Recent content by I'm A Banana

In a standard D&D 5-man band, elves tend toward a "Blue Oni" role IMXP. They're the cool, collected, skillful type, naturally graceful and talented, whose feelings are not worn on their sleeve, but who have a depth to them that can be tapped in specific situations. They're rangers and archers...

I read that as: your class is a bag of tricks shared by the party. The use of Stealth comes to mind as an in-play example that happened in my game this weekend. Yeah, it was one character sneaking around, but the party came up with the plan, and the party helped augment the plan, and in play...

Yeah, there's a need there. That assumption in D&D that your character is not normal has not always been a comfortable fit, especially since AD&D had a slightly different assumption. Even if D&D is explicitly magical, there's a lot of folks who would rather it be less so. I think it's the other...

I think that it's interesting that in the realm of monster-fighting, a high-level martial character can already do things well beyond what a highly trained normal person can do. In that area, this includes things like tanking a dozen or so direct hits with a greatsword, or surviving deadly...

When the domain management was big, the effects of spells like Teleport and Wish were much more subject to DM whim. These spells becoming more quantified went in process with high level D&D losing this kind of "impact the campaign" kind of play. I think I'd like a version of D&D that capped...

Traditionally, a high-level fighter impacts the world through ruling kingdoms and commanding armies and raising castles. But, this kind of world impact doesn't work for some games (it's useless, for instance, in a monster-slaying game where DPR matters more than the number of commoners you can...

A lot of the fighter/wizard squabbling is about genre and aesthetics more than it is about balance. It doesn't matter how much a fighter can do, if a wizard can cast wish or teleport or whatever, then there's a certain "high magic" vibe that a certain subset of the player base just cannot abide...

That doesn't match my fantasy of a dragonrider. It's not about the "I win" button, either. It's about having a FRICKIN DRAGON as a friend that fights next to you. Not just any "scaly pet." It's about the size, it's about the scope, it's about the intelligence and ancient knowledge, it's about...

Viable, at 4th tier. Maybe even 3rd tier to some degree. Hell, you COULD funnel it into LV 1, you just risk the PC's feeling more like the accessories to the dragon's power (the FR book readily admits that the dragons are much more powerful than their knights). Which is part of why my campaign...

A dragon done as a subclass feature is destined to be a milquetoast disappointment. The power budget just isn't there. Riding an actual dragon (not a wyrmling or a drake or a "draconic spirit") is viable, just not as subclass design. The D&D designers can't even design a satisfying subclass...

If I was to build a campaign around Cormyr and the PDKs and keep the lore from the recent books, here's how I might run it: Our antagonist list includes Werewyverns, the Cult of the Dragon (so dragons, and undead), and, broadly, "Aberrations." Amethyst dragons are also planar scholars, so I...

Because of it's massive size, D&D is in a bit of a unique situation. It is best served by being "good enough" for a broad swath of people, especially those new to RPGs in general, rather than laser-focused on a single play experience. It always is going to have to serve many masters -- it is...

My vision of CHA is usually less about being sexy and more about, like, the ability to lead and influence. Dude is a loner who lets his skill speak rather than trying to be well-liked or influential. The folks that like him are particular, and most people think he's awful or useful at best...

The newness of the players is also a factor. While I love going to Level 2 after 1 session, I might go a little bit longer if there's someone new to the game (there's enough decision points in a single session that to immediately give them more can feel like a lot!). With a more experienced...

I think there's a case to be made for fewer, more impactful choices in many areas of modern D&D. Multiclassing is one of those.