Play Your Next 5E D&D Game Without Rolling Dice

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discuss tips for players who suffer the curse of bad dice rolling. We delved into all the various fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons class features available to players whose funny shaped dice simply refuse to cooperate with them a couple of years ago through an examination of the support style of play, which you can check out here. Today I’m going to plumb our own 5E D&D content to see all the options we’ve come up with to assist those unfortunate folks whose dice never seem to work in their favor. So let’s get into it.

Take this, curse of bad dice rolling!

As you’re looking through all these 5E D&D subclasses we’ve created in our digital books keep in mind whenever you sign up for Nerdarchy the Newsletter you get a special coupon code for $9.99 off your cart. You could pick up any of the products mentioned below basically for free, or add a second one for very little. There’s also a very special exclusive offer when you get Out of the Box from the store with our entire digital library for less than half the full cost. Enjoy, and don’t let a penchant for poor dice rolls keep your character down!

Any and all 5E D&D characters

From Hit Dice to Heroics. Offering a wide array of abilities for characters as alternative uses for Hit Dice, this is one of our earliest products and definitely one of the most popular. Two issues get solved with these options. First up if you’re truly terrible at rolling dice, instead of regaining very few hit points during a short rest you can instead use those dice to fuel new abilities that take place without the need for rolling. Second, if your 5E D&D games focus more on bursts of action packed encounters and less on resource management there’s a good chance you never even use your Hit Dice at all. Now you’ve got something awesome to use them for! Check it out here.

Barbarian

Fane of the Frost Wyrm. Barbarians blessed by the spirit of the remorhaz receive a variety of beneficial effects, only one of which involves rolling dice in the form of extra damage. Path of the Frost Wyrm even includes an adventure specifically designed to introduce this new option along with an opportunity to snag yourself a new weapon — a remorhaz spine sword. Check it out here.

Hairable Ideas. Rather than provide features to avoid rolling dice the Path of the Barbhairian simply gives you more dice to roll for damage through their signature Brutal Balayage feature, which includes your choice of what damage type. Aside from this feature their other ones either don’t include rolling dice at all or give you various benefits to mitigate bad rolling. Check it out here.

Bard

Dark Paths: The Chained One. Bard College of Cataclysm produces disastrous effects for your enemies when they fail their saving throws. There’s some damage dice involved and one feature directs you to roll your own Bardic Inspiration to determine how many creatures you can affect but other than this mitigates your bad dice rolling. Check it out here.

Dark Paths: Pool of Bliss. Bard College of Mirrors works around bad dice rollers two ways. First, many of the features create effects forcing other creatures to make saving throws. Second their bread and butter 6th level feature creates a spirit creature with a baseline of abilities you enhance by rolling your Bardic Inspiration. Check it out here.

Cleric

Hairable Ideas. Clerics representing the ideas of beauty get away without rolling dice in just about every case. These powerful characters help other creatures discover their own beauty through various buffs and protective measures or forcing others to make saving throws. Check it out here.

Garden of Statuary. Be the rock your party depends on as a Stone Domain cleric whose features make you an impenetrable force. A couple of Stone Domain Spells call on you to roll dice along with your Channel Divinity but other than that you can leave your math rocks at home. Check it out here.

Wizard’s Wake. If you truly seek a subclass for a player with terrible dice rolling luck the Travel Domain calls to you. Utility and buff spells go off without a hitch and both you and your companions receive an array of benefits to movement and travel. Check it out here.

Druid

Abalor the Abhorrent. Almost every one of the Circle from the Beyond’s Circle Spells and all of their features circumvent you rolling dice except for damage, which takes place after creatures already succumb to your abilities through their own failed saving throws. This is over at the Dungeons Masters Guild here.

Garden of Statuary. These weird druids find an affinity with creatures like basilisks and medusae with features to turn themselves or others partially or wholly to stone. Only one feature requires you to roll dice but it’s a good one — you deal 1d8 damage with your unarmed attacks, which might also petrify the target. Check it out here.

Wizard’s Wake. Following the Circle of Salt provides several passive benefits, which not only removes the need for you to roll dice badly but also grant their effects without a chance of failure from a target’s saving throw. Only their Call of the Depths involves dice rolling, and this on the part of a creature you can charm. Check it out here.

Monk

Dark Paths: Pool of Bliss. Way of Excess almost entirely avoids dice rolling, with only one of their features relying on your successful Flurry of Blows. The rest of their features either force other creatures to make saving throws, let you use ki to create effects on yourself or straight up give you some passive benefit. Check it out here.

Hairable Ideas. Following the Way of the Gorgon doesn’t entirely escape a monk’s focus on hitting other creatures a lot but in several cases allows you to use ki for your own defense. Not the most shining example of an option for bad dice rollers but some nifty features you can bring to bear after you’ve already hit a creature. Check it out here.

Secrets of the Vault: Lost Lore. Vol. 1. Following the Way of the Chained Fist gives monks a few spells fueled by spending ki as well as several effects whenever you hit a creature, one that forces other creatures to make a saving throw and one to vastly enhance their Deflect Missiles feature. Check it out here.

Paladin

Hairable Ideas. Barring a handful of Oath Spells these paladins don’t need to roll a single die for any of their features while granting several powerful defenses to themselves and allies. Check it out here.

Ranger

Dark Paths: Winter Lord’s Throne. Stygian Shadow rangers draw on the coldest depths of the hells with Stygian Shadow Spells saving you from rolling dice in all but one instance. These rangers latch onto the life force of a creature and if the target fails their saving throw they’re in for a world of hurt where the only dice rolling you’ll do is the extra damage you deal against them while you enjoy a variety of benefits. Check it out here.

Rogue

Hairable Ideas. The bizarre Weaver archetype combines aptitude with the philosophical ties that bind urban environments together along with actual ropes, wires and threads. You might still have to roll dice here and there but you’ll have tremendous bonuses to these dice rolls. Oh, and you can deal Sneak Attack damage with a Grapple. You’re welcome, multiverse. Check it out here.

Sorcerer

Hairable Ideas. Shaggy Souls feel the beardomantic energy in their blood and utilize it for a very strange assortment of features without the need to roll dice whatsoever until their final class feature that weaponizes the ridiculously long hair covering their entire bodies. Check it out here.

Secrets of the Vault: Lost Lore Vol. 2. Blood Mages sacrifice their own Hit Dice to produce a whole bunch of powerful effects, practically none of which call on the player to roll dice. This Sorcerous Origin designed by Nate the Nerdarch gets a bit noodly, something he was known for, but within this robust subclass you won’t see too many scenarios requiring dice rolls. Much more concise and also largely devoid of dice rolls is the Aberrant Bloodline for the truly alien sorcerer. Check it out here.

Warlock

Death Pit. But a few of the Expanded Spells offered by the Necrogrim Otherworldly Patron depend on your dice rolling and not a single other feature, which include projecting an Aura of Undeath, creating Phantasmal Familiars, bestowing sentience on skeletons and zombies under your control or evoking a pall of doom call on you to roll dice. Check it out here.

Forgotten Oasis. The Forgotten Goddess isn’t so keen on providing Expanded Spells that don’t depend on your dice rolls. However, using your Medium’s Reliquary to capture souls and release them as undead under your control and generally do spooky supernatural stuff gets you out of rolling dice altogether. Check it out here.

Frost King. The titular Otherworldly Patron might not be too keen on providing his seven warlocks with an Expanded Spell List devoid of dice rolling but the other features make up for it. Meanwhile the Norn might just be the perfect solution for bad dice rollers through the cryptic visions they provide that in most cases give you opportunities to save yourself from your own terrible fate. Check it out here.

Wizard

Beardomancy. All but one spell in the original Beardomancy book requires no dice rolling from the wizard and none of the School of Beardomancy wizard subclass features do. In fact one of them gives you a flat +2 bonus on your Dexterity saving throws. Check it out here.

Dark Paths: Pool of Bliss. Order of the Peacock struts their stuff with an unusual collection of class features circumnavigating your penchant for poor rolls across the board. Check it out here.

Hairable Ideas. More Beardomancy spells! Twelve more spells get added to the School of Beardomancy, many providing utility and buffs for allies. A few of them require rolling dice for damage though. All told a Beardomancer or other character with a beardomantic feat can cast plenty of spells without picking up a single die. Check it out here.

Wow, that’s a lot of 5E D&D content!

If you’re counting you’ll notice Hairable Ideas contains the most number of 5E D&D subclasses from a single source, but all of our products include things for Dungeon Masters and players alike to drop right into your games. If I’m honest some of this material I haven’t looked at in a while myself. Path of the Barbhairian barbarians and Norn warlocks still remain my favorites of the bunch though, with Stygian Shadow rangers close behind. Whenever we see or hear about people playing one of these subclasses it’s super exciting for us, especially when one of the players showed up to D&D In A Castle with a Beardomancer. Do you have a favorite? Tell us all about it in the comments!