D&D (2024) What is With Poison?, and Other PHB Conundrums.

[James Gasik]

Sometimes it feels like any obstacle, set back, or loss is perceived as a great injustice against players. Why is it so bad that players might waste a spell slot once with hold or charm person? Its a learning lesson and heightens tension. Why do people focus so much on this small """feels bad""" moment?

Possibly because the lesson that's learned is that Charm Person is completely unreliable and thus, shouldn't be used. Not a big deal if you can freely prepare different spells, but significantly more annoying if your class isn't allowed to change spells out as easily.

And if people aren't attempting to use Charm Person to interact with NPC's socially, they might just decide, in response to the negative reinforcement, to just take the path of least resistance- in this case, murderhoboing their way through the campaign!

 

[Shardstone]

Possibly because the lesson that's learned is that Charm Person is completely unreliable and thus, shouldn't be used. Not a big deal if you can freely prepare different spells, but significantly more annoying if your class isn't allowed to change spells out as easily.

And if people aren't attempting to use Charm Person to interact with NPC's socially, they might just decide, in response to the negative reinforcement, to just take the path of least resistance- in this case, murderhoboing their way through the campaign!

I think that's a bit extreme though. There are a huge amount of humanoids not only in the MM but also in your average campaign. If you are playing a game heavy in Fey, Dragons, Undead, or Monstrosities, Charm Person was already going to be rather useless. If you're playing a campaign that has enemies in it like warriors, assassins, spies, and so on, it'll be a lot more useful. Personally, I tell my players if a certain creature type will or won't be prevalent in a campaign, giving them a heads up. But Charm Person is certainly not a bad spell now just because it doesn't work on Goblins, Lizardfolk, Yuan-Ti, and Aarakocra.

 

[CreamCloud0]

So Rogue Assassins get prof in a Poisoner's Kit. By spending 50gp, you can make poison that sells for 100gp. Make two doses of poison with that 100 and now you got 200gp. Then you make four doses and get 400gp...you get the idea.

So maybe the real reason for this is so the Rogue Assassin can get bloody filthy rich by level 4.

didn't they introduce the rule/guideline of 'the rules are not an economy' or something like that to explicitly stop this kind of rules hack?

 

[Shardstone]

didn't they introduce the rule/guideline of 'the rules are not an economy' or something like that to explicitly stop this kind of rules hack?

Aah but itd be a fun time lowkey.

 

[Reynard]

This came up last night: how do PCs make Holy Water? It isn't in the Holy Water entry in the equipment list, but I did not have time to search through the books. There is a time and cost/ingredient entry somewhere in 2014 (I just googled it so we could solve the question) but does anyone know where, if at all, rules for making holy water are in 2024 5E?

 

[kigmatzomat]

This came up last night: how do PCs make Holy Water?

There is a time and cost/ingredient entry somewhere in 2014 (I just googled it so we could solve the question) but does anyone know where, if at all, rules for making holy water are in 2024 5E?

Ceremony spell from Xanathar

 

[Reynard]

Ceremony spell from Xanathar

So there is no mechanism in the 2024 core books?

 

[kigmatzomat]

2014phb should have a note in the Holy Water entry in Chapter 5 Adventuring gear...holy water

Holy Water. As an action, you can splash the contents of this .....

A cleric or paladin may create holy water by performing a special ritual. The ritual takes 1 hour to perform, uses 25 gp worth of powdered silver, and requires the caster to expend a 1st-level spell slot.

I confess, I'm relying on DDB so for all I know that's not in all printings. Or any printing.

These phb rules are in some ways more generous as you don't need the ceremony spell prepped.

 

[Kobold Stew]

This came up last night: how do PCs make Holy Water? It isn't in the Holy Water entry in the equipment list, but I did not have time to search through the books. There is a time and cost/ingredient entry somewhere in 2014 (I just googled it so we could solve the question) but does anyone know where, if at all, rules for making holy water are in 2024 5E?

Yes -- Bastion rules in the DMG.

A Sacristy (level 9) can make Holy Water.

 

[Li Shenron]

A) What do you think about the pricing and mechanics of poison in the PHB.

I generally do not worry much about prices in 5e, as I mostly only have time to run one-shots rather than long campaigns, and this means that most often than not our PCs  find equipment more than buying it, and when doing so they don't care much about prices.

Then, specifically about poison, I don't care much about "poison as a weapon damage bonus". I find it a boring idea. I much prefer "poison as a narrative device", but that is outside the scope here. I also don't like how it is made easy to apply poison on a weapon for balance reasons: if it's just a minor damage bonus, it makes gaming sense that it costs little in terms of action economy, but it breaks my suspension of disbelief that someone coats a weapon in a matter of seconds. So if now poison is overpriced and makes me less likely to see PCs coating weapons on the side, I am not unhappy.