95
The book is correct. For the reason why level 6-9 spells exist for the Warlock when their Pact Magic slots cap at 5, check the Mystic Arcanum class feature on PHB p.108.
Mystic Arcanum
At 11th level, your patron bestows upon you a magical secret called an arcanum. Choose one 6th level spell from the warlock spell list as this arcanum.
You can ...
58
Let me summarize: You have a group that prefers Milestone XP, but isn't interested in creating any new stories. And you don't seem interested in making a story of your own unrelated to the characters.
The out-of-game options
Your players appear to be afraid that they will not be strong enough for the challenge you have prepared.
There are a few reason ...
56
As Ceribia referenced, RAW does not allow this. However, in this case I would consider it for four reasons.
First, the Deck of Many Things is an artifact. Artifacts generally give the big flaming middle finger to RAW. It is what they are there for, to bend or break the rules in epic, awesome, or sometimes silly ways.
Second, even up to level 24, 50K XP ...
52
There is no 0th level
D&D 5e expects players to start at level 1. NPCs don't have player class levels, so there's never such a thing as a 0th level character. A NPC fighter doesn't actually have fighter levels, he just has a stat block that incorparates some fighter skills into it.
Because there is no such thing as a 0th level character, there are no ...
49
Character levels are an abstraction of continuous growth
The characters themselves know that they are getting stronger, but they don't experience discrete jumps in power within the game. Instead, they steadily get stronger as they get more experience. The players and the DM use levels to represent that advancement in a useful way.
To use your wizard ...
47
I am not particularly fond of playing one game session and going up a level. That hardly qualifies as "earned," to my way of thinking. (E. Gary Gygax as Col_Pladoh on Dragonsfoot forum)
The above quote was posted 30+ years after the original rules were printed. It supports "designer intent" in this answer.
Introduction
For a point closer in time to the ...
46
1. Carry pre-generated characters.
2. Allow character changes after-the-fact.
Pregenerated
characters
can save you a lot of time. It's not the ideal solution for
immersive role-playing, but it'll save you what sounds like hours.
Then, between sessions, allow the new player to build a character of
similar level, now that they've got a taste for what they ...
46
Racial ability score adjustments are only added once at character creation.
The Player's Handbook is explicit about how ability scores improve. The ability score improvement class feature says:
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability ...
41
The general rule is that you can only take each feat once
From page 165 of the Player's Handbook (under "Feats"), or here in the basic rules:
You can take each feat only once, unless the feat's description says
otherwise.
The Magic Initiate feat does not list an exception to that rule which means you can only take it once.
Except that the Magic ...
40
I found it, page 5 of version 7.0 of the AL players guide.
When you gain a level, use the fixed hit point
value in your class entry. You can’t roll your hit points.
Missed that but easily fixed.
38
Yes, but it's more work than you'd think
You could keep levelling, but the game starts breaking down. You start running out of moves that you can take and you rarely ever fail rolls because your stats are all in the positive. The engine runs out of steam and the game starts to be boring.
So you can, but you would have to start houseruling lots of bits of ...
38
No
PHB p.58:
A character can advance only one level at a time. If, for some extraordinary reason, a character's XP reward from a single adventure would be enough to advance two or more levels at once, he or she instead advances one level and gains just enough xp to be 1 xp short of the next level.
36
CON changes apply retroactively, so it doesn't matter when you increase it.
PHB 177:
If your Constitution modifier changes, your hit point maximum changes as well, as though you had the new modifier from 1st level.
36
Why do they think they need to be stronger to complete a plot point?
This is based on your comment:
... their goal is specifically to get stronger to go back and complete a plot point. They don't want any story in the meantime, they just want to "get enough experience" without actually keeping track of experience points.
This is the crux of my answer; ...
35
It tips balance towards multiclassing
Delaying the ASI or feat bonus is one of the detriments of multiclassing. It balances out the benefits of multiclassing.
Giving ASI or feat for every 4 total levels incentivises multiclassing, and steps on the toes of the fighter class that gets an extra ASI at level 6.
Multiclass Comparison
Consider something ...
34
Ability score improvements are a class feature, and are only gained when the class level grants it. Different classes gain these advances at different levels (the Fighter is the clearest example of this), and there is no unified table of advancement by character level.
It's possible to never gain an advancement by always multiclassing into a new class ...
33
5th edition was designed to not require magical items. A party of level 20 characters can win a fight against a CR 20 dragon with no magical items whatsoever.
That said, one very important aspect of magical weapons is that they bypass resistances and immunities of creatures. Without any magical weapons, a fighter is almost useless against a creature immune ...
32
It depends on your players and campaign style
The problem, as you've noted, is that players start being able to do specific things really well. However, that's also the solution - force them to do new things. If your campaign is a dungeon crawl, this will be harder than if it's a city-based setting, but you have to remember that the PCs' actions shouldn't ...
32
Well, there's good news, and there's bad news. The good news is that you can trade away the spells from Magical Secrets. The bad news is that you can only trade them for bard spells.
The rules on trading one of your spells known for another say that:
Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the bard spells you know and ...
31
By RAW, they are free
The rules for leveling up a wizard state that you can add two wizard spells of your choice to your spellbook for free. The rules for gaining a level (PHB p. 15) state that a character who reaches a specified experience point total advances in capability. There is no mention of a delay on either point.
But your DM is free to change ...
29
No: you do not gain an Ability Score Improvement at each level.
I know there's something called Ability Score Improvement, and I think
that means you get to improve 2 ability scores by 1 (or you can add
both of them to the same ability) but is this in addition to the 2 you
get every level?
There is no "2 ability points that you get every level." ...
29
Spells are learned upon level up
From the wizard class features:
Learning Spells of 1st Level and Higher
Each time you gain a wizard level, you can add two wizard spells of your choice to your spellbook for free.
So if you want these free spells, they must be chosen when leveling up. You can't wait for the next level up to add four spells instead. ...
27
The ranger can no longer cast replaced spells.
Rangers don't prepare specific spells from a larger set of known spells in the same way that some other classes do. Instead, like bards, they can always cast any of the spells they know, provided they have spell slots available.
This means that when a ranger chooses to replace one of the spells they know when ...
27
First, you gain hit dice (and a corresponding increase in maximum hit points).
This is described for each class briefly under Class Features, and explained on page 15 of the PHB (or here in the free Basic Rules):
Each time you gain a level, you gain 1 additional Hit Die. Roll that Hit Die, add your Constitution modifier to the roll, and add the total to ...
27
The DM shouldn't do this
RAW seems to allow your interpretation.
However, this is not how it's intended to work
ASIs are class features, same as a Rogue's Sneak Attack or a Barbarian's Rage.
There is no precedent for spells or abilities that are able to permanently deprive a player of a class feature. It would have a huge impact and would definitely ...
26
Good News!
There's actually a template for that in the official rules - see here.
That link contains all the information on creating a lycanthrope template for any were-thingy you can think of :)
The specific details for a were-rex follow.
rule quotes are shown like this
specific details will appear below them like this.
Creating a Lycanthrope
“...
26
No, your Intelligence score will still be 19
This is fairly well summed up in the second sentence of the quote, "It has no effect on you if your Intelligence is already 19 or higher without it."
Even if that second line was absent, the end result would not be an Intelligence score of 20; the headband does not increase your Intelligence score, or change ...
25
There is absolutely no reason to take exactly 3 levels of Fighter.
Strictly Superior Alternatives
Assuming you go by non-fractional saves/BAB – which I refuse to do personally, but it is the base rule – the level gives you ~5.5 HP, +1 BAB, +1 Ref, +1 Will, and 2+Int skill points.
Taking Barbarian 1 at that point instead would get you ~6.5 HP, +...
25
The Adventurer's League FAQ states that characters with sufficient experience must advance at the next opportunity.
When do characters advance in level? [...]
Characters with sufficient experience must advance at the next opportunity: the end of an episode of a multi-part adventure such as D&D Encounters or a published adventure, after a D&D ...
25
Yes.
Proficiency isn't tied to anything except your character level (i.e if you multiclass for example Rogue 3 / Cleric 2, your character level is 5, which means your proficiency bonus is +3).
Your proficiency bonus increases everything you're proficient in, full stop. This applies to attacks with weapons you're proficient with, saving throws you're ...
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