Akuru

Seeing a recent article mentioning even adding custom needs to the characters makes me all the more confident. The only thing left on my wishlist is access to changing the character creation sliders through the game (moreso if the slider limit can be removed). Because..

I reeeeally want to make monsters and other supernatural beasties!

Vampires will get very pale and their hunger will change to thirst. If the thirst gets too low, I want the sliders for the weight to be affected, shrivelling up into a Nosferatu-esque form and making them unable to blend into society.

Dryads/Nymphs/whatever (essentially PlantSims) gain green hair and skin and their height slider will be affected by their ne

I'm experimenting with flavouring spells and abilities (instead of making completely new ones) to make it fit an elemental character, and it raised a question:

Would it throw off the balance of the game to change the damage type of a spell as you learn it?

For example, learning fireball but causing thunder or force damage instead. You can't change it freely, so it's set as Thunderball instead of changing the element freely. I just imagine that a spell as powerful as fireball is countered by stronger enemies being more resistant to fire, and it might be too exploitable?

Hi there! I'm hoping to balance a custom race. The main feature of this race is having wings with simple hands on the carpal (think of the Gore/Shagaru Magala from Monster Hunter)

The flight is based on the Aarakocra (same armour limitation, but speed reduced from 50 to 30), and their hand functionality is based on the trunk of the Luxodon.

I've also got a trait that effectively grants a utility cantrip, Minor Illusion (for backstory reasons), but I can drop that if it helps the overall balance.

Here's the racials:

Prehensile Wings.

Your wings have three hand-like digits at the carpal(wrist) and so can, when not flying, function as extra arms which can grasp things. They have a reac

I'm trying to homebrew a custom race, the highlight of which is prehensile wings. When not flying, they function as arms with simple hands.

The majority of the race is based on Aarakocra (passive flying without medium or heavy armour) but the wing/arms functioning like the Trunk feature of the Loxodon.

Is there something I need to consider in order to keep it balanced? The flying and trunk are the main features of those races so as-is they'd be stepping on toes.

Hey there! I'm reading through the books before I start playing the game and found myself really liking the look of the spell "Mirage Arcane" -- particularly this bit:

"Similarly, you can alter the appearance of structures, or add them where none are present."

Structures, how I would define them, are not limited to houses and buildings and include things like statues. I tried to research how broad of a term Structures is for this spell, but instead found a lot of talk about the spell being used with the Wizard's Malleable Illusions.

So, finally my questions:

(Note, I know different DMs will rule different, but I like to avoid ambiguity by going for things more people will agree with)

Hey there!

I've been interested in playing D&D for years and it was let slip that friends were planning on surprising me with a game to celebrate my birthday. However, since I'm the only one in the group with any real knowledge of it (or actual storytelling ability) they took charge of the spoiled secret by asking me to DM. (I even have a Ginesi Bard I would have played, but noooo :P )

Now, I've never played it and of course never DM'd, so I just wanted to ask if there's anything that's not really covered in the books that's good to know for a first time DM and D&D player?

Most of my knowledge comes from the Nerd Poker podcast (rules are relaxed so I know it's not the best example