prepping new games & learning new rules

The game I joined on Saturday had a small amount of upheaval and now I find myself GMing a game of 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons in the aftermath of a Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure. The players have written lots of interesting hooks into their characters and I think I have some good adventure ideas set down. Prep for this game was unusually simple once I decided that it wouldn't be a traditional dungeoncrawl. Instead I wrote a single hook for each character and next Saturday will be the real test where I drop the hooks and see how many of the players have their characters bite.

During prep I made a list of all of the creatures in the 5e Monster Manual that could potentially be playable character races. You could consider this a shortlist for revamping Monster Mythology, but I'm using this as a list of potential NPC races:
Aarokocra p.12
Bugbear p.33
Bullywug p.35
Cambion p.36
Centaur p.38
Cyclops p.45
Duergar p.122
Empyrean p.130
Ettin p.132
Gargoyle p.140
Gith p.158
Gnoll p.162
Goblin p.166
Harpy p.181
Hobgoblin p.186
Kenku p.194
Kobold p.195
Kuo-Toa p.199
Lizardfolk p.204
Medusa p.214
Mind Flayer p.222
Minotaur p.223
Myconid p.230
Nothic p.236
Ogre p.237
Oni p.239
Orc p.246
Pixie p.253
Rakshasa p.257
Sahuagin p.263
Salamander p.266
Satyr p.267
Slaad p.274
Sphinx p.280
Sprite p.283
Thri-Kreen p.288
Troglodyte p.290
Troll p.291
Umber Hulk p.292
Xorn p.304
Yeti p.305
Yuan-ti p.308
I even made a rando generator for this list


The Sunday game, in contrast, is going to embark upon a traditional dungeoncrawl using the Dwimmermount megadungeon and, coincidentally, 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. I've been reading the book and taking notes for the last few weeks so I think I'm familiar enough with the upper levels of the dungeon that I shouldn't have any problems - I'll share more about the extensive prepping I did in a future post.

For now, the most surprising thing for me is reading the spells in 5e D&D. The way cantrips work is so much simpler now, but also more powerful. You don't need to worry about light if you have a single magic-user in your party. The cleric has become a much more valuable utility class considering how powerful the create water and purify food spells have become. Just from reading the new rules I would be interested in running a 5e game where the PCs can only be fighters and rogues.

Joesky Tax
Did you know green slime has been nerfed from 'monster' to 'hazard' in 5th edition?
UNACCEPTABLE!
Here is my version of Green Slime as a monster in 5e D&D

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GREEN SLIME

Green slimes always move towards the closest creature they can detect.

Armor Class: 8
Hit Points: 22 (3d8+9)
Speed: 10 ft., climb 10 ft.

STR 15 (+2), DEX 6 (-2), CON 14 (+2), INT 1 (-5), WIS 6 (-2), CHA 1 (-5)

Damage Resistances: acid, cold, fire
Damage Immunities: lightning, slashing
Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, prone
Senses: tremorsense 30 ft., passive perception 11
Languages: -
Challenge: 2 (450 xp)

Amorphous. The slime can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
Spider Climb. The slime can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

ACTIONS
Slimed. When moving, green slime can enter other creatures' spaces. Whenever the slime enters a creature's space, the creature must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw.
On a successful save, the creature can choose to move back 5 feet or to the side of the slime. A creature that chooses not to be pushed back suffers the consequences of a failed saving throw.
On a failed save, the slime enter the creature's space and makes contact with the creature's body. The creature takes 10 (3d6) acid damage and is slimed (see below). Creatures that are slimed can move and act, but take 10 (3d6) acid damage at the start of each of the slime's turns until they are no longer slimed.
At the start of your turn, you must make a saving throw - follow the rules for making death saving throws, however taking damage or being reduced to 0 hit points will not cause you to fail a slimed saving throw. Failing three of these slimed saving throws turns your character into another green slime, which either adds it's mass (and 22 hit points) to any existing green slime in your space or acts as an independent and new green slime.
Succeeding at these slimed saving throws does not throw off the slime, it merely delays the inevitable.
While you are slimed, the green slime can be scraped off, but whatever implement used to scrape it off takes 10 (3d6) acid damage when it comes into contact with the slime (assume wood is a fragile material and metal is a resilient material, page 247 of the DMG).

REACTIONS
Disease. Any magical effect that would cure a subject of disease, including lesser restoration or purify food and drink, when cast upon green slime will instantly destroy it.

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