Recent content by CF07

This seems like an ideal time for a check of some sort, e.g., Survival (or whatever parallel skill there is) to see how scattered the party has gotten. It also means that a wilderness skilled character like a ranger in 5E has an opportunity to be valuable. 100%.

Good point. I think I'd probably plan for those monsters to show up at points where a fixed marching order would be required, e.g., where things narrow or at a river crossing. That helps break up the party and makes weaker characters have to deal with the problem and give the ambush predators a...

I've done this, too. If someone's dithering they get moved down in the initiative. Nobody loses a turn but the game gets moved on.

Very important issue. The 5 minute adventuring day issue has been around for a long time in D&D. In the old days one consequence of random encounters was to get the PCs to hustle up but as they've gone out of fashion the 5 minute work day has gotten worse.

Long turns are the bane of many a game, especially long combat turns. My turns tend to be on the shorter side but I have played with people who are legendary for long turns. Everyone else starts messing with phones, doodling, heading to the kitchen for a drink, the bathroom to get rid of the...

Yes, and aqueducts are a thing, too. Adding to what you just said one really big issue that people are overlooking with the "but it's not realistic, bruh" argument is that in a fantasy world there might well be reasons for a city to be in an area that otherwise seems to make no sense...

That's true, though I think it's important to remember that having a true to life simulation of a real world is probably overkill for most people. The idea is to have a feeling of verisimilitude that keeps the players invested. So Shelzar being the big trade emporium might be enough to tell good...

Good points! One big reason is that water transport is cheaper than land transport and was vastly cheaper before the railroad. Australia's main cities---Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Perth, Darwin, Cairns, Townsville---are ports. I believe the only main exception is Canberra, which is...

And thus LOTS of opportunities for bizarro dungeons that you can get at from the sewers! Things can get really strange the further down you go. Michael Moorcock's Gloriana has a bunch of gorgeous ideas for an alternate Elizabethan London with crazy dungeons under the sprawling palace.

Oh yeah, I'm running "Return to the Tomb of Horrors" (with some editing to fit my campaign world) and the maps have... issues. LOL! Perfect!

There was an article many years ago by Dave Noonan called "Proud Nails" talking about aspects of the system that kind of stick out. He had some nice examples, such as the size of horses leading to a riding party taking up something like 50'. I think falling damage in D&D has been one of those...

Yeah falling in D&D can be really problematic. Jumping down 40' might feel heroic and could be described well to make it feel cool, but too far and it starts getting silly: A 200' fall damage of 20D6 seems like a lot of damage but it's average is only 70. My current PC, a 9th level Warlock with...

Absolutely, especially when it's "jumps on grenade not knowing whether you're going to survive".

I like a mix of both but more on the side of vicarious adventure. Call it 65%/35%. All smash and grab isn't interesting to me but I don't want to play a telenovela, either. I'm going to highlight the backstory aspect, though. In my view backstories can become a real burden and like a lot of...

I played in a long D&D campaign where we had higher level main PCs and a cast of henchmen. Playing the henchmen was often super fun!