My original intent was for this submission to be a puzzle, but it honestly may be closer in structure to an encounter. Anton, let me know if you feel it does not qualify for the Inspirational Option.
The difference between an "encounter" (DM option) and a "puzzle" or "hazard" (Interactive) has always seemed a bit fuzzy to me anyway, so I'm fine with it on that level
I would say that it might a need a bit more lore to make it specifically about a rivalry rather than just a general 'spirit of competition' thing, though. Maybe have the mage built it specifically to stop an old adventuring buddy monk of theirs who was frustratingly good at everything, or something along those lines
Thats fair. Ill try to tweak the lore a little before the end of the competition
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Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
You have studied numbers to an extent, and have such a knowledge that it allows you to rip the fabric of time with your knowledge, and count very quickly. If you look at an item, you can instantly calculate something about it that has to do with numbers. (Ex: How many dents are in a sword. How many coins are in a jar.) In combat, you can use your mathematical knowledge to determine angles and attack from them, and determine chances to attack again. You must skip a turn and spend it studying your surroundings (No bonus actions or reactions, concentration spells are automatically broken) but after that, you get 5 number points. You can use these number points for two things, giving yourself a bonus action (If you already have one, you get another one.) Or giving yourself advantage on the next attack. (If you already have advantage, like rogue sneak attack, this does not apply.) You can only give yourself number points once per short rest.
(This is my first entry to one of these contests ever. So if it’s bad, that’s why.)
Okay, here goes. (I’ll prestige this by stating I will be echoing some of the same points Miles made.)
Bullet points, definitely bullet points.
Yeah, be specific in what it can count.
Yes, the language all over the feat needs some work, but “math points” is particularly bad.
Yes, it needs built in limitations on different aspects.
And as a player I would never essentially give up an entire round for those bonuses. The juice wouldn’t be worth the squeeze.
Here’s my rough suggestion for how to improve it, take from it what you will.
Numerophile
General Feat, (Prerequisite: Intelligence 13 or higher)
You have studied numbers to such an extent that you have developed supernatural mathematical capabilities. You gain the following actions:
As an action you can study a creature, object, structure, or piece of terrain that you can see and instantly discern one of the following numerical facts: its dimensions (height, width, and length), its angles, its area, its volume, its weight, or how many of a specific thing that is associated with it such as the number of quivers in an arrow or the number of trees in a section of forest. Or you can calculate the distance between any point, object, or creature you can see and another.
As a bonus action you can quickly assess your Allie’s, enemies, and immediate surroundings to gain the upper hand in combat. Until the end of your next turn, as long as you maintain concentration (as if on a spell), you can either make one additional attack when you take the Attack action, or you can instead add your Intelligence modifier to any one attack roll you make that misses, ability check or saving throw you fail, or to your AC against one attack that hits you, potentially changing the result. You can use this bonus action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain all uses whenever you finish a long rest.
Now, something like that I would definitely take on the right characters.
That's a big improvement in language, but still seems a bit weak.
Ya think? I figured the utility of the action was solid and useful, and the bonus action being able to grant an extra attack, or a potential +5 to a d20 test or AC was purdy gud. What would you add or alter?
Dunno, but a prof bonus/LR ability better be pretty good to sacrifice ASIs. I'll ponder it. Maybe dropping the concentration requirement for starters. Also, this may or may not be a typo, but it made me laugh:
As an action you can study a creature, object, structure, or piece of terrain that you can see and instantly discern one of the following numerical facts: its dimensions (height, width, and length), its angles, its area, its volume, its weight, or how many of a specific thing that is associated with it such as the number of quivers in an arrow or the number of trees in a section of forest. Or you can calculate the distance between any point, object, or creature you can see and another.
I'm still just trying to figure out who Allie is
😒 Gorram autocorrect is always changing “allies” into “Allie’s” on me. You’d think I’d have learned to double check that by now after all these years, but noooooo. 🤦♂️
Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
I love this
Off the top of my head, you could have fun with the dice when rolling with advantage or disadvantage (i.e. Reckless Attack) -- stuff like adding the dice together instead of taking the highest, or a Wild Magic-like table that kicks in when you roll doubles
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
You should give it a mechanic to actually represent that strange math in some way. Like, for example, give it a d6 that does X,but whenever you roll a 6 you roll it again and add the two numbers, so if you roll a 6 on the d6 and then roll a 3, it would count as rolling a 9 on a d6.
Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
You should give it a mechanic to actually represent that strange math in some way. Like, for example, give it a d6 that does X,but whenever you roll a 6 you roll it again and add the two numbers, so if you roll a 6 on the d6 and then roll a 3, it would count as rolling a 9 on a d6.
Yeah I'm thinking about this pretty hard at 5am. It's unsurprisingly difficult to think of ways to break math. Some fun ideas:
Let j = 1/0 is a fundamental constant like i, of i^2 = -1 fame. Terms including i are called complex components of numbers. Terms involving j are sometimes referred to as the "weird" or "surreal" component of a number.
Root-finding/minimization routines are actually easy to implement if you have a grasp of "weird" math. All you need to do is perform a thaumaturgic decomposition of the system of equations and work out the equivalent spell school and level of each equation independently. Easy peasy.
The law of small numbers asserts that the lesser the information you have about a population, the more likely you are to achieve magical power over them.
From Invisible Sun, there was once an integer between 12 and 13. It died/was killed. Its ghost is bitter about that, but can be exorcised by counting to 18.
Between every complex number lies an infinite number of complex numbers. But there are exceptions. For some reason mathemagicians can only measure two numbers between 12.3754788 and 12.3754789, which are referred to as the Xaygg constants.
The central limit theorem tells us that an appropriate transformation of a sum of sample means from samples of an i.i.d. process converges to a random variable with normal (Gaussian) distribution. Except of course for those samples that contain "weird" numbers, in which case we get convergence to a thaumaturgic distribution.
To solve systems of differential equations with chaotic dynamics (eg. three-body problems), it is sufficient to know the terminal conditions of the system, which are easy enough to work out with divination magic.
Proving a mathematical theorem by contradiction relies on the principle of the excluded middle, ie. that a proposition is either true or false, and that nothing lies between (this is true IRL). Only problem is that there once were no fewer than 43 states of truthiness that existed between true and false, including shingor and borts. For example, the set of all sets that do not contain themselves contains itself. This statement is neither true, nor false. It is humboo.
Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
You should give it a mechanic to actually represent that strange math in some way. Like, for example, give it a d6 that does X,but whenever you roll a 6 you roll it again and add the two numbers, so if you roll a 6 on the d6 and then roll a 3, it would count as rolling a 9 on a d6.
Yeah I'm thinking about this pretty hard at 5am. It's unsurprisingly difficult to think of ways to break math. Some fun ideas:
Let j = 1/0 is a fundamental constant like i, of i^2 = -1 fame. Terms including i are called complex components of numbers. Terms involving j are sometimes referred to as the "weird" or "surreal" component of a number.
Imaginary numbers aren't actually imaginary, they were exiled. Any phantasmal [blank] spell actually just opens a portal to the place they were exiled to
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
You should give it a mechanic to actually represent that strange math in some way. Like, for example, give it a d6 that does X,but whenever you roll a 6 you roll it again and add the two numbers, so if you roll a 6 on the d6 and then roll a 3, it would count as rolling a 9 on a d6.
Yeah I'm thinking about this pretty hard at 5am. It's unsurprisingly difficult to think of ways to break math. Some fun ideas:
Let j = 1/0 is a fundamental constant like i, of i^2 = -1 fame. Terms including i are called complex components of numbers. Terms involving j are sometimes referred to as the "weird" or "surreal" component of a number.
Imaginary numbers aren't actually imaginary, they were exiled. Any phantasmal [blank] spell actually just opens a portal to the place they were exiled to
Exiled for murdering the missing integer and dragging half of every number into the complex dimension!
LanguagesCommon and one other language (usually Gnomish)
Challenge5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus+3
Grappler. The garroter has advantage on attack rolls against targets it’s grappling.
For the King. The garroter has advantage on checks and saving throws against being frightened, knocked prone, or moved against its will.
Actions
Multiattack. The veteran makes two lash attacks.
Lash. Melee Weapon Attack:+6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage, and the garroter can choose to cause that target to be grappled and restrained (escape DC 16). Grappling a target this way occupies a hand, and the garroter can only grapple up to two targets at a time.
Weave (3/Long Rest). The garroter creates three traps, which are lines up to 30 feet long and 1 inch thick, at points it can see within range. These traps are difficult to spot, and can only be seen with a Wisdom (Perception) check of 16 or higher. A creature with a passive Perception of 16 or higher can see traps within 30 feet of it automatically. Whenever a creature crosses a trap, it must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d10) slashing damage and fall prone.
The garroter can only take this action if it has a hand free. The garroter is immune to all of its own traps. A trap created by the garroter breaks after 1 minute.
Description
Among the king of Nickelvale’s most dangerous guards are the Garroters. Most easily distinguished by the wire-coiled gear on their arms and back, the Garroters fight with deadly force, blocking attackers’ paths of attack and locking down their movement by deploying near-invisible cutting wire traps across hallways and rooms, making the battlefield their own. At least one soldier of every Kingsguard patrol or taskforce is a Garroter.
Garroters can under certain circumstances use their wire traps to grapple up to high places or across gaps, but due to the danger of doing so, it’s not common practice during a fight.
Rumor has it that the Garroters were actually once assassins, bent on taking the king’s own head, but were persuaded to change their ways. True or not, it makes some uneasy that the lieutenant of the Kingsguard, Rind Vilswell, is a Garroter himself.
Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
You should give it a mechanic to actually represent that strange math in some way. Like, for example, give it a d6 that does X,but whenever you roll a 6 you roll it again and add the two numbers, so if you roll a 6 on the d6 and then roll a 3, it would count as rolling a 9 on a d6.
Yeah I'm thinking about this pretty hard at 5am. It's unsurprisingly difficult to think of ways to break math. Some fun ideas:
Let j = 1/0 is a fundamental constant like i, of i^2 = -1 fame. Terms including i are called complex components of numbers. Terms involving j are sometimes referred to as the "weird" or "surreal" component of a number.
Imaginary numbers aren't actually imaginary, they were exiled. Any phantasmal [blank] spell actually just opens a portal to the place they were exiled to
Exiled for murdering the missing integer and dragging half of every number into the complex dimension!
This is getting mathturbatory.
That’s why prime numbers are so rare because they were almost all assassinated like the Romanovs.
LanguagesCommon and one other language (usually Gnomish)
Challenge5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus+3
Grappler. The garroter has advantage on attack rolls against targets it’s grappling.
For the King. The garroter has advantage on checks and saving throws against being frightened, knocked prone, or moved against its will.
Actions
Multiattack. The veteran makes two lash attacks.
Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage, and the garroter can choose to cause that target to be grappled and restrained (escape DC 16). Grappling a target this way occupies a hand, and the garroter can only grapple up to two targets at a time.
Weave (3/Long Rest). The garroter creates three traps, which are lines up to 30 feet long and 1 inch thick, at points it can see within range. These traps are difficult to spot, and can only be seen with a Wisdom (Perception) check of 16 or higher. A creature with a passive Perception of 16 or higher can see traps within 30 feet of it automatically. Whenever a creature crosses a trap, it must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d10) slashing damage and fall prone.
The garroter can only take this action if it has a hand free. The garroter is immune to all of its own traps. A trap created by the garroter breaks after 1 minute.
Description
Among the king of Nickelvale’s most dangerous guards are the Garroters. Most easily distinguished by the wire-coiled gear on their arms and back, the Garroters fight with deadly force, blocking attackers’ paths of attack and locking down their movement by deploying near-invisible cutting wire traps across hallways and rooms, making the battlefield their own. At least one soldier of every Kingsguard patrol or taskforce is a Garroter.
Garroters can under certain circumstances use their wire traps to grapple up to high places or across gaps, but due to the danger of doing so, it’s not common practice during a fight.
Rumor has it that the Garroters were actually once assassins, bent on taking the king’s own head, but were persuaded to change their ways. True or not, it makes some uneasy that the lieutenant of the Kingsguard, Rind Vilswell, is a Garroter himself.
LanguagesCommon and one other language (usually Gnomish)
Challenge5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus+3
Grappler. The garroter has advantage on attack rolls against targets it’s grappling.
For the King. The garroter has advantage on checks and saving throws against being frightened, knocked prone, or moved against its will.
Actions
Multiattack. The veteran makes two lash attacks.
Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage, and the garroter can choose to cause that target to be grappled and restrained (escape DC 16). Grappling a target this way occupies a hand, and the garroter can only grapple up to two targets at a time.
Weave (3/Long Rest). The garroter creates three traps, which are lines up to 30 feet long and 1 inch thick, at points it can see within range. These traps are difficult to spot, and can only be seen with a Wisdom (Perception) check of 16 or higher. A creature with a passive Perception of 16 or higher can see traps within 30 feet of it automatically. Whenever a creature crosses a trap, it must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d10) slashing damage and fall prone.
The garroter can only take this action if it has a hand free. The garroter is immune to all of its own traps. A trap created by the garroter breaks after 1 minute.
Description
Among the king of Nickelvale’s most dangerous guards are the Garroters. Most easily distinguished by the wire-coiled gear on their arms and back, the Garroters fight with deadly force, blocking attackers’ paths of attack and locking down their movement by deploying near-invisible cutting wire traps across hallways and rooms, making the battlefield their own. At least one soldier of every Kingsguard patrol or taskforce is a Garroter.
Garroters can under certain circumstances use their wire traps to grapple up to high places or across gaps, but due to the danger of doing so, it’s not common practice during a fight.
Rumor has it that the Garroters were actually once assassins, bent on taking the king’s own head, but were persuaded to change their ways. True or not, it makes some uneasy that the lieutenant of the Kingsguard, Rind Vilswell, is a Garroter himself.
Any feedback?
Certainly. How are you justifying a CR 5? This fellow is putting out very little damage, and isn't particularly beefy. On suggestion: garrotes are used for choking, no? When the target of their lash is restrained, make it so that they are also suffocating. That dramatically amps up the deadliness. Second suggestion: add that ability to use their wire traps to move as you alluded to. Then they have a natural strategy, which is to engage in a grapple with one target, and then use a wire trap to carry them to a high and distant spot to finish the job.
Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
You should give it a mechanic to actually represent that strange math in some way. Like, for example, give it a d6 that does X,but whenever you roll a 6 you roll it again and add the two numbers, so if you roll a 6 on the d6 and then roll a 3, it would count as rolling a 9 on a d6.
Yeah I'm thinking about this pretty hard at 5am. It's unsurprisingly difficult to think of ways to break math. Some fun ideas:
Let j = 1/0 is a fundamental constant like i, of i^2 = -1 fame. Terms including i are called complex components of numbers. Terms involving j are sometimes referred to as the "weird" or "surreal" component of a number.
Imaginary numbers aren't actually imaginary, they were exiled. Any phantasmal [blank] spell actually just opens a portal to the place they were exiled to
Exiled for murdering the missing integer and dragging half of every number into the complex dimension!
This is getting mathturbatory.
That’s why prime numbers are so rare because they were almost all assassinated like the Romanovs.
Somebody is assassinating all of the prime numbers so as to make crytography impossible. Perhaps a god of knowledge intent on revealing all secrets.
Having done the math myself, the Garroter comes in at just under CR 5 (as in, one-twentieth of a CR) assuming it only uses traps the entire fight, so I figured I’d round up considering I didn’t include the advantage it gets from prone/restrain. Additionally, Garroters being meant to fight alongside others means those allies gain those same advantages. Also, the reason I didn’t include choking is both because it would be too strong for the CR (suffocating creatures automatically drop to 0 HP), and because I’m going by a looser definition of a garrote — more the kind that cuts clay than the kind that strangles people in dark alleys. Finally, while I appreciate the suggestion of using the wire for movement, I gave a reason why they don’t do it during combat — it’s just too dangerous without careful preparation and proper circumstances.
LanguagesCommon and one other language (usually Gnomish)
Challenge5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus+3
Grappler. The garroter has advantage on attack rolls against targets it’s grappling.
For the King. The garroter has advantage on checks and saving throws against being frightened, knocked prone, or moved against its will.
Actions
Multiattack. The veteran makes two lash attacks.
Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage, and the garroter can choose to cause that target to be grappled and restrained (escape DC 16). Grappling a target this way occupies a hand, and the garroter can only grapple up to two targets at a time.
Weave (3/Long Rest). The garroter creates three traps, which are lines up to 30 feet long and 1 inch thick, at points it can see within range. These traps are difficult to spot, and can only be seen with a Wisdom (Perception) check of 16 or higher. A creature with a passive Perception of 16 or higher can see traps within 30 feet of it automatically. Whenever a creature crosses a trap, it must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d10) slashing damage and fall prone.
The garroter can only take this action if it has a hand free. The garroter is immune to all of its own traps. A trap created by the garroter breaks after 1 minute.
Description
Among the king of Nickelvale’s most dangerous guards are the Garroters. Most easily distinguished by the wire-coiled gear on their arms and back, the Garroters fight with deadly force, blocking attackers’ paths of attack and locking down their movement by deploying near-invisible cutting wire traps across hallways and rooms, making the battlefield their own. At least one soldier of every Kingsguard patrol or taskforce is a Garroter.
Garroters can under certain circumstances use their wire traps to grapple up to high places or across gaps, but due to the danger of doing so, it’s not common practice during a fight.
Rumor has it that the Garroters were actually once assassins, bent on taking the king’s own head, but were persuaded to change their ways. True or not, it makes some uneasy that the lieutenant of the Kingsguard, Rind Vilswell, is a Garroter himself.
I can see how it could make for some interesting combats, but I'm not sure how it relates to the theme
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
LanguagesCommon and one other language (usually Gnomish)
Challenge5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus+3
Grappler. The garroter has advantage on attack rolls against targets it’s grappling.
For the King. The garroter has advantage on checks and saving throws against being frightened, knocked prone, or moved against its will.
Actions
Multiattack. The veteran makes two lash attacks.
Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage, and the garroter can choose to cause that target to be grappled and restrained (escape DC 16). Grappling a target this way occupies a hand, and the garroter can only grapple up to two targets at a time.
Weave (3/Long Rest). The garroter creates three traps, which are lines up to 30 feet long and 1 inch thick, at points it can see within range. These traps are difficult to spot, and can only be seen with a Wisdom (Perception) check of 16 or higher. A creature with a passive Perception of 16 or higher can see traps within 30 feet of it automatically. Whenever a creature crosses a trap, it must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d10) slashing damage and fall prone.
The garroter can only take this action if it has a hand free. The garroter is immune to all of its own traps. A trap created by the garroter breaks after 1 minute.
Description
Among the king of Nickelvale’s most dangerous guards are the Garroters. Most easily distinguished by the wire-coiled gear on their arms and back, the Garroters fight with deadly force, blocking attackers’ paths of attack and locking down their movement by deploying near-invisible cutting wire traps across hallways and rooms, making the battlefield their own. At least one soldier of every Kingsguard patrol or taskforce is a Garroter.
Garroters can under certain circumstances use their wire traps to grapple up to high places or across gaps, but due to the danger of doing so, it’s not common practice during a fight.
Rumor has it that the Garroters were actually once assassins, bent on taking the king’s own head, but were persuaded to change their ways. True or not, it makes some uneasy that the lieutenant of the Kingsguard, Rind Vilswell, is a Garroter himself.
I can see how it could make for some interesting combats, but I'm not sure how it relates to the theme
They create and complicate the terrain and environment by deploying traps. Was that not clear enough? (Genuine question)
LanguagesCommon and one other language (usually Gnomish)
Challenge5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus+3
Grappler. The garroter has advantage on attack rolls against targets it’s grappling.
For the King. The garroter has advantage on checks and saving throws against being frightened, knocked prone, or moved against its will.
Actions
Multiattack. The veteran makes two lash attacks.
Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage, and the garroter can choose to cause that target to be grappled and restrained (escape DC 16). Grappling a target this way occupies a hand, and the garroter can only grapple up to two targets at a time.
Weave (3/Long Rest). The garroter creates three traps, which are lines up to 30 feet long and 1 inch thick, at points it can see within range. These traps are difficult to spot, and can only be seen with a Wisdom (Perception) check of 16 or higher. A creature with a passive Perception of 16 or higher can see traps within 30 feet of it automatically. Whenever a creature crosses a trap, it must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d10) slashing damage and fall prone.
The garroter can only take this action if it has a hand free. The garroter is immune to all of its own traps. A trap created by the garroter breaks after 1 minute.
Description
Among the king of Nickelvale’s most dangerous guards are the Garroters. Most easily distinguished by the wire-coiled gear on their arms and back, the Garroters fight with deadly force, blocking attackers’ paths of attack and locking down their movement by deploying near-invisible cutting wire traps across hallways and rooms, making the battlefield their own. At least one soldier of every Kingsguard patrol or taskforce is a Garroter.
Garroters can under certain circumstances use their wire traps to grapple up to high places or across gaps, but due to the danger of doing so, it’s not common practice during a fight.
Rumor has it that the Garroters were actually once assassins, bent on taking the king’s own head, but were persuaded to change their ways. True or not, it makes some uneasy that the lieutenant of the Kingsguard, Rind Vilswell, is a Garroter himself.
I can see how it could make for some interesting combats, but I'm not sure how it relates to the theme
They create and complicate the terrain and environment by deploying traps. Was that not clear enough? (Genuine question)
Well, in my head 'terrain' refers specifically to the natural environment, which the traps don't really interact with. But I guess mechanically there's not a lot of difference between what Zombles came up with and this entry in terms of putting hazards on the ground
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I'll be honest: I stopped basing my votes on thematic fit a while back because I like creative interpretations of the categories. But I can't stop other people from voting other ways.
They create and complicate the terrain and environment by deploying traps. Was that not clear enough? (Genuine question)
Oh and Miles, I forgot to include this, but you could also consider modeling traps for the NPC as lair actions. Obviously, don't do it if you prefer less complexity. But you don't see many lower-level monsters with lair actions, even when it may be appropriate. I've been toying around with a kobold brew with lair actions to represent all their devious traps, for instance.
I'll be honest: I stopped basing my votes on thematic fit a while back because I like creative interpretations of the categories. But I can't stop other people from voting my way.
They create and complicate the terrain and environment by deploying traps. Was that not clear enough? (Genuine question)
Oh and Miles, I forgot to include this, but you could also consider modeling traps for the NPC as lair actions. Obviously, don't do it if you prefer less complexity. But you don't see many lower-level monsters with lair actions, even when it may be appropriate. I've been toying around with a kobold brew with lair actions to represent all their devious traps, for instance.
Yeah, D&D needs more of that kind of thing
For an encounter in my home campaign I had a mama manticore and her two teenage failsons living in a cavern that could only be accessed via a vertical shaft (so flying in and out was easy, but anything else, not so much). Mama had lair actions like launching tail spikes at the ceiling and causing rocks to fall on the party
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Okay, an idea for the DM category. Because I'm a one-trick kinda guy, it's a monster. It'll be a fey spirit that animates from the land. It would have different abilities depending on what type of land it comes from. I'm thinking a table of abilities based on the different variants of terrain in the land druid subclass.
Okay, an idea for the DM category. Because I'm a one-trick kinda guy, it's a monster. It'll be a fey spirit that animates from the land. It would have different abilities depending on what type of land it comes from. I'm thinking a table of abilities based on the different variants of terrain in the land druid subclass.
Time to over-promise and under-deliver!
You got plenty of time to work it out
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Oh dang! I missed this being posted again. College finals are in the next couple weeks so my participation will depend on how much Romeo and Juliet I can memorize while studying biology and the Puritans.
Argh, I hate numbers. What possessed Sposta to choose that?
I recently made something that could work for the rivalry idea, but it might be too much. I have this Domain of Dread with two Darklords trapped in a blood feud, Martins and the Coys style. It fits the theme pretty well, but this is an entire setting with all sorts of material. I also am running a campaign set in it so if my players are participating in the contest they will have to read it and learn some valuable secrets.
Appreciator of all things Weird, Wondrous, and/or Yummy
In the Autumn Country, days end quickly, the gloaming hours linger, and the midnights pile one upon the other till the air is thick and flows like twilight syrup.
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Thats fair. Ill try to tweak the lore a little before the end of the competition
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Okay, so I've got a really dumb idea for the PC group. I haven't worked out any of the details, but here's the thought process. It'll be a barbarian subclass called "Path of Misfortune's Sum" or something like that (a nod to MCG's Invisible Sun). The idea was, like Zombles, that at some point in the past, math was different. I'm talking strange new integers, algorithms that shouldn't be able to work, and stuff that could be reasonably described as magical. The PC was an expert on those maths. But then the gods decided that math ought to be different, hence our more limited systems that we know of today. So the PC went from a quasi-magical mathemagician into a fellow who knows things that don't work anymore. And that pissed them off. So now they're running around bashing people with weapons because their math-magic no longer works. But... sometimes it does. So the special abilities of the barbarian involve being able to do things that are mathematically impossible according to the current paradigm because they're just so darned angry about having learned an entire discipline only for it to have been changed out from under them.
I haven't worked out what abilities the barb should have, but I'm thinking along the lines of Dune's "weirding way" and Gurren Lagann's hot-blooded physics-defiance. The obvious choice would have been to make a wizard subclass or something. So naturally, being me, I decided to go with a barbarian.
You should call her.
I love this
Off the top of my head, you could have fun with the dice when rolling with advantage or disadvantage (i.e. Reckless Attack) -- stuff like adding the dice together instead of taking the highest, or a Wild Magic-like table that kicks in when you roll doubles
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
You should give it a mechanic to actually represent that strange math in some way. Like, for example, give it a d6 that does X,but whenever you roll a 6 you roll it again and add the two numbers, so if you roll a 6 on the d6 and then roll a 3, it would count as rolling a 9 on a d6.
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Yeah I'm thinking about this pretty hard at 5am. It's unsurprisingly difficult to think of ways to break math. Some fun ideas:
Imaginary numbers aren't actually imaginary, they were exiled. Any phantasmal [blank] spell actually just opens a portal to the place they were exiled to
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Exiled for murdering the missing integer and dragging half of every number into the complex dimension!
This is getting mathturbatory.
Thoughts on this submission to the DM category?
Grappler. The garroter has advantage on attack rolls against targets it’s grappling.
For the King. The garroter has advantage on checks and saving throws against being frightened, knocked prone, or moved against its will.
Multiattack. The veteran makes two lash attacks.
Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage, and the garroter can choose to cause that target to be grappled and restrained (escape DC 16). Grappling a target this way occupies a hand, and the garroter can only grapple up to two targets at a time.
Weave (3/Long Rest). The garroter creates three traps, which are lines up to 30 feet long and 1 inch thick, at points it can see within range. These traps are difficult to spot, and can only be seen with a Wisdom (Perception) check of 16 or higher. A creature with a passive Perception of 16 or higher can see traps within 30 feet of it automatically. Whenever a creature crosses a trap, it must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d10) slashing damage and fall prone.
The garroter can only take this action if it has a hand free. The garroter is immune to all of its own traps. A trap created by the garroter breaks after 1 minute.
Description
Among the king of Nickelvale’s most dangerous guards are the Garroters. Most easily distinguished by the wire-coiled gear on their arms and back, the Garroters fight with deadly force, blocking attackers’ paths of attack and locking down their movement by deploying near-invisible cutting wire traps across hallways and rooms, making the battlefield their own. At least one soldier of every Kingsguard patrol or taskforce is a Garroter.
Garroters can under certain circumstances use their wire traps to grapple up to high places or across gaps, but due to the danger of doing so, it’s not common practice during a fight.
Rumor has it that the Garroters were actually once assassins, bent on taking the king’s own head, but were persuaded to change their ways. True or not, it makes some uneasy that the lieutenant of the Kingsguard, Rind Vilswell, is a Garroter himself.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXV?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
That’s why prime numbers are so rare because they were almost all assassinated like the Romanovs.
Any feedback?
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXV?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
Certainly. How are you justifying a CR 5? This fellow is putting out very little damage, and isn't particularly beefy. On suggestion: garrotes are used for choking, no? When the target of their lash is restrained, make it so that they are also suffocating. That dramatically amps up the deadliness. Second suggestion: add that ability to use their wire traps to move as you alluded to. Then they have a natural strategy, which is to engage in a grapple with one target, and then use a wire trap to carry them to a high and distant spot to finish the job.
Somebody is assassinating all of the prime numbers so as to make crytography impossible. Perhaps a god of knowledge intent on revealing all secrets.
Thanks for the feedback!
Having done the math myself, the Garroter comes in at just under CR 5 (as in, one-twentieth of a CR) assuming it only uses traps the entire fight, so I figured I’d round up considering I didn’t include the advantage it gets from prone/restrain. Additionally, Garroters being meant to fight alongside others means those allies gain those same advantages. Also, the reason I didn’t include choking is both because it would be too strong for the CR (suffocating creatures automatically drop to 0 HP), and because I’m going by a looser definition of a garrote — more the kind that cuts clay than the kind that strangles people in dark alleys. Finally, while I appreciate the suggestion of using the wire for movement, I gave a reason why they don’t do it during combat — it’s just too dangerous without careful preparation and proper circumstances.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXV?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
I can see how it could make for some interesting combats, but I'm not sure how it relates to the theme
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
They create and complicate the terrain and environment by deploying traps. Was that not clear enough? (Genuine question)
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXV?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
Well, in my head 'terrain' refers specifically to the natural environment, which the traps don't really interact with. But I guess mechanically there's not a lot of difference between what Zombles came up with and this entry in terms of putting hazards on the ground
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I'll be honest: I stopped basing my votes on thematic fit a while back because I like creative interpretations of the categories. But I can't stop other people from voting other ways.
Oh and Miles, I forgot to include this, but you could also consider modeling traps for the NPC as lair actions. Obviously, don't do it if you prefer less complexity. But you don't see many lower-level monsters with lair actions, even when it may be appropriate. I've been toying around with a kobold brew with lair actions to represent all their devious traps, for instance.
Yeah, D&D needs more of that kind of thing
For an encounter in my home campaign I had a mama manticore and her two teenage failsons living in a cavern that could only be accessed via a vertical shaft (so flying in and out was easy, but anything else, not so much). Mama had lair actions like launching tail spikes at the ceiling and causing rocks to fall on the party
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Okay, an idea for the DM category. Because I'm a one-trick kinda guy, it's a monster. It'll be a fey spirit that animates from the land. It would have different abilities depending on what type of land it comes from. I'm thinking a table of abilities based on the different variants of terrain in the land druid subclass.
Time to over-promise and under-deliver!
You got plenty of time to work it out
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Oh dang! I missed this being posted again. College finals are in the next couple weeks so my participation will depend on how much Romeo and Juliet I can memorize while studying biology and the Puritans.
Argh, I hate numbers. What possessed Sposta to choose that?
I recently made something that could work for the rivalry idea, but it might be too much. I have this Domain of Dread with two Darklords trapped in a blood feud, Martins and the Coys style. It fits the theme pretty well, but this is an entire setting with all sorts of material. I also am running a campaign set in it so if my players are participating in the contest they will have to read it and learn some valuable secrets.