Recent content by Whithers

I like what is described. My own trouble in creating universal approaches has been the balance between AOE and Melee vs. real world. Which in my own military experience is not nearly so independent in a tech setting as they become in a fantasy one.

There was a bow found in a bog in Denmark that was a highly adapted and modified flatbow from 8k years ago. It was designed to fire fast and without a full draw. I used it as the starting point to design a war bow adding recurve from the Persians, horn on the belly, and sinew backing on Orange...

I meant for it to be once per combat round. It is in effect a Reaction, but without taking out the reaction. I may change that. I figure this way the Fighter doesn't have to declare Riposte, and so it increases the class that much more by giving them a free maneuver. The tweaks I am making...

I am considering adding a bonus action to the Dodge. Anytime a character takes Dodge as their action, once per round, they may Riposte as a bonus action if the opponent would have missed on a natural roll of 1-9. If their roll of 2-9 would have hit had the character not been dodging, then...

I have played both ways. When I started armor, etc. did not resize for the convenience of game play. It was pretty easy to tell when the DM had put treasure in for a member of the party to use and when it was merch fodder. I didn't encounter the resizing rules til I came back and everything...

One of the reasons I look for dramatic "story" function rather than realism. The suspension of disbelief is so much more appealing than the real thing. Consider the most efficient archery units in the world were Persians who would ride up and U-turn on strategic points of elevation in order to...

Nope, but I did have a cardiac infarction when my character died at the end of NN2 OC. Facts don't care about my feelings. However, mechanically, all video games come down to making the plotted points on the screen collide or evade. The rest is just window dressing to distract us from that...

I think the reason it is not common is because anyone who knows the rules knows it is forced. Anyone who wants that risk knows that all the risk is against the player if they take the action. Therefore, there is never a reason to attempt the dramatic action. Some adaptation of a Plot Point...

That is what saving throws after one becomes unconscious answer. But yes, it weights the play.

It is the story dynamic. It eliminates the one hit one kill possibility, a dynamic that both in fiction and when I trained as a soldier I find/found appealing. (Which was a little easier for me since I was issued a grenade launcher.) In story terms it is easier to justify the slit throat of a...

Understand the concern if what one is looking for it :):):)-for-tat miniatures combat, like we used to do with lead miniatures once upon a decade. Robin Hood, Minamoto no Tametomo, Aragorn, etc. I generally see most ranger constructs as harriers. All second string dabbling in parts of other...

nswanson27 and Saelorn, I am answering both of your posts together. I have been watching a lot of online play to get more familiar with 5E as I am leaving 3.5 Pathfinder. And yes, I notice that a rogue using daggers can opportunistically out damage the ranger regularly. First noticed this...

For decades now I have been disappointed with the dramatic effect in Sword and Board of ranged damage. Which game really doesn't matter, but I am currently looking at 5E. With Sneak Attack one may do some really fantastic amounts of damage using a ranged weapon. However, the ranged class...

Thanks for the input. I wanted to weight it in favour of the players, but not let go without risks. My players also do amateur pool tourneys and a little friendly wagering. I added the inherent risk because they like that sort of thing. But I can see your points.

I have images my friends of an enraged barbarian force feeding a healing potion to their unconscious party member as the action of their turn. As the potion brings the spluttering hacking friend back to consciousness the power behind the gods states: "Make a Constitution saving throw against...