I'm going to be starting my first campaign next weekend and I'm pretty ecited for it. For my characyer I kinda wanted to be a Circe like character and turn low level humans into small animals and make like an army of rats, cats, and bats to fight for me. I have very little knowledge of this game so I'm not actually sure how I would start this. Does anybody have any recommended classes or stats I might go to help make it easier for me to do this?
The only way to permanently polymorph a creature in D&D Beyond is through the use of the 9th level spell True Polymorph. By the time a character has the power to cast that, having an army of rats, cats, and bats to fight for them isn't going to be particularly useful, relative to the challenges you will face. The closest thing 5E might offer is Circle of the Shepherd Druid, but that's not exactly the army of slaves commanded by an evil sorcerer vibe you are going for. I guess the next closest thing would be necromancer.
You could play a swarm ranger ( I believe they are called ) as what you are looking for mechanically is almost impossible. But if you play a swarm ranger you could say that when you deal the final blow to an enemy you turn them into a small bug and using necromancy force them to work for you.
FYI: Swarm rangers are rangers who command a swarm of little bugs and use them for their magic and combat
Hold on this is a really cool idea and now I kinda want to lol.
Dang =*( I thought I read that baleful polymorph was permanent. Necromancer was my original idea but thought this would be more fun. Can a necromancer still learn true polymorph since he is a wizard?
Dang =*( I thought I read that baleful polymorph was permanent. Necromancer was my original idea but thought this would be more fun. Can a necromancer still learn true polymorph since he is a wizard?
Baleful polymorph is permanent, but it's not a thing in 5e. It was a spell in third edition that wasn't translated to fifth edition. And yes, true polymorph is on the wizard spell list, though you have to be 17th level to cast it.
That actually sounds super fun, thank you =) what allows me to turn them into a bug?
It wouldn’t be a mechanic, you’d have to chat with your dm to see if they would let you simply for aesthetic purposes. If I was your dm I would let you because cool and doesn’t make you any stronger as it doesn’t actually effect your swarm, but convincing other dm’s might be difficult.
regular Polymorph is still an option, but not until player level 7 for a wizard or such. turn the guard commander into a sheep for an hour, sheer their wool, release them, and then challenge your dm to describe what they look like when returned to normal.
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
This is a case of where the phrase "flavor is free" is very helpful. What you're specifically looking for, a spell that permanently transforms people into creatures that you command en masse, doesn't exist in 5e, but with buy in from your dm there's options of mechanics that do work that can be reflavored to be what you want. The idea of trapping souls of enemies you've defeated/killed, repurposing them to your will is possible, mechanically the aforementioned Swarmkeeper ranger subclass could work but also Conjure Animals from Druid works, or a customized Bag of Tricks magic item could also work. You could also reflavor Necromancy with Animate Dead to have the same/similar stats as a zombie/skeleton but a beast instead. Just a few examples of how you could, with dm approval, change the flavor of existing mechanics to match your character vision without homebrewing entirely new mechanics.
regular Polymorph is still an option, but not until player level 7 for a wizard or such. turn the guard commander into a sheep for an hour, sheer their wool, release them, and then challenge your dm to describe what they look like when returned to normal.
Bald
Now what would happen if you turned someone into a snake and they shed their skin? Or what if they became a caterpillar and turned into a butterfly? Or a tadpole and then they become a frog?
Dang =*( I thought I read that baleful polymorph was permanent. Necromancer was my original idea but thought this would be more fun. Can a necromancer still learn true polymorph since he is a wizard?
whoops, i just realized the real lesson to impart to a new player is that you probably shouldn't expect to begin the game as an earth-shakingly powerful dread sorceress feared across the many lands from the get-go. sure it's good to have goals, but one must usually work one's way up to empress of their own island. eh, it's a union thing. just pay your dues and keep your head down, you'll be knee deep in pigs in no time.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
Dang =*( I thought I read that baleful polymorph was permanent. Necromancer was my original idea but thought this would be more fun. Can a necromancer still learn true polymorph since he is a wizard?
whoops, i just realized the real lesson to impart to a new player is that you probably shouldn't expect to begin the game as an earth-shakingly powerful dread sorceress feared across the many lands from the get-go. sure it's good to have goals, but one must usually work one's way up to empress of their own island. eh, it's a union thing. just pay your dues and keep your head down, you'll be knee deep in pigs in no time.
I don't mind being a weak character, my main idea was to just transform 1 person when I could and kind of keep them as a pet or familiar until I could collect more. I figure I might be kinda useless at times but I feel like my groups journey will be a comical one anyways as we are all first timers other than DM. Can't wait for the army of pigs though! 😁
Dang =*( I thought I read that baleful polymorph was permanent. Necromancer was my original idea but thought this would be more fun. Can a necromancer still learn true polymorph since he is a wizard?
whoops, i just realized the real lesson to impart to a new player is that you probably shouldn't expect to begin the game as an earth-shakingly powerful dread sorceress feared across the many lands from the get-go. sure it's good to have goals, but one must usually work one's way up to empress of their own island. eh, it's a union thing. just pay your dues and keep your head down, you'll be knee deep in pigs in no time.
I don't mind being a weak character, my main idea was to just transform 1 person when I could and kind of keep them as a pet or familiar until I could collect more. I figure I might be kinda useless at times but I feel like my groups journey will be a comical one anyways as we are all first timers other than DM. Can't wait for the army of pigs though! 😁
you know, there's entirely nothing stopping your character from being introduced with a (well trained pet) pig follower named "Uncle Timothy" whom you sometimes try to include into conversation before seemingly remembering that he's "...just a pig. of course." when you're angry you might fiddle with a conspicuously large ring and grumble that the last person who so irked you so now irks no one, having nothing to contribute but 'oinks' forever, or such.
fake it till you make it!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
Update: Talked with my DM and he said that if I "kill" a humanoid I can use animate dead to make them a zombie power level animal instead. I'll just call it "necromorph" instead and recast it every 24 hours to keep control of them. Of course I would only have 4 at a time instead of my swarm but hopefully I can figure something else out in the future =)
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I'm going to be starting my first campaign next weekend and I'm pretty ecited for it. For my characyer I kinda wanted to be a Circe like character and turn low level humans into small animals and make like an army of rats, cats, and bats to fight for me. I have very little knowledge of this game so I'm not actually sure how I would start this. Does anybody have any recommended classes or stats I might go to help make it easier for me to do this?
The only way to permanently polymorph a creature in D&D Beyond is through the use of the 9th level spell True Polymorph. By the time a character has the power to cast that, having an army of rats, cats, and bats to fight for them isn't going to be particularly useful, relative to the challenges you will face. The closest thing 5E might offer is Circle of the Shepherd Druid, but that's not exactly the army of slaves commanded by an evil sorcerer vibe you are going for. I guess the next closest thing would be necromancer.
You could play a swarm ranger ( I believe they are called ) as what you are looking for mechanically is almost impossible. But if you play a swarm ranger you could say that when you deal the final blow to an enemy you turn them into a small bug and using necromancy force them to work for you.
FYI: Swarm rangers are rangers who command a swarm of little bugs and use them for their magic and combat
Hold on this is a really cool idea and now I kinda want to lol.
Dang =*( I thought I read that baleful polymorph was permanent. Necromancer was my original idea but thought this would be more fun. Can a necromancer still learn true polymorph since he is a wizard?
That actually sounds super fun, thank you =) what allows me to turn them into a bug?
Baleful polymorph is permanent, but it's not a thing in 5e. It was a spell in third edition that wasn't translated to fifth edition. And yes, true polymorph is on the wizard spell list, though you have to be 17th level to cast it.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
It wouldn’t be a mechanic, you’d have to chat with your dm to see if they would let you simply for aesthetic purposes. If I was your dm I would let you because cool and doesn’t make you any stronger as it doesn’t actually effect your swarm, but convincing other dm’s might be difficult.
Also ( sorry for double post )
You could multi class into necromancy wizard if your looking more those spells.
Ahhh okay thank you
Thank you so much for the help! My group is close friends and was going to be over the top silly anyways so this will prob work out great =)
regular Polymorph is still an option, but not until player level 7 for a wizard or such. turn the guard commander into a sheep for an hour, sheer their wool, release them, and then challenge your dm to describe what they look like when returned to normal.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
This is a case of where the phrase "flavor is free" is very helpful. What you're specifically looking for, a spell that permanently transforms people into creatures that you command en masse, doesn't exist in 5e, but with buy in from your dm there's options of mechanics that do work that can be reflavored to be what you want. The idea of trapping souls of enemies you've defeated/killed, repurposing them to your will is possible, mechanically the aforementioned Swarmkeeper ranger subclass could work but also Conjure Animals from Druid works, or a customized Bag of Tricks magic item could also work. You could also reflavor Necromancy with Animate Dead to have the same/similar stats as a zombie/skeleton but a beast instead. Just a few examples of how you could, with dm approval, change the flavor of existing mechanics to match your character vision without homebrewing entirely new mechanics.
Bald
Now what would happen if you turned someone into a snake and they shed their skin? Or what if they became a caterpillar and turned into a butterfly? Or a tadpole and then they become a frog?
whoops, i just realized the real lesson to impart to a new player is that you probably shouldn't expect to begin the game as an earth-shakingly powerful dread sorceress feared across the many lands from the get-go. sure it's good to have goals, but one must usually work one's way up to empress of their own island. eh, it's a union thing. just pay your dues and keep your head down, you'll be knee deep in pigs in no time.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
I don't mind being a weak character, my main idea was to just transform 1 person when I could and kind of keep them as a pet or familiar until I could collect more. I figure I might be kinda useless at times but I feel like my groups journey will be a comical one anyways as we are all first timers other than DM. Can't wait for the army of pigs though! 😁
you know, there's entirely nothing stopping your character from being introduced with a (well trained pet) pig follower named "Uncle Timothy" whom you sometimes try to include into conversation before seemingly remembering that he's "...just a pig. of course." when you're angry you might fiddle with a conspicuously large ring and grumble that the last person who so irked you so now irks no one, having nothing to contribute but 'oinks' forever, or such.
fake it till you make it!
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Update: Talked with my DM and he said that if I "kill" a humanoid I can use animate dead to make them a zombie power level animal instead. I'll just call it "necromorph" instead and recast it every 24 hours to keep control of them. Of course I would only have 4 at a time instead of my swarm but hopefully I can figure something else out in the future =)