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I used Enlarge/Reduce to enlarge our wild shape druid who was in Ape form so we could ride him out of a prison that we had just escaped from while 2 bad groups fought each other. It was a pretty epic save cause we had just got gear back and we're not really in position to battle.

A MK1 2024 update, I'd do Astral Self Monk, re-flavoring all of his 10' strikes as wormhole claws, eldritch tentacles & projectile skills with his stunning strikes being him disabling enemies with the tendrils.. Get the Eldritch Claw tattoo to make it 15 feet instead. Pick Half Elf, High Variation to get Chill Touch for better range & necrotic damage. Pick the Ruined background for either Tough or Skilled (persuasion, deception & intimidation are ideal). Start off point buy at 8, 15+1, 14, 15+1, 10, 8+2 to start at 8/16/14/10/16/10 then run ASIs to end at 8/20/16/10/20/10. With your final Astral Self subclass feature, Eldritch Claw Tattoo, Bracers of Defense & Cloak of Defense you'd have 26 AC, 203 HP, 6/12/9/7/12/7 on saving throws, an effective 120 feet Devil's Sight, 10ft (15 for 1 minute) attack range & 4 to 5 attacks per turn.

Wonder what the drow bard is up to these days? Miss your content!

Where have you gone?

So I understand wanting to skip fighter, it makes a lot of sense, but the ranger levels feel like they exist just TO escape fighter. 4 Levels of fighter instead gives you a fighting style (so you can take skill expert as a human, giving you an extra +1 and a proficiency. You get action surge, second wind, and faster access to your next feat. Personally though I like rogue. still gives you expertise, reckless attack lets you always sneak attack, and at higher levels uncanny dodge with rage stacking, and danger sense with evasion go hard. Ranger is a really cool idea, but I feel like it could be fleshed out more. ( It would allow you to cast your own spike growth, to drag enemies through something, however you can concentrate while raging.) You could do it with rune knight.... but that's fighter again.

My table has been using the One DnD playtest changes, and I'm playing a Dhampir Monk 5/Rogue 6, with the new versions of tavern brawler and grappler, and it's so much fun. I start out with a dagger in one hand and the other hand free. I attack with an unarmed strike (1d8+5) and get a free grapple from Grappler, and then Grappler giving advantage on further attacks against my grappled target means that I can proc sneak attack on them. So I stab them with the dagger (1d8+5+3d6), then bonus action flurry of blows (2d8+10). Then because Grappler lets me drag them without any added movement cost (if they're my size or smaller), and because Dhampir has hands-free spider climb, I drag them as high as I can get with all my monk movement and drop them for an additional 2/3/4d6 and they land prone. So I've done 4d8+20+3d6+fall damage, and end my turn high out of reach of melee combatants. It's not going to wow any super optimizers, but I keep up with the barbarian in damage and I'm much more adaptable. The Rogue's Cunning Strikes are nice too, since if I don't want to drag the enemy up the wall (or if I'm indoors with low ceilings) I can spend 1d6 of the sneak attack damage to try to knock the enemy prone on the same turn I've grappled them. If they don't spend their action trying to escape the grapple on their turn, they're absolutely screwed, they can't even stand up. I've made a lot more enemies lose turns this way than I have with stunning strike.

I do not understand; rules specify that your readied action happens WHEN THE TRIGGER FINISHES, yet in your example you allow the wizard to cant stoneskin after the ogre chooses who to attack, but BEFORE the attack finishes. Why?

I am playing this... Mountain dwarf with 17 str start, hvy armor at 4rth for plate mail and 18 str.... Fiend lock all the way, polearm master at 8th... Works the charm

We have a Barbarian who decided he was going to grapple Strahd. The DM said, "Strahd will use his legendary resistance to-" I try not to be the rules lawyer, but this one was important. I piped up. "Actually, he doesn't." DM: "What, why?" Me: "Because grappling is an opposed skill check. The Barbarian's Athletics vs. either Athletics or Acrobatics from Strahd." DM: "Oh. _Rolls dice_ He fails." Our Barbarian was so happy. And then, Strahd teleported away on his turn and blasted the hell out of us with a spell. It was epic.

The algo put this as top recommendation. Thanks for leaving your stuff up and available, and making it in the first place. YOU DO YOU.

Bard , i would love to see a unconventional druid or monk

Thank u, not much illusion stuff out there good job and thanks

More more more please oh my gosh this section is incredible

OK, let's talk about what I like to call the hawlucha build: you start with an aaracokra, take levels in barbarian and rogue, most important features being rage(for grappling advantage), expertise(in athletics) and cunning action, with extra attack later. What you do is grapple opponent, drag it up (because you can still move half your movement) and dash to drag it further. Then drop.

Why not just pick a Changeling for the Arcane Impersonator? It saves you from having to take the Eldritch Adept

THREE attacks?? i was so proud of my super weak 'lock's two finesse weapon attacks with hex and rebukes

Great return to the Unconventional series. I feel I'm going crazy, but did you do am Assassin Vine Cultist build? I have memories of it but can't find it.

If you use a 6th level spell slot to cast Major Image you don't have to concentrate on the illusion and instead of a 10 minute duration it lasts until dispelled. Think of how this would combo with the 6th level Illusionist's feature Malleable Illusions. A forever illusion (basically) that you can change pretty much at will (1 action) to do almost anything (limited only by imagination and the constraints of the spell).

Bard...you are truly one of the great outside the box thinkers and theory crafters in D&D. Keep it up...glad your are back!!

Next on my D&D Bingo card is Unconventional Druids! (or Unconventional Monks!)

I am so glad you're back in action! Unconventional is my favorite series.

Yay! You rock, Bard.

Oath of the Crown = Judge Dredd?

"It's been 84 years...." Finally get to see the Unconventional series continue with one of my favorite classes!

Finally!!! The king has returned!! I love watching your videos and I'm so glad you're back at it.

I absolutely love the unconventional series. Great job!

UNCONVENTIONAL SERIES LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOO

love you dude

Now this is the content I think of when I think of Drow Bard! And look what we got, a Wizard Spy but also a Wizard with a gun. Very unconventional, and I used to gobble these videos up back in the day and rewatched them multiple times to get the brain juices going.

Great work as always! I'd also like to throw my hat into the ring with my Hypnotic Gish It's a Fighter 2/Enchantment Wizard 5 that uses the haste spell to be able to use Hypnotic Gaze and use an attack action at the same time to trigger bonus action attacks from feats. You can lock down an opponent with your Hypnotic Gaze while still dealing damage and being harder to hit thanks to your haste. I think the optimal build for this character would be a Crossbow Expert/Sharpshooter as that way you can hit anyone on the field with a hand crossbow, but I do think Polearm Master/Sentinel/Great Weapon Master can also work well as it limits people getting close enough to you to break the Hypnotic Gaze. If going for the Polearm Master route I think minotaur is a great race choice as it allows to push back enemies that try to get close with your hammering horns. Before 7th level and when not using Haste you can use an action surge to be able to use Hypnotic Gaze for a short time without locking yourself down as well. Also spells like Flaming Sphere, Melf's Minute Meteors, and Crown of Stars also work great with Hypnotic Gaze as they only require a bonus action to activate after the initial cast. I really like Flaming Sphere as well as it can be positioned between yourself and any enemies seeking to free their friends from your Hypnotic Gaze. Investing in these martial feats. as a wizard makes Tenser's Transformation even more powerful. Finally you grab a 3rd level in fighter, I think Battle Master works best here but there might be something to psionics.

I can't wait to see the rest of the unconventional builds in store for us!

Thanks, Bard. That's exactly what I have come to expect from you. Nice use of the transmutation school. Especially the monster form wizard (I can't spell the word you called it). When would you take the monk levels? After 3rd? Transmuter 3 gets you alter self and spider climb. Or after 7, when you've picked up polymorph and gotten your philosopher stone?

Someone has done something with the absolute worst wizard subclass

Gawd!!!! Welcome back.. you were missed

Im getting a lot of value out of bottled respite as well; means any sneaky party members can carry a tank in their pocket.. access to sanctuary as a dao genie doesn’t hurt either..

Attacks are either weapon attacks or spell attacks. An unarmed strike is a melee weapon attack, but not an attack with a melee weapon. A natural weapon is a melee weapon attack and does count as a melee weapon.

12:12 I feel like a "melee-weapon-attack" is intended as a specific term [despite it's unspecific terminology]. Even though a special attack option [grapple] is allotted damage here [spiked armor grapple] and *can* be used as part of the attack action, it still isn't a "melee-weapon-attack" until it is used to make a [not-special] attack roll using it. So making an attack roll using the spiked armor [rather than an unarmed strike or a grapple check] would qualify as a weapon attack.

I am just happy to see you making videos again after the drought. Unarmed rules are super confusing.

First like + First comment :P

I think what's funny is this is my first time playing DnD - and when I went through it all - I decided to be a Warlock Polearms Master who specializes in Glaives lmao - now ChatGPT was not around when this video was made, but it definitely helped me work the same shit out that this video did

Any game where you got fireballs dragons and enchanted weapons a man who can magically power his fists to break through the hide of a dragon sounds pretty freaking sick

My monk just punched a dragon yesterday. What a coincidence.

Bugbear Wildfire Assassin: Both of the below features apply to spells, including Scorching Ray, which is a Wildfire Druid spell. Bugbear: Surprise Attack If you hit a creature with an attack roll, the creature takes an extra 2d6 damage if it hasn’t taken a turn yet in the current combat. Assassin: Assassinate You have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn’t taken a turn in the combat yet. In addition, any hit you score against a creature that is surprised is a critical hit. Damage: 3x(2d6[spell] + 2d6[bugbear]) = 42 + 4d6(14) for each spell level above 2nd. If you get a critical surprise attack, double the above damage... 84 + 28 for each spell level above 2nd... max 280 at 9th level. You benefit from being able to turn into a tiny creature like a spider/fly and launching a surprise attack. And you also benefit from Pass Without Trace to get the surprise for the whole party.

The fun thing is if you go Lv1 Dao Genie Warlock/ Lv3 Swarmkeeper Ranger and attack with Slashing Damage, you could Trigger Crusher, Piercer, and Slasher on your first hit, between Genie's Wrath (PB Bludgeoning), Gathering Swarm (1d6 Piercing), and say... A whip (1d4 Slashing with Reach) or handaxe (1d6 Slashing, with Light and Thrown properties).

For what it's worth, I have a Grung Beast Barbarian grappling build, continuously Poisoning it's victim. While being Small does limit who I can grapple, it also lets me make use of the Climb onto a Bigger Creature variant rule, p271 DMG. I get to stay in and attack from their space, attack my mount with advantage, and the checks to initiate and stay on are similar to grappling (my Athletics or Acrobatics vs their Acrobatics & their Athletics vs my Acrobatics or Athletics, respectively). Sure, the Poison condition and Poison damage are somewhat unreliable, but being a mutated nightmare frog facehugging someone and stabbing them with a scorpion tail is fun. Especially when you can jump onto them from 45ft away.

If you are looking for video ideas, I'd like to continue the unconventional series with the wizard.

Yaaay drow bard is back!! I can't wait to see more videos like this one.

If you get a chance, Bard, watch the D&D: Honor among Thieves movie. It was made by people who love and understand the game. It is a fun adventure movie.

Woooo ur back!!!

Hey, man, good to see you're back!