#conversion kit

[titanomancy]

By the Allfather.

[boanerges20]

BMW R nineT "Killer Ziller" Kit by Zillers Garage

[intelligentliving]

Convert A Regular Bike Into A Smart E-Bike With Vekkit’s Conversion Kit

A Polish company called Velotton has recently launched its new Vekkit Travel e-bike conversion kit with a 2-speed motor, which allows users to transform any regular bike into a smart electric bike. While Velotton’s e-bike conversion kit isn’t the only one available in the market, it’s said to be much...

[dak91]

Conversion

[boanerges20]

Honda CBR1000RR [Conversion Kit] by Huge Moto /Huge Design

[5eforgemaster]

New Conversion Kit: Spellsword

October Brewfest: Week 3

Tomorrow we finally transition into full caster subclasses (with a few coming next week as well), but for today, we’ll split the difference and take a look at some advice for blending magic and warfare.

This conversion kit is mostly a matter of spell choice. There’s a number of ways to get spells on a martial character, but getting the desired effect takes some precision. Let’s get into it.

Kit Overview

Investment Type: Spell Selection and/or Feat.

Minimum Investment: As above. If you aren’t a spellcaster with access to the spells, multiclass into one, or take the Magic Initiate feat.

Overall Impact: You use spells, not to supplant martial skill, but to enhance it.

Investment

Your investment here is heavily determined by your existing class.

Artificers, Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks have the most variety- but Clerics, Druids, and Bards have access to a few choice spells too. Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters share the wizard’s spell list. For any of these classes, Feats or multiclassing might be attractive to get at additional spells, but you have access to enough spells to develop a combat style out of the gate.

If you’re a non-caster, a Paladin, or a Ranger, you’re going to have to work for it a bit more. Multiclassing is an option, as is the Magic Initiate feat. We’ll discuss methods below.

Multiclassing, as always, requires a 13 in a specific Ability Score. (Intelligence for Artificers and Wizards; Charisma for Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Bards; or Wisdom for Druids and Clerics)

I advocate for minimum investment, so I would advise using the following rules to decide how you’ll get at your spells:

If you’re a full caster, one level of multiclassing is easy. Unless you’re lacking in the appropriate ability score. In that case, select the magic initiate feat.

If you’re a Ranger or Paladin, then multiclassing into Druid or Cleric is painless, since they all key off of Wisdom.

If you’re a non-caster, I have to advocate for Magic Initiate. You don’t have nearly as much to gain from multi-classing as a character who can already cast spells.

Now’s a good time to discuss scope. This article aims to blend magic and martial combat. If you’re a full caster, you won’t want to do this all the time. If you’re looking to bolt a toolbox of spells onto the side of your fighter chassis, this isn’t the article for you. We want your spells and attacks to be (roughly) equal parts of a cohesive combat style. For this reason, we will be focusing on Cantrips.

Narrative Impact

The narrative impact here can be fairly varied, based on what you want to do with the kit, your class, and whether you multiclassed to get to the spells you’re using.

For full casters, consider how you wound up on the front lines. Elves are known for mixing their traditions (Bladesingers, anyone?) and Dwarves are quite hardy. Abjurers and War Mages have good reason to stick close to their comrades, while many Clerics stay close to provide healing. 

This is a conversion kit where the narrative impact can sometimes be minimal, but considering it can certainly help you define your character. Certain Artificer and Bard archetypes lean into frontline battle, and Druids might simply stick close for their wildshape. If your archetype assumes you’ll be getting up close and personal, then by all means skip to the mechanical impact section for advice on getting the most out of your cantrip choices.

For everyone else, this can be much more exciting.

Whether you multiclassed or utilized magic initiate, you can latch onto the class you chose to inform your narrative. 

Do you have latent magical power as a sorcerer? If so, what’s stopping you from becoming a full sorcerer? Is the bloodline weak, recently manifested, or is your innate magic perhaps the result of recent events instead? Perhaps you even detest or mistrust your bloodline.

Have you studied magic as a Wizard? Who taught you the few tricks you know? Were there others? Were you satisfied with what you learned, or do you thirst for further knowledge? If you’re a High Elf, the study of magic may be culturally important. If, like an Artificer or Bard, your magic stems from study of a craft, you might wish to answer similar questions about your narrative.

Did you recieve your magic from a patron, similar to a Warlock? Perhaps your magic was a gift meant to tempt you, and you have refused it. Did you serve willingly? Or disappoint your patron in some way? Perhaps there is a broken pact in your history, or you simply did not prove yourself to the being who gave you your power and took a new path.

If your magic is Divine, like a cleric, when and how did you find your faith? Do you serve or venerate any particular god? What separates you from clerics and paladins? Do you lack devotion, or do you simply believe that your path will serve your god just as well as any other?

Power that stems from nature like that of the druids is much more difficult to pin down. Have you always had a kinship with nature? How did this kinship develop, and what do you make of it? Do you have other skills or knowledge as a result?Were you taught secrets by a member of a drudic order? Have you formally joined them? Do you serve any particular role, if so? Do they resent you for having those secrets?

Mechanical Impact

Because we have a very specific goal with this kit, we will focus on a specific selection of cantrips. I have deliberately left out most ranged attack cantrips- you don’t need me to tell you that ranged, magical damage is a good thing to have. You’ve either already chosen a few or have a different means of dealing damage lined up. If you’re here, you want something interesting.

I’ll divide the cantrips by category, listing the relevant cantrips and the class lists these spells are available to after each header. 

Area of Effect

Available to: Everyone

Spell Options: Green-Flame Blade, Sword Burst, Thunderclap, and Word of Radiance.

These are good for damaging or clearing out multiple nearby enemies. I want to stick to interesting cantrips that do something besides damage, however AoE damage is one of the hardest things for martial characters to get.

Sword Burst, Thunderclap, and Word of Radiance are functionally just different aesthetics for the same effect: xd6 damage to all adjacent characters (if they fail a save. The save and damage types vary slightly, but you really only need one of these.

Green-Flame Blade is unique in that it has two effects: First, it magically enhances your melee damage, making it useful for even single targets. Second, it only damages one other target, but the damage is guaranteed if you hit the first target with a melee attack. You might be able to justify taking two AoE spells in this case.

Debuff

Available to: Artificer, Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

Spell Options: Frostbite and Vicious Mockery.

Much like the area of effect spells, these are different spells that achieve the same end. Stick to one or the other. 

(There is a slight difference; Vicious Mockery affects all attacks while Frostbite calls out weapon attacks specifically. This makes Mockery slightly better, but it’s only available to Bards.)

These spells impose disadvantage on a single attack roll. It’s not a huge edge, and not something you want to use for yourself. This spell is for casting on an enemy that you just can’t peel off of an ally to grant them some breathing room. Truthfully, I have to recommend that you choose a spell from the following category instead, if you can.

Disable

Available to: Sorcerers, Wizard.

Spell Options: Sapping Sting and Shocking Grasp.

These are two wildly different spells, but they can still serve somewhat similar purposes. 

Shocking Grasp is a melee only spell that denies enemies their reaction. This can help allies get out of a threatened area, but it also denies other useful reactions such as shield spells and parries if it hits.

Sapping Sting might be hard to get depending on your DM, but is a ranged spell that forces foes prone. This can be useful for keeping foes at bay, helping allies flee dangerous melee opponents, or setting up your own melee attackers.

Sapping Sting is more versatile, but Shocking Grasp just works when the appropriate scenario comes up. This is one category where you can justify picking both.

Drag

Available to: Artificers, Druids, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards.

Spell Options: Gust, Lightning Lure, and Thorn Whip.

Drags allow you to consistently manipulate enemy positions. Lightning Lure and Thorn Whip pull enemies toward you, placing them at risk of Opportunity Attacks from you, while Gust allows you to push enemies away from your allies (so it’s not quite a drag, sue me).

You really only need one of these. Lightning Lure and Thorn Whip are valuable if you’re ‘sticky’ and can keep enemies nearby, while Gust has a longer range and might be a better choice if the enemies will just move back into position anyway.

Keep in mind that Lightning Lure and Gust contest strength saves, while Thorn Whip relies on an attack roll. 

Lockdown

Available to: Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard.

Spell Options: Booming Blade.

There’s only one Cantrip that fills this role, and it’s the king of it. Booming Blade. You’re losing out on very little damage thanks to its initial damage, and it deals heavy damage to anyone who tries to move after being struck. This alone can make you quite sticky and makes drags more attractive.

This one benefits more heavily than others from the right support, so be sure to check out that section if this spell interests you.

‘Traps’

Available to: 7th Level Eldritch Knights

Spell Options: Blade Ward and True Strike

The ‘available to’ section above surely looks a little odd if you’ve been playing 5e for a while. But seriously, these spells eat your entire turn for minimal benefit. However, Eldritch Knights can sometimes sneak some use out of them thanks to their 7th level war magic feature.

True Strike can be used to set up in advance for a big hit on your next turn, and Blade Ward lets you heavily tank up against humanoid foes where necessary- but they only somewhat work for Eldritch Knights because they can still attack while using them. This is a little too niche for me to go into detail, but it didn’t seem right not to mention it at all.

Choosing your Cantrips

Whether you’re a full caster setting aside one or two cantrips for mixing it up in melee, or a magic initiate with only two slots to fill, you’ll want to make your choices count.

By pairing your cantrips into a cohesive strategy, you can maximize their impact.

Pairing Area of Effect spells with Drags will let you ensure you have at least two targets to work, while pairing a Drag with a Lockdown allows you to force foes to duel you. Taking a Disable and a Drag allows your allies to move freely while foes are driven out of position.

If you aren’t sure what else to do, grab one AoE spell for groups and either Booming Blade or Green-flame Blade. (The latter spells are useful for single target damage even if you don’t use their secondary effect).

Kit Support

War Caster is an old standby for melee spellcasters. All of its benefits are useful, but we’re interested in the ability to cast a single target spell in place of an opportunity attack. This really opens up your ability to combo your cantrips together. You might consider using Booming Blade as a reaction to prevent foes from fleeing, or a disable or debuff to take the pressure off of the enemy’s next target. Any damaging cantrip is more punishing than a single attack, and using drags can force enemies to into position for this strategy. Keep in mind that this doesn’t work with AoE spells.

In all honesty, I think letting your reaction be the bulk of your spellcasting while you otherwise strike with weapon attacks is the best way to use this kit- it allows both aspects of your character to shine without competing with one another.

If you want to push this further, Polearm Master allows you to severely punish foes who attempt to close with you when combined with the previous feat, since it allows you to make opportunity attacks against foes who enter your reach. Keep in mind you’re casting a spell, in place of an opportunity attack, not as an opportunity attack, so we can’t further combo with Sentinel to stop them in their tracks.

While slightly more niche, Mobile plays well with Green-Flame Blade and Booming Blade- if you hit, your enemies don’t get to attack you when you move away. This is nice for Green-flame Blade, but devastating when used with Booming Blade since enemies who pursue you will suffer extra damage. This feat also allows squishier characters to skirmish without taking extra damage from opportunity attacks.

Pitfalls

If you are a full spellcaster, you might struggle to survive in melee. The feats that grant armor proficiency can grant some reprieve, or utilizing mage armor. Consider adopting hit and run tactics using the mobile feat if those don’t appeal to you.

The ‘canned’ spellswords don’t suffer from being out of place nearly as much- Eldritch Knights, Bladesingers, Moon Druids, Valor or Sword College Bards, and most Clerics have the armor or skills to fight on the front lines- as do Mountain Dwarves.

There is, of course, the usual risk of investing in this strategy and proceeding not to use it at all. The best way to mitigate this risk is to make sure that your spell choices aren’t both shut down by the same things. Pick spells that target different saves and serve different purposes, and you should use at least one in most fights.

[5eforgemaster]

Brewfest Week 2: Warriors Dirty Fighter Conversion Kit

Our first post for week 2 is advice for staying alive- no matter what it takes. Using the Tavern brawler feat and improvised weapons, a variety of unconventional tactics become available.

This one actually went up early on the foundry a little early, and you can read this article with the original formatting there.

Kit Overview

Investment Type: 'Half' Feat (In place of an Ability Score Increase [ASI])

Minimum Investment: One of your precious ASI slots- this stings less if you're a Fighter or Rogue.

Overall Impact: You are able to utilize unconventional forms of attack without penalty, making combat more expressive, and opening up new strategies.

Investment

This is one of the easiest conversion kits to access, in theory. By simply taking the Tavern Brawler feat, you have access not to a single new fighting style, but to a variety of new techniques ranging from unconventional weapons and unarmed strikes to truly off-the-cuff improvisation that may fit with any number of fighting styles.

Evaluating the investment here is a little bit odd though, because while any conversion kit does you no good unless you use it, you're likely to think you'll use this more than you actually will. You'll imagine yourself throwing stones, plucking a lit torch from a sconce and swinging it like a flaming club, or any manner of truly off the cuff attacks- but realistically, you need a plan.

And I hear you- "how can I plan to use an improvised weapon"?

But here's the thing, improvised does not strictly mean you've made the decision to use an object as a weapon in the moment. The weapon can be improvised in the sense that it is not meant to be used as a weapon- or, if you ask certain designers, a weapon being used in a way it is not meant to be used is considered improvised.

And there's the rub: the real investment is yours, not your character's. To get a plan in place, you need to understand what an 'Improvised Weapon' is in terms of DnD5e. If you're the type to use this feat, your wheels might already be turning.

So what is an improvised weapon?

It is a distinct type of weapon- it is not a simple or martial weapon.

It deals 1d4 damage, and it is a thrown weapon with a 20/60 range.

It does not have any other properties- it is not a finesse weapon, a heavy weapon, a light weapon, or two-handed weapon (By default).

It is still a weapon, for any feature which may require one.

So simply put, you can't (effectively) two weapon fight, sneak attack, great weapon fight, or similar with an improvised weapon. We'll discuss what you can do in the mechanical impact section, but I wanted to set aside any misconceptions out of the gate.

Before we move on to the narrative impact, I'm going to lay out the feat's benefits, because they're rather broad:

You add your proficiency bonus to attacks with improvised weapons.

You roll a damage die with your unarmed attacks, rather than dealing a single point of damage.

When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike or improvised weapon on your turn, you can use a bonus action to attempt to grapple the target.

(Remainder below the cut)

Narrative Impact

The narrative suggested here is obvious- you're a brawler. You fight with your bare hands, grab the nearest combatant by their shirt collar, and maybe smash an empty ale bottle over their head. But your narrative options? Those are near limitless.

Are you a fighter that catches foes off guard with shield bashes, pommel strikes, and kicks?  A paladin or cleric so committed to hunting undead and fiends that they utilize holy water and wooden stakes as a matter of course? An alchemist or wizard that deploys alchemical concoctions by splashing or tossing them at nearby foes? A monk whose flowing movements and measured blows are supplemented by a pragmatic willingness to apply brute force where necessary? An assassin who deploys inhaled poisons by simply lobbing their containers?

If you have an unconventional combat tactic in mind, this feat will make it possible. The trouble is going to be getting something out of it mechanically. If you don't mind losing a little mechanical edge for a little bit of expression, there are some very cool things you can do. However, let's look at ways you can get a mechanical boost out of it.

Mechanical Impact

Okay so we've talked about how there's some interesting imagery we can get out of this feat, and maybe some mechancial benefit, but how do we get there? I think there are three broad categories of mechanical impact you can get out of this feat. In no particular order Brawling, Unconventional Weapons, and Payload Delivery.

That's a whole bunch of seemingly meaningless jargon: let me explain.

Brawling

This is the impact the feat was named for. This is best used by strength-based frontliners: the usual suspects are Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, and Paladins.

However, we're aiming for unconventional here aren't we? Blade Pact Warlocks, Rangers, Clerics, and Wild-Shaped Druids can certainly get in on the action if they have the strength to back it up- or a Rogue with expertise in Athletics.

The trick to brawling is simple: You want to leverage the feat's 3rd benefit and grapple as a bonus action. You probably want to dole out some damage on that grappled target or take advantage of the grapple to keep them disabled.

So you need two things here: a trigger for the grapple and a follow-through. Fighting unarmed or with a one-handed weapon is ideal here. Good thing this feat sets you up for that in several ways.

To trigger your bonus action grapple, you need to make a successful unarmed strike or with an improvised weapon. Depending on how many free hands you normally have, that might be quite easy, or it might be a little complicated.

Monks have it easy here, every attack they're likely to make opens up this bonus action. Afterwards you can follow through with Flurry of Blows, perhaps even knock them prone if you're following the Way of the Open Hand. You could even use both hands to grapple and do this to two separate targets while continuing to fight with your feet- though your DM might start to balk at this point. Wild-Shaped Druids have it just as easy- even if your DM doesn't consider natural attacks unarmed strikes (a fair interpretation, to my mind), nothing's stopping you from making an unarmed attack anyway- just don't use the teeth and claws until you have your target grappled.

Now if you're a Fighter wielding a one handed weapon and nothing else, well, problem solved. If you're a Fighter or maybe Barbarian wielding a two handed weapon, you can simply take one hand off of the weapon to strike and grab. You might be able to follow through by using your weapon to make improvised attacks against the target. If your DM rules that the two-handed property can't be overridden by making improvised attacks, you might be able to use knees, feet, or elbows to strike the grappled target.

If you're a sword-and-board Paladin or Fighter, well, now things are more complicated. You can drop your weapon to make an unarmed strike followed by a grapple, but your DM is unlikely to let you pick that weapon back up immediately if it doesn't work. But you can make an improvised attack with the shield, and drop the sword to execute the grapple if it works. If you're a two-weapon Ranger or similar you can execute a similar maneuver by striking with the pommel or handle of your weapon and dropping one of them to execute the grapple. The follow-through here consists of further improvised attacks with the shield, or attacks with the remaining one handed waeapon.

Unconventional Weapons 

Many pieces of 'adventuring equipment' in the PHB are treated as improvised weapons when you attack with them. This feat, oddly, is the only way to gain proficiency in the use of these weapons.

Alchemist's Fires, Acid Vials, Holy Water, and Oil Flasks are the only 'official' options I'm aware of, but even these are useful as sources of on-demand elemental damage for characters that don't normally have access to it.

I struggle to think that a DM who wasn't utterly adversarial refusing to allow you to make other simple weapons- a molotov cocktail, for example. I also think it would be perfectly reasonable to deliver inhaled or contact poisons by lobbing a vial. That's pretty much the definition of an improvised weapon attack- plus there's precedent in in most of the 'official' improvised weapons for lobbing vials.

This makes for an extremely unpredictable character if you're a non-caster. Battle Master Fighters, Rogues (especially Thieves), and certain Monks can deploy a simply staggering number of tactical options- from the right damage for the situation, to devastating conditions, to denying an area to their foes.

If you are a caster, there are some neat tricks you can do with spells. Fire spells can be enhanced by oil, and using a catapult spell to launch an improvised item doesn't require you to be proficient, but at low levels it's nice to be able to use the item if you're out of spells. The primary draw of using this method with spellcasters, in my mind, is that casters tend to be proficient in the sorts of tools that create unconventional weapons, so you can keep yourself supplied.

This fits quite well with Artificers and Wizards for most tools. Clerics, Paladins, and perhaps Celestial patron Warlocks could create Holy Water. It seems less likely that Sorcerers or other types of Warlocks would use this method, but nothing is stopping them.

Frankly, if you're the type to use spells that don't deal direct damage, you're more likely to find use for unconventional weapons. If not, your damage spells will always far outstrip the usefulness of these items. If you're playing a Thief or Battle Master, you 're already looking for opportunities to apply a unique skill set- this just expands your toolbox.

Payload Delivery

There's little tactical benefit to this technique, in most scenarios. This method disregards the damage and other properties of improvised weapons, and simply uses the fact that improvised weapons are weapons to deliver the damage of another feature in a flavorful or unexpected manner.

This primarily serves the purpose of expression without sacrificing effectiveness, but you might also gurantee that you can use your class features even if your weapons are not accessible- this may or may not be important to you depending on your campaign and character.

Paladins and Warlocks can deliver their (Eldritch) Smites through improvised weapons so long as the attack is a melee attack, and Battle Masters can deliver their maneuvers at range or in melee through improvised weapons. Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade, favored by Bladesingers and Eldritch Knights, don't discriminate against improvised weapons. In certain circumstances, this might let you continue to fight effectively even if you're doing another important job with your hands, such as bearing the party's light source.

Delivering conditional damage, such as sneak attack or great weapon fighting, can be more challenging since improvised weapons don't have properties, but you might convince a DM that a rail spike should be a finesse weapon or that a table should be heavy. Talk to your DM about these sorts of strategies before you take this feat.

Kit Support

Talk to your DM. Improvised Weapons fall almost entirely under the purview of the collaboration between players and DM. Odds are good that if you aren't trying to break the game (and none of these strategies should), your DM will look for ways to reward you for adopting an unconventional strategy. Especially if they know where you're going with it ahead of time.

That said, most of the ways to enhance the use of this feat that are actually found within the system are the few items on the adventuring gear table that are called out as improvised weapons- which we have discussed at length.

Perhaps there are others floating around in various published adventures or setting books- if you have access to those books, perhaps give them a once over.

Pitfalls

I don't need to tell you that your DM can handily ruin this one for you.

What I do need to tell you is that if your plan isn't thought through, if you haven't explained your plan to your DM beforehand and they balk, or if you're expecting this feat to form your entire battle strategy rather than being a single tool for your kit, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

Otherwise, making sure your character can use at least two of the feat's three applications reduces the odds your strategy will simply never be relevant in actual play.

[intelligentliving]

Electric GT's Conversion Kit Turns Classic Cars Into An Electric Vehicles

California company Electric GT allows car enthusiasts to easily convert any gasoline-powered vehicle into an electric vehicle in under 50 hours.