Also ring of water walking at level 6, although not perfect for underwater. And at 10th level they could do the necklace of adaptation as well, which lets you breathe normally "in any environment" so should work in the ocean just fine
Water Breathing lasts for 24 hours and lets you target your whole party. Also, Ice Knife. No verbal component, and your only needed material component is... a drop of water.
When it comes to druid, you talked briefly about moon druids, but I also think that Circle of Stars makes a great navigator thematically, while still getting water breathing as a ritual spell. And of course Circle of the Land has a "Coast" option that gives Water Breathing and Water Walking permanently prepared at 5th level (and both are ritual spells without concentration).
Regarding the swim speed thing, remember the last sentence of Freedom of Movement: "Finally, being underwater imposes no penalties on the target's movements and attacks." 😊
We have an Open Seas Paladin in our group and the number of times their aura has stopped us from getting grappled is staggering. Also in the Legend of Drizzt books the Wizard Robillard was arguably the most dangerous person on his captain's ship. Lots of options for offense and defense for the vessel and crew there.
I love seeing UA-cam content creators getting together. The people who run UA-cam are asshats, creators need to have each others backs and spread the wealth. It's the only way to survive on the platform right now.
Guys when you work together is like avengers for me, nice vid! assembled! I think there is a sage advice from Jeremy Crawford which seems legit: "No rule prohibits verbal components from working underwater. Keep in mind that if you're talking, you're not holding your breath."
I like the idea of spellcasters losing their held breath (or some of it) if casting a spell with a verbal component; it could up the dramatic tension without being particularly disruptive or counterintuitive, which is something I look for in house rules and homebrew.
A fun piece out of the Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign Ch 6 room 1E reads, "if someone steps into the muck or leaps to the steps, the otyugh lashes out with its tentacles. A grappled character is dragged into the pit where, along with all the hazards of being savaged by an otyugh, there is the added danger of drowning. It's safe to assume that characters entering this tower will take a big gulp of clean air first, but the otyugh's attack might knock the wind out of them. Allow the attacked character to make a constitution saving throw with a DC equal to 5 + the damage caused by the otyugh's tentacle attack. A successful saving throw means the character has a lung full of air when dragged into the muck and can hold his or her breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 plus his or her constitution modifier with a minimum of 30 seconds (5 rounds). Failure means the characters lungs are empty, and the character falls unconscious at the end of his or her turn after a number of rounds equal to the characters constitution modifier unless the character breaks free from the otyugh's grasp before then.
Artificers can use Replicate Magic Item to make the Cloak of the Manta Ray at 6th level. Gives underwater breathing and 60ft swim speed. They can also Replicate the Cap of Water Breathing at 2nd level and have access to the Water Breathing spell
I feel like mimicking concentration checks for breath-holding is a good go-between. If you get hit, you roll constitution concentration check or start con mod countdown
Ive found the alchemist is really great in water campaigns as they can make transformation elixirs that give you the affects if the alter self spell for 10 minutes giving your allies water breathing and a swim speed
Also, as the last line (in a separate clause from the one regarding difficult terrain), it specifically calls out that movement cannot be affected or hampered by water.
PHB p. 182: "Each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in difficult terrain) when you're climbing, swimming, or crawling." Swimming costs extra unless you have the right kind of movement. This is not a penalty nor does it count as difficult terrain, so freedom of movement doesn't help you swim. It will help you fight and walk around under water, so it's far from useless. If the spell wanted you to have a swim speed it would say so outright.
@@JrgenHelland00 I’m not sure what this quote is referencing and I don’t have the book on me, is it underwater combat? unless I’m very mistaken, water is just difficult terrain. Which the spell prevents you from being effected by. So if you have 30ft movement, you have 30ft movement underwater. Am I missing something?
The thing that you’re missing is synergies between PC’s. The fighter, for example, isn’t able to breathe water and doesn’t have a swim speed, but when working with an ally who can cast Water Breathing the fighter is suddenly very useful, even without a swim speed.
So, I think a lot of people might miss this because of the flavor text in the current books... but a Bard, in terms of raw abilities, divorced from all the fluff and lute playing, would be an excellent ship's captain. If you get rid of all the very song related fluff text and replace it with something more appropriate, what does a bard do? They can be the face of a group, the one who lifts up their crew to see their full potential, the one who can always fill in some missing part of a plan so that their crew can focus on what they're good at... in a cooperative game it is ill advised for them to be autocratic, but the bard class can definitely be badass if they can outgrow the horny, the silly, the scurrilous lute-playing buffoon stereotype. Don't believe me? I shall summon *The* Bard. Go look up "Kenneth Branagh Saint Crispin's Day Speech." You're welcome in advance. I feel it may have been part of the inspiration for the Bill Pullman Independence Day speech.
The Giff are probably one of the best races for pirate based adventures, swim speed, firearm proficency that ignores both the loading property and disadvantage on long range, then advantage on strength checks and saves for all the rigging you'll be doing, lol.
Great video. I’ve had a lot of fun discovering new, smaller channels and their content. I’ll post this to Pointy Hat and Ginny Di, but maybe next year a little coordination around content? There’s been some overlap which is not at all bad but some themes are being covered a lot.
Great video dudes! You’re forgetting though that if someone wanted to pick up Sebastian Crowe’s Guide to Drakkenheim, the Flesh Patron Warlock can give you a swim speed and let you breath underwater right away at level 1! What a fun looking subclass 😉
Druids really stand out as Sea Casters. Wildshape for all the swimming forms like giant octopus and reef shark, as well as flying for scouting enemy ships or land as an eagle or vulture, the full list of water themed spells like create water, water breathing, walk on water, watery sphere, control water, ect, polymorph as well, freedom of movement, the utility spells like Goodberry for rations, Druidcraft for the forecast, and high wisdom for perception and survival. I want to play a sailor druid so bad, gives huge Earthsea vibes
Depth matters a lot too. If you want to think about the fantasy of being far below the surface, you quickly start having other concerns. Like high pressure, extrememly cold waters, and lack of natural light. Practiced free divers only go doen to 100ft. And with lots of practice and technology there are a few divers who have reach 1000 feet. But they were frequently injured in the process.
I would add mending to the list of must have spells. Sails tear, ropes get cut, metal components rust, masts snap and ships develop leaks and are high maintenance. All that is easily solved with mending
You should have vulnerability to Electricity while fully submerged. IMO Subtle Casting for Sorcerer is the go around for spell casting problem. The Metamagic Adept Feat from Tashas CoE is a must have for non Sorcerer if going under the waves. Uncommon or Rare magic items that gives you the ability to cast subtle is a must
So... Tasshak Longtail, my lizardfolk druid of the land (coast), would like to have a few words: lizardfolk: swim speed = walking speed, hold breath for 15 minutes druid - Circle of the Land (coast): water walk (R), water breathing (R), control water, freedom of movement all constantly prepared; unhindered by nonmagical difficult terrain (or plants, in case of kelp forests) Others have pointed out how clutch the above listed spells are. Having misty step (grapple escape) and conjure elemental always prepared are also useful.
Lizardfolk also have a swim speed and can hold their breath for 15 minutes. My first party was being pursued across a river by guards in a rowboat. My lizardfolk barbarian swam out, nearly capsized the boat, pulled one guard in, and generally terrorized the guards until they broke off to escape the "river monster."
I haven't seen anyone in Kraken week bring up the setting "The Seas of Vodari." Great setting that has good races, and sub-classes and for a Swashbuckling game above and below the Seas.
Hey, thanks for the video! I was inspired to run an underwater dungeon for my party because of Kraken Week, but then I realized I didn't know the rules for it. It's way more fun and engaging to hear you explain everything rather than reading it myself.
control water is the secret MVP hack for ship combat. I was also very surprised by ice storm because the range is so far, a lot of ship combat becomes about who can shoot first.
First water breathing spell for everybody. Then Sorcerer cast twinned Freedom of Movement twice. 4 player group have normal speed and attacks underwater.
Base artificer has alot of features that could help in this type of adventure. Some clutch Infusions like Cloak of the Manta Ray, Cap of water breathing are great. Once Spell storing item is online you can pass around air bubble, alter self, enhance ability or other useful spells without using more limited resources. A good example of how an artificer could be useful in a party
Love this video and your take on things. Since 3rd edition days all my campaigns have been nautical/piracy themed. Love seeing the campaign style getting attention ❤
I can see a perfectly good argument to have rapier join the non disadvantaged weapon group for underwater combat. I'd even also add quaterstaff, used in sharp thrusting jabs, likewise.
Ok, the burger -> cheese as pirate -> black powder guns analogy is absolutely perfect. Sometimes I get burgers without cheese just to dodge the lactose
20:19 There have been pirates in real-world history since long before the Trojan War. The vast majority did not have firearms. The problem, of course, is Hollywood. I encourage the Dudes and the viewers to check out Roman era warships in particular for inspiration for pre-gunpowder ships and ship-mounted weapons. 🙌
I think Waterworld was actually not that bad. It was a financial failure not because it didnt have a good box office total, but because it cost SOOO much to make. I liked the movie itself though.
4:13 that drowning-issue I circumvented with a character of mine. Simply by him being a warforged. Let me tell you a little story. Vaeringir - my warforged battlemaster/barbarian/artificer/war-wizard (8/1/2/2 at the time i think) had become a bit of the party's leader. and I deliberately wanted to shift the overall spotlight to other members of the party for a time - in part to have them shine, but also to see how they dealt with (perceived) loss. So when we got attacked by three ships full of undead pirates he handed his adamantine greatsword to the party's griffon-riding paladin to take off and destroy some of the incoming ships' rudders, rendering them unmaneuverable While the wizard and sorcerer burnt another ship to a crisp and the bat-riding cleric turned the crew of the third, a giant undead megalodon attacked our ship from below and swallowed some of the crew - including the very unlucky captain. So Vaeringir jumped overboard and onto the megalodon, ripped a hole into the undead creature and pulled out the captain and whoever ofthe crew he could. Even going so far as to drop into the meg's belly to find the remaining sailors. After he got them clear, however, the sorcerer had the bright idea of casting polymorph on the meg, turning it into a goldfish or something. With Vaeringir still in its belly this resulted in the meg being torn to shreds and Vaeringir losing his source of buoyancy, dropping into the depths. This was still days out from our destination. Although the other characters attempted to rescue Vaeringir, the DM followed my request and the attempts failed, so they continued ashore. About a week or so later, Vaeringir arrived ashore, coming walking out of the sea like a statue of Poseidon. Meanwhile the other players had had time to advance the plot a little further.
In my friend's upcoming campaign I am playing a water genasi sorcerer that is focused on water based spells but with a wrinkle, he's a wild magic origin after being blasted by magic infused water. So being able to breath water is good for me!! Being able to Ice knife through water will be soo cool, just as long as I don't blow up my party with a wild surge!!! 😆
I am playing in a ghosts of Saltmarsh as a monk/cleric winged tefiling. My Dm gave us a homebrewed magic item called the tear of Bemva. It gives the wearer a swim speed, the abiity to breath underwater, and cast water themed spells. However a major risk to the item is that if the user uses all of the charges on the tear to cast spells and rolls a one on a d20 the tear is destroyed.
I had an Archmage who I planned to cast Time Stop, drop a Delayed Blast Fireball, and then drop a Forcecage on the party, but he rolled pretty low initiative. The Druid hit him with Watery Sphere, and because I house ruled you have to be able to breathe in order to cast spells unless you can breathe underwater, the super-powerful spellcaster was completely negated by a single fourth-level spell. His crappy strength score wouldn’t let him get out, and by the time he finally escaped, he was surrounded and got ganked in one round before he could Teleport away. Don’t forget to give your Archmage a Contingency (or an ally that can cast Dispel Magic).
I don't remember which channel said it last time, but aquatic encounters in D&D are so deadly, that players avoid them at all costs. I was gamemastering a D&D 3.5 campaign years agon that had 3 14th Level Characters enter an overflooded dungeon. Right at the entrance they went down the stairs into a room with two exits on the right and left. The room was just 10x10x10ft in size and filled almost to the ceiling with water. Both doors leading on were jammed and one of them was even locked. What looked like foliage from the surrounding forrest floated on top. But that were monsters! Four kelp anglers. They had a challenge rating so low, that the players did not even got exp from them and I missread a game mechanic makig it even weaker. Well the player characters barely made it out alive. They had magic like freedom of movement and waterbreathing. But the kelp anglers tentakels did dispel magic. deadly! Dad-Ly!
I also like to add in any electrical spells whatever distance that says it can do is now a circle starting from the person casting the spell and they get a 10% damage from the spell due to the fact that is electrical. When they're on the water
swords bards make excellent swashbucklers and such. also fighters have the Unearthed Arcana mariner fighting style that most people use in spite of it's UA status that gives you a swim and climb speed if you dint use a shield.
My group is sea faring (for now) and about to go into underwater combat. I play the blood cleric. On that note, I did ask the dm on how collecting samples work and we concluded the water would dilute it too much to be usable. So that was interesting. But I digress. What I did is the monk and I crafted some water breathing potions ahead of time (they can craft potions somewhat well but my character is more familiar with medicine and working in a “hospital,” basically a temple dedicated to healing, as part of her profession outside adventuring) and the ranger had us switch out our usual weapons we had confiscated earlier. Honestly my character may not have a swim speed but between spiritual weapon, bless, and my insane con score (maxed out right now and war caster) I’m doing pretty good I feel. I plan to focus my character into being our primary medicine and potioneer/alchemist so we can gather and make many potions. Lol, might even take focus after a while lol. But for now we are treasure hunters who are a bit neutral in our morality.
JC says that being underwater doesn't prevent spellcasting, except that you're no longer holding your breath. Keeping in mind, these tweets were from 2016-2017 when Wizards of the Coast was fully in love with spellcaster classes.
Also with Warlock, at high level, you can take Master of Myriad Forms to be and to cast Alter Self to get a swim speed and water breathing. You could also go tomb to get water breathing as a ritual.
My favorite pirate character idea is a kensai monk. That way I can have my cutlass in one hand, a pistol in the other, and just wade into battle with only my cool jacket and hat on
Artificers have access to the alter self spell and Cloak of the Manta Ray on the infusion list as someone who had a artificer doing sea stuff much lower than level 10 those came in handy.
another thing you could do is get the old Unearthed Arcana: Waterborne Adventures where the Swashbuckler originated from in that UA there was a new fighting style called Mariner so long as you dont have heavy armour or a shield you have a swimming and climbing speed equal to your walk and you gain +1 AC and while it dosent give you any boosts to surviving the waves the Rune Knight will fit very well with your Viking party, throw in being a drauger too and suddenly you can wrestle with the kraken also couple fun ideas with Artificers, as an artillerist your eldrich cannons could literally be stylised as naval cannons meanwhile i would totally homebrew a heavy variant for the armorer so they could go bioshock big daddy mode so long as they can work out a way to get heavy armour prof
Hamburger is inferior to cheeseburger. Gimme the cheese 🤣 Wish I watched this before getting in the pool today. Time to try and cast spells under water.
i feel like recommending keen mind because it might save the party is gonna manifest either as simply auto-succeeding on a roll, or removing a part of the gameplay which the DM had prepared as a fun puzzle, to see if the party themselves are able to navigate. idk tho, ive never liked that feat, seems boring
I have a middle ground for verbal components underwater. If you can't breathe underwater, you can't cast spells with a language developed for use above water. You need an aquatic language to cast your spells in. Aquan Deep Speech Abyssal Merfolk or any other creature specific language from an aquatic species. An argument could be made for draconic and elvish since most dragons can swim and breathe underwater, lizardfolk are semi aquatic, and elves having too many subraces has turned elvish into the linguistic equivalent of herpes. I also make positive Int scores give bonus languages at character creation.
One of my players used the beast barbarian, asked me to take the simic hybrid and made a cursed pirate like Davy Jones with a face of a kraken, crab claws and so on. Amazing
The comment on paladins reminds me of Lien from _The Order of the Stick,_ whose paladin steed was a great white shark. Which very much surprised the bard.
Awesome video snd great topic. Also I know you'll be making a ranking of the new dnd subclasses for the new edition so I'm channeling I'll Eldritch powers to ask my patrons the dungeon dudes to have the warlock video sooner than yhe other classes 🙌🏾
Thanks for joining us for Kraken Week! 🥰
It was a pleasure!
I remain the tallest person in this comment encounter
You're Ginny Di the Queen of the Sea, thanks for Kraken Week
@@comedyslotI'm 6'5" shorty
Water breathing and swim speed aren’t problems if you go with homebrew merfolk from @GinnyDi
When it comes to Artificer, they get cloak of the manta ray at 6. Love you guys!
I was just coming here to say that. It gives 60 ft swim speed and water breathing, and doesn’t require attunement
Also ring of water walking at level 6, although not perfect for underwater. And at 10th level they could do the necklace of adaptation as well, which lets you breathe normally "in any environment" so should work in the ocean just fine
I also came here with this! I play an artificer in a very water-intensive campaign and I'm the fastest swimmer in the party 😊
Artificer is my new favorite character. L13 and scaring the DM.
I also came here to say that. Also the rope of climbing is quite useful on a pirate ship.
Water Breathing lasts for 24 hours and lets you target your whole party. Also, Ice Knife. No verbal component, and your only needed material component is... a drop of water.
One would assume there is a drop of water available in the ocean ;-)
That's handy
When it comes to druid, you talked briefly about moon druids, but I also think that Circle of Stars makes a great navigator thematically, while still getting water breathing as a ritual spell. And of course Circle of the Land has a "Coast" option that gives Water Breathing and Water Walking permanently prepared at 5th level (and both are ritual spells without concentration).
Yas! Navigate with the stars babyyy!
Regarding the swim speed thing, remember the last sentence of Freedom of Movement: "Finally, being underwater imposes no penalties on the target's movements and attacks." 😊
Was going to say this exact thing
ive heard of a grave domain cleric for a seafaring campaign because the sea is the largest mass grave in the world
"You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!"
I can imagine a Grave Domain cleric reaching higher levels and deciding to build a temple fortress in the center of a ship graveyard.
This has been a fun week. It's nice to see so many collaborations with creators I would never hear of otherwise.
Much love and thanks for the shout out Dudes!!!
Waterworld was underrated! I enjoyed it a lot, the sets were amazing, the real functioning Trimaran was incredible!
one of my favorite movies
Where did the people find dirt to smear on their faces in a world covered in water?
@@owenveighey1765I always assumed it was grease
We have an Open Seas Paladin in our group and the number of times their aura has stopped us from getting grappled is staggering. Also in the Legend of Drizzt books the Wizard Robillard was arguably the most dangerous person on his captain's ship. Lots of options for offense and defense for the vessel and crew there.
I love seeing UA-cam content creators getting together. The people who run UA-cam are asshats, creators need to have each others backs and spread the wealth. It's the only way to survive on the platform right now.
Guys when you work together is like avengers for me, nice vid! assembled! I think there is a sage advice from Jeremy Crawford which seems legit: "No rule prohibits verbal components from working underwater. Keep in mind that if you're talking, you're not holding your breath."
I like the idea of spellcasters losing their held breath (or some of it) if casting a spell with a verbal component; it could up the dramatic tension without being particularly disruptive or counterintuitive, which is something I look for in house rules and homebrew.
A fun piece out of the Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign Ch 6 room 1E reads, "if someone steps into the muck or leaps to the steps, the otyugh lashes out with its tentacles. A grappled character is dragged into the pit where, along with all the hazards of being savaged by an otyugh, there is the added danger of drowning. It's safe to assume that characters entering this tower will take a big gulp of clean air first, but the otyugh's attack might knock the wind out of them. Allow the attacked character to make a constitution saving throw with a DC equal to 5 + the damage caused by the otyugh's tentacle attack. A successful saving throw means the character has a lung full of air when dragged into the muck and can hold his or her breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 plus his or her constitution modifier with a minimum of 30 seconds (5 rounds). Failure means the characters lungs are empty, and the character falls unconscious at the end of his or her turn after a number of rounds equal to the characters constitution modifier unless the character breaks free from the otyugh's grasp before then.
Artificers can use Replicate Magic Item to make the Cloak of the Manta Ray at 6th level. Gives underwater breathing and 60ft swim speed. They can also Replicate the Cap of Water Breathing at 2nd level and have access to the Water Breathing spell
I feel like mimicking concentration checks for breath-holding is a good go-between. If you get hit, you roll constitution concentration check or start con mod countdown
Ive found the alchemist is really great in water campaigns as they can make transformation elixirs that give you the affects if the alter self spell for 10 minutes giving your allies water breathing and a swim speed
You forgot about Freedom of Movement! Your movement speed is not impacted by difficult terrain, which water is. So basically a swim speed!
Also, as the last line (in a separate clause from the one regarding difficult terrain), it specifically calls out that movement cannot be affected or hampered by water.
Yeah Freedom of Movement has been clutch whenever my party has had to go underwater. Especially since it’s not a concentration spell.
"Basically," being the key word. If a feature requires you to have a swim speed, this doesn't cut it.
PHB p. 182: "Each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in difficult terrain) when you're climbing, swimming, or crawling." Swimming costs extra unless you have the right kind of movement. This is not a penalty nor does it count as difficult terrain, so freedom of movement doesn't help you swim. It will help you fight and walk around under water, so it's far from useless. If the spell wanted you to have a swim speed it would say so outright.
@@JrgenHelland00 I’m not sure what this quote is referencing and I don’t have the book on me, is it underwater combat? unless I’m very mistaken, water is just difficult terrain. Which the spell prevents you from being effected by. So if you have 30ft movement, you have 30ft movement underwater. Am I missing something?
The thing that you’re missing is synergies between PC’s. The fighter, for example, isn’t able to breathe water and doesn’t have a swim speed, but when working with an ally who can cast Water Breathing the fighter is suddenly very useful, even without a swim speed.
So, I think a lot of people might miss this because of the flavor text in the current books... but a Bard, in terms of raw abilities, divorced from all the fluff and lute playing, would be an excellent ship's captain. If you get rid of all the very song related fluff text and replace it with something more appropriate, what does a bard do? They can be the face of a group, the one who lifts up their crew to see their full potential, the one who can always fill in some missing part of a plan so that their crew can focus on what they're good at... in a cooperative game it is ill advised for them to be autocratic, but the bard class can definitely be badass if they can outgrow the horny, the silly, the scurrilous lute-playing buffoon stereotype.
Don't believe me? I shall summon *The* Bard. Go look up "Kenneth Branagh Saint Crispin's Day Speech." You're welcome in advance. I feel it may have been part of the inspiration for the Bill Pullman Independence Day speech.
The Giff are probably one of the best races for pirate based adventures, swim speed, firearm proficency that ignores both the loading property and disadvantage on long range, then advantage on strength checks and saves for all the rigging you'll be doing, lol.
You could also play a Simic Hybrid with the underwater adaptation feature!
Cool video guys. It would have been nice to acknowledge that Kraken Week is a Pointy Hat/Ginny Di initiative that the community are getting behind.
That part ☝🏻
It is? Did not know that.
Agreed. The phrasing in the intro almost even sounds like they’re trying to avoid giving credit where it’s due? Idk weird move
Great video. I’ve had a lot of fun discovering new, smaller channels and their content. I’ll post this to Pointy Hat and Ginny Di, but maybe next year a little coordination around content? There’s been some overlap which is not at all bad but some themes are being covered a lot.
Great video dudes! You’re forgetting though that if someone wanted to pick up Sebastian Crowe’s Guide to Drakkenheim, the Flesh Patron Warlock can give you a swim speed and let you breath underwater right away at level 1! What a fun looking subclass 😉
Awesome! I'm glad you're participating in Kraken Week. I loved Pointy Hat's video!
Druids really stand out as Sea Casters. Wildshape for all the swimming forms like giant octopus and reef shark, as well as flying for scouting enemy ships or land as an eagle or vulture, the full list of water themed spells like create water, water breathing, walk on water, watery sphere, control water, ect, polymorph as well, freedom of movement, the utility spells like Goodberry for rations, Druidcraft for the forecast, and high wisdom for perception and survival. I want to play a sailor druid so bad, gives huge Earthsea vibes
Depth matters a lot too. If you want to think about the fantasy of being far below the surface, you quickly start having other concerns. Like high pressure, extrememly cold waters, and lack of natural light. Practiced free divers only go doen to 100ft. And with lots of practice and technology there are a few divers who have reach 1000 feet. But they were frequently injured in the process.
Interesting to note that the alchemist artificer's experimental elixirs can mimic the effects of alter self!
I would add mending to the list of must have spells. Sails tear, ropes get cut, metal components rust, masts snap and ships develop leaks and are high maintenance. All that is easily solved with mending
You should have vulnerability to Electricity while fully submerged. IMO
Subtle Casting for Sorcerer is the go around for spell casting problem. The Metamagic Adept Feat from Tashas CoE is a must have for non Sorcerer if going under the waves. Uncommon or Rare magic items that gives you the ability to cast subtle is a must
I think its really funny pact tactics said to watch "this video" days before it came out lol.
So... Tasshak Longtail, my lizardfolk druid of the land (coast), would like to have a few words:
lizardfolk: swim speed = walking speed, hold breath for 15 minutes
druid - Circle of the Land (coast): water walk (R), water breathing (R), control water, freedom of movement all constantly prepared; unhindered by nonmagical difficult terrain (or plants, in case of kelp forests)
Others have pointed out how clutch the above listed spells are. Having misty step (grapple escape) and conjure elemental always prepared are also useful.
Lizardfolk also have a swim speed and can hold their breath for 15 minutes.
My first party was being pursued across a river by guards in a rowboat. My lizardfolk barbarian swam out, nearly capsized the boat, pulled one guard in, and generally terrorized the guards until they broke off to escape the "river monster."
Speaking of the monk, it seems a water-focused elements monk would be a good choice for flavor.
Subtle spells should help soc cast underwater, no?
Hearing about the Wizard my first thought was: "How do the three seashells work?"
Fighters have _some_ options... as long as they're an eldritch knight. They can get some spells that can get them water breathing and a swim speed.
..or they do what I did with a character of mine and play a warforged that flat-out ignores the need for breathing.
Aw hell yeah 😍 let's go Dudes :3
Been so excited for this one! :D
(Nice to see that you went with the Duck Tales shirt ;D )
I haven't seen anyone in Kraken week bring up the setting "The Seas of Vodari." Great setting that has good races, and sub-classes and for a Swashbuckling game above and below the Seas.
I gotta say this video was such a joy to watch, incredible informative and I could tell the guys had a great time too
Kraken week is such a fun concept for these kinds of creators
Hey, thanks for the video! I was inspired to run an underwater dungeon for my party because of Kraken Week, but then I realized I didn't know the rules for it. It's way more fun and engaging to hear you explain everything rather than reading it myself.
control water is the secret MVP hack for ship combat. I was also very surprised by ice storm because the range is so far, a lot of ship combat becomes about who can shoot first.
Ngl the cap of water breathing sounds like a fun way to get the party interested in exploring underwater without making them too powerful
I'm so happy for kraken week. I've been preparing a pirate treasure hunting campaign and they've been useful to me
13:29 - druids are basically clerics of animalistic religions. For example, in Polynesia-themed campaigns they can be priests
Fun Fact: most Pirates couldn't swim because it would just prolong their death if they fall overboard
First water breathing spell for everybody. Then Sorcerer cast twinned Freedom of Movement twice. 4 player group have normal speed and attacks underwater.
Love the underwater stuff, wish it was covered more!!
Base artificer has alot of features that could help in this type of adventure. Some clutch Infusions like Cloak of the Manta Ray, Cap of water breathing are great. Once Spell storing item is online you can pass around air bubble, alter self, enhance ability or other useful spells without using more limited resources. A good example of how an artificer could be useful in a party
Love this video and your take on things. Since 3rd edition days all my campaigns have been nautical/piracy themed. Love seeing the campaign style getting attention ❤
Hi, thank you very much. I have a small seafaring campaign going on!
I had an idea for a Pirat genie warlock with the patron being the Dutchman and the container being a ship in a bottle.
glad that you shared this video - so useful as a general reference, plus fun to follow your insights and creative ideas!
I can see a perfectly good argument to have rapier join the non disadvantaged weapon group for underwater combat. I'd even also add quaterstaff, used in sharp thrusting jabs, likewise.
I’m running a homebrew pirate game alongside the ghosts of Saltmarsh module right now. Something tells me I’m going to enjoy kraken week!
I would enjoy a whole video of you telling war stories. That would be so entertaining.
Waterworld is one of my favorites to groan through on a Friday night.
Ok, the burger -> cheese as pirate -> black powder guns analogy is absolutely perfect. Sometimes I get burgers without cheese just to dodge the lactose
20:19 There have been pirates in real-world history since long before the Trojan War. The vast majority did not have firearms. The problem, of course, is Hollywood. I encourage the Dudes and the viewers to check out Roman era warships in particular for inspiration for pre-gunpowder ships and ship-mounted weapons. 🙌
I'm thinking about running a seafaring campaign using Worlds Without Number, but this video is still good for inspiration.
I think Waterworld was actually not that bad. It was a financial failure not because it didnt have a good box office total, but because it cost SOOO much to make. I liked the movie itself though.
Another amazing video Dungeon dudes I absolutely love your content especially the Drakenheim series
4:13 that drowning-issue I circumvented with a character of mine. Simply by him being a warforged. Let me tell you a little story.
Vaeringir - my warforged battlemaster/barbarian/artificer/war-wizard (8/1/2/2 at the time i think) had become a bit of the party's leader. and I deliberately wanted to shift the overall spotlight to other members of the party for a time - in part to have them shine, but also to see how they dealt with (perceived) loss. So when we got attacked by three ships full of undead pirates he handed his adamantine greatsword to the party's griffon-riding paladin to take off and destroy some of the incoming ships' rudders, rendering them unmaneuverable
While the wizard and sorcerer burnt another ship to a crisp and the bat-riding cleric turned the crew of the third, a giant undead megalodon attacked our ship from below and swallowed some of the crew - including the very unlucky captain. So Vaeringir jumped overboard and onto the megalodon, ripped a hole into the undead creature and pulled out the captain and whoever ofthe crew he could. Even going so far as to drop into the meg's belly to find the remaining sailors. After he got them clear, however, the sorcerer had the bright idea of casting polymorph on the meg, turning it into a goldfish or something. With Vaeringir still in its belly this resulted in the meg being torn to shreds and Vaeringir losing his source of buoyancy, dropping into the depths. This was still days out from our destination.
Although the other characters attempted to rescue Vaeringir, the DM followed my request and the attempts failed, so they continued ashore. About a week or so later, Vaeringir arrived ashore, coming walking out of the sea like a statue of Poseidon. Meanwhile the other players had had time to advance the plot a little further.
I Love you guys ❤! Happy Kraken week!
Kraken week is a great idea, love Dungeon Dudes videos.
I love the themed week between creators! So fun~~
In my friend's upcoming campaign I am playing a water genasi sorcerer that is focused on water based spells but with a wrinkle, he's a wild magic origin after being blasted by magic infused water. So being able to breath water is good for me!! Being able to Ice knife through water will be soo cool, just as long as I don't blow up my party with a wild surge!!! 😆
I am playing in a ghosts of Saltmarsh as a monk/cleric winged tefiling. My Dm gave us a homebrewed magic item called the tear of Bemva. It gives the wearer a swim speed, the abiity to breath underwater, and cast water themed spells. However a major risk to the item is that if the user uses all of the charges on the tear to cast spells and rolls a one on a d20 the tear is destroyed.
The artificer actually gets access to the Cloak of the Manta Ray through Replicate Magic Item at 6th level
I had an Archmage who I planned to cast Time Stop, drop a Delayed Blast Fireball, and then drop a Forcecage on the party, but he rolled pretty low initiative. The Druid hit him with Watery Sphere, and because I house ruled you have to be able to breathe in order to cast spells unless you can breathe underwater, the super-powerful spellcaster was completely negated by a single fourth-level spell. His crappy strength score wouldn’t let him get out, and by the time he finally escaped, he was surrounded and got ganked in one round before he could Teleport away. Don’t forget to give your Archmage a Contingency (or an ally that can cast Dispel Magic).
I don't remember which channel said it last time, but aquatic encounters in D&D are so deadly, that players avoid them at all costs.
I was gamemastering a D&D 3.5 campaign years agon that had 3 14th Level Characters enter an overflooded dungeon. Right at the entrance they went down the stairs into a room with two exits on the right and left. The room was just 10x10x10ft in size and filled almost to the ceiling with water. Both doors leading on were jammed and one of them was even locked.
What looked like foliage from the surrounding forrest floated on top. But that were monsters! Four kelp anglers. They had a challenge rating so low, that the players did not even got exp from them and I missread a game mechanic makig it even weaker.
Well the player characters barely made it out alive. They had magic like freedom of movement and waterbreathing. But the kelp anglers tentakels did dispel magic. deadly! Dad-Ly!
I also like to add in any electrical spells whatever distance that says it can do is now a circle starting from the person casting the spell and they get a 10% damage from the spell due to the fact that is electrical. When they're on the water
That peanut butter jelly line actually made me chuckle and idk if that means it’s a good joke or it just got me
This makes me cry for joy. D&D nerds unite
Thanks dudes! ❤
“If you’re using verbal components, you’re not holding your breath”
Thanks for th guide. I'm DMing a pirate campaign and this helps. I love this Kraken week
swords bards make excellent swashbucklers and such. also fighters have the Unearthed Arcana mariner fighting style that most people use in spite of it's UA status that gives you a swim and climb speed if you dint use a shield.
My group is sea faring (for now) and about to go into underwater combat. I play the blood cleric. On that note, I did ask the dm on how collecting samples work and we concluded the water would dilute it too much to be usable. So that was interesting. But I digress.
What I did is the monk and I crafted some water breathing potions ahead of time (they can craft potions somewhat well but my character is more familiar with medicine and working in a “hospital,” basically a temple dedicated to healing, as part of her profession outside adventuring) and the ranger had us switch out our usual weapons we had confiscated earlier. Honestly my character may not have a swim speed but between spiritual weapon, bless, and my insane con score (maxed out right now and war caster) I’m doing pretty good I feel. I plan to focus my character into being our primary medicine and potioneer/alchemist so we can gather and make many potions. Lol, might even take focus after a while lol.
But for now we are treasure hunters who are a bit neutral in our morality.
JC says that being underwater doesn't prevent spellcasting, except that you're no longer holding your breath. Keeping in mind, these tweets were from 2016-2017 when Wizards of the Coast was fully in love with spellcaster classes.
Love kraken week!!
Also with Warlock, at high level, you can take Master of Myriad Forms to be and to cast Alter Self to get a swim speed and water breathing. You could also go tomb to get water breathing as a ritual.
A penguin Arakokra would be rad because you could make Prinny that way
Davy Jones’s would be a perfect villain for this
Autognome, Warforged, Dhampir, and Reborn do not need to breathe.
Can't go wrong with a Vampirate.
My favorite pirate character idea is a kensai monk. That way I can have my cutlass in one hand, a pistol in the other, and just wade into battle with only my cool jacket and hat on
There's a Sage Advice that you can cast spells underwater, but start suffocating right thereafter.
For those only with verbal components.
Artificers have access to the alter self spell and Cloak of the Manta Ray on the infusion list as someone who had a artificer doing sea stuff much lower than level 10 those came in handy.
another thing you could do is get the old Unearthed Arcana: Waterborne Adventures where the Swashbuckler originated from
in that UA there was a new fighting style called Mariner
so long as you dont have heavy armour or a shield you have a swimming and climbing speed equal to your walk and you gain +1 AC
and while it dosent give you any boosts to surviving the waves the Rune Knight will fit very well with your Viking party, throw in being a drauger too and suddenly you can wrestle with the kraken
also couple fun ideas with Artificers, as an artillerist your eldrich cannons could literally be stylised as naval cannons meanwhile i would totally homebrew a heavy variant for the armorer so they could go bioshock big daddy mode so long as they can work out a way to get heavy armour prof
I feel theres a huge missed opportunity here for you to run a session called dungeons of krakkenheim
Hamburger is inferior to cheeseburger. Gimme the cheese 🤣 Wish I watched this before getting in the pool today. Time to try and cast spells under water.
i feel like recommending keen mind because it might save the party is gonna manifest either as simply auto-succeeding on a roll, or removing a part of the gameplay which the DM had prepared as a fun puzzle, to see if the party themselves are able to navigate. idk tho, ive never liked that feat, seems boring
I have a middle ground for verbal components underwater.
If you can't breathe underwater, you can't cast spells with a language developed for use above water. You need an aquatic language to cast your spells in.
Aquan
Deep Speech
Abyssal
Merfolk or any other creature specific language from an aquatic species.
An argument could be made for draconic and elvish since most dragons can swim and breathe underwater, lizardfolk are semi aquatic, and elves having too many subraces has turned elvish into the linguistic equivalent of herpes.
I also make positive Int scores give bonus languages at character creation.
I think it's a different sort of Abyss, but that's a great idea! I'd suggest including Primordial/water elemental language on the list as well
One of my players used the beast barbarian, asked me to take the simic hybrid and made a cursed pirate like Davy Jones with a face of a kraken, crab claws and so on. Amazing
19:32 Swimmer is a great potential home brew option for an Origin Feat
The comment on paladins reminds me of Lien from _The Order of the Stick,_ whose paladin steed was a great white shark. Which very much surprised the bard.
I would take the Circle of Stars Druid for the ship navigator.
Awesome video snd great topic. Also I know you'll be making a ranking of the new dnd subclasses for the new edition so I'm channeling I'll Eldritch powers to ask my patrons the dungeon dudes to have the warlock video sooner than yhe other classes 🙌🏾