First off thank you and sorry if this is in the wrong spot. I am new to 5th Edition. I started in 3.5 and then continued in Pathfinder 1e because it had similar rules. (This is important for context.) Now when I started GMing it was with 3.5 and we were running an Eberron game. It was an evil game that had a story of getting my DM PC to claim her throne. This is all well and good but now i want to build a game where the players go up against her to restore the kingdom to go back the way it was.
Now you might say that sounds easy.. however this is where things get complicated. #1 The game was gestalt. #2. One of the OG players characters was a succubus evil pally/hexblade and we were going to turn her into a demon lord. #3 there are going to be weird monsters that i KNOW FOR A FACT will not appear in the monsters guide.
I wanted this game to make the players feel bad ass. I wanted to have them be able to achieve heights with their characters that is very rare in D&D/Role playing. So i thought about bringing the game to Pathfinder 1e due to it's similar rule set. However most of my OG players from that last game have (or will in the near future) move on to other things and now i am looking for new players. I am thinking about using 5E for it's simplicity and the fact that Eberron is a D&D product and will have the most resources for it. BUt i have no idea where to start... I have a lot of the backstory and motives for all the villians but i have idea how to do the rest...
So i guess in the long run i am asking for help on how to make this game (that i have been building on and off for 3 years) feel the way i want and still have everything the players might want.
PS. feel free to message me about any of the weird stuff i had planned and just questions.. i'm going to go memorize the DMG
The simplest thing i can recommend is Reading the 5e ebberron handbooks; Wayfinders guide to Ebberron, Exploring Ebberron, and Ebberron rising from the War. Next i would reading some things from the ravenloft books. Try to watch some apocalypse things for inspiration. Finally i recommend tapping into your inner psycho to create some monsters
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DM: Ok you encounter a Bugbear.
Newbie: THAT SOUNDS AWFUL! its like a bear bug combo!
Veteran: No actually its-
DM: (scribbling furiously) The Bugbears mandibles click loudly! Roll initiative!
I have that covered.. it's just the use of these books. I just have to read and UNDERSTAND what it all means and how to implement it all.
I'm just so used to Pathfinder that it will take some time to get used to a whole new system i guess.
Quick question though... how easy is it to add class levels to a monster. Say a lvl 20 Oathbreaker Pally on a succubuss
Typically you don’t add class levels to monsters in this edition. If you are homebrewing a monster, you just kind of give them whatever powers you want them to have. NPCs don’t have to follow PC rules.
That said, it should be fairly easy to homebrew a succubus race using Tasha’s custom lineage rules and then make them a level 20 oathbreaker.
This sounds like it's going to be a LOT of homebrew. Are you really going to be keeping any of the Eberron stuff that is unique to 5e? I don't mean lore - that can be transferred to any system. I'm talking mechanics. You might find a lot less work for yourself if you stick with an edition that you are more familiar with.
I would recommend making some one-shots in your world (which aren't part of your manum-opus but are related to it) and running them to get to grips with how things work and how player classes interact with the challenges you offer them. Don't try and simultaneously run the bes game you have ever run and learn the rules to do so, as you're setting yourself up to fail (you might not, but it' more likely). I had an entire puzzle room negated by a player using spells and racial abilities to bypass basically every challenge, in what I had expected to be a complex puzzle. I let them get away with it, because it was my oversight, but if you had something key planned in your grand campaign which gets bypassed because you didn't know a certain ability or rule, then that's not going to make it a magnum opus.
So yeah, I'd say that you should run a couple of short adventures (oneshots or several-shots) and then use them to learn the system before you move onto your big one.
That's the rules covered, so now onto the next bits!
To make your monsters, pick something which has similar mechanics to what you want to make, and then reskin and tweak. For example, I wanted to make a lumbering beasty who stank and had a breath attack which dealt poison - so I used a dragon wyrmling as the base, removed flight and replaced it with stench, and there we have it. Don't get caught up on what the stat-blocks describe, instead focus on the abilities and stats to see if it is close to what you want to make.
This sounds like it's going to be a LOT of homebrew. Are you really going to be keeping any of the Eberron stuff that is unique to 5e? I don't mean lore - that can be transferred to any system. I'm talking mechanics. You might find a lot less work for yourself if you stick with an edition that you are more familiar with.
Warforged, Dragonmarks, Dragonshards, prestige classes.. (Does 5th even use prestige classes?)
No prestige classes. There’s multi classing, and there are feats that let you grab a couple powers from other classes, but no prestige classes.
So no Bone Knights from Karrnath or Silver Excosists from the Silver Flame?
Not as such. You can still make them, just they won’t have any unique mechanics as PCs. You would just make them, and the rp their group. The ravinca book has a section about different guilds, and they have custom backgrounds, so that’s an option. And they also have rules for advancing in a guild giving some benefits, so there might be ways to get at it. Or homebrew a feat if you want some other customization options.
No prestige classes. There’s multi classing, and there are feats that let you grab a couple powers from other classes, but no prestige classes.
So no Bone Knights from Karrnath or Silver Excosists from the Silver Flame?
Not as such. You can still make them, just they won’t have any unique mechanics as PCs. You would just make them, and the rp their group. The ravinca book has a section about different guilds, and they have custom backgrounds, so that’s an option. And they also have rules for advancing in a guild giving some benefits, so there might be ways to get at it. Or homebrew a feat if you want some other customization options.
Is it really that easy to Homebrew stuff in 5th? For example a Bone Knight is basically a Paladin with special Bone armor that helps against damage, a bone sword that i guess does necrotic damage and the pally can command and raise undead.. is that easy?
No prestige classes. There’s multi classing, and there are feats that let you grab a couple powers from other classes, but no prestige classes.
So no Bone Knights from Karrnath or Silver Excosists from the Silver Flame?
Not as such. You can still make them, just they won’t have any unique mechanics as PCs. You would just make them, and the rp their group. The ravinca book has a section about different guilds, and they have custom backgrounds, so that’s an option. And they also have rules for advancing in a guild giving some benefits, so there might be ways to get at it. Or homebrew a feat if you want some other customization options.
Is it really that easy to Homebrew stuff in 5th? For example a Bone Knight is basically a Paladin with special Bone armor that helps against damage, a bone sword that i guess does necrotic damage and the pally can command and raise undead.. is that easy?
If they are an NPC, you just say they do that, and you’re done. If a pc wants to do it, then you need to come up with something. Easy is a background. A little hard, but not too hard, is a subclass. That’s what most people do, I’d guess is to see which base class gets close, then homebrew a subclass. Maybe the gear, too.
No prestige classes. There’s multi classing, and there are feats that let you grab a couple powers from other classes, but no prestige classes.
So no Bone Knights from Karrnath or Silver Excosists from the Silver Flame?
Not as such. You can still make them, just they won’t have any unique mechanics as PCs. You would just make them, and the rp their group. The ravinca book has a section about different guilds, and they have custom backgrounds, so that’s an option. And they also have rules for advancing in a guild giving some benefits, so there might be ways to get at it. Or homebrew a feat if you want some other customization options.
Is it really that easy to Homebrew stuff in 5th? For example a Bone Knight is basically a Paladin with special Bone armor that helps against damage, a bone sword that i guess does necrotic damage and the pally can command and raise undead.. is that easy?
If they are an NPC, you just say they do that, and you’re done. If a pc wants to do it, then you need to come up with something. Easy is a background. A little hard, but not too hard, is a subclass. That’s what most people do, I’d guess is to see which base class gets close, then homebrew a subclass. Maybe the gear, too.
I would definitely be leaning towards character options.
Step 1. Don't mesmerize the DMG. It's a great resource but you will explode if you try to do that.
Step 2. Start small. A town, a dungeon, orcs. The rest of the game will slowly start to evolve from there.
Step 3. Watch Matt Covilles running the game series on YouTube. Will seriously help with what you want to do.
Step 4. Have fun. If the DM isn't having fun the rest of the group wont either
The funny thing about this post is i watch his videos all the tine! I get lots of inspiration from him! And after reading all these posts and looking at the experience i want to create.. i have decided not to use 5e for this game. I want to learn 5e at some point... just not for this particular story. Too much of an under taking after already putting in 3 years of thought and planning into this.
Thanks everyone for your input and help!
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First off thank you and sorry if this is in the wrong spot. I am new to 5th Edition. I started in 3.5 and then continued in Pathfinder 1e because it had similar rules. (This is important for context.) Now when I started GMing it was with 3.5 and we were running an Eberron game. It was an evil game that had a story of getting my DM PC to claim her throne. This is all well and good but now i want to build a game where the players go up against her to restore the kingdom to go back the way it was.
Now you might say that sounds easy.. however this is where things get complicated. #1 The game was gestalt. #2. One of the OG players characters was a succubus evil pally/hexblade and we were going to turn her into a demon lord. #3 there are going to be weird monsters that i KNOW FOR A FACT will not appear in the monsters guide.
I wanted this game to make the players feel bad ass. I wanted to have them be able to achieve heights with their characters that is very rare in D&D/Role playing. So i thought about bringing the game to Pathfinder 1e due to it's similar rule set. However most of my OG players from that last game have (or will in the near future) move on to other things and now i am looking for new players. I am thinking about using 5E for it's simplicity and the fact that Eberron is a D&D product and will have the most resources for it. BUt i have no idea where to start... I have a lot of the backstory and motives for all the villians but i have idea how to do the rest...
So i guess in the long run i am asking for help on how to make this game (that i have been building on and off for 3 years) feel the way i want and still have everything the players might want.
PS. feel free to message me about any of the weird stuff i had planned and just questions.. i'm going to go memorize the DMG
The simplest thing i can recommend is Reading the 5e ebberron handbooks; Wayfinders guide to Ebberron, Exploring Ebberron, and Ebberron rising from the War. Next i would reading some things from the ravenloft books. Try to watch some apocalypse things for inspiration. Finally i recommend tapping into your inner psycho to create some monsters
DM: Ok you encounter a Bugbear.
Newbie: THAT SOUNDS AWFUL! its like a bear bug combo!
Veteran: No actually its-
DM: (scribbling furiously) The Bugbears mandibles click loudly! Roll initiative!
I have that covered.. it's just the use of these books. I just have to read and UNDERSTAND what it all means and how to implement it all.
I'm just so used to Pathfinder that it will take some time to get used to a whole new system i guess.
Quick question though... how easy is it to add class levels to a monster. Say a lvl 20 Oathbreaker Pally on a succubuss
Typically you don’t add class levels to monsters in this edition. If you are homebrewing a monster, you just kind of give them whatever powers you want them to have. NPCs don’t have to follow PC rules.
That said, it should be fairly easy to homebrew a succubus race using Tasha’s custom lineage rules and then make them a level 20 oathbreaker.
This sounds like it's going to be a LOT of homebrew. Are you really going to be keeping any of the Eberron stuff that is unique to 5e? I don't mean lore - that can be transferred to any system. I'm talking mechanics. You might find a lot less work for yourself if you stick with an edition that you are more familiar with.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I would recommend making some one-shots in your world (which aren't part of your manum-opus but are related to it) and running them to get to grips with how things work and how player classes interact with the challenges you offer them. Don't try and simultaneously run the bes game you have ever run and learn the rules to do so, as you're setting yourself up to fail (you might not, but it' more likely). I had an entire puzzle room negated by a player using spells and racial abilities to bypass basically every challenge, in what I had expected to be a complex puzzle. I let them get away with it, because it was my oversight, but if you had something key planned in your grand campaign which gets bypassed because you didn't know a certain ability or rule, then that's not going to make it a magnum opus.
So yeah, I'd say that you should run a couple of short adventures (oneshots or several-shots) and then use them to learn the system before you move onto your big one.
That's the rules covered, so now onto the next bits!
To make your monsters, pick something which has similar mechanics to what you want to make, and then reskin and tweak. For example, I wanted to make a lumbering beasty who stank and had a breath attack which dealt poison - so I used a dragon wyrmling as the base, removed flight and replaced it with stench, and there we have it. Don't get caught up on what the stat-blocks describe, instead focus on the abilities and stats to see if it is close to what you want to make.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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Warforged, Dragonshards, Dragonmarks, if possible the prestige classes (does 5th even use prestige classes?)
Warforged, Dragonmarks, Dragonshards, prestige classes.. (Does 5th even use prestige classes?)
No prestige classes. There’s multi classing, and there are feats that let you grab a couple powers from other classes, but no prestige classes.
So no Bone Knights from Karrnath or Silver Excosists from the Silver Flame?
Not as such. You can still make them, just they won’t have any unique mechanics as PCs. You would just make them, and the rp their group.
The ravinca book has a section about different guilds, and they have custom backgrounds, so that’s an option. And they also have rules for advancing in a guild giving some benefits, so there might be ways to get at it.
Or homebrew a feat if you want some other customization options.
Is it really that easy to Homebrew stuff in 5th? For example a Bone Knight is basically a Paladin with special Bone armor that helps against damage, a bone sword that i guess does necrotic damage and the pally can command and raise undead.. is that easy?
If they are an NPC, you just say they do that, and you’re done. If a pc wants to do it, then you need to come up with something. Easy is a background. A little hard, but not too hard, is a subclass. That’s what most people do, I’d guess is to see which base class gets close, then homebrew a subclass. Maybe the gear, too.
I would definitely be leaning towards character options.
Step 1. Don't mesmerize the DMG. It's a great resource but you will explode if you try to do that.
Step 2. Start small. A town, a dungeon, orcs. The rest of the game will slowly start to evolve from there.
Step 3. Watch Matt Covilles running the game series on YouTube. Will seriously help with what you want to do.
Step 4. Have fun. If the DM isn't having fun the rest of the group wont either
The funny thing about this post is i watch his videos all the tine! I get lots of inspiration from him! And after reading all these posts and looking at the experience i want to create.. i have decided not to use 5e for this game. I want to learn 5e at some point... just not for this particular story. Too much of an under taking after already putting in 3 years of thought and planning into this.
Thanks everyone for your input and help!