I think that touch of death causes pain when you touch someone, but damage when you focus on this ability. Maybe the flavor is so that you can't get emotionally close to someone cause you can't touch them skin-to-skin?
@Nildread
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah stinging nettle kind of pain. It's significantly less mechanically supported as some of the other ones.
@nandodando9695
3 жыл бұрын
It's pure kink
@booxmowo2684
3 жыл бұрын
If I were the DM I'd rule that, while instantaneous contact is merely painful, anyone attempting to do so much as holding your hand would start taking the 1d10 damage per round.
@Defcon5gamingn1
3 жыл бұрын
Feels like a Rogue from Xmen type scenario
@proyectohangover9275
3 жыл бұрын
If i were the DM, i'd just rule that sexy times counts as grappling.
@gaminreasons8941
3 жыл бұрын
A Life Cleric with Death Touch sounds hilarious "look I know it hurts when I touch you but it's healing you I promise" and then gives a monster a Necrotic bitchslap.
@tiredjediknight3110
3 жыл бұрын
I instantly thought of an evil Aasimar torturer concept. I can hurt you with a touch but simultaneously use my healing hands to keep you alive and conscious through the whole thing with minimal mess and effort. This took a dark turn...... which to be fair for ravenloft is appropriate
@linkn5509
2 жыл бұрын
Reminds me of a grung cleric npc I had named Joy wayyy back in one of the first campaigns I ran. When my players asked her to heal them she did, but then I told them to make con saves and they were terrified for a moment. Only one member failed and I described her as feeling butterflies in their stomach and really happy (planned on having the poison feel like that from the beginning, told the player in secret ‘you’re considered poisoned lol’) and my players were none the wiser :)
@godofzombi
3 жыл бұрын
I slapped Living shadow on a wild magic barbarian with an aberrant dragonmark (with chaos bolt) for lots of randomness.
@isthisajojoreference
3 жыл бұрын
I really like the alter self one, it's flavor is just so good that I don't even care about the balance. It makes me think of a shapechanger more than even a changeling does.
@stevenle9960
3 жыл бұрын
I think if they went more literal with the death touch it could be pretty balanced. Like if someone casted a touch healing spell you’ll damage them. Or if your party tries to carry your unconscious body after a battle, you damage them
@SirStrangefolk
3 жыл бұрын
Didn't they have something like that for the Grung race? That does seem to make more sense to me
@stevenle9960
3 жыл бұрын
@@SirStrangefolk yea the poison thing
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
I just looked at the survivors section, and the dark gifts are much more impactful on that style of play. You could even have a flashback of a survivor that had a dark gift, and now you come in contact with them and they are outright monstrosities or mentally broken. I did this once with a Nothic and it was a pretty good way to get across the danger and pitfalls of seeking power through dark packs and knowledge.
@DYMTWrecks
3 жыл бұрын
Really wish they had a tutorial on how to create Dark Gifts. My DM is trying to create something similar in our game and a lot of them are almost too niche.
@NerdImmersion
3 жыл бұрын
Seems like a no brainer
@Rkguerra12
3 жыл бұрын
I started to make something similar as rewards for RPing just before this book release for some of them I basically took a similar route to how the UA versions of the dragonmark houses leveled up their marks and the higher the level the more stuff you unlocked but you would have to RP and do quests to unlock the greater "gifts/bargains" abilities while some give spells others would give skills, ability score increases, different boon abilities, etc...
@denniscraig465
3 жыл бұрын
You can tell Ted is from the 3.5 D&D power gaming school and not really into the whole 5ed roleplaying thing. How powerful can I be to kill stuff. How many powerful and cool abilities can I get without any drawbacks. Sometimes a character that isn't the most powerful, and has drawbacks, can be the most fun to roleplay
@CallenExile
3 жыл бұрын
That's what makes him so good at these videos. You have to understand the supporting mechanics of an ability before you can take it apart and describe it to someone. That said, I only partially agree with you. He has some good flavorful ideas he puts out as examples from time to time. We don't really see how he plays so we may just be seeing the mechanical side.
@CrazyLikeUhFox
3 жыл бұрын
@@CallenExile Let’s not forget like two or three videos ago, he was like “the UA Undead Warlock was the only warlock I’ve ever wanted to play, but that was just because it was overpowered.” Lol, love Ted, but he’s a lot like the Dungeon Dudes. Min-maxy powergamer. Lmao
@giorgitsiklauri840
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah but flavor is the least important part of any ability because it's the easiest to change and most DMs are quite lenient in how you can flavor something whereas mechanics tend to be far more set in stone.
@Drahjan_TheoryBREAK
3 жыл бұрын
13:06 Honestly, this Dark Gift is my favorite. The Dark Gifts seem to be meant for role-play heavy groups who love character growth and storytelling. This gift in particular let's player take the "there's a monster inside me that wants to get out" trope and play it out. I think that's excellent. The table just lists "examples" of what could trigger the transformation. You could do anything from "my love interest/friend has been/is being harmed" to "the hypnotist just spoke the trigger word to activate my hypnotic state". Possibilities are endless.
@Earthhorn
3 жыл бұрын
Like an evil version of the supernatural gifts in theros.
@SadBoi_1066
3 жыл бұрын
which still AREN'T supported by dnd beyond. Paid for the book, still no support.
@RyanTheWolf
3 жыл бұрын
@@SadBoi_1066 and we dont have the piety system either.
@SadBoi_1066
3 жыл бұрын
@@RyanTheWolf a damn shame too. That system made the Theros book worth it.
@ShankMugen
3 жыл бұрын
@@SadBoi_1066 The Devs say they are working on implementing Supernatural Gifts, though I don't recall them saying anything about the Piety System
@CitanulsPumpkin
3 жыл бұрын
I like how the mechanically optimal route for the symbiotic entity is for it to have high Int and Wis so it can possibly help you on perception, insight, and knowledge checks, but have only 3 or 4 Cha so it can almost never charm you. Also if you're looking for downsides on Death Touch as a DM you can rule that the touch causes pain even if it doesn't cause damage on every single living creature you touch. You can rule that the touch decays or ruins anything you touch that was once alive. So if your character is trying to eat or dress themselves they need to only wear silks because cotton melts in their hands. When they eat they need special utensils because the food rots away if it touches any part of the epidermis.
@zimattack9994
3 жыл бұрын
Grung battlerager grappler with touch of death and maybe some way to get vampireic touch who wants a hug!
@stevenpeven258
3 жыл бұрын
The touch of death seems to mainly have an implied role play disadvantage, a bit like what the watchers has, but without a defined game mechanic disadvantage
@parkerraley2248
3 жыл бұрын
Death touch grave domain cleric is what my group decided was a fun “reaper” build
@ryushi17
3 жыл бұрын
For the shape changer one my first thought was your character is Tiefling and the dark gift is from a succubus or incubus parent. The second form is you as the opposite gender and when you change back one of your eyes stays the other colour. It’s not a powerful ability but would be interesting for a character concept. The downside to the touch is you can never touch anyone. You scar them and I would rule that it deals damage. You need to play it up to make it feel real.
@boopdabeep5300
3 жыл бұрын
Exactly, I would rule it to be the same way that Grung’s skin works, where you can never cast a touch spell or have a touch spell cast on you without dealing damage
@revelationmd
3 жыл бұрын
A couple of years ago I was running a Ravenloft campaign based loosely on 2e rules. One of the characters killed a Vistani raunie (head woman), but at the point of death she stabbed out with an inked stained letter opener, pricking her killer on the arm. At the same time she lay down a dying curse: ‘’Your blood be tainted, your flesh reviled, You’ll feel no intimacy, you’ll bear no child, Let ink and shadow stain you, let my dying words be such... Let my words ever curse you and let death be your touch!'' Over time the spot of ink on the character's skin grew to form a grotesque tattoo up her arm (eventually covering her body). When she touched someone the tattoo flowed on to them to travel up their arms and eventually lace around their neck. It would then start to strangle them to death. This had almost no combat value as the process would take 10mins plus - but my game was RP heavy and gritty/adult in nature... so it really messed with her love life and led to some amazing RP!
@GixtheDragon
3 жыл бұрын
Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde came to mind with the Shape Changer Dark Gift, as one example.
@isthisajojoreference
3 жыл бұрын
I would rule for the touch of death one that whenever someone touches you, including to cast a touch spell like cure wounds, that you roll damage against them.
@jaxwarp8373
3 жыл бұрын
I recently finished a campaign as a cyborg warlock with an Evil AI in my brain as my patron. I would have loved the option of the Symbiotic Entity for that
@kelvinvoorneveld7265
3 жыл бұрын
the symbiote could be your patron as a warlock
@zenovkayos5811
3 жыл бұрын
Yes Thank you The dark gifts are really supposed to provide a mechanical downside I really recommend combining the dark gift with a curse from the curses section Am glad am not the only one who saw it this way
@chefchronos4288
3 жыл бұрын
I gave the entire party the Living Shadow gift just to have all the shadows silently fighting, doing Peter Pan like mischief, or doing games of Charades to give out secrets of the party.
@tomasyanes6746
3 жыл бұрын
I know that your whole thing is weighing mechanical pros and cons, but I feel like these are all about flavor. Some are obviously more mechanically advantageous, but that isn't necessarily why a player would choose one. For instance, you said you thought Second Skin sucks, but I absolutely see the flavor value a feature like this can add to a character.
@Nildread
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, and while the alter self one isn't great mechanically, it's really cool for having a worse form of lycanthropy. Huh, kind of a missed opportunity to make vampirism and lycanthropy more of a thing here, with clear downsides. Would be cool to have things like the if you roll a 1 bad things happen kind of mechanics, you can't control your hunger/ thirst.
@westcoastgeeks7294
3 жыл бұрын
on the halfling ability, I would rule he should suffer the consequences. The Dark powers would over power the halfling luck. He still get the reroll , but can not avoid it.
@Andrew-jl4yo
3 жыл бұрын
The shadow dark gift as a thematic intro into a charicter multiclassing as an echo knight would be really cool
@linkn5509
2 жыл бұрын
Love this idea
@BastinatorX3r0
3 жыл бұрын
Once again with these type of features, I might take out a few that seem useful/balanced, but for the most part I'll be using these as a template to create my own.
@TheArtisticGamer7
3 жыл бұрын
I think the point of some being mostly detrimental is BECAUSE the characters arent really given a choice of which one. The DM would offer a specific gift in tern for a boon of some sort in a moment to try and get them to take it. and BAM you have watchers now.
@kyleward3914
3 жыл бұрын
Poisoned Roots doesn't seem to say that the area ever returns to normal.
@WarlockofThorns
3 жыл бұрын
I love that you know of The Darkness. Such a good game & comic series.
@Ashley05235
3 жыл бұрын
Death Touch is the only dark gift that I'd say is bad because the downside is you can't hug someone without hurting them, and this is only if a hug is considered grappled. The Watchers and Second Skin dark gifts have so much negative, they seem like the dark gifts you get from the dark bargain. I do have a character that I plan to use a dark gift for, a blood hunter order of lycan with symbiotic being and flavor the symbiotic being to be the personality of the lycan, a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type creature.
@leoramirez3356
3 жыл бұрын
I think Death touch has to be skin-on-skin contact, if it works that way, you could get around the "not touching your friends", of course, it depends on the DM's interpretation of how it works.
@_stonhinge
3 жыл бұрын
I could see Second Skin as a good "hook" for bringing a party together. All characters start with it and are being hunted by monster hunters. They band together for survival or all escape capture at the same time before they can be "cleansed" by burning at the stake under a full moon. Goal to be to find the specific rituals for each player to be freed from their curse. Which may or may not be *another* Dark Gift, depending on their choices. Now I'm imagining a "cursed" party of adventurers who keep making questionable decisions and taking the "easy road" by exchanging Dark Gifts for Dark Gifts instead of searching for a way to get rid of it entirely.
@couver73
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah...Second Skin needs to be reworked. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to have an alternative to a werewolf but it literally only changes your appearance. If it were me, I'd have it so you get the Change Appearance option AND another option of your choice. I probably would have the Involuntary Change just be up to the player and the DM to decide. Tie it to something that can develop their character in a campaign. And possibly have the after effects leave on a short or long rest. I'd take that over this.
@SadBoi_1066
3 жыл бұрын
Gotta love DnD Beyond NOT supporting the rules they sell us in the digital books they provide. These are not currently available for character sheets. Nor are the new background features! and i dont think theres been talk of them adding them either. Like, every time 5e comes out with something new, something that moves the game forward, dnd beyond either completely ignores it (Guilds from Ravnica, deity renown from Theros) or it takes a year and half to implement it (class feature variants). Theyve got no problem charging full price, but if its not a subclass, race, monster, or feat, dont expect support for it in dnd beyond.
@joshuac2991
3 жыл бұрын
I forget the specifics by why not just tweak how dark gifts were done in Ravenloft back in AD&D
@revelationmd
3 жыл бұрын
I just posted pretty much the same - and went through the 2e mechanics. These just feel like ''have another background or archtype'' - their delivery has zero gothic horror feel to them.
@serenitysilvermoon
3 жыл бұрын
Spells effected by Touch of Death are Chill Touch, Inflict Wounds and Vampiric Touch
@pv1612
3 жыл бұрын
Would it work on the death domain cleric divine strike and channel divinity where they add necrotic damage to their attacks?
@TorinStOnge-wb7dr
3 жыл бұрын
@@pv1612 it just says when you hit them with an attack roll and deal necrotic damage, so it should work for any instance that you're dealing necrotic with an attack you're rolling.
@pv1612
3 жыл бұрын
Honestly I feel like the supposed downside of death touch is supposed to be that it harms allies as well, like if you have to deliver a touch spell
@pv1612
3 жыл бұрын
Okay well frankly that’s what my ruling would be
@grimwolf9988
3 жыл бұрын
It’s dumb that it doesn’t explicitly say it with Deadly Touch, but I believe the 1d10 necrotic damage is supposed to trigger any time you touch someone outside combat as well. The no hanky panky part is obvious. But you’d also be in a bad position if, for example, a paladin or guard or something tried to shake hands with you as well, or if you needed to pull someone up who’s falling, etc. It explicitly says it automatically happens any time you touch someone. You can focus it as an attack in combat, but it’s still a passive thing that happens if you touch someone.
@David25512
3 жыл бұрын
The Touch and Symbiote gifts seem pretty good. I can think of some interesting dynamics between the PC and gift, especially with the Symbiote one. Overall, like you said, not amazing but seems a little workshop-y
@samdenomme5431
3 жыл бұрын
My dm rules the grappled part of deadly touch to be whenever anyone touches your bare skin not just if it’s grappling so if a teammate casts a spell that has a range of touch on you and you only have bare skin shown your teammate has to take 1d10 damage (we have a rogue/cleric in our party who has that ability) we also have to take these as feats on our table
@minnion2871
3 жыл бұрын
Well there is actually a downside to death touch.... You damage anything you are grappling or grappled by whether you want to or not... (This would presumably include allies that are trying to grab your hand to pull you to safety.... )
@TheProteanGeek
3 жыл бұрын
Your power gamer is showing :P I know you said you still fun be it hard to not approach as a min-maxer as that was the culture you were "brought up in" with D&D so to speak. That alter self one is awesome for storytelling. It is also a solid one to require as part of a greater deal. Why people take some of the less powerful things they will do so because they enjoy the roleplaying potential for them. Also always a fun thing to throw at your players as part of a deal.
@HorrorMetalDnD
2 жыл бұрын
You can tell a whole lot about a D&D gamer by how they react to Touch of Death. If they see no real downside, they’re more about combat than roleplay, as this Dark Gift’s drawbacks are all roleplay. You can’t touch another creature, like Rogue from the X-Men. Also, this would logically affect how others treat the character. Townsfolk will treat them like dirt and try to avoid them like the plague… because the character is a walking plague. If you don’t care for roleplay, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with not caring for it (you do you), you might really like this Dark Gift. Just hope your DM feels the same way about roleplay as you. Otherwise, they might make sure you encounter those downsides a little more often than you anticipated.
@nicozandhuis1865
3 жыл бұрын
The touch of death has the drawback that any situation where you are grappling or being grappled can cause injury, and grappling can be subjective, like is a long embrace a grapple? What about if a guard is holding onto you for a lil bit too long? This is just my making sense out of it mechanically it does ofc seem busted but pretty cool
@Nildread
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, it's definitely not as mechanically supported as some of the others. But it's interesting
@baxterbruce9827
3 жыл бұрын
For the Touch of Death I might make it function as a semipermanent Concentration, where they need to make some conscious effort to not have the necrotic damage on
@tylerdurham6091
3 жыл бұрын
Honestly, the Alter Self one is the first on the list I liked. I'm prepping a Curse of Strahd game, and want to use the dark gifts like they were used in earlier editions: as "rewards" for evil actions.
@THEdeadlynightshade1646
3 жыл бұрын
The death touch and the symbiot look awesome 😎 (also for the borrowed eyes just be a deep gnome no detection half the issues gone)
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
Really like the idea of a creepy deep gnome is just watching you all the time, haha
@TheProteanGeek
3 жыл бұрын
Shadow is great if you want to be Dr Facilier. That's so awesome. Warlock who also has that shadow.
@RustyhairedAlp9575
5 ай бұрын
Pov: you have friends on the other side
@R.E.E.D.
3 жыл бұрын
For Second Skin, it honestly feels kinda vague about whether or not it requires Concentration. "You can't end it..." But ending it should be as simple as not concentrating on it. Even if you include the 2nd part of the sentence "to gain the benefits of another option", the Concentration aspect is still vague. So you can't recast Alter Self using a spell slot to change options? If it's Concentration and you stop Concentrating, can you not cast Alter Self to choose a different option? Are you just permanently locked into Change Appearance Alter Self until you long rest? "When you cast Alter Self with this feature, some cosmetic aspect of your second form remains after the spell ends." -But the whole feature can be cosmetic can't it? "The mark is a perceptible change such as scaly skin, stunted wings, eyes without pupils, or horns." -You can grow wings? But Alter Self doesn't let you grow wings if you don't already have them. If you don't have them and grow them, can you fly now? It's differentiating between cosmetic and practical, so are the wings practical? I get that Alter Self can be used to completely change what you look like, but what if the change is just, "You grow some horns and your sking turns red"? Assuming Second Skin is Concentration, if you stop Concentrating on it, does that mean the cosmetics you keep can be the "Horns and red skin"??? From a "werewolf" perspective... if you get forced to turn into a werewolf, does this mean you just stop Concentrating on it that same turn? So you were transformed for less than 6 seconds and just have some extra chest hair? Or is it forcing you to Concentrate on the spell? As in, you can't just choose to end it until you fail a Con Save? It's extremely vague and I don't appreciate it considering it was the gift i looked forward to the most. I'm not someone who likes using my own homebrew but I'm homebrewing/house ruling that: 1.) This isn't Concentration 2.) You can't use Alter Self to fix your appearance if you're forced into it, but you can gain the Natural Weapons option while it's active. 3.) You can gain wings and other appendages, but they have no function (you dont get flight or extra attacks, can't grapple more creatures than normal). 4.) The exception to Rule 3 is for the function of identity. If your appearance changes to something noticeably different (man>woman, human face>four eyes, no mouth, no nose, etc) then functionally, people wouldn't know who you are if they haven't seen you in that form. Also: I disagree. The 6th Option for Catalyst can be really good. If you've taken on a Curse/Dark Gift to get revenge on someone then you see them and the gift activates, or if you're being hunted by someone and see them, you transform. Or if you've received power but in exchange, you always transform when you see the person you love most. It's a very good thematic drawback. One of the best on the list for plot purposes.
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
I really like these as flavor and not specifically mechanical buffs there are definitely things I would really like mechanically but it’s really the ability to use a mechanical representation in the game as the flavor you want with the character and I really like that and that way I am very OK with what they did
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
Got a remember these are dark gifts they’re supposed to be more of a flavor and a burden for the setting then just pure buffs, To me I love symbiotic being and death touch in any setting but also the watchers as well it’s simply is a pinch of spice on your character. For example: Caleb has a thing where he might have a mini brake when he burns a humanoid because it reminds him how he killed his parents so having elective problems for a character can really make them have that little something extra
@devonthurgood9381
3 жыл бұрын
Think I'm gonna use these as rewards offered by a sinister vampire.
@babony5
3 жыл бұрын
These dark gifts sound great for making interesting warlocks. What better way to spice up your Great Old One warlock than have some symbiote try to convince them to open a portal to the far realms?
@tentavision13
3 жыл бұрын
I absolutely LOVE the shadow gift, but if anything id like the shadow hinderance to activate MORE often- having a prankster shadow is the coolest part of it and id prefer if it came up more often
@djburk7930
3 жыл бұрын
I can only assume they would still happen even if you reroll with Halfling Luck. If they're meant as benefits with downsides, it wouldn't make sense (to me) for a DM to just give it as a random buff to Halflings because they lack a downside due to their racial feature.
@heywardcharles3994
3 жыл бұрын
Will they add it to the characters creation on Dndbeyond?
@valkurite
3 жыл бұрын
I hope so, but it’s unlikely. They still don’t have the supernatural gifts from Tasha’s
@tylamcgilverson3923
3 жыл бұрын
Probably not. Ot probably falls under magic item or something dumb like that. I cant even find where to buy just the class variant rules.
@Foxfisher159
3 жыл бұрын
Probably after they finish the framework for the Supernatural Gifts that they've been working on since 2020.
@jackdizzy123
3 жыл бұрын
@@tylamcgilverson3923 you have to actually buy the whole book to unlock optional class features
@RyanTheWolf
3 жыл бұрын
They dont even have the divine gifts to piety system from the Theros book.
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
I can’t wait to play my shadar-ki, Dahmpir, death touch, mercy monk!
@billsuazo8083
3 жыл бұрын
i was just thinking about this. Death touch mercy monk for the win
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
Ya, my idea is if we start at level 1, the death touch is the mechanical representation of the overwhelming power they can’t control yet, the subclass is them getting a handle on life and death energy.
@billsuazo8083
3 жыл бұрын
i was more or less thinking Chat noir build character
@cloudfair2
3 жыл бұрын
I like the idea but HOLY CRAP are some of these still rough drafts. 1 has no real detriment (it’s a niche downside) and others have no real benefits. Second Skin would be interesting if it gave you ALL of alter self’s abilities but as is there isn’t a point to this with it being fixed to 1 form.
@williamturner6192
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, that one seems to be a backstory one. "I'm not really a Tabaxi, I'm a disguised Racshasa who rebounded her former abilities and life" Or "I'm an Ilithid wizard who sealed his sonic powers" Or same as the others but Lamia and Centair. Spooking people by revealing your Ilithid face is a good use.
@darcraven01
5 ай бұрын
I just created a character with the symbiotic being dark gift but with a slight twist. the symbiotic being is in control of the body and the original owner (host) is a background voice. i made it so the symbiote is a new lifeform that is curious about everything and so takes his time to observe as much as he can and asks many questions whereas the host is just in the back of his(own) head trying to hurry the symbiote along so they can return to the lab that created it and figure out a way to separate symbiote from host. so the agenda is the host's agenda, not the symbiote's.. lol
@alexandercross9081
3 жыл бұрын
I interpreted death touch, as a thing like Rogue from the X men's ability, it cannot be turned off, and you always deal 1d10* damage to anyone you touch
@CrazyLikeUhFox
3 жыл бұрын
Same, he latched on to the “you can focus your death touch” line, thinking it implies that you deal no damage otherwise. But I think that part is just there to remind players that if they want to use it against someone in combat, they’ll still need to roll for a melee attack. There’s nothing that says you HAVE to focus to deal damage.
@rafaelcalmon2858
3 жыл бұрын
For the Watchers, I wonder if it allows you to see in magical darkness. It says you can't be blinded. What being in the dark does is give you the blinded status. If you are not blinded, doesn't it mean you are seeing in it? It makes sense flavorwise, since you are "borrowing their vision", so if they can see you would be able to. The negative I don't think is THAT bad. It basically makes you bad at positive social interactions, but many characters are so bad at it that they won't try it anyway. It doesn't make you have disadvantage on Intimidation though, and you could ask the DM for advantage on it depending on the situation since you have some REALLY weird sh** going on with those creatures crawling around you. Personally, I think the real benefit in Dark Gifts is adding flavor that actually has mechanical influence, be it positive or negative. The more negative ones I believe would be well suited for the character being cursed at some point in the campaign, like how they mentioned accepting it in exchange for coming back to life. If you think about it, a curse is usually all bad. Giving it a smaller good is actually pretty interesting. I think it's fun, especially if you use it as a template to make your own in a way that fits the character or the event that gave them their dark gift. *In short, I like it for giving us the official greenlight to add stuff like that to the game.*
@mckinneym.2743
3 жыл бұрын
I have a character whose powers come from the souls of a mage academy that was destroyed, some of these especially the symbiotic relationship could be really interesting for that character
@oniminikui
3 жыл бұрын
I'm going to be running an Among Us-themed campaign with my D&D group. The villain-in-disguise will have access to a Dark Gift and to one of the Transformations (from the Grim Hollow Campaign Setting). As DM, I will control the environment and any possible third party to keep the heroes off-guard.
@torva360
3 жыл бұрын
This is a whole other MAJOR character feature that DMs will have to track, especially since it looks like everyone is supposed to get them. Reminds me of the heroic traits from Theros, but with more drawbacks.
@CrazyLikeUhFox
3 жыл бұрын
NOO, I would definitely NOT give one to the entire party. That would get old fast, and probably make four players each feel considerably less special than one player would.
@loganterranova4999
3 жыл бұрын
Time stopping on the brink of death offering to save a character reminds me of "the saga of tanya the evil"
@HBookbinderGM
2 жыл бұрын
I like the concept but will design my own as you suggested at the end.
@maw5646
3 жыл бұрын
Except for “Second Skin”, all of these Dark Gifts are all really cool and could provide a mix of both mechanical and roleplay elements to heighten the players experience. I can see what they were going for with Second Skin, but I just don’t like it all that much, unfortunately. 😭
@majesticeagle5723
3 жыл бұрын
Personally if I were DMing for someone with a character who had the Touch of Death gift (or was playing as one), I would put in some sort of effect that touching someone or having someone touch "your bare skin", as described the flavor text, takes damage. I think maybe using something like an ability mod (CON makes the most sense to me) or prof. bonus could be used as a more consistent, but less extreme version of the grapple damage if the goal would be not to potentially kill low health NPCs (or party members) by accident, but using the grapple damage could work to make it more of a threat. Since the text is a bit confusing on if you just need to be in contact (as the grapple damage suggests) or if they actually have to be touching your skin (as the flavor text suggests) in this system I would use the grapple damage when the condition is actually applied regardless of where the contact is happening and then the other damage only when someone actually touches your skin. This would create some interesting roleplay scenarios such as a character who tries to keep their skin covered up at all times to avoid hurting people, even in inappropriate scenarios. Even with all this I feel like auto damage on all contact, even through clothes/armor without grappling/being grappled, is barely a downside compared to the other gifts and would make me feel guilty for picking this as it is thematically my favorite even without all the bonuses.
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
Finally an ability to take my grappler to the next level!
@joshuahendershot196
3 жыл бұрын
Grappler+Unarmed Fighting Style+Death Touch 1d4 Bludgeoning+1d10 necrotic at the start of every round and if your a fighter you could action surge to make two death touch attacks as I don't think it's limited to once per turn.
@marcelogutierrez5083
3 жыл бұрын
@@joshuahendershot196 I’m not sure the Death Touch part of the Dark Gift is any good, but the additional grapple damage is good.
@joshuahendershot196
3 жыл бұрын
@@marcelogutierrez5083 Death touch is very good, up to 4d10 necrotic damage on a single attack puts it on par with Fire Bolt and the severely undervalued Primal Savagery but it's one the 3rd least resisted damage types and it's also an unarmed strike meaning monks would do a total of 5d10 at 17th level and fighters could do a combined 1d8+4d10 at level 17, 2d8+8d10 if they action surge. Not to mention a Monk could stunning strike with it.
@marcelogutierrez5083
3 жыл бұрын
@@joshuahendershot196 you cant use Martial Arts or Flurry of Blows with it, those require you to take the “Attack” action. No fighter would give up 3-4 attacks for 4d10 necrotic, even less likely with GWM/SS or basically ANY magic weapon. There is no reason yo waste an action for Death Touch, especially if you want to stunning strike - you want more attacks to ensure you can land it
@jamespeterson1708
3 жыл бұрын
You’re channel is great man keep up the great work. I’m subscribed and I’ve got your notifications. I’m always eager to see your next video.
@davidragan9233
3 жыл бұрын
12:21 I disagree with you on Second form, it might not have much for a Roll-player but for a Role player it is invaluable. :)
@Greytusks
3 жыл бұрын
A Monk grappler with Touch of Death.
@TheodoreMinick
3 жыл бұрын
A *grung* monk grappler with death touch.
@arturv.a.4542
3 жыл бұрын
@@TheodoreMinick a grung mercy monk grappler with death touch
@perplexingpantheon
2 жыл бұрын
A Tortle Circle of Spores druid with death touch could be juicy.
@SavantApostle
2 жыл бұрын
I can see how they add to the horror atmosphere in the domain of dread settings.
@lordvectra7821
3 жыл бұрын
Ye, Touch of Death is probably the only one Id take. If I cant choose, Im not taking the deal. Rolling a 1 on some of those gifts can make you a detriment to the party. Also, dont worry about ppl calling you a powergamer bc you point out that they more or less mechanically suck bc even many non-optimizers like to survive. By putting 14 - 16 in STR (or Dex or both) for your fighter, you are already optimizing 😂
@BoredTAK5000
3 жыл бұрын
I really like them. The only one I'd change is second skin. I'd limit it so that it's only the form they choose (like a lycanthrope or an otherworldly being etc) but I'd make it so that they can do it at will, without concentration and have a natural weapon if the for calls for it. This might be a bit too strong but I'd keep the whole forced transformation trait (maybe make it DC 20) and then focus on the impact the people have around them.
@joshuahendershot196
3 жыл бұрын
As far as I can tell Death touch would still be good as a monk, unless I'm misremembering the only requirement for the bonus action unarmed strike is that you made an unarmed strike or monk weapon attack as your action I don't recall if it specifically says the attack action which means bonus action unarmed strike/flurry of blows, also since it's an unarmed strike it's a melee weapon attack which you could then spend a ki point to use stunning strike with it. Should also mention that Death Touch at level 17 is literally just putting all your eggs in one basket as it packs all the damage of a full round of unarmed strikes into a single action. Correction Martial Arts does specify the attack action so it wouldn't work.
@glaciallemon1360
3 жыл бұрын
You'd still be doing 5d10 Damage on One hit. So without using any ki you're doing almost as much as flurry of blows
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
This actually reminds me of fighting game strats and combos, try and get some light attacks and set ups and then do your heavies. Very fitting for a monk, get that stun and some advantage then do a death touch with advantage
@joshuahendershot196
3 жыл бұрын
@@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648 Taking advantage of hitstun to land your ultimate and keep the combo going, one of my favorite Fighting game strats well next to wall bounce set-ups cause those are just dumb.
@ChongoDaClown
3 жыл бұрын
I personally love the watchers I think it adds noice roleplay and reminds me of vania's blood Kin from various sources (shadowverse, grand blue ect)
@NerdGuy1988
3 жыл бұрын
Watchers is exactly what I needed. I'm using custom lineage to be a recently created 'mana elemental' artificer and the watchers are going to be ghost orbs/ectoplasmic wisps that appear around me. I thought mixing Watchers with the Far Traveler background ability would make for some hilarious role play.
@sorufa888
3 жыл бұрын
Hear me out: Astral Self Bugbear with Living Shadow, you get an unarmed strike of 25ft
@battledummie5656
3 жыл бұрын
Reminds me of this other build I heard of its a Bugbear fighter Rune knight with a polearm and the shadow.
@linkn5509
2 жыл бұрын
My party ended our last game stuck and naked in the shadowfell, came across a hag who took interest in them. I’m thinking of her giving them small charms with dark gifts imbued in them
@Subariel
3 жыл бұрын
i like the watchers gift for playing a character like Swain from League of Legends
@FireGamingUltima
3 жыл бұрын
About mist walker and poisoned roots: Im not sure paladins aura would affect this since paladin needs to be conscious.
@tedrobbins5811
3 жыл бұрын
I love the idea of a dark gift but these offerings need some help. They feel more like a dark curse that a player/character has to overcome. I do love Venom so the symbiote interests me but I would do some tweeking to inspire the players to expand it a bit. Just my thoughts
@nandodando9695
3 жыл бұрын
Why can't we collect dark gifts like Pokemon? Parasite has one of 8 effects/powers...have 8 of them on an arm. Basically become an SCP slowly.
@Kakkarot211
3 жыл бұрын
symbiote sounds like it could be interesting
@HawkThePhoenix
3 жыл бұрын
What I'm most curious about, is the wording with the abilities that trigger on a d20 rolling a 1, how would that work with advantage/disadvantage? If either dice rolls a 1, or the RESULT is a 1, for the re-roll where you HAVE to take the new roll, would you get the new result on that die regardless if the other die was higher/lower canceling out the advantage/disadvantage in niche situations? I would rule yes to all this based on as written, but still curious on intent and other DM's thoughts.
@demiurge2763
3 жыл бұрын
I wanna turn Death Touch into Cold Touch to become Elsa
@Grayson.P
3 жыл бұрын
I may have found a bit of an exploit with living shdow: -Shadow strike: can increase reach by 10ft. -Bugbear long limbed: reach is 5ft greater than normal. Weapon with reach: adds 5 ft to attack Battlemaster lunging attack: increase reach by 5 ft This can be a melee range of 30 ft on your turn. Now take sentinal (given the battlemaster benefit would not apply here) but that would still be 25 ft of melee range. There are probably a few other cool things from here that could come with multiclassing, but would need to look into that more.
@shadoww4818
3 жыл бұрын
I believe "Faustian Bargain" is the term you were looking for.
@apweaver3498
3 жыл бұрын
* * * WARNING * * * Incoming wall of text! Gathering Whispers is a bit weak, Sudden Cacophony only being able to add your Proficiency Bonus to your AC once per Long Rest is weak, if it was once per Short Rest or you could use it a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus per Long Rest it would be much better. Plus their beneficial Nat 1 roll is very weak and Augury is a ribbon spell so it lacks any real mechanical power. Mist Walker is very campaign specific, and that to me makes it very weak. I disagree with the changes to Innate Spellcasting being able to use Spell Slots, it is weak for non-Spellcasting classes and very powerful for Spellcasters specifically Spells Known Spellcasters. I also dislike that the "go to" for free teleports is Misty Step because Misty Step can be countered by Anti-Magic Fields and trigger Wild Magic in some areas. Yes Misty Step has a thematic spell name for the Mist Walker, but they could have simply given the player the ability to teleport 30 ft. Whether it is a spell or innate teleport, I think it should have been reusable on a Short Rest or scaled with Proficiency Bonus. Misty Step needs to be useable more since the Mist Traveler Dark Gift could be completely unused due to the campaign not moving between planes or unusable due to the Dark Lord preventing travel. Poisoned Roots is such a terrible penalty, because it either does nothing or penalizes the DM, the player and the players party. It takes away DM and player agency, forcing the party to move 10 miles or it has no affect if traveling long distances for days, or in a dungeon for less than a week (10 days). It only penalizes players taking time to roleplay or use downtime. If Poisoned Roots instead acted like a limited Rod of Security and allowed the player and their allies to be transported into a mist shrouded area to rest, but with the penalty of causing Exhaustion to everyone over time if they stay in too long it would make this Dark Gift much better. Second Skin is the worst of the Dark Gifts, it has no upside. You technically cannot use Alter Self to change your appearance into someone else, you only turn into your Second Form. It is also worth mentioning that casting Alter Self in this way still costs Conc. so if your Involuntary Change Save fails, not only are you wasting your Action to cast Alter Self but you will drop your Conc. on whatever else you were Conc. on. If this Dark Gift were to let you cast Alter Self without using Conc. and you could use any option from the spell it would be better. Keep the minor cosmetic change that occurs no matter which option of Alter Self you choose. IE if you choose Aquatic Adaptation and your Second Form is "a Fey-like shape" you have gossamer wing-like fins on your back that resemble a Flying Fish and they last until you finish a Long Rest. If you use Change Appearance and your Second Form is a "hybrid form of humanoid and beast" you might make yourself look like a noble but you still have thick fur on the backs of your hands and tops of your feet that you must hide. Involuntary Change should cause you to turn into your Second Form entirely, not just a minor cosmetic change, but a full on transformation. The change shouldn't require an Action or Conc., but it should let you reuse Alter Self instead of needing a Long Rest. Touch of Death almost feels like it is incomplete, as it is, it is way OPed. It would be cool if the Withering Contact feature was also the penalty but included dealing damage to allies trying to drag, or shove you and when targeted by Touch based spells. So if someone tries to use Revivify they take damage. I would actually cause the damage to scale somewhat so that the penalty is a real threat. Increase it to 1d10 + Proficiency Bonus Necrotic damage. This would cause the mechanics to match the flavour text. Inescapable Death works with Death Touch, it also works with Chill Touch, Death Domain Clerics, Vampiric Touch and Mercy Monks. The Undead Warlock wouldn't need it since they already get Inescapable Death. The Watchers could use a buff, I think the Immunity to Blindness should always be active and you cannot be Surprised. I think it is very cohesive in terms of theme, I like that Intimidation is not affected by the Watchers because they are creepy watchers, and that the Animal Handling Check is a Cha Check which means even if you aren't a Cha based character or you are a Cha based character but not proficient in Animal Handling you have a chance to pass the check.
@Nildread
3 жыл бұрын
What do you mean mist walker is campaign specific? These are meant for ravenloft.
@apweaver3498
3 жыл бұрын
@@Nildread They are meant for any horror style game, and again even if in Ravenloft they are campaign specific, if the game only takes place in Barovia then what good is being able to teleport between Barovia and the Material Plane? Or what if the Dark Lord doesn't allow you to use the feature? It is campaign and DM specific. So the only real feature is Misty Step once per Long Rest.
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
Depending on the type of campaign I was running, i’d allow a death domain cleric to use death touch to count as a canned trip. But I’d want them to have to earn it or use a feat to gain it in that case.
@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648
3 жыл бұрын
Wait! Does that mean someone who touches you get hurt? They didn’t actually mechanically state it works that way. They probably didn’t make it an instant touch mechanic because you could manipulate that to have a large burst of damage to your enemies if you’re able to self heal yourself to really wouldn’t be a downside and it would just be more more powerful
@giorgitsiklauri840
3 жыл бұрын
I think the halfling ability would override it, from how I see it it's no different from rolling with advantage and rolling a 1 and a different number, the roll doesn't do anything until the final roll is locked in.
@DemonMouseVG
3 жыл бұрын
The problem is that a halfling has a .025% chance of rolling a nat 1 and keeping it So that means there are practically no downsides and only upsides Which defeats the entire purpose of a dark gift
@giorgitsiklauri840
3 жыл бұрын
@@DemonMouseVG Well no halfling wouldn't work with it I was just using it as an example of an ability that rerolls a d20, but since a dark gift replaces most of your race a halfling wouldn't keep their lucky ability if they got a dark gift and so the combo is impossible.
@DemonMouseVG
3 жыл бұрын
@@giorgitsiklauri840 Dark gift doesn't replace your race stuff, lineages do.
@giorgitsiklauri840
3 жыл бұрын
@@DemonMouseVG Oh shit sorry I thought this was the lineages video yeah then halfling does work with it but still most of the negatives of the dark gifts aren't so bad and negating them doesn't seem like that big a deal.
@yanaleigh
3 жыл бұрын
I might use them as a template, to create my own. But I don't think I'll use any of those as written.
@javisan-zq1wg
3 жыл бұрын
i would say that weathering contact may affect if they touch you,like using cure wounds,but it doesnt say it,also this necrotic touch is good for a hasted action
@Sibula
3 жыл бұрын
Wouldn't the Touch of Death be great for melee clerics? An unarmed strike plus 1d10 is already better than any 1h weapon and it scales beyond 2h weapons at level 5. Also works for necrotic spells, which are sadly limited to Inflict Wounds (becomes worse than your attack at level 11) and Spirit Shroud from the standard spell list. You could extend that to Vampiric Touch by taking the grave domain but that just doesn't work great in melee. Maybe you could make a grappling melee cleric, dealing an extra 2d10 or so damage per turn compared to a "standard" cleric?
@CaitSith87
3 жыл бұрын
Would have wished the effects were stronger or would grow over time like at level 3 and 5 this addional tging happen. Bith megativ and psiitjve?
@danielsteinbock4407
3 жыл бұрын
Why would I take the Watchers? SPIDERS~ X3
@justinrobert82
3 жыл бұрын
AND relies on you to survive. Not THAT relies on you to survive. The symbiote relies on you to survive.
@HBookbinderGM
2 жыл бұрын
In Strahd, players may continue to play their recently dead PC, if they take a Dark Gift.
@jeramiedavis6782
3 жыл бұрын
Dark gifts in the old 2e were gained when a atrocious act was committed by pcs and alot of them were cosmetic like red eyes or horns or maybe chill touch not another op option for first lvl characters. I wouldn't allow new characters created to start with a dark gift.
@CrazyLikeUhFox
3 жыл бұрын
There is nothing OP about these my friend lol
@Dreadstealer
3 жыл бұрын
second skin could be a dr jenkins and mr hyde kinda thing
@BloodMonkeez
3 жыл бұрын
As a player I was pretty disappointed by this book. I saw like 4 magic items which were renamed/cursed versions of other items. A cloak which is a handy haversack, a necklace which is a luck stone... ok. Then only 8 dark gifts half of which are super campaign specific or not very good. Subclasses and new lineage options are okay. Feels kind of empty, but maybe i've been spoiled by Xanathars
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