The (CR ½) Sea Lion that was published in Ghosts of Saltmarsh is going away, to be replaced with the (CR 5) Sea Lion first published in Tales from the Yawning Portal.
We are aware that, as the (CR ½) version of the Sea Lion is a beast, some characters may have one as a pet, companion or even a wildshape form.
As such, we want to make sure that those characters don't lose anything as part of this change and won't be removing the (CR ½) version of the Sea Lion until Tuesday 13th October. If you wish to, you can make a homebrew copy any time before then to keep your own version.
Additionally, we shall be archiving the (CR ½) version of the Sea Lion, rather than deleting it, which means that any characters who have one added to their character sheet via the EXTRAS section will still see it there.
Any encounters that have been built with the Encounter Builder that use the (CR ½) version of the Sea Lion will remain intact and can be run as designed.
As I stated before, the 1/2 CR Sea Lion is the companion of the pre-made character Undertow within Locathah Rising.
This is a module I have purchased from D&D beyond.
I wish for that module to be fully supported by D&D beyond.
The Locathah Rising module on D&D Beyond doesn't grant a license for the CR ½ Sea Lion - it's not part of the adventure.
You're right though, that it's included as a companion on one of the pre-generated characters. We'll review and may add a statblock for that specific named monster.
The errata from Wizards of the Coast is clear however that the published CR ½ Sea Lion was a mistake and it no longer exists.
As always D&D Beyond are accurately following the game as published by Wizards of the Coast.
As an action on your turn, you can cower pathetically to distract nearby foes. Until the end of your next turn, your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you that can see you. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Is this still the official Kobold racial trait? Cause frankly this is more embarrassing, pathetic and belittling than a -2 to a stat.
It's called cunning, not belittling: Kobolds are master deceivers and tricksters - what's belittling is the person who falls for the ploy. Imagine a player character kobold with normal strength, cowering on the floor begging for forgiveness - the enemy is so distracted by the ploy (and unaware of the insincerity) that they fail to notice the tanks moving into position about to pummel them silly or that rogue in the group moving to do a sneak attack on the BBEG when it counts most. Yep - been there, done that, not ashamed of it! I'd rather grovel, cower, and beg and avoid a TPK then watch my group die when I could've done something like this as i consider it a 'sneaky trick' rather than a pathetic attempt to save my life. Besides, for all their apparent drawbacks in size and abilities compared to other races, it's one thing that gives them an edge when dealing with the big folk and makes them equal.
Also - I like the idea of being able to have a buff kobold - afterall, it isn't the normal person who adventures so why penalize them with 'normal person' restrictions. No one says you have to allow grovel, cower and beg in your campaigns - seems like you may have been the recipient of a very successful attempt which is why you're salty about the ability.
As an action on your turn, you can cower pathetically to distract nearby foes. Until the end of your next turn, your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you that can see you. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Is this still the official Kobold racial trait? Cause frankly this is more embarrassing, pathetic and belittling than a -2 to a stat.
It's called cunning, not belittling: Kobolds are master deceivers and tricksters - what's belittling is the person who falls for the ploy. Imagine a player character kobold with normal strength, cowering on the floor begging for forgiveness - the enemy is so distracted by the ploy (and unaware of the insincerity) that they fail to notice the tanks moving into position about to pummel them silly or that rogue in the group moving to do a sneak attack on the BBEG when it counts most. Yep - been there, done that, not ashamed of it! I'd rather grovel, cower, and beg and avoid a TPK then watch my group die when I could've done something like this as i consider it a 'sneaky trick' rather than a pathetic attempt to save my life. Besides, for all their apparent drawbacks in size and abilities compared to other races, it's one thing that gives them an edge when dealing with the big folk and makes them equal.
Also - I like the idea of being able to have a buff kobold - afterall, it isn't the normal person who adventures so why penalize them with 'normal person' restrictions. No one says you have to allow grovel, cower and beg in your campaigns - seems like you may have been the recipient of a very successful attempt which is why you're salty about the ability.
Oh I am all in favor of RPing that kind of scenario out and all... I just don't think it should be their racial trait that they are inherently better at than anyone else. I'd rather that they went with their tunneling ability or scavenging expertise or prolific use of traps from which to craft a unique racial ability.
And I've no problem at all with the stat adjustments. If people prefer weaker Kobolds well they can volunteer to give up stats or something, no skin off my nose.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
As an action on your turn, you can cower pathetically to distract nearby foes. Until the end of your next turn, your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you that can see you. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Is this still the official Kobold racial trait? Cause frankly this is more embarrassing, pathetic and belittling than a -2 to a stat.
It's called cunning, not belittling: Kobolds are master deceivers and tricksters - what's belittling is the person who falls for the ploy. Imagine a player character kobold with normal strength, cowering on the floor begging for forgiveness - the enemy is so distracted by the ploy (and unaware of the insincerity) that they fail to notice the tanks moving into position about to pummel them silly or that rogue in the group moving to do a sneak attack on the BBEG when it counts most. Yep - been there, done that, not ashamed of it! I'd rather grovel, cower, and beg and avoid a TPK then watch my group die when I could've done something like this as i consider it a 'sneaky trick' rather than a pathetic attempt to save my life. Besides, for all their apparent drawbacks in size and abilities compared to other races, it's one thing that gives them an edge when dealing with the big folk and makes them equal.
Also - I like the idea of being able to have a buff kobold - afterall, it isn't the normal person who adventures so why penalize them with 'normal person' restrictions. No one says you have to allow grovel, cower and beg in your campaigns - seems like you may have been the recipient of a very successful attempt which is why you're salty about the ability.
as if it was impossible to have a buff kobold before...
you do realise we've been doing a lot of kobold paladins, fighters and barbarians ever since they came out. i feel like they just want all races to have equal amount of people playing them
Notes: insulting others is not necessary to convey an opinion
DM of two gaming groups. Likes to create stuff. Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
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I’m pretty sure it’s not about equalizing how often races are played. If for no other reason than they can have no idea which races are played most. Ok, maybe in the AL thing... but I’m sure nobody is tracing how often each race is played in home games and such.
also it seems some races are intended to be rare... unfortunately they tend to be races people most want to play too.
Personally I have no problem with no races having buffs or debuffs and it all being a standard dice roll plus player had +2 or whatever they can place wherever. Let the rest be RP’d and explained in backstory and such.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
Because races are more than stats. It’s description and flavor and theme and how the character interacts with others. As it is now, with boosts to stats every few levels and all, one can overcome racial differences easy enough. Still, if your kobold ends up with 20 strength villagers still dismiss it as just a kobold. That’s why race matters.
And of course how you play at home is up to your group. Nobody is forcing this upon anyone. It may be “official” but it’s not the law, nobody will hunt you down and throw you in a cell... *shrug* I just don’t get the hoopla...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
And I don’t get the hoopla to change it either. I mean, since “with boosts to stats every few levels and all, one can overcome racial differences easy enough” and since “It may be ‘official’ but it’s not the law, nobody will hunt you down and throw you in a cell” then why should they change it from the racial ability bonus system they have?
There doesn't have to be any hoopla to change it. Wizards owns this property, they can do whatever they want with it. if someone decided, "y'know...I don't think we should have negative ability score modifiers on races in 5e," and nobody at the company had a good reason to go against it, that's all it takes. no hoopla involved except from entitled fans and consumers who are loudly arguing that it should be the way they want and that any other way is wrong.
There doesn't have to be any hoopla to change it. Wizards owns this property, they can do whatever they want with it. if someone decided, "y'know...I don't think we should have negative ability score modifiers on races in 5e," and nobody at the company had a good reason to go against it, that's all it takes. no hoopla involved except from entitled fans and consumers who are loudly arguing that it should be the way they want and that any other way is wrong.
I was not talking about removing negative modifiers from Kobolds and Orcs, I was speaking in reference to Kaegman’s statement “Personally I have no problem with no races having buffs or debuffs and it all being a standard dice roll plus player had +2 or whatever they can place wherever. Let the rest be RP’d and explained in backstory and such.”
All pending errata changes (Sea Lion, Orc, Kobold) have now been completed.
In any further discussion - please avoid insulting others, it's not necessary to make your opinion known and will result in a warning. It is not ok to insult people.
If you're playing by the rules as written and intended, you can't because that's how Wizards of the Coast intends the rules to work. However, you and/or your DM has the freedom to change the functionality of the rules as you see fit.
But D&D Beyond will always respect the rules as WotC describes them
I am super confused on the shield advice. IS DND BEYOND changing how shield works to get the benefits without equipping it?
I personally disagree with this ruling, as it is mentioned in the DMG strapping a shield to you arm as how you get the benefits of a magic shield.
D&D Beyond isn't changing any of the rules.
The new Sage Advice article delivers official rules clarifications from Wizards of the Coast.
Yes, but how would I get the +2 AC boost from a shield +2 for my character without getting the lack of proficiency penalties?
That’s not what the Sage Advice says. It says that if it’s a magic shield you get the magic bonus just for holding it, but not the regular AC bonus from a shield.
So, for example, if you had a spellguard shield, then it follows two sets of rules for two different bonuses:
While holding this shield, you have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and spell attacks have disadvantage against you.
A shield is made from wood or metal and is carried in one hand. Wielding a shield increases your Armor Class by 2. You can benefit from only one shield at a time.
The ruling is that you don’t have to be “wielding” a shield to count as “holding” a shield.
To add on to that, a character could have a shield slung over their back and quickly grab hold of it with one hand, which would mean they are "holding it"
Why is this happening?
Wizards of the Coast, the creators and publishers of Dungeons & Dragons, released errata last week.
One of the changes in that errata was the Sea Lion. The details are in the post you quoted.
As of this errata, the CR ½ Sea Lion no longer appears in any officially published content. This means it no longer exists.
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If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
I am super confused on the shield advice. IS DND BEYOND changing how shield works to get the benefits without equipping it?
I personally disagree with this ruling, as it is mentioned in the DMG strapping a shield to you arm as how you get the benefits of a magic shield.
DnD Beyond is changing nothing. WotC changed it, DDB is just honoring their contract with WotC by complying with those changes on their end.
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Is Locathah Rising not official content?
As I stated before, the 1/2 CR Sea Lion is the companion of the pre-made character Undertow within Locathah Rising.
This is a module I have purchased from D&D beyond.
I wish for that module to be fully supported by D&D beyond.
D&D Beyond isn't changing any of the rules.
The new Sage Advice article delivers official rules clarifications from Wizards of the Coast.
The Locathah Rising module on D&D Beyond doesn't grant a license for the CR ½ Sea Lion - it's not part of the adventure.
You're right though, that it's included as a companion on one of the pre-generated characters. We'll review and may add a statblock for that specific named monster.
The errata from Wizards of the Coast is clear however that the published CR ½ Sea Lion was a mistake and it no longer exists.
As always D&D Beyond are accurately following the game as published by Wizards of the Coast.
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
It's called cunning, not belittling: Kobolds are master deceivers and tricksters - what's belittling is the person who falls for the ploy. Imagine a player character kobold with normal strength, cowering on the floor begging for forgiveness - the enemy is so distracted by the ploy (and unaware of the insincerity) that they fail to notice the tanks moving into position about to pummel them silly or that rogue in the group moving to do a sneak attack on the BBEG when it counts most. Yep - been there, done that, not ashamed of it! I'd rather grovel, cower, and beg and avoid a TPK then watch my group die when I could've done something like this as i consider it a 'sneaky trick' rather than a pathetic attempt to save my life. Besides, for all their apparent drawbacks in size and abilities compared to other races, it's one thing that gives them an edge when dealing with the big folk and makes them equal.
Also - I like the idea of being able to have a buff kobold - afterall, it isn't the normal person who adventures so why penalize them with 'normal person' restrictions. No one says you have to allow grovel, cower and beg in your campaigns - seems like you may have been the recipient of a very successful attempt which is why you're salty about the ability.
Oh I am all in favor of RPing that kind of scenario out and all... I just don't think it should be their racial trait that they are inherently better at than anyone else. I'd rather that they went with their tunneling ability or scavenging expertise or prolific use of traps from which to craft a unique racial ability.
And I've no problem at all with the stat adjustments. If people prefer weaker Kobolds well they can volunteer to give up stats or something, no skin off my nose.
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
as if it was impossible to have a buff kobold before...
you do realise we've been doing a lot of kobold paladins, fighters and barbarians ever since they came out.
i feel like they just want all races to have equal amount of people playing them
DM of two gaming groups.
Likes to create stuff.
Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses
If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games
--> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
I’m pretty sure it’s not about equalizing how often races are played. If for no other reason than they can have no idea which races are played most. Ok, maybe in the AL thing... but I’m sure nobody is tracing how often each race is played in home games and such.
also it seems some races are intended to be rare... unfortunately they tend to be races people most want to play too.
Personally I have no problem with no races having buffs or debuffs and it all being a standard dice roll plus player had +2 or whatever they can place wherever. Let the rest be RP’d and explained in backstory and such.
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
Then why even bother having races at all? If D&D went that way I’d stop buying new editions.
DDB Buyers' Guide
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Because races are more than stats. It’s description and flavor and theme and how the character interacts with others. As it is now, with boosts to stats every few levels and all, one can overcome racial differences easy enough. Still, if your kobold ends up with 20 strength villagers still dismiss it as just a kobold. That’s why race matters.
And of course how you play at home is up to your group. Nobody is forcing this upon anyone. It may be “official” but it’s not the law, nobody will hunt you down and throw you in a cell... *shrug* I just don’t get the hoopla...
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
And I don’t get the hoopla to change it either. I mean, since “with boosts to stats every few levels and all, one can overcome racial differences easy enough” and since “It may be ‘official’ but it’s not the law, nobody will hunt you down and throw you in a cell” then why should they change it from the racial ability bonus system they have?
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Epic Boons on DDB
There doesn't have to be any hoopla to change it. Wizards owns this property, they can do whatever they want with it. if someone decided, "y'know...I don't think we should have negative ability score modifiers on races in 5e," and nobody at the company had a good reason to go against it, that's all it takes. no hoopla involved except from entitled fans and consumers who are loudly arguing that it should be the way they want and that any other way is wrong.
I was not talking about removing negative modifiers from Kobolds and Orcs, I was speaking in reference to Kaegman’s statement “Personally I have no problem with no races having buffs or debuffs and it all being a standard dice roll plus player had +2 or whatever they can place wherever. Let the rest be RP’d and explained in backstory and such.”
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Epic Boons on DDB
All pending errata changes (Sea Lion, Orc, Kobold) have now been completed.
In any further discussion - please avoid insulting others, it's not necessary to make your opinion known and will result in a warning. It is not ok to insult people.
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Yes, but how would I get the +2 AC boost from a shield +2 for my character without getting the lack of proficiency penalties?
If you're playing by the rules as written and intended, you can't because that's how Wizards of the Coast intends the rules to work. However, you and/or your DM has the freedom to change the functionality of the rules as you see fit.
But D&D Beyond will always respect the rules as WotC describes them
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That’s not what the Sage Advice says. It says that if it’s a magic shield you get the magic bonus just for holding it, but not the regular AC bonus from a shield.
So, for example, if you had a spellguard shield, then it follows two sets of rules for two different bonuses:
The ruling is that you don’t have to be “wielding” a shield to count as “holding” a shield.
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Epic Boons on DDB
To add on to that, a character could have a shield slung over their back and quickly grab hold of it with one hand, which would mean they are "holding it"
To "don" a shield takes an action:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/equipment#GettingIntoandOutofArmor
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊