D&D 5E Sharpshooter/Great Weapon Master and Why They Are Broken 101.

[Istbor]

That's basically what we do as well. All stats have skill checks on them but intelligence has sod all else. The other stats are more relevant a lot more in some cases.

Ah so you mean combat. The int stat is not useful in combat so it goes by the wayside in your group. Why didn't you just say that?

 

[Zardnaar]

Ah so you mean combat. The int stat is not useful in combat so it goes by the wayside in your group. Why didn't you just say that?

No charisma is great in social circles and charisma saves are more common. I houserule that you get extra languages for high intelligence and some players jumped on it. One of them speaks 8 languages and between the party they took all of my ancient languages I added.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It's a pretty key exploration score IMCs. Usually have a few Investigation rolls each session. I've also seen it come into play a lot when the PC's suspect illusions are at work. Good for avoiding and disarming traps. Etc.

It's comparable to STR or CHA in tems of how often I'm asking for an INT save.

If INT was a dump stat in my group, I'd probably give them a trap-filled dungeon made by illusionists!

In official adventures, I'm seeing a lot on INT being rolled in Curse of Strahd, because there's a lot of weird illusions and deceptions going on there - lots of mysteries that need solving!

 

[Zardnaar]

It's a pretty key exploration score IMCs. Usually have a few Investigation rolls each session. I've also seen it come into play a lot when the PC's suspect illusions are at work. Good for avoiding and disarming traps. Etc.

It's comparable to STR or CHA in tems of how often I'm asking for an INT save.

If INT was a dump stat in my group, I'd probably give them a trap-filled dungeon made by illusionists!

In official adventures, I'm seeing a lot on INT being rolled in Curse of Strahd, because there's a lot of weird illusions and deceptions going on there - lots of mysteries that need solving!

I don't own Co's and OotA was the last AP I bought.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I don't own Co's and OotA was the last AP I bought.

One DMing decision that can affect the value of INT: how do you rule the distinction between Investigation and (active) Perception?

My rule of thumb is that active Perception is when your character "pays attention" - listens, looks, goes on alert, and tries to notice something. Searching with Perception is like asking "Do I see anything weird here?", and a successful check will be like, "you notice a strange breeze coming from a point in the room that should have no opening." Investigation is when your character searches - goes over the bookshelf, runs their hands over the desk, prokes and prods the lock to see if it's trapped. Searching with Investigation is "Is there anything hidden here?", and a successful check will be like "you find the switch hidden in the fake book, and pull it, opening the secret door."

IMXP, it's common to let Perception do a lot of that heavy lifting, but that weakens the Investigation skill and INT overall for me. Perception might key you into something being off in some way. Investigation will tell you what's off, why, and how to fix it.

 

[Helldritch]

Intelligence is really far from a dump stat in my games.

Perception tells you something is wrong. A trap, a secret door, somebody hidden in the shadows of a room or behind a tree ect...

Intelligence, with investigation makes you: Find the mechanism to open a secret door, disarm a trap (with lock picks), open some puzzle locks.
Intelligence lets you dig into your knowledge of history, arcana and too many other things to mention them all.

It would be a poor player at my table that would dump intelligence. Even the barb will not ignore it... (Me know secret door is there. Me tired of searching... Me smash door! Me tired. Secret door won. It will stay shut. Go sleep now. Need to buy a new axe...)

 

[bleezy]

Yeah I (as a DM) use Investigation more than Perception overall. Every single time the PCs say "I search the _____" I make them roll an Investigation check. If they try to speak or understand a language that are only partially familiar with, that's also an intelligence check.

 

[iserith]

A good Intelligence score sure would come in handy to check if [MENTION=6788736]Flamestrike[/MENTION] changed up any of the stat blocks of the monsters you're facing. Because while I don't mind "metagaming" in the sense of players using their hard-won knowledge to get a leg up on enemies, it sure does suck when that player acts in reliance of information that is actually wrong. Having a decent Intelligence score and/or training in the related knowledge skills is a good way to get confirmation on things you believe are true and a great way to avoid making bad assumptions. Never commit to a fight without first saying "I try to recall what I've heard about [monster]." And when recalling that lore has an uncertain outcome, you'll be happy you didn't dump Intelligence.

 

[Lehrbuch]

Never commit to a fight without first saying "I try to recall what I've heard about [monster]." And when recalling that lore has an uncertain outcome, you'll be happy you didn't dump Intelligence.

Absolutely.

Also, beyond the issue of pure game mechanics that relate to the Intelligence Ability, there is the issue of the PC's character. In most games I have played in, NPCs (and other PCs) tend to react very differently to the ideas and directions of a stupid PC and a clever PC. It is also really jarring to verisimilitude if a stupid PC is constantly devising clever plans, strategies, tactics, and contributing to good decision making for the party.

While I may not be as clever as the PC, as a player, I do want to be doing all those things (devising clever plans, strategies, tactics, and contributing to good decision making for the party). So I would almost never create a below-average intelligence PC, as doing all those things is (to me) pretty much the point of "playing the game". Having a below-average intelligence PC tends to exclude the player from engaging with the game except perhaps in an ironic or humorous way. Role-playing the village idiot is OK, of course, but it is a bit boring after a time.

A fighter with below average Dexterity, Constitution, or Strength (or even all three) is still a perfectly playable character. You just sometimes fail some rolls that you would have made if the character's statistics were higher. However, a fighter with low intelligence seems way more likely to run into playability problems.

 

[Flamestrike]

Great work man; I am totally stealing this!

What order are the encounters to be...er...encountered?

What is the terrain for each encounter? Rooms in a tower?

Where do the short rests go?

How would you adjust this adventure for five 11th level PCs?

The PCs are all human except the Bladesinger:-

* eladrin bladesinger wizard 11
* paladin 2/tempest cleric 9
* assassin rogue 3/shadow monk 6/GOO warlock 2
* berserker barbarian 3/fiendish bladelock 8
* swashbuckler rogue 7/dragon sorcerer 1/battlemaster fighter 3

In my mind I had it as a tower (shaped like a rearing black dragon carved into a mountain) with a walled semi circular compound around the base. When the PCs arrive they are teleported several 100 feet from the outer walls. Its nearing dawn and the whole area is clouded with an acrid fog (the terrain is quite swampy) limiting visibility (imposing light obscurement, and limiting LOS to around 60').

The inner and outside walls are all warded with magic and lined with lead, stopping any divination magic from penetrating them (to protect the delicate negotiations and discussions from prying eyes).

The PCs have 3 hours (1 hour of adventuring time, and time for 2 short rests). If they dawdle outside the tower or take too much time inside it, they might be left time for just the one short rest.

Encounter 1 was the orcs. They guard the outer compound and can retreat inside its fortifications if needed. They attack in three groups (2 lots of 1 Orog, 1 Eye and 5 Orcs, and 1 lot of the Boss riding the Wyvern) if the compound is breached. The Eyes cast Bless (on themselves and the Orog and the Boss and Wyvern) using a 2nd level slot, and then tend to hang back with spiritual weapon. The boss uses his warcry and they all close to melee as soon as possible if the walls are breached, with the boss + wyvern concentrating on any obvious casters.

Encounter 2 is the giant + wolves inside the mountain. I imagined a great hall containing a hostile but disintrested Giant and his wolves. While primarily a combat encounter he is also an optional social encounter (he only guards the tower due to being abducted by the black dragon, and his family killed by the drake). He doesnt really care about his job, but only does so out of fear of the dragon. He's initially unfriendly but might be persuaded to turn a blind eye to the adventurers, and give them advice on how to find the dragon if the PCs break off combat and try and talk to him (substantial bribes help, as does a promise to slay the dragon).

If combat breaks out, the wolves are spread out to avoid AOE's and concentrate attacks on one or two PCs looking to knock them prone so the giant can attack with advantage. The wolves are well trained and are not above using the Help action to assist the Giant as well. The winter wolf concentrates his breath weapon on any high AC foes (your bladesinger) and isnt afraid to catch the giant in the radius (he's immune to cold).

The PCs can rest now having cleared out the outside and the inner compound. The Orcs are too savage to alert anyone, and the Giant doesnt think to do so.

Encounter 3 is a trap that guards the upper level. Set DCs as desired, but as the PCs walk up a long sloping coridoor to the next level, they set off a trap revealing false walls either side of the party which slide up revealing (inside each wall flanking the party) a Helmed horror - but in place of a helm each horror has a grinning flaming skull! On round 1 (likely while the PCs are surpsised) the heads detach from the armor, and both fireball the party. The horrors engage a single target in melee (their swords deal +1d6 fire damage, AND they are immune to fireball as one of the spells they are immune to). The skulls then hammer targets with magic missile and fire rays.

Once this encounter is dealt with the party find themselves on level two. The next encounter (number 4) is the Hook horrors who the illithids have placed in stasis via meld into earth (they brought scrolls with them). It takes the beasts a round to emerge from the walls (unless you feel like surprising the PCs again!) and they begin combat surrounding the PCs. This should be a rather stand up fight.

After clearing this level the PCs have the option of short resting again (rememeber they only get two!).

The next encounter is the Illithids and company. I suggest changing up its spells (ensure it has counter spell, an AoE and shield - and wall of force!). It's not above placing a lone thrall as a guard away from its lair for the party to encounter solo - if the thrall dies the Illitihid becomes aware of the PCs (when its mental bond breaks) and it enters this battle with a buff spell or two up.

It makes use of wall of force to split the party so it can deal with smaller groups at once. AoEs, mind blast etc and thugs + the umber hulk make this a dangerous fight.

Back in a second with the Mezzoloth and dragon fights.