I have one issue with this, Pg. 203 PHB A spellcaster must have one hand free to access a spell's material components-or to hold a spellcasting focus-but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic component. If you can perform somatic components without a free hand, why wouldn't you be able to manipulate a focus/component? I feel I should say that the major difference about 5E and 3.5 is that ability to run a game with RaW vice having to go RaI or House Rules. 5E lowered the bar for entry for new players but at the same time gave people who understood that combat and social interactions are complex a new headache.
A rule that you most certainly don't get wrong, but practically every DM I've played with does, is material components in general. I have not yet played in a campaign where material components were even mentioned.
Start doing slideshows more images less u guys.watch aj Pickett.Mr.rhexx.and jorphdan and esper da bard.They got good vids where it ain't two guys talking
you can cast spells using your spellcasting focus eschewing material components unless they are specifically stated as an item with a gp value (i.e. resurrections flawless diamond cost)
Re: Warcaster, you might also want to consider Warlock:Improved Pact Weapon. The Pact Weapon then also becomes a spell focus. This makes Hexblades a true Gish... albeit with very limited spells. You might also consider finding ways to wear an arcane focus. A crystal worn as a necklace under your clothes/armor is technically touching you, and therefore should work. Magical staves could function as both a weapon and a focus as well. Things to consider.
Combine it with Sorcerer and you fix that lack of spells and spellslots. I'd go at least Warlock 2 for the invocations (agonizing blast!) and the rest for sorcerer. Warlock 3 is also interesting for pact boon (blade it is) and 2nd level slots. While you are at it, go 4th level for ASI/Feat. And 5th level gives you Thirsting Blade (=Extra Attack) and Eldritch Smite. So maybe for a gish I'd recommend Hexblade-Warlock 5 / Sorcerer X and you only need CHA, DEX and CON.
Just one thing to note, warlocks by RaW don't actually get extra attack. They get a special ability that has the same effect but only for their pact weapon, whatever that might be at the time (and remember you have to spend an action to change your pact weapon's form). If you're not after those short-rest spell slots, or you intend to use something other than a pact weapon (such as the spell Shadow Blade), you're better off taking five levels of a melee class instead. Five levels of paladin would solve both problems by giving you the shield focus and extra attack at the same time. I mean personally I'd overlook the distinction and just say "you have extra attack" but that depends on your table. Seriously, at times I wish there was a feat that granted extra attack if you didn't already have it. Worthless for fighter types but it would give other classes the chance to mix things up in melee if they want. Not to mention warlocks could trade a feat for an invocation and be able to use it for Shadow Blade (which, let's be honest, does more damage than any pact weapon ever could with a base of 2d8 per strike and double that with a 5th level slot).
@@Nurk0m0rath But I would always create the Pact Weapon before battle, like others draw their weapons when enemies are close. But you're right with Shadow Blade.
True, typically a blade warlock will have one primary weapon form and have it ready before all fights (by RaW the pact weapon can be carried indefinitely, so it's just a free +0 weapon with the potential to be upgraded). But IMO this is where the bladelock falls down as a warrior-mage class. Let's say they form a greatsword. They're now locked into that weapon for the rest of combat unless they waste an entire turn to change it. Let's say they have a javelin and they want to throw it at someone trying to flee. That javelin is their only attack because their Extra Attack doesn't apply to it. On the other hand, a fighter or barbarian can throw a javelin and then gleefully dive back into melee on the same turn. So instead of carrying ranged weapons, bladelocks are better off using eldritch blast, just like any other warlock. Which is why, the more I look into the warlock, the less I like it. There are so many class options, but 90% of their combat mechanics come back to the same basic strategy. Hex, eldritch blast, eldritch blast, eldritch blast, and occasionally a ground effect like cloud of daggers or hunger of hadar. I actually rewrote the entire class to try and fix that problem, but I have to find a way to get it tested.
@@Nurk0m0rath A thing I came up with to increase the versatility and fun-to-play-ity of the Warlock is making his invocations changeable after every long rest like cleric, ranger and wizard spells, by communicating with their patron. It fits the theme in my opinion very well and it's giving more focus to the invocations besides the Eldritch Blast improvements. Experimenting in-game is always more fun than theory crafting between sessions
I thought the Grapple/Shove rules could be applied to opportunity attacks too but they both specify that they occur when using the Attack action and opportunity attacks are specifically reactions. It'd be so cool if they could be reactions but that'd have to be house ruled.
I noticed this right away too. I swear the name of this video is a troll. Like, "Here are rules we got wrong when we explained them in this video you're watching right now". lol. Maybe there is an errata somewhere that they're privy to? Maybe the source of their information is wrong? But if you could take the attack action as a reaction then you'd get all sorts of stuff working with it!
That would mean that two weapon fighting is actually a good idea; you could do your off-hand attack first, trip the opponent with it and then do your main action attacks at an advantage.
I find it amusing that you're still getting rules wrong in a video whose all purpose was to get them right. xD - Paralysis: The hit is only a critical if the attack is made within 5 feet of the paralyzed target. - Opportunity attacks: No, you can't hold or shove someone as an attack of opportunity. "You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity attack, you use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature." One melee attack. Not an action of your choice. :P - Counterspell: OMG WHAT!? *mindblown* Good job on this one, I had no idea.
Hey we are less than perfect. So flubbed the aoo. Fact checker your fired. On the paralysis we forgot to add the within 5'. Some times we mean to and it just gets missed. Nerdarchist Dave
To be fair, I think that just shows one of the core flaws with the way 5E words things. At a glance, its pretty easy to read the definition of Opportunity Attacks as "take an attack action" which would allow you to do a shove. Along the same lines as how Devil Sight is actually not useful 99% of the time, even though it sounds like it is amazingly powerful.
On opportunity attacks. You are correct that you can't shove or grapple as an opportunity attack, but not for the reason you state. Both shove and grapple are melee attacks and fall under the melee attacks heading. The actual reason you can't do this is that both shove and grapple specifically state that they are used as part of the attack action. With grappling stating ".. you can use the Attack action to .. " and shove is "Using the Attack action, ... ". You can however still use quite a few of your Battle Master combat maneuvers on opportunity attacks (trip/disarm/frighten etc), which is always fun.
I think its important that Nerdarchy knows, despite the criticism on these recent videos, they are still producing top-of-the-line content and we are all more than happy to watch. You guys have come a long way already, you are certainly moving in the right direction, it will be just a matter of finding the right balance between high energy and authenticity. Authentic banter and organic conversation seems to be what drew people to this channel and what people are asking for. Scripts and high energy can be good, but if its not a normal thing for you guys, and I dont sense it is, you need to identify that and play to your strengths. You guys are genuine, insightful guys without the scripts, no need to force something that doesnt fit. Stay true to yourselves and just do what feels natural, you guys will always have the support from this community. Best of luck.
1. Paralyse only autocrits on attacks within 5ft of the target. All other attacks have advantage unless the target was prone when paralysed. 2. Grappling: When you want to grab a creature or wrestle with it, you can use the Attack action to make a special melee attack, a grapple. If you’re able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them. (PHB pg.195) Attacks of Opportunity: You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity attack, you use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature. The attack interrupts the provoking creature’s movement, occurring right before the creature leaves your reach. (ibid) I don't think you can do anything except a melee attack because it states "melee attack" not "attack action". Thats only by RAW you can use the rule of cool and homebrew to decide otherwise. 3. Counterspell - yeah thats right, magic items like the luckstone which add +1 to all ability checks and saving throws will affect this too. Things that affect all ability checks also applies to initiative rolls! 4. Oh, nevermind. 5. War-caster - Yeah this one is always a pain. A cleric with a divine symbol on their shield can: Cast [V],S,M spells normally, since they can use the same hand holding their shield to make the somatic components. No feat required. Cast [V],S spells by dropping/stowing their weapon first. If they have the Warcaster feat, they can cast all spells while holding their shield and weapon with no additional requirements. Source: twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/537376733234601984
Dave, your BattleMage can scribe scrolls of the material component spells he needs in combat then post them to the backside of his shield to read off in combat. You can also attach the scrolls to your armor and gear like the Librarians do in Warhammer 40k with their Seals of Purity.
Well, the Paralyzation Auto Crits ONLY happen when hit by a an attack from within 5', if you are beyond 5' then you won't score the Auto Crit on the Paralyzed Creature.
Altyrell - I thought the autocrit only stipulation for autocrit was a melee attack. Melee weapon/unarmed. No ranged weapon or magic spell. Not distance either. If a creature has a weapon or reach of 10’, it can still autocrit.
Unless it had gotten Errata'd, it's ANY attack that hits WITHIN 5'. If you hit with a reach weapon from 10' then you will not get the Auto Crit as you physically were not within 5' of the paralyzed creature. So you can cast Shocking Grasp on a Paralyzed Creature & get the Auto Crit if it hits. Ranged Attacks (Spell & Weapon) will still be at a disad at 5' unless the Person has Crossbow Expert (Weapon) or Spell Sniper (Spell).
With the component restriction on wizards with war caster, it isn't a problem if you choose your spells in advance with that in mind. Made a gishy build for fighter 1/abjurist x to be just about the tankiest wizard possible. There are plenty of good spells to take that don't require material components to cast. And when they do, you just stow your weapon at the end of a round (if you even use it as a primary, shock I don't think I will), then the next round you draw your wand, raise your shield, and cast whatever you want.
Unless you're playing in an actual tournament, you can alter what you want. Just make sure it's consistent and all players understand the changes you make.
i know what you mean, but with this specific topic, it kinda has to be scripted. The otherway would have been to have each one prepare 2-3 rules, and risk having overlap.
cenauge - I know what you mean. I’ve been watching this channel since they were around 5000 subscribers. I respect the fact that they have upped their production game. But seriously. This pre scripted intro ‘comedy’ routine is just not working. Ted & Dave this isn’t you. It’s not authentic & it’s jarring watching you two try to do what WEB DM does with their intros. I’ve watched most of the videos you have put out but lately it’s been ‘hard’ to watch. I miss the old Ted & Dave off the cuff. Please bring them back
Yeah i watch nerdarchy and webdm for different takes on content. if you guys begin modeling yourselves after another channel or othes copy you then only the one who does it better will survive. Nerdarchy was about the conversation but its been only 2 people in most videos this year. It was great when you guys had ryan, also it feels like nate is doing his own thing within the channel and isent in as many videos with dave/ted. It feels like they moved to a 2 person format which like 3-4 other channels have and honestly do better. The unique thing from this channel was the 4 (then 3) different main opinions and the multiple recurring guest perspectives. I really think you guys should have more videos with guests in them again because the thing of most value that drew me to this channel originally was the 4+ opinions on every topic which gave me alot different ideas then the 2 main perspectives we get now
@@kyleellis9177 it's gotten harder to match up that many schedules. Before it was a mix of me and Ted plus the 3+ people vids. Ryan has since moved on and we are shooting less videos. Then there is the added tech challenge with more people in the shot. The show has always changed and evolve from the very beginning. We are now implementing things we wanted to do 4 yrs ago like playing around with skits. Some times we make changes with the viewers in mind. Other times it's because we just want to do something different. I'm sure we aren't even close to our final form. FYI- Our recent videos where we have brought on different people have been some of our worst performing videos. I don't say this to be snarky, but to illustrate it can be hard for us to tell what people actually want. So we look at the analytics and mine the comments. Thanks for the feedback. Nerdarchist Dave
@@grifter23x we've been spending a lot more time working on videos pre-recording to keep the content more concise and accurate. Even than there are flubs and screw ups. I really don't think what we are doing is the same as what Web DM does. Skits were something we've talked about going years ago. We just didn't have the production capability back than. Are ultimate goal is to get a hybrid of what we've done in the past and the new approach. There will be growing pains for sure. Ultimately we want to put out a better for you the fans. We will monitor the comments for feedback while also examining the metrics we receive from RUclips. I do appreciate you weighing in with your feedback. Thank you Nerdarchist Dave
My new favorite spell caster is artificer, every weapon, shield, or armor they infuse after level 2 becomes an arcane focus xD and the spread of wizard, bard, druid, ranger, and paladin spells and available infusions and hot-swapping spells, cantrips, and infusions after every level and long rest is so versatile for any play style... I'm having so much fun playtesting it :)
Easy solution for an arcane caster Gish is to use a staff instead. Instead of a regular quarterstaff, get an arcane focus, which can be a staff. Takes care of your material components problem, can still be used with a shield, can be used 2-handed instead if you want some extra damage, and let’s you take advantage of one of my favorite feats, Polearm Mastery.
Sorry to be that person but I disagree with the attack of opportunity stuff. If you read the sections on "Grappling" and "Shoving" they specifically require you to take the "Attack action" to access them. This is quite different to the Opportunity attack which (if you read it) is quite limiting in what you can do. It even specifies that your attack must be a melee attack not a ranged attack e.g. you can't shoot them with a hand crossbow.
Little work around for your E.K./ Wizard. It's a free action to drop your weapon, an "use object" to grab your spell component, and with E.K. only a bonus action to resummon your weapon. Not ideal, and sorta breaks the mental image, but serviceable. The only issue I see is the B.A. resummon conflicting with the War Magic B.A. weapon attack.
The war caster feat allows you to perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands. And When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must target only that creature. That's the only time you'd be able to cast spells as attacks of opportunity.
This is why you should always use a two handed weapon if your a wizard with war caster. It's so easy to reach into that component pouch while shouldering your greatsword. Plus you can use OP great weapon master feat.
To solve the war caster problem, could you use a versatile weapon instead of sword and shield. That way you could hold your weapon with 2 hands to make attacks, then hold it in one hand when you want to cast a spell.
Yeah when I was making my eldritch knight with warcaster I noticed that as well, it seems like it should be able to cover material but doesn't. I brought it up to my dm that war caster wouldn't allow material component and he allowed it to.
Simple solution: Arcane focus is a crystal contained in a ring or amulet. Arcane focuses handle all material components except ones with a listed gp value.
Another thing you guys might reconsider: multiplying “movement bonuses”. You did a video a while back where you weren’t “stacking” the bonuses but were actually compounding it. For example, multiple items and feats might double movement 3,4,5 or six times and you had characters going thousands of feet. I’ve always felt that additional “doubling” effects worked more like addition where you simply added the base moment again for every item or feat that says “doubled” rather than multiplication that compounded each time. You see this in video games where you equip buffing items. If three items gave 100% movement bonuses each, it would translate to a 300% bonus or 30 + (30*3)= 120.........not 30*2*2*2=240. Sorry for all the math
I never knew bards could lower initiative with cutting words. I don't know if you have made a video on this, but a rule whose use is encouraged yet I have never seen is DM-awarded inspiration.
You can sheath or draw your sword in tandem with movement and action (not shields) to use materials for spells. However opportunity attacks will be unarmed or with your shield. Till your next turn.
Another related and oft forgotten rule: an attack against a paralyzed or unconscious target, if they hit, are *only* automatic critical hits if the attacker is within five feet. Also, by RAW if you are unconscious at zero hour points and an attacker within five feet hits you, you auto-fail two death saves because it is a critical hit.
I am curious on how you would rule out this. In one of the games I played, one of our players was killed and me playing a spellcaster asked if I could attempt to revive the player using Mending and Shocking Grasp as both were cantrips I had available for use. I explained how I was going to do so, and the DM looked through the book and we didn't see anything against it. Basically I ripped open his chest and used mending to close the wounds in the chest cavity and then used to it when closing the chest itself before sewing the skin back together and begin using Shocking Grasp as a make-shift defibilator to jumpstart the players heart. The DM had me roll a d100 with a 33% chance of success, 1-33 did nothing, 34-66 succeeded, and 67-100 exploded the heart. Sadly I rolled above 66 and blew up the heart. It is a cool thing, but like I said we saw nothing really for it but nothing against it directly.
I'll have to double-check 5e's feat lists, but if Eschew Materials from 3.5 has survived, then this a great feat to get around need of spell components.
If you're forward thinking and know a spellcaster is going to be a huge problem you can attempt to shut them down by readying any action that makes them laugh/cry/stutter/slur their speech/yell at you/stop breathing or immobilizes their hands making it impossible for them to meet verbal or somatic components AFTER they've expended spell slots and material components with costs xD counter spell is the most boring way to counter a spell :)
You're even getting some rules here. You've probably heard this by now but... Paralyzed conditions only auto crits from within 5 ft. AoO you cannot replace with a grapple or shove. Champion initiative is a good call! Power gamer inside me just couldn't let it slide xP
Heya Nerdarchy, the suggestion about replacing a melee attack during an attack of opportunity is incorrect as the rules state that grappling and shoving can only be used as part of your attack action. As a reaction isn't an attack action, then you can't grapple or shove a creature as a reaction. It'd be a nice house rule or addition to the grappler feat though. Thanks for producing some good videos though, Cheers!
I had a up and coming DM come over to watch me play and he corrected me on a mistake I made while at that game. I used the wrong die for Eldritch Blast.
It happens all the time . Nearly every video they get at minimum one Rule or other game mechanics wrong . This is common with every D&D RUclipsr & Streamer . It is especially common with older & experienced gamers .
Turned into a barrel by wild magic and is considered paralyzed. (saw it in a D&D session on youtube) O and you can do a trip with your attack of opportunity.
About War caster. You are actually somewhat wrong in your correction. It isn't just Paladins and Clerics that can get away with the Material component. Bard from College of Swords can use swords as spellcasting focus, and any Warlock with Improved Pact Weapon Eldritch Invocations can use their pact weapon as a spellcasting focus. So It isn't just Clerics and Paladins that can use spellcasting focuses on their weapons. Wizards and Fighters got an issue, but Warlocks and some Bards doesn't.
I love you guys, I really do, but that intro is a tiny bit cringe worthy. But homebrewing is essential for me, since it keeps the game flowing, and I don't have access to these sweet sweet reference cards in my native language :)
that last statement is wrong. Its say in the rule book that you can hold an arcane focus in the hand you do the somatic component In. A lot of shield are held with the arm like a heater shield . war caster You can perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands. makes sense to me.
One rule that I'm confused about at the moment is of you cast polymorph on yourself while you have the war mage feat, do you still get advantage on Constitution saving throws while you're polymorphed?
I discovered I wasn't using hit dice correctly. I thought you only added your constitution modifier once and also that a long rest restores all hit dice, not half your maximum. I had "house ruled" that you could make a medicine check to stablise a dying player. Turns out that was a rule in the player's handbook.
biggest thing I see people doing wrong is how Vision, Darkvision, and Stealth work. people understand that Vision is effected by it being dark. most people understand that Darkvision alleviates that. fewer people understand that Darkvision only makes low light within 60ft equal to bright light, and that complete darkness is only increased one step so that it is equal to low light conditions. almost every person who plays the game makes the connection that low light conditions make stealthing easier, but don't actually understand how. The following is as accurate a breakdown as you're likely to get (I have looked for better, and haven't found it) Something that lightly obscures you (moderate foliage for example) presents a person with disadvantage to perception checks to see you, but does not grant you advantage on Stealth. In fact, it does not even give you the option of hiding from a person if they already seen you. After all, if you're not already stealthing behind a bush, you're just standing there, and regardless of how low their perception skill is, they don't need to make one to see you standing there. While this does not prevent a character from hiding before the person sees them, such as when facing the wrong way to start with, or when line of sight is obscured by a wall they then clear after you're hidden, it does prevent the character from trying to stealth after they have entered the persons line of sight. If you don't believe me on that, take a look at this snippet from the Skulker feat: You are expert at slinking through shadows. You gain the following benefits: • You can try to hide when you are lightly obscured from the creature from which you are hiding. there is also this snippet from the Wild Elf racial feature Mask of the Wild: • You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena. trying and attempting are the keywords there. without this feat or ability, you have to rely on the rules for hiding in the PHB (relevant snippets below). with these abilities, they give you the ability to attempt to hide, regardless of if someone is watching or not. this most often comes up when GM's who haven't looked at the relevant sections of the book in detail rule that, for example, a goblin ducks out of the lanterns bright light and immediately hides, telling you that it disappears into the darkness 30 feet from the light source. Fine, if the Goblin is also a skulker, but actually making things more difficult than they should be in those otherwise lightless tunnels. by RAW, that goblin should not be able to hide simply because it makes it to the lightly obscuring low level lighting condition. another thing that is often overlooked is that, while a character or monster has darkvision, when operating in pure darkness that character or monster is suffering disadvantage on its own perception checks, and not gaining advantage on its stealth at all. This is Vision, as per the PHB: A given area might be lightly or heavily obscured. In a lightly obscured area, such as dim light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage, creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. A heavily obscured area-such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage-blocks vision entirely. A creature in a heavily obscured area effectively suffers from the blinded condition (see appendix A). This is Stealth, as per the PHB: When you try to hide, make a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, that check’s total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence. You can’t hide from a creature that can see you, and if you make noise (such as shouting a warning or knocking over a vase), you give away your position. An invisible creature can’t be seen, so it can always try to hide. Signs of its passage might still be noticed, however, and it still has to stay quiet. In combat, most creatures stay alert for signs of danger all around, so if you come out of hiding and approach a creature, it usually sees you. However, under certain circumstances, the Dungeon Master might allow you to stay hidden as you approach a creature that is distracted, allowing you to gain advantage on an attack before you are seen. This Feat, if you're not familiar: S k u l k e r Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or higher You are expert at slinking through shadows. You gain the following benefits: • You can try to hide when you are lightly obscured from the creature from which you are hiding. • When you are hidden from a creature and miss it with a ranged weapon attack, making the attack doesn't reveal your position. • Dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight.
Warcaster section is WRONG: YOU DON'T NEED the material components if you are using a focus UNLESS the component(s) have a cost. That's not many at all. Keep your summons components on a necklace or bracelet/bracer (underside if getting it sliced off in combat is a risk) and a couple more and you're good. The most costly non-summon components I don't think are even combat spells (off the top of my head).
Guys, please, just stop with the scripted segways. Seriously, I joined this channel because it was laid back and not scripted or cheesy. This video sounds bad.
The Material Component part of War Caster is negated if the player is using an Arcane focus that is in a crystal that is in a ring or amulet, or is a staff that they use as their weapon.
Yeah, but then that means they can not use anything which isn't a staff weapon such as a quaterstaff unless they use a crystal pendant or something like it. That is unless they are Warlocks or Bards from college of swords.
I did mention a crystal in a ring or amulet as an option. Pact of the Blade Warlocks do have the option to use a pact weapon as an arcane focus if they take the improved pact weapon invocation, but that of course negates the issue with War Caster anyway. College of Swords bards don't actually get any special benefits regarding focuses, so they would still need a ring or amulet of some sort to cast spells while in combat.....or a harmonica holder so they can take advantage of using their instrument as a focus.
@roribeedm Incorrect, I believe you are reading the wrong college. I believe you think of Valor and not Swords. College of Swords DOES make weapons your spellcasting focus. Pick up your copy of Xanathar's Guide To Everything and flip to page 15. Under Bonus Proficiencies: When you join the College of Swords at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Medium Armor and the scimitar. *If you're proficient with a simple or martial melle weapon, YOU CAN USE IT AS A SPELLCASTING FOCUS FOR YOUR BARD SPELLS.* So no, you 100% do not need a ring, amulet or harmonica to use your spells when you are in College of Swords. Bards in the College of Swords are Sword dancers and Sword eaters, they preform with their weapons. They can cast spells with a weapon they are proficient with as well as any instrument.
If it is a Reaction to someone entering your Threat Area, can you Shove them out of your Threat Area? I realize this is little more than a delaying tactic if set in a cycle, but it keeps the guy from going where he wants to go.
So you "corrected" to the wrong point regarding War Caster. The feat says you can preform the Somatic with a weapon or shield, while the rules regarding Material Components say that it can be the same hand that preforms the Somatic so you had War Caster correct in your previous interpretation.
The Deadly combo for Sentinel Feat is = Sentinel + Polearm Master (+ Mage Slayer). Enemy comes into reach, Polearm Master kicks off, they try to leave, Sentinel kicks off.
You never know cause for the longest time I would misread the DC for the Cypher part of the Linguist feat as being Int Modifier + Proficiency and therefore didn't see any real value in it if the Cypher could easily be hacked. I only recently realized that it actually says Int SCORE + Proficiency, making it harder to crack. And the reason why I kept reading it as Int Mod is because most DC related calculations will say "8 + [Ability] Modifier + Proficiency Bonus", and since there wasn't an "8 + ..." as part of the DC for Linguist, I presumed for the longest time that the max DC it could have would be 11 (+5 + 6) since I thought that it was Int Mod + Prof Bonus. Now I know that the max the DC could be is 26 [20 + 6]. NOTE: This doesn't include coming across the Tomes that increases Ability Score past the 20 Cap as I know that for certain Races that can live more then 100+ years would be able to re-read the various Tomes every 100 years with very few Races being able to re-read it 4 more times [presuming they found the Tome for a Stat that was already at the standard 20 Cap] to get to the ultimate "God Mode" cap of 30.
With the material component for spells, wouldn't you just be able to sheath your sword as a free action and then cast if needed? Spells normally take an action anyway, so if you decide to cast something like that, you won't be needing the sword.
Better solution is an Arcane focus (crystal specifically) in a ring. The PHB doesn't specify how big the crystal has to be, so it could be as small as little crystals in the eye sockets of a skull on the ring.
Definitely. But, I was more referring to when you have war-caster feat, and need to cast a spell that has an expensive material component. Something like the spell contingency which is V S M (1500gp ivory statuette of yourself). Something in this case, a spell focus doesn't work. So, the free action of sheathing a sword during movement or as part of his action should work by RAW. But the crystal in the ring is a wonderful idea that I'll use now for my wizards. lol
Contingency isn't something that you would be casting in combat since it has a 10 minute casting time, and the material components don't need to be held when the spell activates, they only need to be on your person for that particular spell. Looking through a list of spells with a material component with a listed value, the ones that might be useful in combat are: Chromatic Orb: Can easily be skipped since there are other damage dealing spells that will replace it just fine. Stoneskin: 100gp that is consumed to cast a concentration spell? I'd be skipping this one no matter what, even with advantage on concentration checks. Greater Restoration: I'd usually wait until out of combat to cast this one Circle of Death: This one I would drop a weapon to be able to cast. True Seeing: This is another one that I would generally cast before or after combat. Forcecage: Only the second spell I would actually drop a weapon to cast. Mordenkainen's Sword: I would cast this one at the start of combat before drawing my own sword Plane Shift: Could be useful, but I've never relied on it in combat. Project Image: Again, cast it before battle, save your spell slots in combat for damage or defense. Sequester: I guess you can use it in combat, but it only works on a willing creature and puts them in suspended animation so.....why? Holy Aura: Again, cast before combat so you get its benefit early. Gate: If you're using this spell in combat it's generally to GTFO so yeah, put away your weapon. Shapechange: Requires a jade circlet that you must put on your head. Wear the circlet all the time and you're good. I'm pretty sure the list I was looking at doesn't include the Unearthed Arcana spells or spells that have been added in Xanathar's or Elemental Evil, so there might be one or two more that would be useful, but really there are only a handful that I would say are worth casting in combat and there are usually other spells that can be cast with an arcane focus that will work just as well if not better. Of course your mileage my vary.
This was a really helpful video! But I have a question for you guys, how does the spell attack of opportunity work? And does a weapon with reach affect it?
If you have the war caster feat and someone does something that provokes an attack of opportunity you can instead use a spell that targets one creature on them. Same for a reach weapon. Nerdarchist Dave
Can you use Cutting Words on an enemy's initiative roll? It takes your reaction to do so, and I didn't think that you had a reaction until you were in combat (i.e., after initiative was rolled).
Once initiative is rolled combat has begun. Technically I'd say at the initiative everyone is rolling at the same time so it isn't technically anyone's turn yet, but combat has been initiated. Also reactions can be circumstantial. For instance feather fall . You cast the spell in reaction to someone falling. You can do it whether you are in combat or not. Nerdarchist Dave
Upfront and personally, I'm fairly liberal in my allowances to PC's in general... SO my general practice would probably just be "I don't have to like it, but I'll allow it." (take from Mills Lane in "Celebrity DeathMatch"... for lolz) BUT there's that "anal retentive" version of me who might listen to the "rules lawyer-y" thing... AND I'd suggest this... Everyone Rolls initiative... individually, including any/all monsters and NPC's... On the ORDER of Initiative, the PC with "Cutting Words" can then use them to encumber any remaining monsters, NPC's, or even targeted PC's he or she sees fit to oppose... It might not quite be AS useful as the "liberal free-for-all" version, but for those who act after that character, the order can be skewed to favor Party Members more than it would have as originally rolled. SO it's still useful. ;o)
Thanks for answering. It was a genuine question, as I haven't actually seen something like this come up in a game I've been in. It might only be useful in certain circumstances, but getting that BBEG to go later in a round than usual might be very nice.
@@Nerdarchy it has to be a weapon you are proficient with but it's why College of Swords Bard with either Rogue or Fighter multiclass is one of my favorite Gishes.
@Shaylic What you just said is 100% incorrect. Pick up your copy of Xanathar's Guide To Everything and read the description for the Eldritch Invocation: Improved Pact Weapon Requirements: Pact of the Blade feature *You can use any weapon you summon with your Pact of the Blade feature as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells.* In addition, the weapon gains a+1 bonus to it's attack and damage rolls, unless it is a magic weapon that already has a bonus to those rolls. Finally, the weapons you conjure can be a shortbow, longbow, light crossbow or heavy crossbow. (I believe in addition to what you already can summon) So no, you are wrong as Weapon Pact DOES allow you to use your weapon as a arcane focus.
could be just me but if a player is paralyzed or down.. i would still have the mob/monster roll to see if they still beat the base armor value "and not roll ones too".. ie leather has a set AC before dex bonuses.. basicly the roll is to make sure the mob doesnt flub the roll.."or in story terms decide to play with its pray or become distracted".. assuming they make the roll then it would go to auto-crit rules.. short definition would be yes auto-crit but not auto-hit.. which sadly i've seen too many GM's call auto-crit an auto-hit.. after all your armor doesnt dissapear just because your paralyzed or on the ground... i might be called wrong on this and prolly will be.. but if i GM.. thats how i will call it... btw.. my favorite counter spell..so to say.. is silence... after all if you cant cast it.. it might as well count as countered...lol
yikes, yeah, what is the point of giving someone advantage on attack rolls if they are playing it as you auto hit and crit? There are no coups de grace any more. btw... spells without verbal components are a thing. You can still do counter spell on them, but silence won't do anything to stop them. They are thankfully rare though so I like silence too for that reason.
Why can't you put an arcane focus crystal on your sheild or in your sword (eye of thunderia style) or just wear it around your neck and pull it up drop you weapon if need be because you can bonus action it back after you cast said spell.
You can only wear your focus on your shield as a divine caster. For them, it's the *symbol of their god*, as opposed to a physical conductor of magic. Wands, staves, rods, and crystals are all the arcane foci provided in the book, and it's implied heavily that while DMs can add more, they should fit the same general theme. While I don't see anything wrong with embedding a magic crystal in an object to make it your focus, that's the whole point of the common magic item they brought up. Look it up in Xanathar's Guide, the Ruby of the War Mage. Its sole purpose is to embed it in a weapon and turn it into a spell focus, but it costs you an attunement slot to do so.
For a sea faring campaign a player had a crystal hook hand for a focus. another used a glass eye as one and would pop it in and out of his head when needed
@@Nerdarchy but it is really needed it is left open in the rules. In fact unless i missed it you dont have to hold your foci just have it. It could hanging around your neck
@@skynight113 from the spell casting section of the phb- A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components - or to hold a spellcasting focus - but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components. Nerdarchist Dave
One i find that most people overlook is exhaustion. The first lvl gives you disadvantage on ability checks which includes initiative. So if you exhausted your probably not going first.
Um, that's impossible. You only lose 1 level of exhaustion after a long rest, so unless someone is spending two Greater Restorations or a potion on him daily (the only other way I know of to lose exhaustion levels) he'd be gaining exhaustion levels every day and then making them worse by going frenzy again. Without any outside assistance, a 3/day exhaustion drain would kill him in 3 days (3->2, 5->4, 6=dead). And on top of that, he'd be completely unable to move after his last rage on the second day. Wherever they are, whatever hellish hole they were in the middle of, they're now camping right there. So I'm going to assume that's an exaggeration. Personally I find exhaustion levels to be one of the most dangerous conditions to deal with. Gaining one level after a grueling hike through a blizzard is bad enough, but when a class feature specifically gives you exhaustion, to me that's a good indicator you should avoid the class. Of course, spells that cause exhaustion are equally nasty...you guys ever look into the implications of Sickening Radiance? Use Warding Glyph to cast it without concentration or have a buddy combine it with a control spell to keep enemies from leaving the area and you've got one nasty trap. Even if enemies don't die from the per-round damage effect, they get severely handicapped ... disadvantage on grapple checks, half movement, disadvantage on attacks and saves, then half hp, immobility, and then death. 6 turn guaranteed kill if they fail all their saves, regardless of remaining hp or power level. On top of that it can burn through legendary resistance and there are only a few creatures capable of resisting it for long periods.
@@Nurk0m0rath You don't get my meaning. Grog is (or was) doing Frenzy Rage a lot of times and Matt Mercer always forgot the exhaustion. Just watched Critical Role #49 today, it's the first time he even mentions exhaustion due to Frenzy. Still it was the twice battle that day and he went frenzy both times, but Matt counted only the second. What I was saying: A lot of people are forgetting about exhaustion. And I totally agree that this is one of the reasons I'd never play Path of the Berserker Barbarian. Besides the lack of things you can do which are not hacking at something with your weapon.
Yes the path of the berzerker can have some down sides but there is a lot of upsides as well. The barbarian eventually gets advantage on intiative so if your exhausted it is just a straight roll for intiative. Half movement isnt so bad as you get a lot of bonus movement from your class. Then disadvantage on attacks is offset with reckless attacks. Also if you go by D&D beyond stats rhe average amounts of combat people engage in before having a long reat is one combat then depending on your DM the berzerker can be viable.
True, once-a-day combats would be much easier to deal with as a berserker, but then, why exactly are you playing a berserker? If your game uses so much RP that you only fight once a day, wouldn't you want a class with a bit more RP support? Ahh, I see. Never actually watched those games but I guess it is a pretty good example of people forgetting rules. But I'm totally in agreement about avoiding berserker class. Personally, I'd rule that you spend 2 charges of rage to get frenzy, instead of gaining exhaustion. Means you can burn through your resources fast, so you still want to be sparing with it, but it's not SO terrible to use. More like a wizard who can nuke the enemy hard but be all but useless afterward.
I just want to be sure that you guys aren't under the impression that warlocks can gain resistance to magical effects through a familiar, because that's what it sounds like in every one of your videos. Maybe you're saying that the familiar has magic resistance, but you keep saying to choose certain familiars "cuz it gives you magic resistance".
I mess up tons of rules, but I'm still pretty new... So whatever. Anyway, I wouldn't mind seeing a video about your homebrew rules or rules that you think are missing or need tweaking. (You have a ton of vids, so maybe you've already done one...) One thing that really irks me are the jumping rules. You roll for almost everything in the game, but for some reason, you don't have to roll for jumping. You have a 16 str, you can always jump 16 feet. That's nuts!... You're being chased down a hall by some goblins when suddenly you find yourself at a cliff. Luckily the other side is 9 feet away, so everyone makes it!... Nope. Sorry. I wouldn't jump across a 9 foot ravine, and I'm not wearing plate mail.
I will die saying this: “Melee weapon attack vs. Melee-weapon attack vs. attack with a melee weapon”. Heads up, those things are not inherently the same
You do realize that your "Greataxeguitar" is a musical instrument and therefore automatically counts as a spellcasting focus for bard spells? Btw, I like the image of that in my head. Metal Bard🤘
I had to attach the ruby because it doubles also as Greataxe with wich i hit ppl very hard :), so my dm allowed it only if I attach it to the Axe. I'm Half-Orc btw, and yes we are playing SKT as a Metal Band (Fox n' Roses) 🤘.
@@PiratePawsLive Okay, that's totally fine as a drawback for having a Guitar and Greataxe in one. Can't really bring up RAW when you are "inventing" things like this ;-)
Um, no. A component pouch is not a focus. You require a free hand to pull components out of the pouch. Think of it like Macguyver pulling out a clump of bat feces, mixing it with sulfur, and making a primitive gunpowder (aka Fireball). Obviously he needs his hands to do that, he can't just hold the pouch containing all the carefully separated components. The component pouch is just a convenience thing for players who don't want to track how many globs of bat guano and eyelashes in gum arabic they're carrying around.
@@Nurk0m0rath I wasnt talking about using it as the arcane focus. Under spellcasting material it states you can use your pouch instead of the specific components, if it contains the needed materials. If your shield is your arcane focus and you hold your pouch clenched in your shield hand, I was under the impression it satisfied both requirements (warcaster feat).
Misty Step, Fireball....What do you mean I can't cast a bonus action spell and a full action spell? OK I use Quicken Spell and cast fire ball twice.....What do you mean I can't use my sorcery points to use 2 spells? OK I cast fireball then use my bonus action to shove with my shield using my shield master feat.....What do you mean I can't hold a tiny piece of bat crap and a shield at the same time......OK I use extra action with my paladin and attack with my 2 swords 5 times.......What that's OK? Why we use many house rules to de-neuter our spell casters in our player group.
I love you guys, and I know you guys are awesome, but a small amount of constructive criticism... I'm not sure why but lately you guys have begun to feel like you're selling me a vacuum cleaner in my living room... maybe feeling a little burnt out? I love the back and forth conversations but this doesn't feel organic like it used to. Still, a great informative video!
One that I have seen come up a lot is thrown weapons. People will overlook or forget that you use strength instead of dexterity in 5e, unless the weapon is finesse.
Graveyard Shift I would argue a thrown weapon is a ranged attack and it clearly states that all ranged attacks uses dex, rather than str. Unfortunately I don't have the book with me so I can't quote it more precisely than the above.
@@86Kadi nope. Thrown weapons use strength unless they are finesse. Otherwise you would throw something heavy, like a shot put (basically a hand held cannon ball) using your dexterity, which makes no sense.
So, I'm confused. Was that product placement a referral or a sponsored deal? It sounded like an advertisement, but you never specifically stated it was an advertisement like you're supposed to by the user agreement, so...? Not sure if there's any special requirements first before you can use them, but I have also been seeing a "includes paid ad" or something like that annotation stamp at the start of videos people have been using recently, so there's that option if you don't want to script out "hey, this is a sponsor deal" in the way you word things. Admittedly, the Deck of many spell card kickstarter line is pretty cool either way, but still, need to figure out how to advertise correctly. Or, given the current RUclips climate, if it was just a shout out, make that clear as well.
Love you guys, but I hate your new upbeat mode (dont do drugs!) combinede with overscripted bad dialogue. Its like you are doing a parody on your old serious format. Those intro and sponsor messages suck so much, they remove any kind of sincerety that could help the product. Stop trying to be hip, it does not suit you guys. I don't know if you try to get more younger viewers or what, but its very bad. Your old unscripted style, where you guys jost pingpong on the topics were way more interesting, because they were authentic.
I had to stop watching when you got stuff wrong on paralysis auto crits (only attacks within 5ft) and said you could shove on attacks of opportunity which is also wrong (only applies when you take the attack action)
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I have one issue with this, Pg. 203 PHB A spellcaster must have one hand free to access a spell's material components-or to hold a spellcasting focus-but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic component.
If you can perform somatic components without a free hand, why wouldn't you be able to manipulate a focus/component?
I feel I should say that the major difference about 5E and 3.5 is that ability to run a game with RaW vice having to go RaI or House Rules. 5E lowered the bar for entry for new players but at the same time gave people who understood that combat and social interactions are complex a new headache.
A rule that you most certainly don't get wrong, but practically every DM I've played with does, is material components in general. I have not yet played in a campaign where material components were even mentioned.
Start doing slideshows more images less u guys.watch aj Pickett.Mr.rhexx.and jorphdan and esper da bard.They got good vids where it ain't two guys talking
you can cast spells using your spellcasting focus eschewing material components unless they are specifically stated as an item with a gp value (i.e. resurrections flawless diamond cost)
Dave's optimism here is freaking great. I do like the unscripted stuff more though because it just feels like hanging with the guys
Re: Warcaster, you might also want to consider Warlock:Improved Pact Weapon. The Pact Weapon then also becomes a spell focus.
This makes Hexblades a true Gish... albeit with very limited spells.
You might also consider finding ways to wear an arcane focus. A crystal worn as a necklace under your clothes/armor is technically touching you, and therefore should work.
Magical staves could function as both a weapon and a focus as well.
Things to consider.
Combine it with Sorcerer and you fix that lack of spells and spellslots.
I'd go at least Warlock 2 for the invocations (agonizing blast!) and the rest for sorcerer.
Warlock 3 is also interesting for pact boon (blade it is) and 2nd level slots.
While you are at it, go 4th level for ASI/Feat.
And 5th level gives you Thirsting Blade (=Extra Attack) and Eldritch Smite.
So maybe for a gish I'd recommend Hexblade-Warlock 5 / Sorcerer X and you only need CHA, DEX and CON.
Just one thing to note, warlocks by RaW don't actually get extra attack. They get a special ability that has the same effect but only for their pact weapon, whatever that might be at the time (and remember you have to spend an action to change your pact weapon's form). If you're not after those short-rest spell slots, or you intend to use something other than a pact weapon (such as the spell Shadow Blade), you're better off taking five levels of a melee class instead. Five levels of paladin would solve both problems by giving you the shield focus and extra attack at the same time. I mean personally I'd overlook the distinction and just say "you have extra attack" but that depends on your table.
Seriously, at times I wish there was a feat that granted extra attack if you didn't already have it. Worthless for fighter types but it would give other classes the chance to mix things up in melee if they want. Not to mention warlocks could trade a feat for an invocation and be able to use it for Shadow Blade (which, let's be honest, does more damage than any pact weapon ever could with a base of 2d8 per strike and double that with a 5th level slot).
@@Nurk0m0rath But I would always create the Pact Weapon before battle, like others draw their weapons when enemies are close.
But you're right with Shadow Blade.
True, typically a blade warlock will have one primary weapon form and have it ready before all fights (by RaW the pact weapon can be carried indefinitely, so it's just a free +0 weapon with the potential to be upgraded). But IMO this is where the bladelock falls down as a warrior-mage class. Let's say they form a greatsword. They're now locked into that weapon for the rest of combat unless they waste an entire turn to change it. Let's say they have a javelin and they want to throw it at someone trying to flee. That javelin is their only attack because their Extra Attack doesn't apply to it. On the other hand, a fighter or barbarian can throw a javelin and then gleefully dive back into melee on the same turn. So instead of carrying ranged weapons, bladelocks are better off using eldritch blast, just like any other warlock. Which is why, the more I look into the warlock, the less I like it. There are so many class options, but 90% of their combat mechanics come back to the same basic strategy. Hex, eldritch blast, eldritch blast, eldritch blast, and occasionally a ground effect like cloud of daggers or hunger of hadar. I actually rewrote the entire class to try and fix that problem, but I have to find a way to get it tested.
@@Nurk0m0rath A thing I came up with to increase the versatility and fun-to-play-ity of the Warlock is making his invocations changeable after every long rest like cleric, ranger and wizard spells, by communicating with their patron. It fits the theme in my opinion very well and it's giving more focus to the invocations besides the Eldritch Blast improvements. Experimenting in-game is always more fun than theory crafting between sessions
I thought the Grapple/Shove rules could be applied to opportunity attacks too but they both specify that they occur when using the Attack action and opportunity attacks are specifically reactions. It'd be so cool if they could be reactions but that'd have to be house ruled.
Was just going to comment the same thing
Same
I noticed this right away too. I swear the name of this video is a troll. Like, "Here are rules we got wrong when we explained them in this video you're watching right now". lol.
Maybe there is an errata somewhere that they're privy to? Maybe the source of their information is wrong? But if you could take the attack action as a reaction then you'd get all sorts of stuff working with it!
That would mean that two weapon fighting is actually a good idea; you could do your off-hand attack first, trip the opponent with it and then do your main action attacks at an advantage.
Dunkoro off hands are an attack with the bonus action not an attack action. So you could attack action and then bonus at advantage
I find it amusing that you're still getting rules wrong in a video whose all purpose was to get them right. xD
- Paralysis: The hit is only a critical if the attack is made within 5 feet of the paralyzed target.
- Opportunity attacks: No, you can't hold or shove someone as an attack of opportunity. "You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity attack, you use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature." One melee attack. Not an action of your choice. :P
- Counterspell: OMG WHAT!? *mindblown* Good job on this one, I had no idea.
Hey we are less than perfect. So flubbed the aoo. Fact checker your fired. On the paralysis we forgot to add the within 5'. Some times we mean to and it just gets missed.
Nerdarchist Dave
To be fair, I think that just shows one of the core flaws with the way 5E words things. At a glance, its pretty easy to read the definition of Opportunity Attacks as "take an attack action" which would allow you to do a shove.
Along the same lines as how Devil Sight is actually not useful 99% of the time, even though it sounds like it is amazingly powerful.
Even though you can't grapple/shove you could disarm somebody though
On opportunity attacks. You are correct that you can't shove or grapple as an opportunity attack, but not for the reason you state. Both shove and grapple are melee attacks and fall under the melee attacks heading. The actual reason you can't do this is that both shove and grapple specifically state that they are used as part of the attack action. With grappling stating ".. you can use the Attack action to .. " and shove is "Using the Attack action, ... ". You can however still use quite a few of your Battle Master combat maneuvers on opportunity attacks (trip/disarm/frighten etc), which is always fun.
Disarm is a Variant Rule though
I think its important that Nerdarchy knows, despite the criticism on these recent videos, they are still producing top-of-the-line content and we are all more than happy to watch. You guys have come a long way already, you are certainly moving in the right direction, it will be just a matter of finding the right balance between high energy and authenticity. Authentic banter and organic conversation seems to be what drew people to this channel and what people are asking for. Scripts and high energy can be good, but if its not a normal thing for you guys, and I dont sense it is, you need to identify that and play to your strengths. You guys are genuine, insightful guys without the scripts, no need to force something that doesnt fit. Stay true to yourselves and just do what feels natural, you guys will always have the support from this community. Best of luck.
1. Paralyse only autocrits on attacks within 5ft of the target. All other attacks have advantage unless the target was prone when paralysed.
2. Grappling:
When you want to grab a creature or wrestle with it, you can use the Attack action to make a special melee attack, a grapple. If you’re able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them. (PHB pg.195)
Attacks of Opportunity:
You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity attack, you use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature. The attack interrupts the provoking creature’s movement, occurring right before the creature leaves your reach. (ibid)
I don't think you can do anything except a melee attack because it states "melee attack" not "attack action". Thats only by RAW you can use the rule of cool and homebrew to decide otherwise.
3. Counterspell - yeah thats right, magic items like the luckstone which add +1 to all ability checks and saving throws will affect this too. Things that affect all ability checks also applies to initiative rolls!
4. Oh, nevermind.
5. War-caster - Yeah this one is always a pain.
A cleric with a divine symbol on their shield can:
Cast [V],S,M spells normally, since they can use the same hand holding their shield to make the somatic components. No feat required.
Cast [V],S spells by dropping/stowing their weapon first.
If they have the Warcaster feat, they can cast all spells while holding their shield and weapon with no additional requirements.
Source: twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/537376733234601984
Dave, your BattleMage can scribe scrolls of the material component spells he needs in combat then post them to the backside of his shield to read off in combat. You can also attach the scrolls to your armor and gear like the Librarians do in Warhammer 40k with their Seals of Purity.
I always assumed a focus could be an amulet or a ring. in which case, you wouldn't need to touch the focus at all.
Indeed, it is quite vague. A crystal could even be embedded in the back of a glove, going right along with your somatic gestures.
12:00 I always loved to use a buckler for spellcasters which leaves your hand free but gives you the protection of a shield.
Well, the Paralyzation Auto Crits ONLY happen when hit by a an attack from within 5', if you are beyond 5' then you won't score the Auto Crit on the Paralyzed Creature.
Altyrell - I thought the autocrit only stipulation for autocrit was a melee attack. Melee weapon/unarmed. No ranged weapon or magic spell. Not distance either. If a creature has a weapon or reach of 10’, it can still autocrit.
@@s0bedrag0n nope within 5 ft is a requirement for the crit melee attack isn't a requirement.
Unless it had gotten Errata'd, it's ANY attack that hits WITHIN 5'. If you hit with a reach weapon from 10' then you will not get the Auto Crit as you physically were not within 5' of the paralyzed creature.
So you can cast Shocking Grasp on a Paralyzed Creature & get the Auto Crit if it hits. Ranged Attacks (Spell & Weapon) will still be at a disad at 5' unless the Person has Crossbow Expert (Weapon) or Spell Sniper (Spell).
@@Altyrell ranged attacks would be made normally at 5ft disadvantage canceling out advantage.
And? I essentially did say that in my post above yours. "disad" = "disadvantage"
With the component restriction on wizards with war caster, it isn't a problem if you choose your spells in advance with that in mind. Made a gishy build for fighter 1/abjurist x to be just about the tankiest wizard possible. There are plenty of good spells to take that don't require material components to cast. And when they do, you just stow your weapon at the end of a round (if you even use it as a primary, shock I don't think I will), then the next round you draw your wand, raise your shield, and cast whatever you want.
You absolutely correct. That is why we brought up the spell break down.
Nerdarchist Dave
My main group came from 3/3.5e and didn't realize for awhile the 5ft step was no longer a thing.
Unless you're playing in an actual tournament, you can alter what you want. Just make sure it's consistent and all players understand the changes you make.
The vibe has changed; are you guys reading from a script more or something? I liked the more conversational tone.
i know what you mean, but with this specific topic, it kinda has to be scripted.
The otherway would have been to have each one prepare 2-3 rules, and risk having overlap.
cenauge - I know what you mean. I’ve been watching this channel since they were around 5000 subscribers. I respect the fact that they have upped their production game. But seriously. This pre scripted intro ‘comedy’ routine is just not working. Ted & Dave this isn’t you. It’s not authentic & it’s jarring watching you two try to do what WEB DM does with their intros. I’ve watched most of the videos you have put out but lately it’s been ‘hard’ to watch. I miss the old Ted & Dave off the cuff. Please bring them back
Yeah i watch nerdarchy and webdm for different takes on content. if you guys begin modeling yourselves after another channel or othes copy you then only the one who does it better will survive. Nerdarchy was about the conversation but its been only 2 people in most videos this year. It was great when you guys had ryan, also it feels like nate is doing his own thing within the channel and isent in as many videos with dave/ted. It feels like they moved to a 2 person format which like 3-4 other channels have and honestly do better. The unique thing from this channel was the 4 (then 3) different main opinions and the multiple recurring guest perspectives. I really think you guys should have more videos with guests in them again because the thing of most value that drew me to this channel originally was the 4+ opinions on every topic which gave me alot different ideas then the 2 main perspectives we get now
@@kyleellis9177 it's gotten harder to match up that many schedules. Before it was a mix of me and Ted plus the 3+ people vids. Ryan has since moved on and we are shooting less videos. Then there is the added tech challenge with more people in the shot.
The show has always changed and evolve from the very beginning. We are now implementing things we wanted to do 4 yrs ago like playing around with skits.
Some times we make changes with the viewers in mind. Other times it's because we just want to do something different. I'm sure we aren't even close to our final form.
FYI- Our recent videos where we have brought on different people have been some of our worst performing videos. I don't say this to be snarky, but to illustrate it can be hard for us to tell what people actually want. So we look at the analytics and mine the comments.
Thanks for the feedback.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@grifter23x we've been spending a lot more time working on videos pre-recording to keep the content more concise and accurate. Even than there are flubs and screw ups.
I really don't think what we are doing is the same as what Web DM does. Skits were something we've talked about going years ago. We just didn't have the production capability back than.
Are ultimate goal is to get a hybrid of what we've done in the past and the new approach. There will be growing pains for sure. Ultimately we want to put out a better for you the fans. We will monitor the comments for feedback while also examining the metrics we receive from RUclips.
I do appreciate you weighing in with your feedback.
Thank you
Nerdarchist Dave
I love the new setup and high production value feel.
Thanks. We are always seeking to improve our craft.
Nerdarchist Dave
My new favorite spell caster is artificer, every weapon, shield, or armor they infuse after level 2 becomes an arcane focus xD and the spread of wizard, bard, druid, ranger, and paladin spells and available infusions and hot-swapping spells, cantrips, and infusions after every level and long rest is so versatile for any play style... I'm having so much fun playtesting it :)
Easy solution for an arcane caster Gish is to use a staff instead. Instead of a regular quarterstaff, get an arcane focus, which can be a staff. Takes care of your material components problem, can still be used with a shield, can be used 2-handed instead if you want some extra damage, and let’s you take advantage of one of my favorite feats, Polearm Mastery.
Sorry to be that person but I disagree with the attack of opportunity stuff.
If you read the sections on "Grappling" and "Shoving" they specifically require you to take the "Attack action" to access them. This is quite different to the Opportunity attack which (if you read it) is quite limiting in what you can do. It even specifies that your attack must be a melee attack not a ranged attack e.g. you can't shoot them with a hand crossbow.
Nope we flubbed. The fact checker has been properly flogged and fired.
Nerdarchist Dave
Little work around for your E.K./ Wizard. It's a free action to drop your weapon, an "use object" to grab your spell component, and with E.K. only a bonus action to resummon your weapon. Not ideal, and sorta breaks the mental image, but serviceable. The only issue I see is the B.A. resummon conflicting with the War Magic B.A. weapon attack.
The war caster feat allows you to perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands.
And
When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must target only that creature.
That's the only time you'd be able to cast spells as attacks of opportunity.
I got that same portal gun T-shirt! Love Rick and Morty! Thanks for all the free tips guys!!! :)
This is why you should always use a two handed weapon if your a wizard with war caster. It's so easy to reach into that component pouch while shouldering your greatsword. Plus you can use OP great weapon master feat.
Just be a Warlock with the Improved Pact Weapon and it become your spellcasting focus. Hexblade Warlock works really well.
To solve the war caster problem, could you use a versatile weapon instead of sword and shield. That way you could hold your weapon with 2 hands to make attacks, then hold it in one hand when you want to cast a spell.
Really found this topic entertaining.
Format, mid video recap of points and multiple in detail examples.
10/10 nerdyarchy vid guys
Glad you enjoyed it.
Nerdarchist Dave
Yeah when I was making my eldritch knight with warcaster I noticed that as well, it seems like it should be able to cover material but doesn't. I brought it up to my dm that war caster wouldn't allow material component and he allowed it to.
We are kind of hand wavy about it in our own games.
Nerdarchist Dave
Simple solution: Arcane focus is a crystal contained in a ring or amulet. Arcane focuses handle all material components except ones with a listed gp value.
Another thing you guys might reconsider: multiplying “movement bonuses”. You did a video a while back where you weren’t “stacking” the bonuses but were actually compounding it. For example, multiple items and feats might double movement 3,4,5 or six times and you had characters going thousands of feet. I’ve always felt that additional “doubling” effects worked more like addition where you simply added the base moment again for every item or feat that says “doubled” rather than multiplication that compounded each time. You see this in video games where you equip buffing items. If three items gave 100% movement bonuses each, it would translate to a 300% bonus or 30 + (30*3)= 120.........not 30*2*2*2=240. Sorry for all the math
I never knew bards could lower initiative with cutting words.
I don't know if you have made a video on this, but a rule whose use is encouraged yet I have never seen is DM-awarded inspiration.
You can sheath or draw your sword in tandem with movement and action (not shields) to use materials for spells. However opportunity attacks will be unarmed or with your shield. Till your next turn.
Which usely goes hand in hand with the war caster feat to keep a shield as a cleric
Guys! That lead in to the Deck of Many promo is on point. Couple funny nerds here.
Been watching you guys for years, please keep up the great content!
Another related and oft forgotten rule: an attack against a paralyzed or unconscious target, if they hit, are *only* automatic critical hits if the attacker is within five feet. Also, by RAW if you are unconscious at zero hour points and an attacker within five feet hits you, you auto-fail two death saves because it is a critical hit.
I am curious on how you would rule out this. In one of the games I played, one of our players was killed and me playing a spellcaster asked if I could attempt to revive the player using Mending and Shocking Grasp as both were cantrips I had available for use. I explained how I was going to do so, and the DM looked through the book and we didn't see anything against it. Basically I ripped open his chest and used mending to close the wounds in the chest cavity and then used to it when closing the chest itself before sewing the skin back together and begin using Shocking Grasp as a make-shift defibilator to jumpstart the players heart. The DM had me roll a d100 with a 33% chance of success, 1-33 did nothing, 34-66 succeeded, and 67-100 exploded the heart. Sadly I rolled above 66 and blew up the heart. It is a cool thing, but like I said we saw nothing really for it but nothing against it directly.
I'll have to double-check 5e's feat lists, but if Eschew Materials from 3.5 has survived, then this a great feat to get around need of spell components.
I would like your opinion on whether you could use a grappling hook if you had it prepared as an attack of opportunity against a flying creature .
I'd allow it if the creature did something to provoke the aoo.
Nerdarchist Dave
Thanks
If you're forward thinking and know a spellcaster is going to be a huge problem you can attempt to shut them down by readying any action that makes them laugh/cry/stutter/slur their speech/yell at you/stop breathing or immobilizes their hands making it impossible for them to meet verbal or somatic components AFTER they've expended spell slots and material components with costs xD counter spell is the most boring way to counter a spell :)
You're even getting some rules here. You've probably heard this by now but...
Paralyzed conditions only auto crits from within 5 ft.
AoO you cannot replace with a grapple or shove.
Champion initiative is a good call!
Power gamer inside me just couldn't let it slide xP
Heya Nerdarchy, the suggestion about replacing a melee attack during an attack of opportunity is incorrect as the rules state that grappling and shoving can only be used as part of your attack action. As a reaction isn't an attack action, then you can't grapple or shove a creature as a reaction. It'd be a nice house rule or addition to the grappler feat though.
Thanks for producing some good videos though, Cheers!
We totally flubbed that one. Our fact checker is so fired.
Nerdarchist Dave
If you ready the Attack action, you can ready a grapple/shove, but an opportunity attack doesnt work with grapple/shove.
@@Nerdarchy lol. Again, cheers!
Warlocks with the Improved Pact Weapon invocation are another great option for war caster characters.
Agreed. Combine that with hex blade and good times.
Nerdarchist Dave
I had a up and coming DM come over to watch me play and he corrected me on a mistake I made while at that game. I used the wrong die for Eldritch Blast.
love the upgrade to the camera and editing guys ! KEEP IT UP
You also have the abjuration wizard ability for counterspell, it lets you add on your proficiency bonus
It happens all the time .
Nearly every video they get at minimum one Rule or other game mechanics wrong .
This is common with every D&D RUclipsr & Streamer .
It is especially common with older & experienced gamers .
Our claim to fame. 5 editions plus a bit of rules floating around in my noggin.
Nerdarchist Dave
Turned into a barrel by wild magic and is considered paralyzed. (saw it in a D&D session on youtube)
O and you can do a trip with your attack of opportunity.
Warcaster is also sexy for a Pact of the Blade Warlock as the Pact Weapon can function as a Focus.
About War caster. You are actually somewhat wrong in your correction. It isn't just Paladins and Clerics that can get away with the Material component. Bard from College of Swords can use swords as spellcasting focus, and any Warlock with Improved Pact Weapon Eldritch Invocations can use their pact weapon as a spellcasting focus. So It isn't just Clerics and Paladins that can use spellcasting focuses on their weapons. Wizards and Fighters got an issue, but Warlocks and some Bards doesn't.
I love you guys, I really do, but that intro is a tiny bit cringe worthy.
But homebrewing is essential for me, since it keeps the game flowing, and I don't have access to these sweet sweet reference cards in my native language :)
I gotta home brew when it's more fun
that last statement is wrong. Its say in the rule book that you can hold an arcane focus in the hand you do the somatic component In. A lot of shield are held with the arm like a heater shield . war caster You can perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands. makes sense to me.
One rule that I'm confused about at the moment is of you cast polymorph on yourself while you have the war mage feat, do you still get advantage on Constitution saving throws while you're polymorphed?
I discovered I wasn't using hit dice correctly. I thought you only added your constitution modifier once and also that a long rest restores all hit dice, not half your maximum.
I had "house ruled" that you could make a medicine check to stablise a dying player. Turns out that was a rule in the player's handbook.
6:58 Everyone needs a monster hug every now and then!
Fellas! I am loving the set that you use. PLEASE tell me this is a store somewhere on the north american continent! I will make the pilgrimage.
biggest thing I see people doing wrong is how Vision, Darkvision, and Stealth work.
people understand that Vision is effected by it being dark.
most people understand that Darkvision alleviates that.
fewer people understand that Darkvision only makes low light within 60ft equal to bright light, and that complete darkness is only increased one step so that it is equal to low light conditions.
almost every person who plays the game makes the connection that low light conditions make stealthing easier, but don't actually understand how.
The following is as accurate a breakdown as you're likely to get (I have looked for better, and haven't found it)
Something that lightly obscures you (moderate foliage for example) presents a person with disadvantage to perception checks to see you, but does not grant you advantage on Stealth. In fact, it does not even give you the option of hiding from a person if they already seen you. After all, if you're not already stealthing behind a bush, you're just standing there, and regardless of how low their perception skill is, they don't need to make one to see you standing there.
While this does not prevent a character from hiding before the person sees them, such as when facing the wrong way to start with, or when line of sight is obscured by a wall they then clear after you're hidden, it does prevent the character from trying to stealth after they have entered the persons line of sight.
If you don't believe me on that, take a look at this snippet from the Skulker feat:
You are expert at slinking through shadows. You gain the following benefits:
• You can try to hide when you are lightly obscured from the creature from which you are hiding.
there is also this snippet from the Wild Elf racial feature Mask of the Wild:
• You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
trying and attempting are the keywords there.
without this feat or ability, you have to rely on the rules for hiding in the PHB (relevant snippets below). with these abilities, they give you the ability to attempt to hide, regardless of if someone is watching or not.
this most often comes up when GM's who haven't looked at the relevant sections of the book in detail rule that, for example, a goblin ducks out of the lanterns bright light and immediately hides, telling you that it disappears into the darkness 30 feet from the light source. Fine, if the Goblin is also a skulker, but actually making things more difficult than they should be in those otherwise lightless tunnels. by RAW, that goblin should not be able to hide simply because it makes it to the lightly obscuring low level lighting condition.
another thing that is often overlooked is that, while a character or monster has darkvision, when operating in pure darkness that character or monster is suffering disadvantage on its own perception checks, and not gaining advantage on its stealth at all.
This is Vision, as per the PHB:
A given area might be lightly or heavily obscured.
In a lightly obscured area, such as dim light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage, creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
A heavily obscured area-such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage-blocks vision entirely. A creature
in a heavily obscured area effectively suffers from the blinded condition (see appendix A).
This is Stealth, as per the PHB:
When you try to hide, make a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, that check’s total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence.
You can’t hide from a creature that can see you, and if you make noise (such as shouting a warning or knocking over a vase), you give away your position. An invisible creature can’t be seen, so it can always try to hide. Signs of its passage might still be noticed, however, and it still has to stay quiet.
In combat, most creatures stay alert for signs of danger all around, so if you come out of hiding and approach a creature, it usually sees you. However, under certain circumstances, the Dungeon Master might allow you to stay hidden as you approach a creature that is distracted, allowing you to gain advantage on an attack before you are seen.
This Feat, if you're not familiar:
S k u l k e r
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or higher
You are expert at slinking through shadows. You gain the following benefits:
• You can try to hide when you are lightly obscured from the creature from which you are hiding.
• When you are hidden from a creature and miss it with a ranged weapon attack, making the attack doesn't
reveal your position.
• Dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight.
Warcaster section is WRONG: YOU DON'T NEED the material components if you are using a focus UNLESS the component(s) have a cost. That's not many at all.
Keep your summons components on a necklace or bracelet/bracer (underside if getting it sliced off in combat is a risk) and a couple more and you're good. The most costly non-summon components I don't think are even combat spells (off the top of my head).
Guys, please, just stop with the scripted segways. Seriously, I joined this channel because it was laid back and not scripted or cheesy. This video sounds bad.
The Material Component part of War Caster is negated if the player is using an Arcane focus that is in a crystal that is in a ring or amulet, or is a staff that they use as their weapon.
Yeah, but then that means they can not use anything which isn't a staff weapon such as a quaterstaff unless they use a crystal pendant or something like it. That is unless they are Warlocks or Bards from college of swords.
I did mention a crystal in a ring or amulet as an option. Pact of the Blade Warlocks do have the option to use a pact weapon as an arcane focus if they take the improved pact weapon invocation, but that of course negates the issue with War Caster anyway. College of Swords bards don't actually get any special benefits regarding focuses, so they would still need a ring or amulet of some sort to cast spells while in combat.....or a harmonica holder so they can take advantage of using their instrument as a focus.
@roribeedm Incorrect, I believe you are reading the wrong college. I believe you think of Valor and not Swords. College of Swords DOES make weapons your spellcasting focus. Pick up your copy of Xanathar's Guide To Everything and flip to page 15.
Under Bonus Proficiencies:
When you join the College of Swords at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Medium Armor and the scimitar.
*If you're proficient with a simple or martial melle weapon, YOU CAN USE IT AS A SPELLCASTING FOCUS FOR YOUR BARD SPELLS.*
So no, you 100% do not need a ring, amulet or harmonica to use your spells when you are in College of Swords. Bards in the College of Swords are Sword dancers and Sword eaters, they preform with their weapons. They can cast spells with a weapon they are proficient with as well as any instrument.
great video guys. keep up the good work
If it is a Reaction to someone entering your Threat Area, can you Shove them out of your Threat Area? I realize this is little more than a delaying tactic if set in a cycle, but it keeps the guy from going where he wants to go.
Warcaster also great for druids because their focuses can be a stave.
10:32 you cannot cast an offensive spell on someone unwilling without initiating combat even when suprised you still have to roll at the same time.
So you "corrected" to the wrong point regarding War Caster.
The feat says you can preform the Somatic with a weapon or shield, while the rules regarding Material Components say that it can be the same hand that preforms the Somatic so you had War Caster correct in your previous interpretation.
The Deadly combo for Sentinel Feat is = Sentinel + Polearm Master (+ Mage Slayer). Enemy comes into reach, Polearm Master kicks off, they try to leave, Sentinel kicks off.
I'm pretty sure everyone who flipped trough the PHB 5 years ago saw the same thing..
You never know cause for the longest time I would misread the DC for the Cypher part of the Linguist feat as being Int Modifier + Proficiency and therefore didn't see any real value in it if the Cypher could easily be hacked. I only recently realized that it actually says Int SCORE + Proficiency, making it harder to crack. And the reason why I kept reading it as Int Mod is because most DC related calculations will say "8 + [Ability] Modifier + Proficiency Bonus", and since there wasn't an "8 + ..." as part of the DC for Linguist, I presumed for the longest time that the max DC it could have would be 11 (+5 + 6) since I thought that it was Int Mod + Prof Bonus. Now I know that the max the DC could be is 26 [20 + 6]. NOTE: This doesn't include coming across the Tomes that increases Ability Score past the 20 Cap as I know that for certain Races that can live more then 100+ years would be able to re-read the various Tomes every 100 years with very few Races being able to re-read it 4 more times [presuming they found the Tome for a Stat that was already at the standard 20 Cap] to get to the ultimate "God Mode" cap of 30.
So they may not realize how good that combo of Polearming Sentinel is
....right
With the material component for spells, wouldn't you just be able to sheath your sword as a free action and then cast if needed? Spells normally take an action anyway, so if you decide to cast something like that, you won't be needing the sword.
Better solution is an Arcane focus (crystal specifically) in a ring. The PHB doesn't specify how big the crystal has to be, so it could be as small as little crystals in the eye sockets of a skull on the ring.
Definitely. But, I was more referring to when you have war-caster feat, and need to cast a spell that has an expensive material component. Something like the spell contingency which is V S M (1500gp ivory statuette of yourself). Something in this case, a spell focus doesn't work. So, the free action of sheathing a sword during movement or as part of his action should work by RAW. But the crystal in the ring is a wonderful idea that I'll use now for my wizards. lol
Contingency isn't something that you would be casting in combat since it has a 10 minute casting time, and the material components don't need to be held when the spell activates, they only need to be on your person for that particular spell. Looking through a list of spells with a material component with a listed value, the ones that might be useful in combat are:
Chromatic Orb: Can easily be skipped since there are other damage dealing spells that will replace it just fine.
Stoneskin: 100gp that is consumed to cast a concentration spell? I'd be skipping this one no matter what, even with advantage on concentration checks.
Greater Restoration: I'd usually wait until out of combat to cast this one
Circle of Death: This one I would drop a weapon to be able to cast.
True Seeing: This is another one that I would generally cast before or after combat.
Forcecage: Only the second spell I would actually drop a weapon to cast.
Mordenkainen's Sword: I would cast this one at the start of combat before drawing my own sword
Plane Shift: Could be useful, but I've never relied on it in combat.
Project Image: Again, cast it before battle, save your spell slots in combat for damage or defense.
Sequester: I guess you can use it in combat, but it only works on a willing creature and puts them in suspended animation so.....why?
Holy Aura: Again, cast before combat so you get its benefit early.
Gate: If you're using this spell in combat it's generally to GTFO so yeah, put away your weapon.
Shapechange: Requires a jade circlet that you must put on your head. Wear the circlet all the time and you're good.
I'm pretty sure the list I was looking at doesn't include the Unearthed Arcana spells or spells that have been added in Xanathar's or Elemental Evil, so there might be one or two more that would be useful, but really there are only a handful that I would say are worth casting in combat and there are usually other spells that can be cast with an arcane focus that will work just as well if not better. Of course your mileage my vary.
I know it's in the description, but I only just realized last week that Healing Word is a bonus action.
This was a really helpful video! But I have a question for you guys, how does the spell attack of opportunity work? And does a weapon with reach affect it?
If you have the war caster feat and someone does something that provokes an attack of opportunity you can instead use a spell that targets one creature on them. Same for a reach weapon.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy Ah thank you so much
Can you use Cutting Words on an enemy's initiative roll? It takes your reaction to do so, and I didn't think that you had a reaction until you were in combat (i.e., after initiative was rolled).
Once initiative is rolled combat has begun. Technically I'd say at the initiative everyone is rolling at the same time so it isn't technically anyone's turn yet, but combat has been initiated. Also reactions can be circumstantial. For instance feather fall . You cast the spell in reaction to someone falling. You can do it whether you are in combat or not.
Nerdarchist Dave
Upfront and personally, I'm fairly liberal in my allowances to PC's in general... SO my general practice would probably just be "I don't have to like it, but I'll allow it." (take from Mills Lane in "Celebrity DeathMatch"... for lolz)
BUT there's that "anal retentive" version of me who might listen to the "rules lawyer-y" thing... AND I'd suggest this...
Everyone Rolls initiative... individually, including any/all monsters and NPC's...
On the ORDER of Initiative, the PC with "Cutting Words" can then use them to encumber any remaining monsters, NPC's, or even targeted PC's he or she sees fit to oppose...
It might not quite be AS useful as the "liberal free-for-all" version, but for those who act after that character, the order can be skewed to favor Party Members more than it would have as originally rolled. SO it's still useful. ;o)
Thanks for answering. It was a genuine question, as I haven't actually seen something like this come up in a game I've been in. It might only be useful in certain circumstances, but getting that BBEG to go later in a round than usual might be very nice.
Surprise Round Hex on Dex ability check.
College of swords can use a weapon as a spell focus
I did not realize that. That is quite awesome.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy it has to be a weapon you are proficient with but it's why College of Swords Bard with either Rogue or Fighter multiclass is one of my favorite Gishes.
You forgot about Warlocks with Weapon Pact as well.
@@Cloud_Seeker weapon pact doesnt make the weapon an arcane focus.
@Shaylic What you just said is 100% incorrect. Pick up your copy of Xanathar's Guide To Everything and read the description for the Eldritch Invocation: Improved Pact Weapon
Requirements: Pact of the Blade feature
*You can use any weapon you summon with your Pact of the Blade feature as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells.*
In addition, the weapon gains a+1 bonus to it's attack and damage rolls, unless it is a magic weapon that already has a bonus to those rolls.
Finally, the weapons you conjure can be a shortbow, longbow, light crossbow or heavy crossbow. (I believe in addition to what you already can summon)
So no, you are wrong as Weapon Pact DOES allow you to use your weapon as a arcane focus.
could be just me but if a player is paralyzed or down.. i would still have the mob/monster roll to see if they still beat the base armor value "and not roll ones too".. ie leather has a set AC before dex bonuses.. basicly the roll is to make sure the mob doesnt flub the roll.."or in story terms decide to play with its pray or become distracted".. assuming they make the roll then it would go to auto-crit rules.. short definition would be yes auto-crit but not auto-hit.. which sadly i've seen too many GM's call auto-crit an auto-hit.. after all your armor doesnt dissapear just because your paralyzed or on the ground... i might be called wrong on this and prolly will be.. but if i GM.. thats how i will call it...
btw.. my favorite counter spell..so to say.. is silence... after all if you cant cast it.. it might as well count as countered...lol
yikes, yeah, what is the point of giving someone advantage on attack rolls if they are playing it as you auto hit and crit? There are no coups de grace any more.
btw... spells without verbal components are a thing. You can still do counter spell on them, but silence won't do anything to stop them. They are thankfully rare though so I like silence too for that reason.
Why can't you put an arcane focus crystal on your sheild or in your sword (eye of thunderia style) or just wear it around your neck and pull it up drop you weapon if need be because you can bonus action it back after you cast said spell.
You can only wear your focus on your shield as a divine caster. For them, it's the *symbol of their god*, as opposed to a physical conductor of magic. Wands, staves, rods, and crystals are all the arcane foci provided in the book, and it's implied heavily that while DMs can add more, they should fit the same general theme. While I don't see anything wrong with embedding a magic crystal in an object to make it your focus, that's the whole point of the common magic item they brought up. Look it up in Xanathar's Guide, the Ruby of the War Mage. Its sole purpose is to embed it in a weapon and turn it into a spell focus, but it costs you an attunement slot to do so.
For a sea faring campaign a player had a crystal hook hand for a focus. another used a glass eye as one and would pop it in and out of his head when needed
Ruby of the war mage does it. It's a common magic item that requires attunement.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy but it is really needed it is left open in the rules. In fact unless i missed it you dont have to hold your foci just have it. It could hanging around your neck
@@skynight113 from the spell casting section of the phb- A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components - or to hold a spellcasting focus - but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.
Nerdarchist Dave
... or the best war mage takes a tiny dip in artificer to guarantee that gemstone they can whack in to solve the problem? That's what I'd do.
One i find that most people overlook is exhaustion. The first lvl gives you disadvantage on ability checks which includes initiative. So if you exhausted your probably not going first.
Looking at you, Grog, going Frenzy Rage thrice a day and feeling fine.
Um, that's impossible. You only lose 1 level of exhaustion after a long rest, so unless someone is spending two Greater Restorations or a potion on him daily (the only other way I know of to lose exhaustion levels) he'd be gaining exhaustion levels every day and then making them worse by going frenzy again. Without any outside assistance, a 3/day exhaustion drain would kill him in 3 days (3->2, 5->4, 6=dead). And on top of that, he'd be completely unable to move after his last rage on the second day. Wherever they are, whatever hellish hole they were in the middle of, they're now camping right there. So I'm going to assume that's an exaggeration.
Personally I find exhaustion levels to be one of the most dangerous conditions to deal with. Gaining one level after a grueling hike through a blizzard is bad enough, but when a class feature specifically gives you exhaustion, to me that's a good indicator you should avoid the class. Of course, spells that cause exhaustion are equally nasty...you guys ever look into the implications of Sickening Radiance? Use Warding Glyph to cast it without concentration or have a buddy combine it with a control spell to keep enemies from leaving the area and you've got one nasty trap. Even if enemies don't die from the per-round damage effect, they get severely handicapped ... disadvantage on grapple checks, half movement, disadvantage on attacks and saves, then half hp, immobility, and then death. 6 turn guaranteed kill if they fail all their saves, regardless of remaining hp or power level. On top of that it can burn through legendary resistance and there are only a few creatures capable of resisting it for long periods.
@@Nurk0m0rath You don't get my meaning. Grog is (or was) doing Frenzy Rage a lot of times and Matt Mercer always forgot the exhaustion.
Just watched Critical Role #49 today, it's the first time he even mentions exhaustion due to Frenzy. Still it was the twice battle that day and he went frenzy both times, but Matt counted only the second.
What I was saying: A lot of people are forgetting about exhaustion.
And I totally agree that this is one of the reasons I'd never play Path of the Berserker Barbarian. Besides the lack of things you can do which are not hacking at something with your weapon.
Yes the path of the berzerker can have some down sides but there is a lot of upsides as well. The barbarian eventually gets advantage on intiative so if your exhausted it is just a straight roll for intiative. Half movement isnt so bad as you get a lot of bonus movement from your class. Then disadvantage on attacks is offset with reckless attacks. Also if you go by D&D beyond stats rhe average amounts of combat people engage in before having a long reat is one combat then depending on your DM the berzerker can be viable.
True, once-a-day combats would be much easier to deal with as a berserker, but then, why exactly are you playing a berserker? If your game uses so much RP that you only fight once a day, wouldn't you want a class with a bit more RP support?
Ahh, I see. Never actually watched those games but I guess it is a pretty good example of people forgetting rules. But I'm totally in agreement about avoiding berserker class. Personally, I'd rule that you spend 2 charges of rage to get frenzy, instead of gaining exhaustion. Means you can burn through your resources fast, so you still want to be sparing with it, but it's not SO terrible to use. More like a wizard who can nuke the enemy hard but be all but useless afterward.
Does anyone know about that item from Xanathar's guide they were talking about? The gem they can slap on to remove material focus requirements?
Ruby of the war mage.
Nerdarchist Dave
You think a few levels of Monk would work to free your hands for war casting?
I want Dave's shirt to deliver the Sword of Gryffindor to me at the beginning of act 3.
Any tips for someone running a sea/pirate campaign?
Hexblade, Sword and board w/pact of blade and warcaster and imp. pact weapon= no comp. except verbal
Hi Nerdarchy, Question, way to spell focus? whats the diference? and how really works?
Quarterstaff can be a focus for druids.
Hold your war mage components in your mage hand. You're fiiine.
Can we please get more of your 5e blood cult game? Its been a long time
5e is looking pretty open to misinterpretation in many places.
Its also looking like "Human PCs not wanted"
I just want to be sure that you guys aren't under the impression that warlocks can gain resistance to magical effects through a familiar, because that's what it sounds like in every one of your videos. Maybe you're saying that the familiar has magic resistance, but you keep saying to choose certain familiars "cuz it gives you magic resistance".
I mess up tons of rules, but I'm still pretty new... So whatever. Anyway, I wouldn't mind seeing a video about your homebrew rules or rules that you think are missing or need tweaking. (You have a ton of vids, so maybe you've already done one...) One thing that really irks me are the jumping rules. You roll for almost everything in the game, but for some reason, you don't have to roll for jumping. You have a 16 str, you can always jump 16 feet. That's nuts!... You're being chased down a hall by some goblins when suddenly you find yourself at a cliff. Luckily the other side is 9 feet away, so everyone makes it!... Nope. Sorry. I wouldn't jump across a 9 foot ravine, and I'm not wearing plate mail.
I will die saying this: “Melee weapon attack vs. Melee-weapon attack vs. attack with a melee weapon”. Heads up, those things are not inherently the same
The good old Ruby of the Warmage, I use it on my Greataxeguitar for my Collage of Whispers Bard. It works great :)
You do realize that your "Greataxeguitar" is a musical instrument and therefore automatically counts as a spellcasting focus for bard spells?
Btw, I like the image of that in my head. Metal Bard🤘
I had to attach the ruby because it doubles also as Greataxe with wich i hit ppl very hard :), so my dm allowed it only if I attach it to the Axe.
I'm Half-Orc btw, and yes we are playing SKT as a Metal Band (Fox n' Roses) 🤘.
@@PiratePawsLive Okay, that's totally fine as a drawback for having a Guitar and Greataxe in one. Can't really bring up RAW when you are "inventing" things like this ;-)
Just kind of stinks it is an attunement item. Those slots are precious.
Nerdarchist Dave
Hey, Love the channel :)
Who needs cards when you have the interwebs
Ohh Sentinel shove action to knock them prone advantage till their next round if I am correct
and then there's warlock, with a grand total of 8 hp at level 1.
Can't you also hold your components bag in your shield hand? I thought you could just hold the components bag to satisfy the components requirements.
Um, no. A component pouch is not a focus. You require a free hand to pull components out of the pouch. Think of it like Macguyver pulling out a clump of bat feces, mixing it with sulfur, and making a primitive gunpowder (aka Fireball). Obviously he needs his hands to do that, he can't just hold the pouch containing all the carefully separated components. The component pouch is just a convenience thing for players who don't want to track how many globs of bat guano and eyelashes in gum arabic they're carrying around.
@@Nurk0m0rath I wasnt talking about using it as the arcane focus. Under spellcasting material it states you can use your pouch instead of the specific components, if it contains the needed materials. If your shield is your arcane focus and you hold your pouch clenched in your shield hand, I was under the impression it satisfied both requirements (warcaster feat).
No, no. A focus *replaces* material components, and a component pouch *contains* the materials. If you have one, you don't need the other.
Ted "Crits can be bad" Adams
All I need is an ale, a 20, and I'm fine
What is best in life?
Nerdarchist Dave
Misty Step, Fireball....What do you mean I can't cast a bonus action spell and a full action spell? OK I use Quicken Spell and cast fire ball twice.....What do you mean I can't use my sorcery points to use 2 spells? OK I cast fireball then use my bonus action to shove with my shield using my shield master feat.....What do you mean I can't hold a tiny piece of bat crap and a shield at the same time......OK I use extra action with my paladin and attack with my 2 swords 5 times.......What that's OK?
Why we use many house rules to de-neuter our spell casters in our player group.
Who put a quarter in Dave?
We shoot less videos = More energy for ones we do shoot.
Nerdarchist Dave
I love you guys, and I know you guys are awesome, but a small amount of constructive criticism... I'm not sure why but lately you guys have begun to feel like you're selling me a vacuum cleaner in my living room... maybe feeling a little burnt out? I love the back and forth conversations but this doesn't feel organic like it used to. Still, a great informative video!
One that I have seen come up a lot is thrown weapons. People will overlook or forget that you use strength instead of dexterity in 5e, unless the weapon is finesse.
Graveyard Shift I would argue a thrown weapon is a ranged attack and it clearly states that all ranged attacks uses dex, rather than str.
Unfortunately I don't have the book with me so I can't quote it more precisely than the above.
@@86Kadi nope. Thrown weapons use strength unless they are finesse. Otherwise you would throw something heavy, like a shot put (basically a hand held cannon ball) using your dexterity, which makes no sense.
So, I'm confused. Was that product placement a referral or a sponsored deal? It sounded like an advertisement, but you never specifically stated it was an advertisement like you're supposed to by the user agreement, so...? Not sure if there's any special requirements first before you can use them, but I have also been seeing a "includes paid ad" or something like that annotation stamp at the start of videos people have been using recently, so there's that option if you don't want to script out "hey, this is a sponsor deal" in the way you word things.
Admittedly, the Deck of many spell card kickstarter line is pretty cool either way, but still, need to figure out how to advertise correctly. Or, given the current RUclips climate, if it was just a shout out, make that clear as well.
Love you guys, but I hate your new upbeat mode (dont do drugs!) combinede with overscripted bad dialogue.
Its like you are doing a parody on your old serious format.
Those intro and sponsor messages suck so much, they remove any kind of sincerety that could help the product.
Stop trying to be hip, it does not suit you guys. I don't know if you try to get more younger viewers or what, but its very bad.
Your old unscripted style, where you guys jost pingpong on the topics were way more interesting, because they were authentic.
I had to stop watching when you got stuff wrong on paralysis auto crits (only attacks within 5ft) and said you could shove on attacks of opportunity which is also wrong (only applies when you take the attack action)
I see a lot of "rules people get wrong" posts and there's ALWAYS incorrect "corrections" in them. To make such a video is hubris.
strength in humility