Is Nuclear Druid actually ... possible?

[Pinjata]

I'd never use this in game, but as a DM ... I want to know. Is Nuclear Druid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PW57o33wsc) possible in 5e per RAW?

[MaxWilson]

I'd never use this in game, but as a DM ... I want to know. Is Nuclear Druid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PW57o33wsc) possible in 5e per RAW?

No. There is no Circle of Twilight in RAW. It's just old playtest material which never made it any farther for good reason.

Nuclear Wizard is possible though. See https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/9lhgmy/insane_build_the_nuclear_wizard/

You can add Fighter 2 for Action Surge and pre-cast Simulacrum to quadruple the first-round damage.

Wands of Magic Missile are cheap and quick to make under Xanathar's rules, and do not require attunement, so if you want to carry around a bandoleer of wands of Magic Missile you theoretically could. But note that Hexblade's Curse is limited to 30' range and Magic Missile is only 120' range, so this is a short-to-medium-range ploy. Make sure to prep Dimension Door and Teleport so you have a long-range plan.

[Waterdeep Merch]

The Wands of Magic Missile and the current state of the Artillerist Artificer has me thinking about the potential that hiring a sizable squad of NPC mercenaries has for even high level content.

Your average kit would cost 2 1/2 downtime days and 100 gp and grant you a safe 18d4+18 (63) damage that only specific magic spells can stop (assuming you don't want to risk breaking a wand, a problem that will escalate if you make regular use of them). A "good" mercenary costs 2 gp a day, and you really only spend this to make sure they don't croak too fast.

If you're in a game that nets you downtime days at the usual rate (5 DT for every real world 2 hours), that means you can prep two new "living turrets" before every session. Four to six if your sessions run long. They can and should stand far back and spread out to lessen any risk of them getting taken out by lucky fireballs or a stampede of orcs or what have you. The rest of your party should be focused more on defense, tying up monsters until your NPC team comes in and unleashes unstoppable hate. Be sure to have things like faerie fire for anyone that tries sneaking around invisibly!

This covers about 95% of all the monsters in the game. Only things with outright immunity to magic missile (through the shield spell, mostly) have any chance of not getting obliterated instantly. While technically anyone can make these things, artillerists are easily the best at it and can get these things rolling out as early as level 3.

Tl;dr: Forget up-scaled magic missile shenanigans, just have like a hundred people cast it via a cheap magic item.

[MaxWilson]

The Wands of Magic Missile and the current state of the Artillerist Artificer has me thinking about the potential that hiring a sizable squad of NPC mercenaries has for even high level content.

Your average kit would cost 2 1/2 downtime days and 100 gp and grant you a safe 18d4+18 (63) damage that only specific magic spells can stop (assuming you don't want to risk breaking a wand, a problem that will escalate if you make regular use of them). A "good" mercenary costs 2 gp a day, and you really only spend this to make sure they don't croak too fast.

If you're in a game that nets you downtime days at the usual rate (5 DT for every real world 2 hours), that means you can prep two new "living turrets" before every session. Four to six if your sessions run long. They can and should stand far back and spread out to lessen any risk of them getting taken out by lucky fireballs or a stampede of orcs or what have you. The rest of your party should be focused more on defense, tying up monsters until your NPC team comes in and unleashes unstoppable hate. Be sure to have things like faerie fire for anyone that tries sneaking around invisibly!

This covers about 95% of all the monsters in the game. Only things with outright immunity to magic missile (through the shield spell, mostly) have any chance of not getting obliterated instantly. While technically anyone can make these things, artillerists are easily the best at it and can get these things rolling out as early as level 3.

Tl;dr: Forget up-scaled magic missile shenanigans, just have like a hundred people cast it via a cheap magic item.

Hirelings have always been a big deal in 5E, if the DM will let you have them. When my players capture hobgoblins their first instinct is not to kill them, it's to brain wash and then recruit them.

It works better in AD&D though because AD&D makes hirelings and morale a core part of play: hirelings and reaction rolls are why Charisma matters. In 5E hireling morale and most NPC interactions are basically just left up to DM fiat, and Charisma is used primarily for boosting spellcasting.

[Damon_Tor]

Hirelings have always been a big deal in 5E, if the DM will let you have them. When my players capture hobgoblins their first instinct is not to kill them, it's to brain wash and then recruit them.

It works better in AD&D though because AD&D makes hirelings and morale a core part of play: hirelings and reaction rolls are why Charisma matters. In 5E hireling morale and most NPC interactions are basically just left up to DM fiat, and Charisma is used primarily for boosting spellcasting.

But Artificers have Tiny Servants. You don't have to hire anybody.

[MaxWilson]

But Artificers have Tiny Servants. You don't have to hire anybody.

But Tiny Servants don't do as much damage in melee as hobgoblins do with their longbows, and Tiny Servants cost spell slots every day whereas hobgoblin mercs only cost gold.

[LudicSavant]

I'd never use this in game, but as a DM ... I want to know. Is Nuclear Druid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PW57o33wsc) possible in 5e per RAW?

The Nuclear Druid isn't, but you can do 4-digit damage with the Nuclear Wizard, which is both completely RAW and powerful at all tiers of play. Here's a build for one here: www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23998967&postcount=170

[MaxWilson]

The Nuclear Druid isn't, but you can do 4-digit damage with the Nuclear Wizard, which is both completely RAW and powerful at all tiers of play. Here's a build for one here: www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23998967&postcount=170

Just watch out for long range snipers and Invisible Stalkers. :) Probably want to carry an upcast Continual Flame around with you as a countermeasure vs. Darkness, too.

[lperkins2]

On a slightly smaller scale, note that triggering magic items like wands of magic missile is something a wizard's familiar can do on their own turn, on their own volition.