Recent content by Erich the Fuzzy

Alignment does actually have mechanical game effects. Have you not read the 2024 rules? Some spells do damage that is radiant or necrotic depending on alignment of caster, some summonings are celestial/fey/fiend based on alignment, etc. And alignment IS a standard entry in the stat block...

Bonds/flaws/ideals/traits are standard for PCs, for NPCs they are optional, or covered in the description as necessary. The book actually has alignments in the 1st-page chart for some of the adventures, has alignments for some (but not all) NPCs for others, and none for the rest. Either it...

No, alignment is a basic stat in the game, which is why it appears on the official character sheets (online & paper) and every monster or NPC stat block. You can ignore any particular stat or rule you like at your table, but the basic stats from the official rules should appear consistently in...

I'm a little bugged by the inconsistency with alignments for NPCs in this book. I have reluctantly accepted WotC's concept that many traditionally evil monster species (races) no longer have a standard alignment, but that was just to emphasize that specific individuals could have any alignment...

There are two Catch-22 contradictions in the adventure. The first is in Crypt of the Talhund. The haunting in area 16 can only be put to rest by defeating the mummy in area 17, whereas the mummy in area 17 can be prevented from animating if all the haunts have been put to rest. Except that...

The nodules aren't flat, they are rounded like globes, or at least some of them are. In this case, the water goes in a ring around it: across the top, down the side, across the bottom, and then back up the other side. (Presumably the gravity works from the center of the nodule in all...

Um, have you not watched the Harry Potter films? Yikes, look at the creatures running Gringotts and tell me they don't remind you of any ethnic stereotypes. Different from D&D (or Tolkien) goblins, sure, but I bet a lot of people now playing D&D first encountered goblins in HP.

I'm not sure how this change increases a turret-style approach, unless you just mean that stronger monster attacks mean a stronger desire not to be hit, so you fight from further away? Wouldn't that be the case with anything that makes monster attacks stronger? The new hit-no-save powers for...

I think these changes are exceptions (and the same happened to the Panther as the Tiger) and I think it's because someone realized the Pounce action was a little complicated with the damage varying by whether it had Advantage or not, and Prowl was FAR too complicated (combining a move, a...

They don't know a fireball is coming, so they are not likely to scatter. The way it helps your fireball is it means that, during their next turn (following when you Frightened them), they can't approach your caster & party and get too close for fireball to work without being friendly fire. They...

Again, though, if that were the case (weaking a CR 1/8 with pack tactics because they are now cheaper in encounter budget) then why did the CR 1/8 Kobold (now Kobold Warrior) get STRONGER instead of weaker? Their AC and HP both increased by 2. If the logic is that a CR 1/8 with pack tactics...

So if that was the reason, which, if any, other low CR creatures have been nerfed in a similar way? Many of the other (non-humanoid) small monsters also seem to have gotten tougher, not weaker. Including the Merfolk, Monodrone, and Twig Blight, all of whom now do MORE damage than their 2014...

Yet this wasn't a problem for 2014? This is the re-do of the Tribal Warrior, which was also CR 1/8 and had the 2-hand spear option for 5 damage instead of 4 yet also with Pack Tactics. The only change is the Warrior Infantry has 1 better AC (13 vs. 12) but 2 fewer hp (9 instead of 11) due to a...

Would a single point more average damage break that, though?

That makes some sense, but I don't like what that means for stat blocks like the Warrior Infantry who has a spear but no shield, so should default to the 2-handed damage. It makes sense to simplify it to only having one version in the stat block, but it should be the more appropriate version -...