is when your Paladin must decide which oath they are going to take and which tenets they will choose to abide by. Each oath will give the Paladin a different set of spells unique to that specific oath, called “Oath Spells”. Paladins also get access to the ability Channel divinity, which is used to cause different effects, based on which oath was sworn. Channel divinity can only be used once, regardless of which effect you activate with the ability. Once you use it you must take a short or long rest.

Oath of Devotion

The Oath of Devotion path is one of justice, honour and order, Paladins on this path tend to be good, but sometimes the tenets they have sworn can be at the detriment to innocent people, (think Batman locking the Joker up again instead of killing him, because of his own personal code, despite the fact that he will inevitably break out of prison and terrorise again) although some oath of devotion Paladins would exercise wisdom . These paladins could also get into conflict with morally gray heroes or heroes who bend or break the rules to help people. (Oath of devotion Paladins would likely have Robin Hood arrested, but not before giving him a 2 hour speech on why he should change his ways and pray for forgiveness.)

Tenets of the Oath of Dovotion Paladin

Honesty – Never lie or cheat and stick to your promises.

Courage – Never be afraid to act, but caution is sometimes wise.

Compassion – Help others and protect the weak from those who would try to harm them. Give your enemies a fair chance for redemption but temper it with wisdom.

Honour – Do what is right towards others and stick to your word.

Duty – Hold personal responsibility for your actions, protect those you are responsible for and obey those who have authority over you, within reason.

Oath of Devotion spells

At 3^rd level your paladin gains the spells: Protection from Good and Evil and Sanctuary.

At 5^th level your paladin gains the spells: Lesser Restoration and Zone of Truth.

At 9^th level your paladin gains the spells: Beacon of Hope and Dispel Magic.

At 13^th level your paladin gains the spells: Freedom of Movement and Guardian of Faith.

At 17^th level your paladin gains the spells: Commune and Flame Strike.

You can find these spells along with their descriptions listed in alphabetical order on pages 211- 289 of the Players Handbook.

Oath of Devotion Channel Divinity Effects

Oath of Devotion Paladins can use their channel divinity to activate these following effects.

Sacred weapon

Sacred weapon allows paladins to imbue energy into their weapon to add their charisma modifier to their attacks, making them more likely to hit an enemy. The weapon also glows with light, illuminating a 20 ft area in bright light around the sword and a further 20 ft in dim light. As well as this during the 1 minute this effect lasts for, the weapon damage changes to magical, this means if an enemy is resistant to blunt or slashing damage a hammer and a sword effected by the spell would still do full damage as the damage type is now magical.

Turn the Unholy

You speak a prayer and all fiends and undead creatures that you can see and hear must make a wisdom saving throw meeting or beating your paladins spell save DC (which is 8+ your proficiency bonus + your charisma modifier). On a failed saving throw the creature becomes “turned” for 1 minute meaning they must move as far away from you as fast as it can whilst using the dash ability to gain extra movement on its turn. The creature cannot also willingly move within 30ft of the paladin. If the creature has nowhere to move too i.e. is backed into a corner. It must take the dodge action to try and avoid an incoming attack. The creature snaps out of the effect at the end of the 1 minute duration or when the creature takes damage.

Oath of devotion paladins also get a few other abilities such as

Aura of Devotion

At 7^th level which makes you and friendly creatures within 10ft of you immune to being charmed. This increases to 30ft at 18^th level.

Purity of Spirit

At 15th level you gain Purity of Spirit, which means aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead have disadvantage on attack rolls made against the paladin, meaning they are less likely to successfully hit. Also this gives the added effect that these creatures cannot “Charm” “Frighten” or “Possess” you.

Holy Nimbus

At 20^th level the ability Holy Nimbus, which allows the paladins armour and skin to shine with bright sunlight for 1 minute illuminating 30ft in bright light and a further 30ft in dim light. If a creature is caught in the bright light (30ft) when the spell was activated they take 10 radiant damage. During the 1 minute you also have advantage on saving throws against enemy spells cast by Fiends or undead, making you harder to hit.

Oath of the Ancients

An Oath of the Ancients Paladin has the job of protecting and spreading beautiful things like natural environments, light or joy. Some Oath of the Ancients Paladins are similar to druids, protecting sacred groves.

Tenets for the Oath of the Ancients Paladin

Kindle the Light – Through your actions and words grow and preserve hope, happiness and all things good in people and the world.

Shelter the Light – Protect all things beautiful, like hope joy and laughter from forces that would wish to destroy it and spread evil.

Preserve Your Own Light – Whilst you protect all things good make sure to preserve it in yourself by joining in laughter song and merriment.

Be the Light – Embody light and joy, acting as an example to others.

Oath of the Ancients spells:

At 3^rd level you gain the spells: Ensnaring Strike and Speak With Animals

At 5^th level you gain the spells: Misty Step and Moonbeam

At 9^th level you gain the spells: Plant Growth and Protection from Energy

At 13^th level you gain the spells: Ice Storm and Stoneskin

At 17^th level you gain the spells: Commune with Nature and Tree Stride

Oath of the Ancients Channel Divinity Effects

Natures Wrath

One of the effects you can choose to activate when you use channel divinity is Natures wrath, this lets you summon up spectral vines from the ground which will attempt to entangle creatures within 10ft of you that you can see. If the creature fails on either a strength or dexterity saving throw (its choice) against you spell save DC or be restrained. The creature must attempt a saving throw at the end of each turn it is still entangled. When a creature is restrained it can’t move and attacks mad against the creature have advantage.

Turn the Faithless

You utter ancient words or present your holy symbol causing any fey or fiend immense pain, forcing them to make a wisdom saving throw equal or higher than your spell save DC. If they fail the save, the creature is “turned” for 1 minute meaning they must use all of their movement and actions in order to get as far away from you as possible, it cannot willingly move into a space within 30ft of you and if it has nowhere to run it can use the dodge action instead.

Oath of the ancients Paladins also gain access to these abilities:

Aura of Warding

At 7^th level you and you allies within 10 ft of you have resistance to damage from spells. At 18^th level the range increases to 30ft.

Undying Sentinel

At 15^th level when you are reduced to 0 hit points but not dead, you can choose to drop to 1 hit point instead allowing you to keep fighting. You can only use this ability once per long rest.

Elder Champion

At 20^th level you gain the ability Elder Champion which lets you assume change your appearance for 1 minute to appear closer to nature/ plants and animals, this could mean growing antlers or tusks or moss for hair, it sounds lame but it also comes with great effects like regaining 10 hit points at the start of each turn during the duration of the ability. It also lets you cast all paladin spells as a bonus action instead of a regular action. On top of that it also gives enemy creatures disadvantage on saving throws from your paladin spells and you Channel Divinity, making those abilities more likely to successfully hit.

Oath of Vengeance

Oath of Vengeance hunt down the forces of evil and are ruthless towards evildoers, giving no second chances. Despite this they still offer to help the good and innocent but may place more importance in defeating evil when the threat is still at large.

Oath of Vengeance Tenets

Fight the greater evil – When given the choice between destroying a lesser evil or a greater one Oath of Vengeance Paladins would choose the greater evil. For
example, they would work with corrupt nobles to stop an evil necromancer.

No mercy for the wicked – There are no second chances for evildoers vengeance/justice is more important than redemption and forgiveness.

By any means necessary – The ends justify the means and the paladins personal opinion can not get in the way of delivering vengeance

Restitution – An oath of devotion recognises that it was in their failing to defeat evil, that good and innocent people came to harm, because of this
they will try to help those harmed by evil and help them recover and rebuild.

Oath of Vengeance Spells

At 3rd level you gain access to the spells: Bane and Hunter’s Mark

At 5th level you gain access to the spells: Hold Person and Misty Step

At 9th level you gain access to the spells: Haste and Protection from Energy

At 13th level you gain access to the spells: Banishment and Dimension Door

At 17th level you gain access to the spells: Hold Monster and Scrying

Oath of Vengeance Channel Divinity Effects

Abjure Energy

Using your channel divinity you can gain the effect to present your holy symbol (e.g. a cross) and speak a prayer, choosing 1 creature within
60ft of you to affect. That creature must make a wisdom saving throw higher than your spell save DC (fiends and undead have disadvantage), if they fail
they will become “frightened” for 1 minute, meaning there movement is reduced to 0. On a successful save the creatures movement is halved for 1 minute or until
it takes damage. This costs 1 action in combat.

Vow of Enmity

As a bonus action, you can choose 1 creature within 10ft of you and you will gain advantage on all your attack rolls made against that target for
1 minute or until the creature drops to 0 hit points or falls unconscious.

Oath of Devotion Paladins also gain the following abilities

Relentless Avenger

gained at 7th level, this ability allows you to move half of tour movement speed of you make a successful opportunity attack against an enemy. An
opportunity attack is when a creature, on it’s turn, moves out of your weapons reach without taking the disengage action. This represents them turning their back on you to run away, whereas the disengage action represents them backing away slowly. Because they moved away hastily you get a free attack against it is when the attack
hits and does damage that this ability comes into play. When you hit on an opportunity attack you get to move a total of half your speed immediately after the attack you can choose to move anywhere and this movement does not provoke opportunity attacks for your enemies.

Soul of Vengeance

at 15th level your channel effect Vow of Enmity (seen previously) gets even more powerful. Now when you target an enemy with Vow of Enmity not only
will you still gain advantage on attacks made against the creature, but now whe the creature you targeted makes an attack against anyone, you can use your reaction to
make an attack against them, providing they are within your weapons reach.

Avenging Angel

Finally, at 20th level you can morph into the shape of an angel for 1 hour, appearing as such to enemies and allies alike. Whilst in this form you gain
the following buffs: you are granted the ability to fly at a speed of 60ft, due to your newly sprouted wings. As well as this if any enemy enters within 30ft of you or
started it’s turn within it, that enemy must succeed on a wisdom saving throw rolling equal to or higher than your spell save DC, or else become frightened for 1
minute or until they take damage. This means they cannot move whilst in the frightened state but they may still take an action, although they will have disadvantage on attack rolls made against you while frightened. Whilst they are frightened you also gain advantage on attack rolls making you more likely to successfully it that enemy. You can only use this ability once per long rest.

D&D Spellcasting: Druids

A Druids magic is bestowed upon them by a god or by nature itself, they have taken up the cause of preserving and protecting nature, maintaining the natural order of things and the balance between the elements. Druids could be sworn protectors of a sacred grove or they could take a more active role and take the fight to those who pose a threat to nature.

The best example of a fictional druid has to be captain planet because after all he’s “Captain Planet he’s a hero, gonna take pollution down to zero”. Another good example of a druid is Radagast the Brown from The Hobbit.

The Mechanics of Druids Spellcasting

Druids can choose (prepare) a completely new set of spells after every long rest, provided they are from the Druid spell list found on page 208 of the Player’s Handbook, and that they are a high enough level to access the spell that they want. A druid can prepare a number of spells equal to their wisdom modifier plus their level.

How druids make an attack

When druids make a spell attack they use their wisdom modifier as their spell casting modifier. This means that when they make an attack roll they add their proficiency bonus and their wisdom modifier to the roll, to see if they can beat the armour class of the enemy.

Some spells call for the enemy you targeted to make a roll to escape the effects of your spell, if so, they need to make a roll equal to, or higher than your spell save DC to avoid the spell. Druids use their Wisdom modifier to calculate their spell save DC. A druid’s spell save DC is calculated like so: 8 + their proficiency bonus + their wisdom modifier.

Druid’s Unique Abilities

Starting at 2^nd level druids have the ability to transform into any animal that they have encountered before, this is called “Wild Shape”. To transform into an animal during combat, requires that the druid use up their action, to use their wild shape ability.

At 2^nd level you can’t transform into an animal that can fly or swim. At 4^th level you can now transform into a creature that can swim. At 8^th level you can choose any type of animal. Druids can only use their wild shape ability twice, before they have to regain the ability again by taking a short or long rest. However at 18^th level a druid can use this feature as many times as they want.

To prevent transforming into a raging animal, from being too powerful, at level 2 you can only transform into an animal with a challenge rating of 1/4^th at 4^thlevel you can transform into a animal with a challenge rating of 1/2 and at 8^th level you can transform into a animal with a challenge rating of 1. An example of a challenge 1/4 animal is a Boar a 1/2 animal would be a Black Bear and a challenge rating of 1 would be a Tiger.

Druid Circles

There are 2 main variations of Druids Called “Circles” these circles are “Circle of the Land” and “Circle of the Moon”.

Circle of the Land

Circle of the Land druids have the benefit of gaining an additional cantrip at 2^nd level. Also at 2^nd level, Circle of the Land druids can regain spell slots during a short rest. Check page 68 of the Player’s Handbook to see how many spell slots your druid can regain based on their level.

Circle of the Land druids also get to choose extra spells at 3^rd 5^th 7^th and 9^th level. Based on the type of natural habitat they swore to protect, they will get different abilities. To find these spells look on page 68 of the Player’s Handbook.

At 6^th level they also can ignore movement penalties from moving through non magical “difficult terrain”, this would usually slow a player character down, but circle of the land druids can easily move through thorns, vines and icy terrain, so long as it is non-magical terrain.

At 10^th level circle of the land druids cannot be charmed or frightened by elementals or fey, they also become immune to poison and disease.

At 14^th level animals and plants that would usually be hostile, will become reluctant to attack you and must succeed on a wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC in order to make an attack against you.

Circle of the Moon

Circle of the Moon druids have less restrictions on turning into beasts and are more powerful, in animal form, than druids of the land.

Circle of the moon druids, when transforming, can use their bonus action instead of their main action, this means that they can also make an attack on the same turn in which they transformed. As well as this once transformed into a beast, a Circle of the Moon druid can regain Hit Points (health) by expending a spell slot. For example, by expending a 1^st level spell the druid would regain 1d8 hit points or by expending a 3^rd level spell slot the druid would regain 3d8 hit points. (This means the latter druid would roll an 8 sided dice, 3 times, add up the values and regain hit points equal to the total.)

Circle of the Moon druids can change into more powerful beasts, at an earlier level, than other types of druid. At 2^nd level Moon Druids can transform into a beast of challenge rating 1, these are more powerful animals, with higher stats. Moon druids , unlike land druids, can transform into beasts of challenge rating higher than 1. At 6^th level and beyond, you can transform into a beast with a challenge rating equal to 1/3 of your level, rounded up. Therefore, at 6^th level you would be able to choose a beast of challenge rating 2 (6/3 = 2) and at 8^th level you would be able to choose a beast at challenge level 3 (8/3 = 2.6666 rounded up).

Some creatures are resistant to physical damage such as blades, claws and teeth, so at 6^th level your Moon Druids attacks count as magical attacks, therefore overcoming any resistance the creature may have.

At 10^th instead of turning into a beast you can use up 2 of your uses of wild shape to instead transform into an earth air, fire or water elemental, which are creatures who are made up of, and embody the 4 elements.

At 14^th level you also get an extra spell called Alter self, the details of which can be found on pages 211 and 212 of the Players handbook.

Summary

Druids can be very fun to play, especially when you consider the druids wild shape ability and spellcasting potential. Now that you now the mechanics of the Druid class, think about the roleplay aspect of the character you are creating and why your druid has decided to venture out and go out on adventures.

D&D Spellcasting Clerics

Clerics draw their power from their devotion and prayer to a god, who has seen fit to bestow them with divine magic. Some Clerics like to heal allies and hurl magic from a distance, whilst some prefer to get up close and personal using their magic to boost their melee attacks. Whatever type of Cleric you play, your character must live and preach the beliefs and teachings of their god or their well of magic may dry up.

Usually Clerics worship a specific deity. You can find a list of potential gods on pages 294-299 of the Player’s Handbook.

By far, one of the most classic Clerics from history would have to be Jesus Christ himself. Think about it, he roams around the middle east turning water into whine, walking on water and healing the blind, all using the power bestowed upon him by God.

The Mechanics of Cleric Spellcasting

Instead of having “Known Spells” like a Bard, Clerics have “Prepared Spells”, this means that Clerics can change out their prepared spells every long rest to gain a completely new set of spells, if they wish. This is much more versatile than classes with known spells which only allow you to change 1 of your spells per level.

When Clerics make a spell attack, they use their wisdom as their spell casting modifier. This means that when they make an attack roll they add their proficiency bonus and their wisdom modifier to the roll, to see if they can beat the armour class of the enemy.

Clerics also calculate their “Spell Save DC” by using their wisdom modifier. A Clerics Spell save DC is therefore calculated like so: 8 + their proficiency bonus + their wisdom modifier. Some spells call for the enemy you targeted to make a roll to escape the effects of your spell, they need to make a roll equal to or higher than your spell save DC to avoid the spell.

Cleric Domains

All Clerics must belong to a particular domain. The domains a Cleric can belong to include: Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery and War. A domain of a Cleric reflects the nature of the god they worship. For example, Ares from Greek mythology would be in the war domain whereas Loki from Norse mythology would belong in the trickery domain. A Cleric’s actions and beliefs reflect the domain of their God, so for a Cleric who worships a knowledge domain god, they should collect and spread knowledge to fulfill their gods wishes.

Knowledge Domain

Clerics of this domain value knowledge, information and learning above all else. some Clerics of this domain spread knowledge to all, whereas some may wish to hoard knowledge for themselves.

Life Domain

Clerics of the Life domain value healing and preserving life, they may cure the sick, heal the wounded or drive away and exterminate the undead.

Light Domain

Clerics of the light domain focus on themes of rebirth, beauty and vigilance, similar to how the sun is reborn every morning, shines bright in the sky and watches over the world in the day.

Nature Domain

Clerics of the nature domain wish to preserve nature and it’s beauty and may often take an active role in fighting the forces that wish to destroy natural environments.

Tempest Domain

Clerics of the tempest domain worship gods of thunder, lightning, earthquakes, and storms. These gods often value courage, physical strength or violence, in their champions. Clerics of these gods may be sent to teach the common folk to pay tribute to these gods or face their wrath.

Trickery Domain

These Clerics are often encouraged to cause mischief and stir the pot. For good or bad reasons, it does not matter to the gods of this domain. The worshipers of these gods could be liberators or thieves.

War Domain

Gods of war could be chivalrous or malicious, favoring one side over the other. Or they could revel in all mortal conflicts, rewarding and championing any mortal who is a brave warrior. Clerics of these gods therefore are warriors themselves. They may fight for a specific cause, or simply seek out conflict wherever they roam.

Whatever domain your Cleric belongs to, they must worship one god above all others. The gods available to use for your Cleric, depend on your Game Master, speak with your GM about what deities they are going to include in their game. Or, if you are a GM looking for inspiration, read pages 294-299 of the Player’s Handbook.

D&D Spellcasting: Bards

Bards channel their magic through their instruments, their voice or their song. One of the most classic examples of a Bard throughout history would have to be the pied piper, weaving his magic through his flute to lure away the rats from a local town and then later returning to lure away the children of the same town.

Your Bard doesn’t have to be a creepy weirdo, like the Pied Piper. But, they should be able to channel the power of their magic through their instrument or voice to influence the people and the world around them.

The Mechanics of Bard Spellcasting

A Bard at level 1 gets a choice of 2 cantrips and 2 first level spells to memorise and become “known spells”. Bards can only memorise a limited number of spells (as shown in the Players Handbook on page 53. Every time your Bard levels up they are allowed to learn 1 more spell, which they can choose from the Bard spell list on Page 207 of the PHB. Bards can also swap 1 currently known spell for another spell from the Bard spell list.

Bards use their charisma as spellcasting modifier, this means that on their spell attack roles they add their proficiency bonus and their charisma modifier to their roll any time the spell they cast calls for it. Bards also use it to calculate their Spell Save DC, which turns the tables and makes the enemy they targeted attempt to make a roll higher than the Spell Save DC to escape the damage. A bards Spell Save DC is therefore calculated like so, 8+ their proficiency bonus + their spellcasting modifier.