Recent content by bedir than

En5iders will remember Haek as an early editor for the EN Publishing 5e magazine. Haek is leaving Ghostfire Gaming for WotC soon, per their recent announcement on the Eldritch Lorecast They have previous credits at Wizards of the Coast, Critical Role, Darrington Press, MCDM, Ghostfire Gaming...

The only thing close to being able to check on the popularity of a class in 5e is to see the most recent public release of such information. Any other claim is merely whimsy and anecdote. I am once again asking for support for the initial claim that the Ranger is currently unpopular and that...

Yes, people feel this, but without support in the data. Everything that can be checked with data from the OP is wrong. That leads to disbelief in other unsupported statements, because there's no data. Again. The Foundation of the claim has no support. So all suggested fixes are based on vibes.

Both are valid, per WotC, in 2024. But also I haven't been a player with 2024 rules as the baseline yet. I'm DMing, but those characters are up to 4th. There are two Rangers in the group.

1 - ignoring spell slots does lots of work. If we ignore spell slots on Paladins they're a horrible class. 2 - yeah, the Ranger leans into mobility and defense more in that tier upgrade and in the second tier. Fey Wanderer getting free Summon Fey can boost the damage in positive ways without...

Can we start at the beginning? What's the problem with the Ranger? Can we be specific? It's supposed lack of popularity isn't supported by anything. That supposed fact the OP starts with doesn't match with any survey or supporting data. Not only was the Ranger not the least popular class the...

And the survey is also supported in practice. Anytime D&D and/or DnDBeyond shared character creation data the Fighter was always number one.

Did Justice Arman have something to do with this?

Oh, for sure! The mainstreaming of D&D is wonderful for nerds like us. I don't look down on it at all. In fact I reference moments like this in my event because I want to show people that the world has more understanding of D&D and RPGs now than ever before.

The next one is at Seattle area gaming convention OrcaCon. OrcaCon 2026 At security events I've spoken to 120, 90 and 80 or so. I'm usually in smaller rooms, but the feedback is strong. The mainstreaming of D&D opens up a lot of possibilities that aren't merely "neat its KC Chiefs doing...

The event is called Seat at the Tabletop and it's about using RPGs as a replacement for boring simulations and tabletop exercises. It's D&D heavy in the approach because the tropes with that game are part of the general zeitgeist. I've had requests to run D&D games in evenings at conferences...

I used to do that, but my former director was one of my players in an early 5e campaign. I now use D&D in work, getting us on stage at the second largest conference in our industry.

In 1990s MLS (us pro soccer) the teams stayed at bad hotels and most players couldn't afford gaming systems. One group, including someone who is now a Chief Soccer Officer and another who is Director of Development, would skip the bar at Applebee's and Chili's instead playing 1e/2e together in...

The Cleveland Browns had a regular campaign going. It featured in Sports Illustrated (prior to their recent PE downfall). The organizer retired from the NFL and is now a full time D&D creator.

I take a closer to classical approach. Newer players join at the lowest level of the average participating tier. Right now that means first level. If a non-gaming player does away from table play by advancing towards their goals and plot points via downtime or written play I'll catch them up to...