u/Garanseho

I like making Homebrew, whether it be Monsters, Subclasses, or whatever else Recently, I've gotten into making Homebrew spells, but one thing I noticed confused me. When making a spell, you're able to choose which classes get access to the spells--however, you can also add subclasses to that list, even if the class the subclass if for hasn't been marked to get the spell.

This perplexed me, since I wasn't aware that a subclass's spell list expanded beyond the prepared spells that they get as part of the subclass features. For example, an Oath of Vengeance Paladin won't get any Level 1 spells that are different from the regular Paladin Level 1 spell list besides Bane and Hunter's Mark.

Am I wrong here? Does a subclass's expanded spell list go beyond just the prepared spells of their subclass feature? Or is this option on DNDBeyond something to be ignored?

My players had a shopping session and went to a novice apothecary who sold Potions of Healing, along with some other apothecary-esque things like candles and oil. One of the things she sells is an Herbalism Kit. However, I forgot that none of my players have Proficiency with an Herbalism Kit.

One of my players bought an Herbalism Kit because they wanted to learn how to make Potions of Healing. I told them that they needed Proficiency with the kit in order to make Potions of Healing, and they told me that they would just learn how to use the kit and gain Proficiency with it. They've since begun every Short Rest by saying, "I practice with the Herbalism Kit while we're resting."

Is that how that works?

Obviously, as the DM, I can say whatever I want; but RAW, is it possible for this character to gain a new Proficiency in an Herbalism Kit just by studying it by themselves? If so, how long would that take? Days? Weeks? Months?

Have any of you given your players new Proficiencies? How did you do it?

I make a lot of Homebrew Monsters for my games, and sometimes I give them Homebrew items or Homebrew spells. However, I don't know how to hyperlink Homebrew onto DNDBeyond stat blocks.

For an item like a Rapier, you type in "items]Rapier[/items]", and then when you go on the stat block, you can hover over the word rapier and see what the rapier does, like its damage and Mastery Property. For a spell like Thaumaturgy, you type in "[spells]Thaumaturgy[/spells]", and you can hover over the spell on the stat block and it'll show you what the spell does.

Is there a way to do this for Homebrew items and spells and the like?

This came up during one of my recent sessions. What is the party inventory exactly? Like, in-universe?

How can player 1 pick up a longsword, put it in the party inventory, and then player 4 can just suddenly have it?

If they're in the same area, like fighting combat together, then I get it. But if player 4 is doing their own thing away from the rest of the party, can they access the party inventory?

First off, if you are in the campaign "The Experiment", DO NOT KEEP READING.

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A few of my players lurk on Reddit, so I'm just being careful.

Anyway, my players are heading to an underwater temple soon, and I need ideas for encounters. I have a planned combat encounter with some sea creatures, and some underwater exploration, but I'm not sure what the exploration could be. How do you guys run interesting exploration encounters, especially ones that actually use resources, rather than just the players wandering around for a bit? Have any of you run underwater exploration? I'll take any tips you have.

I'm also unsure of how to make the session a reasonable time. The players will be engaging in a boss fight at the end of the session, with a mini-boss slightly before. But I'm worried that with only three combat encounters and a bit of exploration, the session will be a bit small. This is the session where one of my players is getting a sendoff because they can't continue playing, and I want it to be an impactful session.

Again, any tips would be appreciated.

For context, I have five players all Level 4, and they'll be leveling up after the mini-boss but before the final boss of the session. We're playing in 5.5e.

Obviously, for the ones that require a bonus action or a reaction, no, since you only get one of each per round. But for Fire's Burn and Frost's Chill, it doesn't specify a bonus action or reaction. It simply states "When you hit a target with an attack roll and deal damage to it," and then it lists the effect--1d10 Fire damage for Fire's Burn and 1d6 Cold plus -10 movement speed for Frost's Chill.

My question is, can those two abilities be used more than once per turn? If a Goliath Fighter has their level 11 "Two Extra Attacks" feature, could they use three Fire's Burns or Frost's Chills on the same turn? Most creatures have a movement speed of 30 feet, so would 3 Frost's Chill hits just reduce a creature's speed to 0 if their speed is 30?

And what about extra attacks through Nick, the Light property, or the Dual Wielder feat? Can Fire's Burn and Frost's Chill also work there? If that same Goliath Fighter wields Daggers and has the Dual Wielder feat, they can make 5 attacks in one turn (first attack, Nick, second attack, Dual Wielder bonus action, third attack). Could they apply all four of their Frost's Chill on that one turn, dealing an extra 4d6 damage and reducing the target's movement speed by 40?

Edit: Forgot about Hill's Tumble, which also doesn't use a bonus action or reaction. Could a Hill's Tumble Goliath Fighter with five attacks just knock five enemies Prone in one turn?

My party is in the middle of making their way through a castle, and they've already fought some of the guards. The guards had Greatswords, and my Zealot Barbarian immediately took one of the guards' swords after knocking him out (something I forgot that my players could do). While Level 3 now, my Barbarian is planning on getting the Great Weapon Master feat, allowing him to do even more damage with the damn sword.

Additionally, my Wizard recently got a diamond for Chromatic Orb, and he's been doing more damage than the rest of the party combined. He wants to get Elemental Adept as his ASI feat, which would power up Chromatic Orb even further.

The other three members of my party aren't nearly as powerful as these two. My Sorcerer, while bulky with a +4 in Constitution, has a 10 AC, and his damage output is good but not great; my Paladin rolled middling stats and has horrible luck with almost all rolls; and my Cleric is a healer first and foremost, doing basically no damage in combat.

With this team, my Barbarian and Wizard will steamroll any encounters I make balanced for their level, but if I make the encounters based on the strengths of these two powerhouses, my other players will be left in the dust. What do you guys do in situations like this?

Edit: We're playing in 5.5e

In the PHB, your Lifestyle is said to be how much gold you spend per day. Is that supposed to be accurate?

If someone chooses a Comfortable lifestyle, should they take 2 GP off their character sheet at the end of every in-game day? Do they no longer have to pay for things like food and lodging because of this? If that's the case, why would anyone choose anything other than Wretched so that they don't have to spend money?

Does your lifestyle change when the amount of money you have changes, or is it solely based on how much you spend?

I'm working on a general shop that sells magic items on the side, but I'm not sure how to price them. My players are Level 5, so I'm using mainly Uncommon magic items. Stuff like Gauntlets of Ogre Power and a Circlet of Blasting.

Currently, I have a Cloak of the Manta Ray priced at 60 GP, the Gauntlets of Ogre Power at 75 GP, and the Circlet of Blasting at 120 GP. Are these too expensive? Too cheap?

How do you guys decide what price to give to which Magic Items?

I recently started DMing, and my first table is a group of 5. We all have a bunch of fun together, but one of the players is going to become mostly unavailable after Summer. The last time they tried being online while everyone else was in-person, it didn't go too well. Not only did the rest of the party not enjoy it, saying they felt like he wasn't really there, but that player forgot basically everything that happened in that session due to distractions in his irl space. If he's going to be online for every session post-Summer, I feel like he's not going to enjoy himself.

I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that the best thing for both him and the party is to let him go from the group. But I'm unsure of when to do it. We have a session coming up this week, and then seven-to-eight more sessions before this player would have to go, provided everyone can make it to all of them.

I was thinking of telling the player at the end of this upcoming session that I plan on letting him go, not only so that it doesn't weigh on me for so long, but also because I want to give his PC a nice sendoff, and I want him to help decide what the end of his character will be. Is that a normal thing to do?

This is my first time losing a player, so I could use some advice on the matter.

Edit: It seems some people are a bit confused by what I said. This player is not leaving for the summer and then coming back after a few months. After the summer, this player will be leaving town for around a year, meaning he won’t be able to come in person, and he said he might be able to join remotely, but maybe only once ever couple sessions.

I want to make a boss battle for my players (5.5e) that has a second phase. I've heard some people say that a second phase makes a creature "Mythic". Is that true?

Anyway, I use DNDBeyond for both Homebrew and running the game, and I like to have my Homebrew look like the official DND stat blocks. I use the same wording, the same formatting, etc. But there are no Mythic creatures in the 2024 Monster Manual, and I don't want to buy Fizban's Treasury of Dragons just so I can see what a Mythic stat block looks like on DNDBeyond.

Does anyone have any advice for me? How do you guys make two-stage boss Monsters on DNDBeyond? What is the wording and formatting of a two-stage boss on DNDBeyond? Any help is appreciated.

Edit: So, apparently, a two-stage boss Monster is not called a Mythic creature. Good to know! But I'd still like to know how you all make your two-stage boss fights. Do you make the "second stage trigger" a Reaction, a Legendary action, or something else? Do you give your bosses Temp HP when they get to their second stage, do they regain HP upon transforming?