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Orc Labs Podcast 39 – Talking with Treantmonk! 5E Wizards

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featuring Steve & Chris

Hello orcs! We’re back. Our recent hiatus was both unplanned and unavoidable, but the siren’s song of RPG blogging and podcasting can be resisted for only so long. And don’t worry, we do have something to show for our time away.

Our very own Steve had a face to face (well… Skype conversation) with living legend Treantmonk! The famed author of D&D class guides took exception to some of our criticism of the Wizard class in 5E (http://orclabs.com/2015/05/18/orc-labs-podcast-35-dd-5e-crowd-control/), and was kind enough to tell us exactly where our playstyle had gone wrong. We went into this expecting to get schooled by the master himself… and he did not disappoint.

The major points:

4:12 – Single target lockdown is a brute force solution but often a risky proposition, and taking chances isn’t what a properly played wizard is about.

10:10 – Just like in past editions, proper spell selection is crucial.

10:44 – Mind the concentration! (Note: Chris later mentions getting out of melee combat by going invisible, but that, too, is a concentration effect. It’s a great option, but disruptive to the potential benefits a Wizard can provide to a party.)

10:56 – Alway always always plan out different spell action types and creative ways to maximize your use of the action economy. An effective wizard is an efficient wizard.

12:55 – Relying on cantrips is essential to making it to the end of the day.

14:21 – With a proper party complement, Minor Illusion is the single most overpowered cantrip in the game. Why? Saving against it requires an action. It can be used to give advantage to an ally and disadvantage to an enemy. And most importantly, you can cast it every single round.

22:43 – When the going gets rough, disengage and GTFO of dodge.

31:00 – Polymorph is all sorts of broken, which means a Wizard who can polymorph his squishy allies is broken, too.

34:55 – Don’t underestimate the potential utility of Portent, regardless of what you roll.

39:10 – Prepared casting is the new Easy Mode.

49:40 – Illusory Reality is the 14th level Wizard’s ascension to godhood.

Treantmonk 3.5 Guides:

http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876

Treantmonk Pathfinder Guides:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-creations/treatmonks-lab

Treantmonk 5E Guides:

http://community.wizards.com/forum/player-help/threads/4209951

The Measure of a Hero: Intelligence

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Forgetting to Remember to Learn with Your Brain

by Meorty Matt

Hey orcs. It’s been a while. Official splat material is starting to come out for 5th Edition, which will (hopefully) provide a fresh stream of relevant content for fans and critics alike. There are still some areas of core content that this blog has not examined in detail, however, and some of it raises Big Questions that haven’t really been answered… until now. Continue reading →

Orc Labs Podcast 32 – Listener Questions!

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Today we answer a couple listener questions!

1) Do you have general advice about which class to take first when multiclassing? I was thinking about Bard/Warlock when I get to create a character. But I don’t know the order in which to take the levels.

2) I’ve been trying to motivate my group of entirely new players to play more, but people are struggling to get engaged. Everyone but the rogue feels that combat is banal in fights (the wizard doesn’t know what they can do at them moment). The fighters just swing their weapons every round. How can I, as a player, help spice up combat for everyone? Or is there some advice you could give that I can share with the DM?