r/DnD5th

Image 1 — Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster
Image 2 — Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster
Image 3 — Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster
Image 4 — Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster
Image 5 — Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster
Image 6 — Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster
Image 7 — Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster
Image 8 — Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster
▲ 176 r/DnD5th+14 crossposts

Orc Shaman (CR 4) - A Storm Priest, Spirit Speaker, and Warband Support Caster

Here is the Orc Shaman, a CR 4 spellcaster built to add storm magic, ancestral spirits, and battlefield support to orc encounters.

I wanted this creature to feel like more than just an orc with spells. It can support nearby allies with temporary hit points, empower a warband with primal rage, call down lightning through its Rite of the Storm Gods, and use its voice as a supernatural force that carries across the battlefield.

The page also includes optional traits that let you customize the shaman depending on the role you want it to play. It can become more durable against thunder and lightning, deal extra force damage through ancestral spirits, hold concentration more reliably while wounded, perform ritual movement, or unleash one final spell when reduced to 0 hit points.

It works well as a tribal spiritual leader, battlefield caster, cultic storm priest, or dangerous support monster behind a larger orc warband.

This creature is from Orcs & Orcs, available on DriveThruRPG in PDF and hardcover print!

Orcs & Orcs is the ultimate guide to unleashing the full fury and depth of orc-kind in your 5E campaigns, whether you want savage warbands, disciplined armies, cursed berserkers, or iron-willed mercenaries.

What’s Inside?

  • Dozens of Orc Statblocks – From the Orc Bannerbearer to the Red Orc Warlord, each entry includes extra traits and variants to help you customize encounters with brutal precision.
  • Powerful Orc Factions – Expand your bestiary with Ironpeak Orcs, Oathsister Orcs, Red Orcs, and twisted Mutant Orcs. Each brings unique abilities, lore, and lair ideas.
  • Orc Campaign Tools – Warband factions, tactical lairs, encounter suggestions, and more.
  • 70 Orc-Themed Magic Items – Tribal relics, cursed axes, brutal armor, spiritual totems, and more.
  • VTT & Art Resources – Includes 27 handouts and 17 creature tokens to bring orcs to life in-person or online.

Orcs fit into any fantasy campaign as enemies, allies, or complex factions. Wherever your world needs strength, rage, and scars earned in battle, orcs are ready.

I’m also working on Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E, an upcoming Kickstarter featuring 300+ magic items inspired by myths and legends from around the world. It includes weapons, armor, relics, artifacts, and scaling items that can grow with the characters over the course of a campaign. You can subscribe to our newsletter to get updates and download a free 30-page PDF preview. We only send emails occasionally, and only when there’s a new release, important news, or exclusive free content and discount codes to share.

You can find more of my creatures and manuals on DriveThruRPG, my Linktree, or by visiting r/JonnyDM!

u/jonnymhd — 12 hours ago
▲ 147 r/DnD5th+14 crossposts

The Winged Lynx is a CR 6 flying predator built for mountain passes, remote forests, sacred peaks, and isolated wilderness encounters. It is fast, intelligent enough to feel unsettling, and dangerous enough to become the center of local legends, whether as a feared monster, a false deity, or a misunderstood guardian.

I wanted it to feel more interesting than just “a lynx with wings”, so the page includes lore, encounter ideas, and multiple plot hooks. It can stalk travelers from above, terrorize a village, become the focus of a dangerous cult, or guard an ancient mountain secret that the party needs to uncover.

Mechanically, it is a mobile ambush predator with stealth, aerial movement, a diving attack, a fear-based roar, and bonus action mobility, making it useful as either a solo wilderness threat or part of a larger mountain encounter.

This creature appears in The Aberrant Codex: Mutations and Aberrations, available on DriveThruRPG! You can also check it out there for a more extensive preview. Delve into the warped world of aberrations, mutations, and cosmic horror in your 5E campaigns.

What’s Inside:

  • Mutation Rules & Zones – Mechanics for wild magic areas, arcane corruption, and the strange transformations they cause.
  • Character Options – 12 subclasses, 10 backgrounds, 4 new races, and 30 feats themed around mutation, aberration, and forbidden evolution.
  • Spells & Items – 33 spells and 80+ magic items warped by planar influence or unstable energies.
  • Monsters & Templates – Over 150 monster statblocks, from psionic predators to mutated horrors, plus variant rules for custom mutations.
  • VTT Resources – Includes 100+ creature tokens and 125+ art handouts to bring your sessions to life.

Whether you want eldritch creatures, strange player options, or full rules for reality-warping regions, The Aberrant Codex has it all. The Hardcover edition of The Aberrant Codex is also available here: https://buy.stripe.com/8x24gyfNNegY75qgwI6c005

You can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on upcoming projects, including a Kickstarter launching in the coming months: Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E, inspired by myths from around the world. By joining the newsletter, you can download a free 30-page PDF preview of the upcoming Kickstarter. We only send emails occasionally, and only when there’s a new release, important news, or exclusive free content and discount codes to share.

For more of my creatures, items, and manuals visit DriveThruRPG, my Linktree, or r/JonnyDM!

u/jonnymhd — 4 days ago
▲ 25 r/DnD5th+1 crossposts

What change in 5.5e has actually made your table more fun to run or play?

A lot of discussion around 5.5e usually ends up being about balance, buffs, nerfs, and what is technically stronger than before, but I’m more curious about something a little more practical:

What change has actually made the game more fun at your table?

For me, one of the biggest ones is that martial turns feel less repetitive now. In a lot of 2014 games, martial combat could sometimes slip into I walk up, I attack, I end my turn. In 5.5e, things feel a bit more textured. Between weapon masteries, cleaner class design, and some subclasses feeling more active, it feels like there is more going on from turn to turn without needing to overcomplicate the game.

That has probably been one of the biggest quality-of-life improvements for me. Not necessarily the flashiest change, but one that makes actual play feel better.

So what about you?

What change in 5.5e has genuinely made the game more fun in practice, either as a player or as a DM?

It could be:

• a class that now feels smoother to play
• a mechanic that makes combat more satisfying
• a rule that speeds things up or reduces confusion
• a DM-facing change that makes encounters easier to run
• a feature that looked small at first but ended up improving the feel of the game a lot

And on the other side, was there anything that sounded great when you first read it, but ended up being less fun at the table than you expected?

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u/MyrthDM — 3 days ago
▲ 99 r/DnD5th+12 crossposts

Hello, fellow adventurers! Today, we are excited to share the Bowl of the Moon Rabbit and Maneki-Neko Figurine, two Uncommon magic items inspired by Japanese folklore. These entries come from our upcoming Kickstarter project, 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 2024.

Step into a realm of ancient gods, legendary heroes, and forgotten civilizations with Mythological Items, a comprehensive compendium featuring over 300 magical items specifically designed for 5E and its 2024 ruleset update. This manual spans a vast array of cultural traditions, organizing its treasures into regional categories for easy reference and immersive worldbuilding. Each item includes not only full game mechanics, but also lore and background information to integrate it seamlessly into your campaign, whether as treasure, quest rewards, or the key to an unfolding mythic saga. From the storm-summoning weapons of thunder gods to cursed trinkets whispered of in ancient lore, this book brings myth to your table like never before.

This manual offers an extensive collection of magical items that can be incorporated into any campaign, regardless of its connection to specific mythological themes. The items presented in this volume, drawn from a multitude of global legends and folklore, are envisioned to enhance the diversity and depth of any fantasy world. This eclectic array mirrors the inherent blending of elements in many worlds and settings, where influences from various cultures and mythologies coexist harmoniously. For instance, Thor’s Hammer, Mjölnir, could serve as the centerpiece of a divine quest, while Draupnir, the Norse ring of endless wealth, might drive political intrigue or power struggles in a kingdom torn by greed.

Mythological Items also provides a solid foundation for campaigns that wish to delve deeper into the relics of a specific mythology or blend multiple traditions into a larger, interconnected setting. A campaign inspired by Greek mythology could see players donning the Nemean Lion’s Pelt, becoming nearly invulnerable as they take on challenges worthy of Heracles himself, while a campaign drawing from Japanese folklore could involve uncovering the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the fabled grass-cutting sword tied to imperial lineage and divine storms.

We suggest checking our pre-launch page for additional info and an extended 30-page preview of our compendium, scheduled to release in a few months! Alternatively, you can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on upcoming projects, special offers, and important news about our past and future works.

Happy adventuring!

u/MythosChronicles — 4 days ago
▲ 112 r/DnD5th+10 crossposts

Here are a few psionic magic items built around psychic power, telekinesis, mind control, and mental defenses. The Sword of Psionic Manifestation is the main one here, giving a character that classic psychic warrior feeling with a manifested psionic blade, extra psychic damage, a reactive mental shield, and telekinetic strikes against distant enemies.

The page also includes the Helm of Telepathic Command and the Staff of the Psionic Overlord, which lean more into domination, telepathy, and spellcasting.

The second page features the Staff of Mind Mastery, a legendary item for spellcasters who want to boost psychic damage, cast powerful mind-affecting spells, retaliate with mental force, and protect themselves from charm, fear, and other psychic threats.

I really like psionic items as rewards because they let you bring mind powers into a regular 5E campaign without needing an entire psionics system. They work especially well for psychic warriors, aberration-themed campaigns, mind flayer plots, alien ruins, strange lost civilizations, or any player who wants their character to feel like their power comes from pure willpower instead of traditional magic.

These items are part of Psionic Magic Items, a collection of unique psionic magic items. You can also check out my bundle of small D&D manuals on DMsGuild, which includes Psionic Magic Items.

You can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on upcoming projects, including a Kickstarter launching in the coming months: Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E, inspired by myths from around the world. By joining the newsletter, you can download a free 30-page PDF preview of the upcoming Kickstarter. We only send emails occasionally, and only when there’s a new release, important news, or exclusive free content and discount codes to share.

For more of my creatures, items, and manuals visit DriveThruRPG, my Linktree, or r/JonnyDM!

u/Sm_Rndm_Web — 8 days ago