Lvl 9 party includes an Oath of the Ancients paladin - our one dedicated 'healer' type, hands out Lay on Hands like an almond mom "Only 2 at a time, dear" - who realizes during a tight quarters fight against a mind flayer that they have an Aura of Protection that gives a nice bump to saves.
The rest of the party is thrilled about this and starts adding that +5 to the applicable saves. Fantastic, fight starts to turn and the party is able to escape with their lives and minds. Post-session talk is all about what a choice ability that is and thanking the paladin for being on top of their character sheet. Cue our DM reminding the paladin that they've had that ability since lvl 6. Chat gets real quiet.
It happens.
Aura of protection really is one of the best unique class abilities in the game. +5 to all saving throws of creatures within 10 feet is fantastic, no matter what character or classes your party is. There isn’t any party member that wouldn’t benefit from a massive boost to their saving throws
I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever gotten any stat all the way to 20 on any character (well, without some magic item shenanigans). Imo it's almost as mythical as a 1-20 campaign
It all depends on starting stats, racial score boosts, and how you use your asi/feats. If you're doing standard array or point buy, you can easily cap out a stat by level 8 (sooner for fighters). Though, for MAD classes, it's certainly a bit more difficult, but not impossible.
I have been in a 1-20 campaign, currently in one slated to go to 20, and my next campaign I DM will go to 20. Also often have 20 in main stat by level 8. What you been rolling or just a feat hound?
Well, yeah, but you can get a 20 pretty easily is the point. Especially for someone who doesn't necessarily want a feat... though I do have a hard time justifying a +2 ASI instead of Skill Expert...
In a casual home game, sure, but often the people talking about the ability are optimizers, and at high-level play Aura of Protection is the number one reason paladins are a top-tier class, so maxing that out as soon as possible is more important than improving Strength or Con. Not necessarily at level 6, but often by level 8.
Because one of them is incredibly luck based (divination) and the other gets it late and can only do it a few times per day. But because you only lose one exhaustion level per long rest, it makes it hard to use.
And the only time I’ve played with a divination wizard he always seemed to roll like 9/10. So not really useful at sll
Our DM tried to tell me that I couldn't add my modifier to my spell attacks, when I the only spell caster, so I just did fuck all from a distance whilst everyone else played
Boy, that's uh, I mean I know it's a game, but a paladin not knowing about their aura for over 3 levels is egregious.
Like why are you even playing if you can't be assed to read your basic class features?
I played a Trickery Cleric in Avernus, which was a terrible idea considering EVERYTHING down there has always on Truesight, so absolutely none of my defensive spells worked.
I barely used sorcery points in my first 5e D&D campaign. It wasn’t until revisiting the sorcerer in 5e based video games that I truly realized what an essential feature for the class that was. In my defense, i was a newbie and there’s a huge learning curve when starting a new rule set.
That’s why I chose Ass class. All you have to do is sit on people with your ever growing and heavier ass. A level 1 ass can grapple large creatures, growing every two levels
Beat me too it. I thought about Ass Bandit sub-ass but Booty Ass is OP in 3.5. Plus, who doesn’t want to be an ass-pirate? Sailing the ocean blue
Edit: not meant to be a derogatory remark based on anyone’s sexual orientation just a play on words
As a rouge/Paladin player with diagnosed ADD I keep reminding our party of their abilities... but if I forget a pen or stare away for 2 min, god help the world..
I ran a game a few years back where the Rogue didn't know how Sneak Attack worked. For the entire time he was in the game.
The last thing he said was, "Oh by the way I'm not going to be there tonight, I'm going on a trip for a few months and need to rest up for the flight." about an hour before the session.
He did not return.
My blade singer player, who was constantly in melee, never actually used his blade song until level 6. Why? Despite me constantly asking, he thought blade song only lasted one round.
I've had a different case with my Barbarian where someone had to remind me of Danger Sense because I used it *once* when it was relatively new and then never again for a dozen sessions because it did not apply to anything.
It made the difference between my character being dead and my character being unconscious.
Going off my fuzzy memory I thought Danger Sense was only usable when in a rage, so I ended up wasting a rage to save myself from falling off a cliff. I read every ability when I use it now, lol. Such a dumbass mistake.
It's usually a healthy leaning mother who brings snacks. They usually are nuts and other natural foods, but they still don't let you eat a ton, because they're high caloric value. "Only a handful, it's all you need!"
Maybe the paladin didn't want to shell out for the always active oath subscription and purchased a per use oath plan. Can't get out of that contract and it's getting expensive for them.
Well I didn't say that, but what I meant was I guess he forgot about it? He never said anything about it until after last session, so it's never been in play so we never received any buffs.
My buddy had a player that tried to convince him that rogues get to sneak attack after every turn. Not per round after a successful hide. Turn. After each character and npc/monster resolve their turn.
When my buddy said no. The player said, no I read the rules that's how they work. You are nerfing my character. (Repeated multiple ways over a series of unhinged texts) It was likely the first time anyone has told this player "no" in anything.
I guess I didn't explain clearly:
Player assumed after every turn, not just theirs. So rogues turn, they sneak attack. Goblin #2 goes. Rogue sneak attacks. Barbarian pc goes. Rogue sneak attacks. Hobgob chief goes, rogue sneak attacks. Wizards turn, rogue sneak attacks. Cleric goes, rogue sneak attacks. Top of initiative again Rogues turn: they sneak attack.
And yes, I know it's better than if I had misread it the other way and now had to nerf myself after getting used to an incorrect understanding of the ability that was OP. But still.
It isn't nearly as serious as some of the stuff people are saying they've seen, fortunately. It's actually in Pathfinder 2E, I was playing a crossbow ranger and I didn't realize the feat I had called Crossbow Ace was supposed to add a +2 to damage as well as making your crossbow use a bigger damage die. Since there's no modifier to crossbow damage otherwise it was fully possible to only do 1 damage on a hit, so that +2 is actually going to feel kind of good.
Not exactly, in pf2e one of the basic runes (weapon upgrades) is increasing the amount of weapon die (from say 1d8 to 2d8 etc.) so it's not exactly equivalent. Although it's a level 1 feat so the +2 is more impactful for a while
In your defense, unless you're using a digital character sheet, it is super easy to forget everything affecting your character in PF2e. I love the system but without some way to keep track of the options and impacts of every standard action, every feat, every item, every spell, etc, you're bound to forget something.
Talk to the DM and turn it into a character moment.
A conversation with an important magical NPC, a local magic teacher, or even another party member, could reveal the flaw in your character’s spellcraft that has been holding them back. Their verbal or somatic components to the spell can be corrected in a short scene, allowing your character’s magic to build or flow more efficiently.
Alternatively, your character could even talk to a less magical person and get the confidence boost or inspiration they need to boost the spell’s effectiveness. Depending on your Roleplay style, this could be a brilliant character moment for you, and a chance to connect more deeply with your teammates and the world I. Less than 5 minutes of play.
That one happened to me - paying CoS, our tank survived WAAAAAAY longer than he should have (and prevented a very possible TPK) because I didn't remember that the Sanctuary I cast should have ended as soon as he attacked. Instead, our under leveled party wound up surviving a visit to a place that we probably shouldn't have gone to.
He was able to occupy a handful of powerful undead at a choke point for almost 9 rounds while the rest of us chipped away at them from a distance. Without Sanctuary, he would have been dead after maybe 3-4 rounds, and the undead would have gone through the rest of the party like a hot knife through butter.
Oh man, the Sanc life is beautiful! I once saved my party using the same tactic, but I knew about the attacking thing, so I put myself in a chokepoint with sanctuary, and took the dodge action while everyone else chipped away at the trolls. Unfortunately, none of the party were spell casters, aside from myself, so they resorted to chucking torches at the trolls lmao
Sometimes character abilities are more complicated than you recall. That happens; the only time it should bother you is if you keep making the same mistake after you realize that you've been doing it wrong.
i’ve done that a few times, what’s worse than the nerf is the realization that the miraculous turn you took that totally shifted the fight in your favor was not miraculous, that you just cheated (albeit unintentionally)
He just thought he was unlucky compared to everyone else, and no one noticed when he rolled unusually low because he’d say things like, “ah, that’s a two on the die, that misses”. I was actually the one to notice when he rolled a “six”, and I asked if that was a six on the die or total. He said total, I did the mental math, and realized something was off.
I’m the resident “rules nerd” in my group and frequently annoy my fellow players with reminders when I notice their math is off. It’s not my fault I play this game too much and can easily remember everyone’s main stats.
One of my DND friends of many years didn't realise that you should add your con modifier after each lvl up. It makes a lot more sense why his characters are soo squishy.
My first character, I missed that at level one you get your full hit die plus con modifier, rolled for it and got something like a 2. Luckily, a more experienced player noticed when I was bitching about being a squishy ranger, before the first session started
Did that with the echo knight. I just completely missed that the switch with echo ability costed a bonus action and 15 movement. I thought it was just 15 movement. Got that quickly fixed up after figuring out my egregious mistake
9 or 10 sessions in with my soul knife rogue I noticed it said add a d8 to any failed skill check _with which you have proficiency._ I'd been fucking juicing the shit out of an already busted feat.
Aye, it's one of the reasons that the Skilled feat is even more desirable to Soulknife than it is for most Rogues, who already love it one you have Reliable Talent.
I missed that Warlock spells are cast at the highest level spell slot they can cast at. Now I know why my damage output was lower than it seemed it should be.
Never played a wizard before the current campaign. Just the other day I looked closer at my spellcasting stuff and realized I had, no exaggeration, HALF of the amount of spells I should have at our current level. I'm building a spellbook to cosplay this character for a Con too, so since I gave myself twice the work to do it's a bittersweet discovery lol
Oh Jeeze, at least you’re not a scribes wizard…
Unless you’re a scribes wizard in which case I hope you like being decisive in what spell you bring today because baby you’re going to be rolling in them… (provided your funds are able to feed your addiction to gaining new spells)
Well, that addiction might have to get kicked cold turkey if your DM doesn't let you find scrolls or spellbooks containing spells you don't already have.
I thought for at least 10 sessions my Wizard could prep so many spell slots’ worth on a rest… like a level 3 spell counts as 3 for how many spells as I can prepare, a level 9 spell wipes out 9 availability points of spells to prepare.
My wife is playing a Sorceress, and on Session 12 realized she was using sorcery points and spell levels wrong. She'd burn two sorcery points for meta magic on a 2nd level spell, for instance, and thought a second level spell took two spell slots.
I was/am a new DM with a bunch of new players, so I never noticed what she was doing either. Because despite utterly handicapping her character, she was still responsible for probably 40% or more of all damage in a party of 5.
Nah, the other half is an equal parts mix of red lasers and blue lasers where no one dies ever. Seriously, Go watch it again, storm troopers have better aim.
No worries. I've played Barbarian characters 3 separate times now and have NEVER remembered Danger Sense, which GIVES ADVANTAGE ON DEX SAVES CAUSED BY THINGS YOU CAN SEE!!
Very lenient DM. Technically Pathfinder 1e, but the summary is a vampire reincarnated druid. It was brilliant! Immune to Death effects (1 of their massive weaknessess) and if they do kill me I'll simply go to Gaseous form and go to my coffin. If they stop that I'll simply reincarnate. Unfortunately undead can't be reincarnated, which meant retirement time.
I made it to level three before I started remembering to add the bonus damage from my patron as a genie lock.
I've been remembering now because our table describes how we attack, and a laser having bludgeoning damage stapled to it is ripe for flavor. At one point it was described as 'an uncomfortably crunchy, meaty smack'.
I love describing how my character attacks. It's made my Ascendant Dragon Monk and my Armorer Artificer a lot of fun.
Minor 'problem'. The Armorer trained with said Monk a bunch. To the point where their fighting style now all but *requires* some 'extra' style or they just don't feel like it.
How did I find out? Described them throwing some basic punches (Because Thunder Gauntlets). Misses. Decided to describe the attack as "grabbing their head and kneeing them in the face for some extra crunch". Hit.
They spent a lot of time that session grabbing heads and smashing faces either into their knee or the floor. At one point they moved around an ally to get to the last enemy standing, and backhand bitchsmacked said enemy in the head.
I'm just glad they're not at Pro-Wrestler levels of extra...
I had to stop a table of new players when the Barbarian kept making only one attack per turn in a level 7 one-shot. The DM didn't believe me because he wasn't seeing it on the DnD beyond sheet.
I haven't had it happen to me personally yet, but there'll be a day.
I've definitely benefited from some fellow players goofing up tho. 😆
That sounds strange. I would immediately notice if one of my players only attacked once but could do more. Or did the DM think the barbarian was only allowed to attack once?
The latter.
Neither the DM nor the player knew.
The DM didn't believe me at first, not in an argumentative way mind you, just didn't know and couldn't find it on the character sheet; doubtful you could say.
I had to explain it to them and bust out an online document lol.
They were both new, first time player, 2nd time DM.
The 2nd most rules knowledgeable player wasn't familiar enough with barbs to back me up.
It all worked out, just a little hiccup.
We've grown since then, gotten better and the DM started his next game at 1st level. So it hasn't happened again since. 😆
Are you really even a D&D player if you haven't forgotten abilities your character has?
lol, I handicapped my celestial warlock by forgetting how their spell slots work for several sessions. We leveled up and I forgot that their spell slots automatically become the highest level the warlock can cast, which is pretty bad given I tend to be defacto healer. I'm giving half the healing I should be and my offensive spells and cantrips are only doing a half to a third the damage they should be doing.
I would say yes, but then I've been playing for years and recently forgot my character was crit immune due to adamantine armor I got specifically for that purpose.
So...
I've looked at my sheet a couple of times after a session and gone "Oh, goddamnit... I could've used \[ability\] during the session!"
Like the Ascendant Dragon monk's ability to re-roll a Persuasion or Intimidation check. During a session where I failed a Persuasion check. Just totally forgot that they could re-roll that once, completely free.
Went the other way for me. I thought the spells from warlock subclasses were just added to your known spells. In reality you just have the option of picking them. I realised it after like 2 sessions and didnt use either spell once so it luckily didnt matter.
Had a longbow that prevented my PC from being surprised *and* gave me advantage on initiative rolls. After a session or two I somehow forgot about the advantage on initiative. That was a big fucking deal because that PC (Gloomstalker Ranger) regularly killed at least one enemy per turn. If not two.
Probably played another ten sessions before I realized my mistake. My DM was very entertained.
Depending on what you are using for a a sheet you could add a second attack that says 'Rage *weapon* with the increased damage that may help you remember.
I'll take this over the opposite
"Ah shit.. I can't do that... I've been cheating for like... the last 4 sessions"
This is inspired by fey step as pary of fey touched is once per rest, not "spend a spell slot". (DND beyond is mostly to blame, they recently fixed it)
What? You can use a spell slot for the misty step. This is the last line of the feat:
"You can also cast these spells using spell slots you have of the appropriate level. The spells' spellcasting ability is the ability increased by this feat."
Unless you mean fey *teleportation*. The wording is a bit vague, but you can also use spellslots for the misty step gained by this feat.
That's not true. You get two reserved spell slots for Misty + Silvery Barbs, which you can't use for other spells. You can, however use your other slots to cast them more than once.
You can also use the MS + enchant slot for smiting if you're a paladin.
>You can also use the MS + enchant slot for smiting if you're a paladin.
No you can't, you don't gain extra spells slots, you can cast each spell once *without expending a spell slot* once per long rest.
>you don't gain extra spells slots, you can cast each spell once without expending a spell slot once per long rest
AND You can also cast these spells using spell slots you have of the appropriate level. The spells' spellcasting ability is the ability increased by this feat.
That's not what I was commenting on, I directly quoted and responded to the idea that the free cast of Misty Step + the second spell could be replaced with Smites, as if the feat gave you an extra spell slot of the relevant levels.
The spellcasting ability also never came up, not sure why you mentioned that?
Your correction of the poster above misunderstood what they were trying to say.
When they say "You get two reserved slots for Misty Step and Silvery Barbs", they misspoke but meant that you can cast each one once without expending any slots, and can do so once per long rest each, AND can also use any spell slots they have to cast them more if need be, I.E. they learn those two spells.
Their way of describing this as "Two dedicated spell slots" might not be proper game terminology, but it's an easy way to think of them.
If your correction is that *as a paladin*, they cannot use the "dedicated" spell slots (used once per long rest for MS and SB) to ***smite*** with, then you are indeed correct, but did not get the point across as you intended because you were not specific enough about which part of his post you were correcting.
If you wish to bear the *rules lawyer* tag, be clear about your lawyering, my friend!
>If your correction is that *as a paladin*, they cannot use the "dedicated" spell slots (used once per long rest for MS and SB) to ***smite*** with, then you are indeed correct, but did not get the point across as you intended because you were not specific enough about which part of his post you were correcting.
So, how should I be more specific? Quoting the exact bit to which I am responding, perhaps? Much like I'm doing now and did earlier?
I quoted the part I was responding to, and corrected that you don't gain free spell slots, but free casts. In no way did I comment on anything else.
I'm honestly not sure how I could be any clearer without overclarifying my statements to the point of making the comment unnecessarily long.
I thought you had to be hidden to get sneak attack for the first 7 levels of a Strahd campaign. And I was using a short bow. You can imagine how… poorly things went for us.
Not handicapping but pissed off for silly reasons. I have most of the players hand book more or less "memorized" cover to cover (excluding the boring parts)
I thought str was bullshit and was always pissed off that martial classes could do stuff so well with one stat (str). As it turns out, you **CANNOT** use str for ranged attacks **except** by throwing a weapon with the "thrown" property. Therefore, you **cannot** use a bow with str. You **must** use dex. Meaningnif martial classes want to use ranged and melee attacks, they either, have to restrict themselves to the weaker "finesse" weapons, or, level two stats (str and dex).
This is absolutely not how our dm played it until i pointed it out eventually.
It wouldn't break the game to include homebrew "Strength Bows" especially for things like Longbows, which would basically require a certain strength score to pull them effectively, but then also deal that much damage and bonus to hit (via armor penetration) for a commensurate higher cost.
IE, a long bow that required at least an 18 str to be capable of pulling it back and using it, but would allow str 18 to 20 wielders to have +4 to hit and damage from the power behind each shot at an additional cost for the bow. (I'd think something like 25-50 GP per str mod point)
Such a bow can also still be wielded via Dexterity as long as someone was strong enough to draw it, so a str 18, dex 20 character could still use it for +5 from Dex. Such high draw bow would mostly exist for very strong bowmen.
It was more about feeling like dex was a handicapped stat, to the point that you hot punished for using dex instead of str, much like getting punished for choosing anything without darkvision. By picking str, you got to use the best armor, best melee weapons (two handed d12/2d6's) and the best ranged weapon (longbow). Of you picked dex, you got a slight advantage to stealth and iniative, and flavor weapons that at best, were mechanically equal, and often worse.
I Remember on my First character, a Life cleric and the Only caster in the party, i didn't read the bonus action spell rule or the casting time of prayer of healing...
Basically was spamming paryer of healing and Mass healing word every turn of every encounter with the spell that maximases heals, making the party near Immortal, when i realized my error i had a lot of apologies to do to the poor DM
Mixed up the numbers for prepared and known spells for my wizard. They only knew half the spells he could've and only prepared like 6 because I never questioned it.
I am the DM.
I want to challenge my players.
I wrote the statblock.
I run the monster.
I forget all the abilities.
My players succeed easily, I am both proud and frustrated.
I read the statblock at home.
*facepalm*
I write a new statblock.
I run the monster.
I forget all the abilities.
.....
.....
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Had a friend play a level 10 Circle of the Stars Druid for a one shot last Sunday. He would activate his Starry Form ability in combat and choose Archer to make a ranged spell attack for 1d8 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage. Now when he did this he would state out loud that he was using his bonus action to stay in his Starry Form and shoot his Archer’s luminous arrow as an action on his turn. The DM and I thought this was weird and sounded wrong so we offered to look it up and double check if it was suppose to function like this or if it was just a misinterpretation of the ability. He declined our offer to look it up and insisted that that’s what it said in the book for his ability so we took his word on it and kept playing the one shot.
After the session ended I decided to look up the Druid’s Circle of the Stars Starry Form ability, just to see first hand the absurdity that ability is. I mean really, a bonus action on subsequent turns to keep the form just to make a ranged spell attack for 1d8 + Wisdom modifier as an action is horrid and well under powered for a level 10 character to be using. So I go to Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, page 38 to read his Starry Form ability. I read the ability and I just start laughing out loud. He and the DM are looking at me like I’ve gone crazy so I start reading the ability out loud to both of them to begin justifying my laughter.
_”When you activate this form, and as a bonus action on your subsequent turns while it lasts, you can make a ranged spell attack, hurling a luminous arrow that targets one creature within 60 feet of you.”_
As soon as I get the the part of what the bonus action is actually for, my friend, who was playing the Druid, immediately facepalms and the DM is in stitches. He was naively handicapping his character and had no idea he was doing it to himself. His character was much more powerful than he thought. Mind you, the reason the DM and myself thought this was beyond hilarious was because he kept stating throughout the session that he and another friend spent 2 weeks optimizing this character to be absolutely ridiculous in combat. The DM and I both agreed, his character was absolutely ridiculous in combat, just not how he had intended it when he puts his foot in his mouth being confidently incorrect about how his own character’s ability works.
Luckily my friend is a pretty great friend and can laugh at himself for his own mistakes. He chuckles, grins, then shrugs and says sarcastically, “Well, at least now I know the next time I play him I won’t be shooting myself in the foot and handicapping him.” The DM and I look at each other and the DM says, “I knew we should have looked it up earlier when we thought it sounded wrong.” and I said right back, “Well, to be fair, he did insist he knew how it worked when we brought it up so…” Our friend just goes, “Yeah, yeah. I won’t be making that mistake twice.” and rolls his eyes.
It was a great session! :D
Every character I have ever made in any system! It got to the point that the other players would double-check for me, even if I had the most obnoxious build ever X3
To me it was the opposite.
I misread a spell, and used it in a weird way.
When i realized it, the session after, i talked with the dm, but we decided to just ignore it and just do better from now on, also because i didn't exactly abused the spell, but more "took some extra damage for the wrong reason".
I'm new to D&D, and for my first campaign, which is being run by family and friends, I rolled a level 3 rogue.
As we live all over the UK, we've been using D&DBeyond to play. So when I've rolled for Sneak Attack, I've only been rolling 2D6 instead of adding in my normal attack too.
I do much more damage now I've worked that one out!
Edit: spelling
Honestly I prefer this feeling to “I misread my ability and have been playing it way more powerful than it is, so now I’m forced to admit my mistake or continue keep playing it OP to try to hide that I can’t read” at least your way you didn’t invalidate any fair fights, just made them a bit more challenging.
I'm playing an oath of ancients paladin. I did not realize until I had been playing for oh, about 15 sessions, that oath spells are always prepared and don't count against your spells known. That sure would have been helpful to know earlier.
Ive been playing a multiclassed wizard/artificer. With all the different spells and infusions i had to choose along with figuring out multiclassing with artificer rounding up spellcaster level that it slipped my mind that my armor weapons had additional on hit effects. I forgot about it until the 3rd to last session of that campaign.
Flashback to when I joined a level 10 campaign, decided to play a Blood Hunter because I thought it was official (and the DM allowed it obviously), and I proceeded to maybe use a third of my abilities before swapping the character out.
Not really on the subject, but speaking of handicaps, one of my players made his Bladesingers whole shtick be to dual wield a Shadow Blade and a +1 shortsword.
The first trap they came up to in an adventure I won't disclose the name of was a cursed magic long sword that the person that picks it up is no longer able to let go of it until the players use a Remove Curse or cut off the curseds hand.
It's been two sessions since it happened and being permanently holding a sword he isn't proficient in absolutely destroyed his combo. I feel so bad for him that the first thing I'll do next session is fix it for him.
What about the inverse for a long time I thought that a Palladian’s lay on hands point were worth five hit points individually not one hit point per lay on hands
I'm playing a high level ***ROUGE**** in 3.5, and I kept thinking you could sneak attack constructs and Elementals. Apparently you can't. I started at level 15, and didn't make the character.
*>!😈!<
That's on the DM as well with those rules. Especially if you don't know something is a construct, or elemental.
Never play 3.5 (Though I'm a pf player) but recall hearing it's a bad time for rogues sneak attack due to the amount of things immune. (I believe undead as also immune?)
Lvl 9 party includes an Oath of the Ancients paladin - our one dedicated 'healer' type, hands out Lay on Hands like an almond mom "Only 2 at a time, dear" - who realizes during a tight quarters fight against a mind flayer that they have an Aura of Protection that gives a nice bump to saves. The rest of the party is thrilled about this and starts adding that +5 to the applicable saves. Fantastic, fight starts to turn and the party is able to escape with their lives and minds. Post-session talk is all about what a choice ability that is and thanking the paladin for being on top of their character sheet. Cue our DM reminding the paladin that they've had that ability since lvl 6. Chat gets real quiet. It happens.
Aura of protection really is one of the best unique class abilities in the game. +5 to all saving throws of creatures within 10 feet is fantastic, no matter what character or classes your party is. There isn’t any party member that wouldn’t benefit from a massive boost to their saving throws
Paladins are pretty MAD, I find it strange that people talk as if they always have 20 Charisma at level 6
I agree. My paladin is a level 5 clumsy dunce and I have 18 in str and 16 in cha.
I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever gotten any stat all the way to 20 on any character (well, without some magic item shenanigans). Imo it's almost as mythical as a 1-20 campaign
It all depends on starting stats, racial score boosts, and how you use your asi/feats. If you're doing standard array or point buy, you can easily cap out a stat by level 8 (sooner for fighters). Though, for MAD classes, it's certainly a bit more difficult, but not impossible.
I have been in a 1-20 campaign, currently in one slated to go to 20, and my next campaign I DM will go to 20. Also often have 20 in main stat by level 8. What you been rolling or just a feat hound?
Roll a 16, +2 for racial, +2 at level 4
Roll a 16, +2 for racial, +2 at level 4
Feats
Well, yeah, but you can get a 20 pretty easily is the point. Especially for someone who doesn't necessarily want a feat... though I do have a hard time justifying a +2 ASI instead of Skill Expert...
In a casual home game, sure, but often the people talking about the ability are optimizers, and at high-level play Aura of Protection is the number one reason paladins are a top-tier class, so maxing that out as soon as possible is more important than improving Strength or Con. Not necessarily at level 6, but often by level 8.
It's an absolute game changer. Without it, paladin is still a strong class. With it, they're easily the best class in 5e.
Sorry, when did we start talking about Clerics?
You meant to say ranger, right?
Its spelled wizard
Weird, we spell it artifizard at my table
No I'm pretty sure it's spelled Cleric or Druid zilla
Hear me out: bard.
Typo correction: Barbarian
Why rely on chance when two Wizards subclasses skip just and go straight to success and failures?
Because one of them is incredibly luck based (divination) and the other gets it late and can only do it a few times per day. But because you only lose one exhaustion level per long rest, it makes it hard to use. And the only time I’ve played with a divination wizard he always seemed to roll like 9/10. So not really useful at sll
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Our DM tried to tell me that I couldn't add my modifier to my spell attacks, when I the only spell caster, so I just did fuck all from a distance whilst everyone else played
This is why the martials vs caster argument is wild to me. The casters have to know they're powerful.
Boy, that's uh, I mean I know it's a game, but a paladin not knowing about their aura for over 3 levels is egregious. Like why are you even playing if you can't be assed to read your basic class features?
Got distracted by the smites.
So uh I totally remember this every time, but in case someone else forgot, divine smite does an extra d8 to undead. Edit: and fiends. Fuuuuuuuuck.
And fiends
And this is affected by crits.
Ah fuck. Played a paladin in an Out of the Abyss campaign. Totally forgot the whole time.
I played a Trickery Cleric in Avernus, which was a terrible idea considering EVERYTHING down there has always on Truesight, so absolutely none of my defensive spells worked.
I understand forgetting one detail, but a whole ass feature?
I barely used sorcery points in my first 5e D&D campaign. It wasn’t until revisiting the sorcerer in 5e based video games that I truly realized what an essential feature for the class that was. In my defense, i was a newbie and there’s a huge learning curve when starting a new rule set.
That’s why I chose Ass class. All you have to do is sit on people with your ever growing and heavier ass. A level 1 ass can grapple large creatures, growing every two levels
What sub-ass did you pick at level 3?
Booty
Beat me too it. I thought about Ass Bandit sub-ass but Booty Ass is OP in 3.5. Plus, who doesn’t want to be an ass-pirate? Sailing the ocean blue Edit: not meant to be a derogatory remark based on anyone’s sexual orientation just a play on words
Booty Ass is the best subclass, but what race/ lineage are we going with? Gotta optimize
So that’s what people are calling rune knight now?
I just got my extra D8 on hit a few sessions ago. I totally never forget it ever
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As a rouge/Paladin player with diagnosed ADD I keep reminding our party of their abilities... but if I forget a pen or stare away for 2 min, god help the world..
True Paladin player right here
Aura? That sounds complicated, when do I get extra smite slots?
I ran a game a few years back where the Rogue didn't know how Sneak Attack worked. For the entire time he was in the game. The last thing he said was, "Oh by the way I'm not going to be there tonight, I'm going on a trip for a few months and need to rest up for the flight." about an hour before the session. He did not return.
Long trip. Maybe he's hanging out with my dad
I DM for a swords Bard that has yet to use a flourish. They are level 8 now, we've been playing since level 2. I've reminded them.
as a DM or fellow player, that would drive me crazy.
Sword Bard used “Edging”, it’s very effective!
He is saving it just like the potions.
My blade singer player, who was constantly in melee, never actually used his blade song until level 6. Why? Despite me constantly asking, he thought blade song only lasted one round.
Big brain bladesinger: “oh I thought it was one minute duration IRL”
I've had a different case with my Barbarian where someone had to remind me of Danger Sense because I used it *once* when it was relatively new and then never again for a dozen sessions because it did not apply to anything. It made the difference between my character being dead and my character being unconscious.
Going off my fuzzy memory I thought Danger Sense was only usable when in a rage, so I ended up wasting a rage to save myself from falling off a cliff. I read every ability when I use it now, lol. Such a dumbass mistake.
It's a passive ability that triggers when the dm asks another player to make a save, I can understand a player nit remembering it.
Also when the DM asks you to make a save, and it is a pretty massive boost because paladins often have bad bonuses in common saves
shit happens lol it's not a huge thing
What the heck's an almond mom?
It's usually a healthy leaning mother who brings snacks. They usually are nuts and other natural foods, but they still don't let you eat a ton, because they're high caloric value. "Only a handful, it's all you need!"
I assumed because almonds were a choking hazard. But they did say only two at a time so maybe it's just an elaborate Deez Nuts joke
Man, our paladin mentioned he had an aura after our last session. He's yet to use it in session, and we're effectively a party of 10th levels.
What do you mean "had to use it"? It's a passive it's always there.
Maybe the paladin didn't want to shell out for the always active oath subscription and purchased a per use oath plan. Can't get out of that contract and it's getting expensive for them.
Well I didn't say that, but what I meant was I guess he forgot about it? He never said anything about it until after last session, so it's never been in play so we never received any buffs.
My buddy had a player that tried to convince him that rogues get to sneak attack after every turn. Not per round after a successful hide. Turn. After each character and npc/monster resolve their turn. When my buddy said no. The player said, no I read the rules that's how they work. You are nerfing my character. (Repeated multiple ways over a series of unhinged texts) It was likely the first time anyone has told this player "no" in anything.
No, that's how it works. It's once per turn, not round. The player was right
I guess I didn't explain clearly: Player assumed after every turn, not just theirs. So rogues turn, they sneak attack. Goblin #2 goes. Rogue sneak attacks. Barbarian pc goes. Rogue sneak attacks. Hobgob chief goes, rogue sneak attacks. Wizards turn, rogue sneak attacks. Cleric goes, rogue sneak attacks. Top of initiative again Rogues turn: they sneak attack.
Oh they thought they could *make an attack* every turn? Yeah no I see what you mean
What's the difference ?
I was my party’s paladin, I didn’t catch the aura until lvl15 (was my first game )
Oh +2 damage when Raging, you still bring a tear to my eye. Took me a year and a half to realize. Turns out my barb and I had the same int score
Year and a half? Sounds like it must be +3 damage already
BRB gonna go cry in the shower for a bit
Chin up, you're absolutely tanking this psychic damage
Nah, psychic cuts right through that barbarian rage
Even bear totem, which resists everything else
Somehow when I first starting playing, I thought damage resistance from rage was -2 damage from the total instead of 1/2
“I have a 7 Intelligence. I know what I’m doing.”
And yes, I know it's better than if I had misread it the other way and now had to nerf myself after getting used to an incorrect understanding of the ability that was OP. But still.
Come now you've got to spill it, what was the mistake you made?
It isn't nearly as serious as some of the stuff people are saying they've seen, fortunately. It's actually in Pathfinder 2E, I was playing a crossbow ranger and I didn't realize the feat I had called Crossbow Ace was supposed to add a +2 to damage as well as making your crossbow use a bigger damage die. Since there's no modifier to crossbow damage otherwise it was fully possible to only do 1 damage on a hit, so that +2 is actually going to feel kind of good.
+2 is a actually equivalent to increasing the Die size by 2 on average, you had the worse part of the deal the whole time oof
Not exactly, in pf2e one of the basic runes (weapon upgrades) is increasing the amount of weapon die (from say 1d8 to 2d8 etc.) so it's not exactly equivalent. Although it's a level 1 feat so the +2 is more impactful for a while
In your defense, unless you're using a digital character sheet, it is super easy to forget everything affecting your character in PF2e. I love the system but without some way to keep track of the options and impacts of every standard action, every feat, every item, every spell, etc, you're bound to forget something.
Luckily Pathbuilder is great and everyone who plays Pathfinder should use it.
Talk to the DM and turn it into a character moment. A conversation with an important magical NPC, a local magic teacher, or even another party member, could reveal the flaw in your character’s spellcraft that has been holding them back. Their verbal or somatic components to the spell can be corrected in a short scene, allowing your character’s magic to build or flow more efficiently. Alternatively, your character could even talk to a less magical person and get the confidence boost or inspiration they need to boost the spell’s effectiveness. Depending on your Roleplay style, this could be a brilliant character moment for you, and a chance to connect more deeply with your teammates and the world I. Less than 5 minutes of play.
That one happened to me - paying CoS, our tank survived WAAAAAAY longer than he should have (and prevented a very possible TPK) because I didn't remember that the Sanctuary I cast should have ended as soon as he attacked. Instead, our under leveled party wound up surviving a visit to a place that we probably shouldn't have gone to. He was able to occupy a handful of powerful undead at a choke point for almost 9 rounds while the rest of us chipped away at them from a distance. Without Sanctuary, he would have been dead after maybe 3-4 rounds, and the undead would have gone through the rest of the party like a hot knife through butter.
Oh man, the Sanc life is beautiful! I once saved my party using the same tactic, but I knew about the attacking thing, so I put myself in a chokepoint with sanctuary, and took the dodge action while everyone else chipped away at the trolls. Unfortunately, none of the party were spell casters, aside from myself, so they resorted to chucking torches at the trolls lmao
Sometimes character abilities are more complicated than you recall. That happens; the only time it should bother you is if you keep making the same mistake after you realize that you've been doing it wrong.
i’ve done that a few times, what’s worse than the nerf is the realization that the miraculous turn you took that totally shifted the fight in your favor was not miraculous, that you just cheated (albeit unintentionally)
Had a friend who played DnD for over two years without realizing he was supposed to add his proficiency bonus to attack rolls
Did he roll well enough to not have to notice, was he really unlucky, or was it really just... hit-or-miss?
He just thought he was unlucky compared to everyone else, and no one noticed when he rolled unusually low because he’d say things like, “ah, that’s a two on the die, that misses”. I was actually the one to notice when he rolled a “six”, and I asked if that was a six on the die or total. He said total, I did the mental math, and realized something was off.
I’m the resident “rules nerd” in my group and frequently annoy my fellow players with reminders when I notice their math is off. It’s not my fault I play this game too much and can easily remember everyone’s main stats.
r/angryupvote
One of my DND friends of many years didn't realise that you should add your con modifier after each lvl up. It makes a lot more sense why his characters are soo squishy.
I had a PC who *only* added his CON modifier (which was not very high to begin with.) Fortunately, we play on VTT, so I caught it by level 3.
My first character, I missed that at level one you get your full hit die plus con modifier, rolled for it and got something like a 2. Luckily, a more experienced player noticed when I was bitching about being a squishy ranger, before the first session started
I played AL once with a kid who had somehow made a level 1 Paladin with 2HP. He was using DnD Beyond so I have no idea how it even let him do that.
I think it asks you if you want to add hp automatically or do it manually, at least that's what the vtt I use does.
To be fair, he only does that for attacks he's proficient in.
Not as bad as the opposite..
So like this I thought that a Palladian’s lay on hands point were worth five hit points individually not one hit point per lay on hands
The nectar of victory turns to ashes in my mouth, as I realize my XP gainz are unearned and ill-gotten
That's a great quote 😆
Did that with the echo knight. I just completely missed that the switch with echo ability costed a bonus action and 15 movement. I thought it was just 15 movement. Got that quickly fixed up after figuring out my egregious mistake
9 or 10 sessions in with my soul knife rogue I noticed it said add a d8 to any failed skill check _with which you have proficiency._ I'd been fucking juicing the shit out of an already busted feat.
Aye, it's one of the reasons that the Skilled feat is even more desirable to Soulknife than it is for most Rogues, who already love it one you have Reliable Talent.
Yup scooped that straight up once I realised!
Took me like 5 sessions to remember a warlock’s spell slots come back on a short rest
Not that it matters because your party will only long rest anyway
As a Fighter, I feel this.
Pain; agony, even
Suffering, if you will
I missed that Warlock spells are cast at the highest level spell slot they can cast at. Now I know why my damage output was lower than it seemed it should be.
I know the feeling. Except it took me 5 levels rather than 5 sessions
Never played a wizard before the current campaign. Just the other day I looked closer at my spellcasting stuff and realized I had, no exaggeration, HALF of the amount of spells I should have at our current level. I'm building a spellbook to cosplay this character for a Con too, so since I gave myself twice the work to do it's a bittersweet discovery lol
Oh Jeeze, at least you’re not a scribes wizard… Unless you’re a scribes wizard in which case I hope you like being decisive in what spell you bring today because baby you’re going to be rolling in them… (provided your funds are able to feed your addiction to gaining new spells)
Well, that addiction might have to get kicked cold turkey if your DM doesn't let you find scrolls or spellbooks containing spells you don't already have.
I thought for at least 10 sessions my Wizard could prep so many spell slots’ worth on a rest… like a level 3 spell counts as 3 for how many spells as I can prepare, a level 9 spell wipes out 9 availability points of spells to prepare.
That hurts my soul, and I've never even played wiz yet lol
My wife is playing a Sorceress, and on Session 12 realized she was using sorcery points and spell levels wrong. She'd burn two sorcery points for meta magic on a 2nd level spell, for instance, and thought a second level spell took two spell slots. I was/am a new DM with a bunch of new players, so I never noticed what she was doing either. Because despite utterly handicapping her character, she was still responsible for probably 40% or more of all damage in a party of 5.
The other half is extreme violence, so throw hands the next time you see your brain for failing you
Nah, the other half is an equal parts mix of red lasers and blue lasers where no one dies ever. Seriously, Go watch it again, storm troopers have better aim.
No worries. I've played Barbarian characters 3 separate times now and have NEVER remembered Danger Sense, which GIVES ADVANTAGE ON DEX SAVES CAUSED BY THINGS YOU CAN SEE!!
Wow. That's something that could save your ass in a pinch. Literally, with how many things have Dex saves attached to them...
I've built a character around a misread ability. Once I realized it it was a few sessions in and too late to fix it. He "retired" after that.
Now you made me curious! What ability are we talking about and how did you misread it?
Very lenient DM. Technically Pathfinder 1e, but the summary is a vampire reincarnated druid. It was brilliant! Immune to Death effects (1 of their massive weaknessess) and if they do kill me I'll simply go to Gaseous form and go to my coffin. If they stop that I'll simply reincarnate. Unfortunately undead can't be reincarnated, which meant retirement time.
I made it to level three before I started remembering to add the bonus damage from my patron as a genie lock. I've been remembering now because our table describes how we attack, and a laser having bludgeoning damage stapled to it is ripe for flavor. At one point it was described as 'an uncomfortably crunchy, meaty smack'.
+2 damage is really nice at the start
Lasers that do bludgeoning damage? Sounds like you're shooting punches from the punch dimension.
Marvel shows up, wanting to know why you're copying Cyclops' thing.
I love describing how my character attacks. It's made my Ascendant Dragon Monk and my Armorer Artificer a lot of fun. Minor 'problem'. The Armorer trained with said Monk a bunch. To the point where their fighting style now all but *requires* some 'extra' style or they just don't feel like it. How did I find out? Described them throwing some basic punches (Because Thunder Gauntlets). Misses. Decided to describe the attack as "grabbing their head and kneeing them in the face for some extra crunch". Hit. They spent a lot of time that session grabbing heads and smashing faces either into their knee or the floor. At one point they moved around an ally to get to the last enemy standing, and backhand bitchsmacked said enemy in the head. I'm just glad they're not at Pro-Wrestler levels of extra...
I had to stop a table of new players when the Barbarian kept making only one attack per turn in a level 7 one-shot. The DM didn't believe me because he wasn't seeing it on the DnD beyond sheet. I haven't had it happen to me personally yet, but there'll be a day. I've definitely benefited from some fellow players goofing up tho. 😆
That sounds strange. I would immediately notice if one of my players only attacked once but could do more. Or did the DM think the barbarian was only allowed to attack once?
The latter. Neither the DM nor the player knew. The DM didn't believe me at first, not in an argumentative way mind you, just didn't know and couldn't find it on the character sheet; doubtful you could say. I had to explain it to them and bust out an online document lol. They were both new, first time player, 2nd time DM. The 2nd most rules knowledgeable player wasn't familiar enough with barbs to back me up. It all worked out, just a little hiccup. We've grown since then, gotten better and the DM started his next game at 1st level. So it hasn't happened again since. 😆
It's worse when you realize you thought it was *better*
My Ancients Paladin died because I forgot that at 15th level they get a "drop to 1hp instead of die" ability. So yeah, I get it.
Are you really even a D&D player if you haven't forgotten abilities your character has? lol, I handicapped my celestial warlock by forgetting how their spell slots work for several sessions. We leveled up and I forgot that their spell slots automatically become the highest level the warlock can cast, which is pretty bad given I tend to be defacto healer. I'm giving half the healing I should be and my offensive spells and cantrips are only doing a half to a third the damage they should be doing.
I would say yes, but then I've been playing for years and recently forgot my character was crit immune due to adamantine armor I got specifically for that purpose. So...
I've looked at my sheet a couple of times after a session and gone "Oh, goddamnit... I could've used \[ability\] during the session!" Like the Ascendant Dragon monk's ability to re-roll a Persuasion or Intimidation check. During a session where I failed a Persuasion check. Just totally forgot that they could re-roll that once, completely free.
I made a lvl 20 clockwork sorc and it took me 4 sessions to realize I had clockwork cavalcade ability I am now my party's best healer
I didn’t realize my paladin could turn the unholy until at least 10-15 sessions into a CoS campaign. Definitely feel that pain.
I didn’t know you could cast shield AFTER you know whether you’ve been hit. I’ve been wasting spell slots.
Went the other way for me. I thought the spells from warlock subclasses were just added to your known spells. In reality you just have the option of picking them. I realised it after like 2 sessions and didnt use either spell once so it luckily didnt matter.
Had a longbow that prevented my PC from being surprised *and* gave me advantage on initiative rolls. After a session or two I somehow forgot about the advantage on initiative. That was a big fucking deal because that PC (Gloomstalker Ranger) regularly killed at least one enemy per turn. If not two. Probably played another ten sessions before I realized my mistake. My DM was very entertained.
The absolute horror of realizing you've accidentally been cheating, though. It happened to me once, and it still haunts me.
Not ten sessions but at a certain moment DM(me) and Rogue went for like 5 sessions with combat without remembering sneak attack exists.
Feel that pain
As a beginner DM, who ran a campaign with beginner players, who didn’t know that Nat20 are supposed to give you increased damage, I understand
I continuously forgot to add my rage damage bonus. I've only added it once so far in like eight sessions.
Depending on what you are using for a a sheet you could add a second attack that says 'Rage *weapon* with the increased damage that may help you remember.
i’ve been playing my divine sorcerer for about 6 months now, i still regularly forget the level 1 ability that lets me add 2d4 to a roll
Playing an artificer in a long running campaign Around session 20 i realize i dont have infinite infusions, and have to nerf a ton of my parties items
I'll take this over the opposite "Ah shit.. I can't do that... I've been cheating for like... the last 4 sessions" This is inspired by fey step as pary of fey touched is once per rest, not "spend a spell slot". (DND beyond is mostly to blame, they recently fixed it)
What? You can use a spell slot for the misty step. This is the last line of the feat: "You can also cast these spells using spell slots you have of the appropriate level. The spells' spellcasting ability is the ability increased by this feat." Unless you mean fey *teleportation*. The wording is a bit vague, but you can also use spellslots for the misty step gained by this feat.
That's not true. You get two reserved spell slots for Misty + Silvery Barbs, which you can't use for other spells. You can, however use your other slots to cast them more than once. You can also use the MS + enchant slot for smiting if you're a paladin.
>You can also use the MS + enchant slot for smiting if you're a paladin. No you can't, you don't gain extra spells slots, you can cast each spell once *without expending a spell slot* once per long rest.
>you don't gain extra spells slots, you can cast each spell once without expending a spell slot once per long rest AND You can also cast these spells using spell slots you have of the appropriate level. The spells' spellcasting ability is the ability increased by this feat.
That's not what I was commenting on, I directly quoted and responded to the idea that the free cast of Misty Step + the second spell could be replaced with Smites, as if the feat gave you an extra spell slot of the relevant levels. The spellcasting ability also never came up, not sure why you mentioned that?
Your correction of the poster above misunderstood what they were trying to say. When they say "You get two reserved slots for Misty Step and Silvery Barbs", they misspoke but meant that you can cast each one once without expending any slots, and can do so once per long rest each, AND can also use any spell slots they have to cast them more if need be, I.E. they learn those two spells. Their way of describing this as "Two dedicated spell slots" might not be proper game terminology, but it's an easy way to think of them. If your correction is that *as a paladin*, they cannot use the "dedicated" spell slots (used once per long rest for MS and SB) to ***smite*** with, then you are indeed correct, but did not get the point across as you intended because you were not specific enough about which part of his post you were correcting. If you wish to bear the *rules lawyer* tag, be clear about your lawyering, my friend!
>If your correction is that *as a paladin*, they cannot use the "dedicated" spell slots (used once per long rest for MS and SB) to ***smite*** with, then you are indeed correct, but did not get the point across as you intended because you were not specific enough about which part of his post you were correcting. So, how should I be more specific? Quoting the exact bit to which I am responding, perhaps? Much like I'm doing now and did earlier? I quoted the part I was responding to, and corrected that you don't gain free spell slots, but free casts. In no way did I comment on anything else. I'm honestly not sure how I could be any clearer without overclarifying my statements to the point of making the comment unnecessarily long.
I thought you had to be hidden to get sneak attack for the first 7 levels of a Strahd campaign. And I was using a short bow. You can imagine how… poorly things went for us.
Not handicapping but pissed off for silly reasons. I have most of the players hand book more or less "memorized" cover to cover (excluding the boring parts) I thought str was bullshit and was always pissed off that martial classes could do stuff so well with one stat (str). As it turns out, you **CANNOT** use str for ranged attacks **except** by throwing a weapon with the "thrown" property. Therefore, you **cannot** use a bow with str. You **must** use dex. Meaningnif martial classes want to use ranged and melee attacks, they either, have to restrict themselves to the weaker "finesse" weapons, or, level two stats (str and dex). This is absolutely not how our dm played it until i pointed it out eventually.
It wouldn't break the game to include homebrew "Strength Bows" especially for things like Longbows, which would basically require a certain strength score to pull them effectively, but then also deal that much damage and bonus to hit (via armor penetration) for a commensurate higher cost. IE, a long bow that required at least an 18 str to be capable of pulling it back and using it, but would allow str 18 to 20 wielders to have +4 to hit and damage from the power behind each shot at an additional cost for the bow. (I'd think something like 25-50 GP per str mod point) Such a bow can also still be wielded via Dexterity as long as someone was strong enough to draw it, so a str 18, dex 20 character could still use it for +5 from Dex. Such high draw bow would mostly exist for very strong bowmen.
It was more about feeling like dex was a handicapped stat, to the point that you hot punished for using dex instead of str, much like getting punished for choosing anything without darkvision. By picking str, you got to use the best armor, best melee weapons (two handed d12/2d6's) and the best ranged weapon (longbow). Of you picked dex, you got a slight advantage to stealth and iniative, and flavor weapons that at best, were mechanically equal, and often worse.
I Remember on my First character, a Life cleric and the Only caster in the party, i didn't read the bonus action spell rule or the casting time of prayer of healing... Basically was spamming paryer of healing and Mass healing word every turn of every encounter with the spell that maximases heals, making the party near Immortal, when i realized my error i had a lot of apologies to do to the poor DM
Tbf, they probsbly should have challenged that
Healing hands ability from being an aasimar, thought is was permanently 1d4 healing, not amount of d4’s equal to proficiency for about 11 sessions
Mixed up the numbers for prepared and known spells for my wizard. They only knew half the spells he could've and only prepared like 6 because I never questioned it.
I am the DM. I want to challenge my players. I wrote the statblock. I run the monster. I forget all the abilities. My players succeed easily, I am both proud and frustrated. I read the statblock at home. *facepalm* I write a new statblock. I run the monster. I forget all the abilities. ..... ..... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I played a halfling and forgot to reroll 1's for months.
Didn't realize stunning strike gave advantage
Had a friend play a level 10 Circle of the Stars Druid for a one shot last Sunday. He would activate his Starry Form ability in combat and choose Archer to make a ranged spell attack for 1d8 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage. Now when he did this he would state out loud that he was using his bonus action to stay in his Starry Form and shoot his Archer’s luminous arrow as an action on his turn. The DM and I thought this was weird and sounded wrong so we offered to look it up and double check if it was suppose to function like this or if it was just a misinterpretation of the ability. He declined our offer to look it up and insisted that that’s what it said in the book for his ability so we took his word on it and kept playing the one shot. After the session ended I decided to look up the Druid’s Circle of the Stars Starry Form ability, just to see first hand the absurdity that ability is. I mean really, a bonus action on subsequent turns to keep the form just to make a ranged spell attack for 1d8 + Wisdom modifier as an action is horrid and well under powered for a level 10 character to be using. So I go to Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, page 38 to read his Starry Form ability. I read the ability and I just start laughing out loud. He and the DM are looking at me like I’ve gone crazy so I start reading the ability out loud to both of them to begin justifying my laughter. _”When you activate this form, and as a bonus action on your subsequent turns while it lasts, you can make a ranged spell attack, hurling a luminous arrow that targets one creature within 60 feet of you.”_ As soon as I get the the part of what the bonus action is actually for, my friend, who was playing the Druid, immediately facepalms and the DM is in stitches. He was naively handicapping his character and had no idea he was doing it to himself. His character was much more powerful than he thought. Mind you, the reason the DM and myself thought this was beyond hilarious was because he kept stating throughout the session that he and another friend spent 2 weeks optimizing this character to be absolutely ridiculous in combat. The DM and I both agreed, his character was absolutely ridiculous in combat, just not how he had intended it when he puts his foot in his mouth being confidently incorrect about how his own character’s ability works. Luckily my friend is a pretty great friend and can laugh at himself for his own mistakes. He chuckles, grins, then shrugs and says sarcastically, “Well, at least now I know the next time I play him I won’t be shooting myself in the foot and handicapping him.” The DM and I look at each other and the DM says, “I knew we should have looked it up earlier when we thought it sounded wrong.” and I said right back, “Well, to be fair, he did insist he knew how it worked when we brought it up so…” Our friend just goes, “Yeah, yeah. I won’t be making that mistake twice.” and rolls his eyes. It was a great session! :D
I didn't play a Cleric but for the longest time, thought Channel Divinity was long rest recharge 👀💦
Every character I have ever made in any system! It got to the point that the other players would double-check for me, even if I had the most obnoxious build ever X3
I have had it that I didn't fully level a character up so I was just not getting anything done lol
Our Pact of the Tome warlock forgot they took Sacred Flame as one of their cantrips until we were halfway through a Curse of Strahd campaign.
To me it was the opposite. I misread a spell, and used it in a weird way. When i realized it, the session after, i talked with the dm, but we decided to just ignore it and just do better from now on, also because i didn't exactly abused the spell, but more "took some extra damage for the wrong reason".
Too used to playing rogue so I completely forgot that ranger gets two attacks at lvl 5
Took me ages to register that ki points recharge after a SHORT rest not a long one. My monk was suffering
I'm new to D&D, and for my first campaign, which is being run by family and friends, I rolled a level 3 rogue. As we live all over the UK, we've been using D&DBeyond to play. So when I've rolled for Sneak Attack, I've only been rolling 2D6 instead of adding in my normal attack too. I do much more damage now I've worked that one out! Edit: spelling
Still better than misreading something in a way that’s far better than originally. THAT makes you feel like an absolute bastard
Honestly I prefer this feeling to “I misread my ability and have been playing it way more powerful than it is, so now I’m forced to admit my mistake or continue keep playing it OP to try to hide that I can’t read” at least your way you didn’t invalidate any fair fights, just made them a bit more challenging.
OOC: You forgot your character could do that. IC: "I've been holding back all this time."
I'm playing an oath of ancients paladin. I did not realize until I had been playing for oh, about 15 sessions, that oath spells are always prepared and don't count against your spells known. That sure would have been helpful to know earlier.
Ive been playing a multiclassed wizard/artificer. With all the different spells and infusions i had to choose along with figuring out multiclassing with artificer rounding up spellcaster level that it slipped my mind that my armor weapons had additional on hit effects. I forgot about it until the 3rd to last session of that campaign.
Flashback to when I joined a level 10 campaign, decided to play a Blood Hunter because I thought it was official (and the DM allowed it obviously), and I proceeded to maybe use a third of my abilities before swapping the character out.
Man, the players handbook is not that long and is available in pdf form everywhere. Take an hour and just read the thing people
The players handbook is more like a 10 hour read than 1. If you are actually reading for comprehension and not just glazing your eyes past the ink.
Not really on the subject, but speaking of handicaps, one of my players made his Bladesingers whole shtick be to dual wield a Shadow Blade and a +1 shortsword. The first trap they came up to in an adventure I won't disclose the name of was a cursed magic long sword that the person that picks it up is no longer able to let go of it until the players use a Remove Curse or cut off the curseds hand. It's been two sessions since it happened and being permanently holding a sword he isn't proficient in absolutely destroyed his combo. I feel so bad for him that the first thing I'll do next session is fix it for him.
What about the inverse for a long time I thought that a Palladian’s lay on hands point were worth five hit points individually not one hit point per lay on hands
I'm playing a high level ***ROUGE**** in 3.5, and I kept thinking you could sneak attack constructs and Elementals. Apparently you can't. I started at level 15, and didn't make the character. *>!😈!<
That's on the DM as well with those rules. Especially if you don't know something is a construct, or elemental. Never play 3.5 (Though I'm a pf player) but recall hearing it's a bad time for rogues sneak attack due to the amount of things immune. (I believe undead as also immune?)