Dungeons & Dragons – Post Stream of Annihilation Content & Competition

Best advice I can give for dungeonmasters, don’t be afraid to kill a PC because in the end it’s the party vs the DM and there’s only one of you.

well i have two amazing house rules we use. well one rule and a system tweak but regardless.

The first is critical failure. in 5th ed a 1 is an instant fail. but that is it, this is great but not nearly as good for telling stories about games i have found that people remember the games with then highest highs and lowest lows.

so on a critical failure i get the offending player (or monster, its only fair) to roll a d100 on an even number they fail and i use storytelling to give them a minor inconvenience for the next turn. On an odd number i have the bad times go to 11, were talking weapons leaving the hands. random manifestations of ghostly marching bands to accompany sneaking rogues you get the picture, i always try to make the event fit the task and the timeing of what was trying to be accomplished.

if the roll a 1 or a 100. well it just gets worse from there 😀

The second is something i picked up from a game run by a friend (thanks zane) was an idea called skill challenges. this man is the devil incarnate, as is this idea and i love it.

at a random point during an adventure usually when some action is going down you declare “skill challenge” and the rules are simple.

the Dm sets a Dc he feels is appropriate say DC14

each turn a player must use decide on an action to take and then make a related skill check Vs the set dc.
A player may not use the same skill twice during a single skill challenge.
A player may not use the SAME skill the player before him used.

the team must get (player count +1~3) successes. before they get (player count -1~2) failures.
as a rule i use i have Critical fails and Critical successes count as 2

example after three rounds of skill checks our dwarf fighter used his arcana skill (+1) to

“use me real good learnin with magik tomes n scrolls to kick a big nasty devil thin in the coddlies so the big un will eff off”

they were out of fails and the next player was out of skills he was proficient in. he rolled a 20. for the double win. they collectively lost there minds. my players loved this. they still talk about it.

I loved the video. It was useful and entertaining.

The advice I have for DMs is do that thing you’ve been thinking about and talking about doing forever. Jump in feet first, take the risk, run that game. You’ll never know how awesome it could be if you don’t actually get into it. This goes for new and old DMS alike as well as for players. This is advice I need to take myself.

Kit A would be fantastic. I want to get my hands on some Volo

Instead of one extremely detailed idea, I’ll do a few less defined ones.

Creature idea –
Thieving Goblin (Name is a work in progress)

Stats are based on a regular goblin, but beefed up somewhat.

Special ability – Steal Weapon.
The goblin can, as a full round action, steal any held weapon from any target adjacent to the Goblin. The target gets a reflex save. If successful, the Thieving Goblin makes a single attack versus the same target. The Goblin suffers all normal penalties for attacking with a weapon it isn’t proficient with.

Magic Item idea –
Cup (Haven’t thought of a name yet)

5 times per day, when the cup is filled with any liquid, that liquid can be transmuted to any other food-based liquid that is non-toxic. The transmuted liquid can be hot or cold. The transmuted liquid is always non-magical.

Advice for a GM-
Play first and play lots. Understand the rules of the system before trying to run them. Let the players help guide the game instead of forcing them to adhere to a rigid script. Talk to other GMs and read online resources to get more help. I hear there is a pretty good series here on ATGN called Behind the Screen.

Most of all, don’t say “no”. Work around it, think of different words, find other options.

If by some freak chance of nature I manage to win, then kit B is the way to go. That cloth map looks amazing.

Hey, here’s a monster entry for Kit B:

The Animus
The Animus is a surviving shard of the mind of a greater outsider, or perhaps a minor deity. It does not have a body of its own, and haunts the realm of dreams in search for a way to make itself whole. It searches for dreamers. It courts the dreams of those who are troubled by struggle as a soldier courts death on the battlefield. It will begin appearing as a part of the dream, a companion to whom the dreamer may feel comfortable confiding their upcoming struggles. It’s not uncommon for troubled minds anticipating great toil to search for an outlet, and even if the dreamer remembers it the next day they may write it off as a fancy born of their own trepidation.
The Animus is waiting for them the next night, and the next, in the guise of a friend. Often it gives sage advice, and its words become easier to remember upon waking. The dreamer may find with some surprise that the Animus’ advice often pans out. More than one person has spent their evenings eagerly awaiting the coming of sleep to take counsel with their patient, friendly mental figment.
Then the Animus offers to help the dreamer while they’re awake, and if accepted its aid is an incredible boon. However, the more it is drawn upon, the more of the host’s mind the Animus consumes and supplants with itself – nearly imperceptibly.

STATBLOCK

Animus
Medium Fey, Lawful Evil
Armor Class: 18
Hit Points: 210 (28d8+84)
Speed: 0ft., fly 60ft
Stats:

STR 6 (-2)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 16 (+3)
INT 12 (+1)
WIS 14 (+2)
CHA 18 (+4)
Proficiency Bonus: +5
Damage Resistances: acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical weapons
Damage Immunities: cold, necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses: darkvision 60ft., ethereal sight 60ft., passive Perception 11
Languages: Telepathy (60ft)
Challenge 16 (5,900 XP)
Traits:
Somnotic Etherealness: The Animus enters dreams from the ethereal plane and has no presence on the material plane naturally. When interacting with a dreamer it can be seen in the Border Ethereal, appearing to converse with the sleeper’s body.
Antimagic Susceptibility: An Animus possessing a target is silenced while its target the area of an anti-magic field. If its target is targeted by dispel magic, the Animus must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster’s spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute.
Incorporeal Movement. The Animus can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1 d1 0) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Otherworldly Perception. The Animus can sense the presence of any creature within 60 feet of it that is invisible or on the Ethereal Plane. It can pinpoint such a creature that is moving.
Dual-Nature: The Animus has two distinct sets of actions depending on whether it is possessing a target or has been exorcised and contained. If it is possessing a target, use the ‘Form 1’ actions block. If it has been exorcised and forced to appear on the material plane, use ‘Form 2’.
Vulnerable to Exorcism: The Animus can be forced out of its host through the use of a Dispel Good and Evil spell. Upon being forced out, it returns to the ethereal plane and will attempt to make good its escape, vowing vengeance upon those who robbed it of its meal. If the host is first placed within a Magic Circle, however, the Animus is unable to escape and is forced onto the material plane in ghost-like guise (Form 2). Doing so will enrage the Animus and it will attempt to slay those around it; though it carries no weapons, it has formidable magical abilities. Note that if the Animus had substituted the entirety of its host’s Charisma, then the host is rendered unconscious, as the Animus leaves their body and takes all of its ‘substitution’ Charisma with it, until such a time as their Charisma score rises to at least 1.

Form 1:
Actions
Bountiful Possession: Once a dreamer accepts the Animus’ help, they become passively possessed by the Animus; the Animus disappears from the ethereal plane, but the target retains control of its body and its awareness. The target may at first not even be aware of their new passenger. The target may now apply the Animus’ Proficiency bonus to any one check in the following day (even if the target is not proficient in what is being attempted. This may stack with the target’s own Proficiency bonus if applied) or to the Save DC of a single use of any one spell, spell-like ability, supernatural ability, or extraordinary ability the target uses . The Animus can’t be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, except as noted below, and it retains its alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being charmed and frightened. Upon accepting the Animus’ offer of aid, the target is drained of one point of Charisma as the Animus takes up residence, and the Animus gains a point of Charisma. The Animus, however, “substitutes” this lost point with one of its own so from the perspective of the target nothing seems to change. At any time as a Free Action, even if it is not its turn (treat its turn as the same as the target’s), it may telepathically offer another instance of its Proficiency Bonus to the target. If the target accepts, they must succeed on a DC [] Charisma saving throw or be drained another point of Charisma which is again substituted by the Animus. Note that the very first instance of this Charisma substitution has no saving throw; this is the portion of the target’s mind which the Animus inhabits. All Charisma substitution after the first point fades at a rate of 1 point per day or may be healed with restoration magic as normal except for the first point which can only be removed once the Animus is no longer possessing the target. Note that this draining of Charisma can increase the Save DCs of the Animus’ abilities.
Once an Animus is supplanting the entirety of a target’s Charisma, the target must succeed on a DC 13+Charisma Bonus Charisma saving throw or the Animus begins to withdraw, taking its mental energy with it. The target’s Charisma is permanently reduced by 1 point which the Animus no longer supplants, and the Animus’ Charisma is permanently increased by 1 point. This can happen once per day. If the host is reduced to 0 Charisma in this way, they die and the Animus leaves to seek a new mind to feed upon.
Read Thoughts: The Animus magically reads the surface thoughts of one creature within 60 feet of it. The effect can penetrate barriers, but 3 feet of wood or dirt, 2 feet of stone, 2 inches of metal, or a thin sheet of lead blocks it. While the target is in range, the Animus can continue reading its thoughts, as long as the Animus’s concentration isn’t broken (as if concentrating on a spell). While reading the target’s mind, the Animus has advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion) checks against the target.
Charm: If at any point the Animus’ Charisma is substituting for half (rounded up) of the target’s, the target must succeed on a DC 13+Charisma Bonus Wisdom saving throw against this magic or be charmed by the Animus. The charmed target regards the Animus as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn’t under the Animus’s control, it takes the Animus’s requests or actions in the most favorable way it can. Each time the Animus attempts to influence the target to act contrary to its code or self-preservation, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until the Animus is destroyed, is on a different plane of existence than the target, is leaves the target’s body for any reason, or takes a bonus action to end the effect.
Form 2:
Withering Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (4d6 + 3) necrotic damage.
Life Drain. The Animus targets three creatures that it can see within 10 feet of it. Each target must succeed on a DC 13+Charism Bonus Constitution saving throw or take 21 (6d6) necrotic damage, and the Animus regains hit points equal to the total damage dealt to all targets. A successful save halves the damage.
Enslave (3JDay). The Animus targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. Th e target mu st succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom savin g throw or be magica lly charmed by th e Animus until the Animus dies or until it is on a different pl ane of ex istence from the target. The charmed target is under the abol eth’s control and can’t take reactions, and the aboleth and the target can communicate telepathically with each other over any distance. Whenever the charmed target takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw. On a success, the effect ends. No more than once every 24 hours, the target can also repeat the saving throw when it is at least 1 mile away from the Animus.