I am a first time 5e DM. My nephew is playing a war cleric in our family game, my family and my brothers family.
He is quiet and doesn't say much of anything, but something in our last session showed me he is having fun.
I have a Water Weird that is bothering the party. If the party stays far enough away from the stream then the water weird can't do much of anything to them. But they are about to cross the stream at a ford. I plan to have the Water Weird make another appearance. In the first round of "combat" he will raise up and telepathically contact the War Cleric and say in his mind in a raspy whisper, "I know who you are!" It will only be said to the Cleric. Then I want to see what he does with that information and decide how I'm gonna make that a story element.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how I can make him more important to the story?
I gave the party a special magic item bowl of silver lined with polished shell. When the bowl is filled with holy water it grants visions on the night of the full moon. I plan to let the party see treasure they skipped when they didn't clear out the Troglodyte Lair. The last four Trogs have magic weapons they acquired from folks that tried to end them before. I plan to let some members of the party see a Trog holding a magic weapon that they would desire. Then they will discuss if they plan to turn around and go get that stuff or if they will remain on their current quest.
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Low level troglodytes have not one, but four magic weapons? That seems a little much imo. A troglodyte is a CR 1/4 monster, so even one magic weapon is probably a lot for their treasure.
I think giving your players too many magic items, can be as bad or worse than no magic items. Make sure they earn it, not just you giving them something. By level 5, I think they should have a +1 weapon, basically, but not necessarily. Now I would tailor the items to fit their characters i.e. if somebody uses a spear, put a magic spear in the game or if somebody uses crossbows, put that in. But be careful about overdoing the loot and treasure. It should be a reward for a real challenge, not killing some 1/4 level monsters.
This is the final fight of clearing out a Trog lair. So they have had to defeat two dozen or more trogs by this point, and without a long rest, but they could squeeze in a short rest I think.
The party is level 3. This is the opportunity for 4 of the six party members to receive their first +1 weapon, so yes, it is intended to be the Drop for goring into level 5. At present they have only two pieces of armor (both shields) that give +1, a magic helmet that gives +1 to wisdom and a magic hood that gives +1 to dexterity.
I appreciate your sentiment that you can give too much magic away quickly and make things hard on yourself later.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Sounds like you want to prompt your nephew into some RP and let his War Cleric shine a bit. Make this Water Weird vulnerable to his Channel Divinity feature; perhaps immune/resistant/disadvantage on any other damage, but the War Cleric channel divinity Guided Strike is the required attack to bring him down. Perhaps the WW has a holy symbol of a rival god or is part of the same cult as the enemies in the area.
When his God notices him use his special talents against his enemies, maybe he speaks to him via your Silver Bowl that night and plants some bread crumbs about his 'destiny' or 'true purpose'. Makes your nephew feel like a true chosen hero of his God.... going forward, any time he uses his Channel Divinity, he gets more whispers of reinforcement from his God, and hopefully starts to identify more with his Character's Role and goals. Gives him a chance to start exploring that side of his character.
War has many manifestations. It can make heroes of ordinary people. It can be desperate and horrific, with acts of cruelty and cowardice eclipsing instances of excellence and courage. In either case, the gods of war watch over warriors and reward them for their great deeds.
Rewards can be simple, even just the DM inspiration to encourage him anytime he leans into his Character a bit more than just hitting and healing. THP, or just standard "Bardic inspiration" dice can be pretty small ways to add incentives to good character choices.
Just an option to consider, hope you and your nephew have a good time!
Yes, I have tried to get his to think of himself as a real religious man instead of a dwarf in armor with spells. But so far it hasn't clicked. I had the encounter where the WW, for the second time, met the party at a stream, and this time at a ford where they had to cross and get wet. I did the whole "I know who you are" thing describing it as telepathy and he didn't even announce to the party it happened. I'll just keep poking the bear until it occurs to him he has the Channel Divinity thing that has many uses.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
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I am a first time 5e DM. My nephew is playing a war cleric in our family game, my family and my brothers family.
He is quiet and doesn't say much of anything, but something in our last session showed me he is having fun.
I have a Water Weird that is bothering the party. If the party stays far enough away from the stream then the water weird can't do much of anything to them. But they are about to cross the stream at a ford. I plan to have the Water Weird make another appearance. In the first round of "combat" he will raise up and telepathically contact the War Cleric and say in his mind in a raspy whisper, "I know who you are!" It will only be said to the Cleric. Then I want to see what he does with that information and decide how I'm gonna make that a story element.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how I can make him more important to the story?
I gave the party a special magic item bowl of silver lined with polished shell. When the bowl is filled with holy water it grants visions on the night of the full moon. I plan to let the party see treasure they skipped when they didn't clear out the Troglodyte Lair. The last four Trogs have magic weapons they acquired from folks that tried to end them before. I plan to let some members of the party see a Trog holding a magic weapon that they would desire. Then they will discuss if they plan to turn around and go get that stuff or if they will remain on their current quest.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Low level troglodytes have not one, but four magic weapons? That seems a little much imo. A troglodyte is a CR 1/4 monster, so even one magic weapon is probably a lot for their treasure.
I think giving your players too many magic items, can be as bad or worse than no magic items. Make sure they earn it, not just you giving them something. By level 5, I think they should have a +1 weapon, basically, but not necessarily. Now I would tailor the items to fit their characters i.e. if somebody uses a spear, put a magic spear in the game or if somebody uses crossbows, put that in. But be careful about overdoing the loot and treasure. It should be a reward for a real challenge, not killing some 1/4 level monsters.
This is the final fight of clearing out a Trog lair. So they have had to defeat two dozen or more trogs by this point, and without a long rest, but they could squeeze in a short rest I think.
The party is level 3. This is the opportunity for 4 of the six party members to receive their first +1 weapon, so yes, it is intended to be the Drop for goring into level 5. At present they have only two pieces of armor (both shields) that give +1, a magic helmet that gives +1 to wisdom and a magic hood that gives +1 to dexterity.
I appreciate your sentiment that you can give too much magic away quickly and make things hard on yourself later.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Sounds like you want to prompt your nephew into some RP and let his War Cleric shine a bit. Make this Water Weird vulnerable to his Channel Divinity feature; perhaps immune/resistant/disadvantage on any other damage, but the War Cleric channel divinity Guided Strike is the required attack to bring him down. Perhaps the WW has a holy symbol of a rival god or is part of the same cult as the enemies in the area.
When his God notices him use his special talents against his enemies, maybe he speaks to him via your Silver Bowl that night and plants some bread crumbs about his 'destiny' or 'true purpose'. Makes your nephew feel like a true chosen hero of his God.... going forward, any time he uses his Channel Divinity, he gets more whispers of reinforcement from his God, and hopefully starts to identify more with his Character's Role and goals. Gives him a chance to start exploring that side of his character.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/cleric#WarDomain
War has many manifestations. It can make heroes of ordinary people. It can be desperate and horrific, with acts of cruelty and cowardice eclipsing instances of excellence and courage. In either case, the gods of war watch over warriors and reward them for their great deeds.
Rewards can be simple, even just the DM inspiration to encourage him anytime he leans into his Character a bit more than just hitting and healing. THP, or just standard "Bardic inspiration" dice can be pretty small ways to add incentives to good character choices.
Just an option to consider, hope you and your nephew have a good time!
Yes, I have tried to get his to think of himself as a real religious man instead of a dwarf in armor with spells. But so far it hasn't clicked. I had the encounter where the WW, for the second time, met the party at a stream, and this time at a ford where they had to cross and get wet. I did the whole "I know who you are" thing describing it as telepathy and he didn't even announce to the party it happened. I'll just keep poking the bear until it occurs to him he has the Channel Divinity thing that has many uses.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt