Recent content by hatecraft

The problem is that all of DnD settings were novel when they were created, but would seem to be full of tired tropes when presented to a mass audience. Everyone has already seen snooty elves and brutal orcs. They saw that in LotR, and the D&D movie isn't going to be bigger budget than LotR...

Initiative is used to figure out the order of stuff. So, you only need to roll initiative when the order matters. If a hidden elf is watching an unaware goblin, then snipes the lone goblin with an arrow from 100' away, killing the goblin instantly, there is no need to roll initiative. So...

That's pretty close to saying "And women are weaker than men, so female characters should get -2 to to Str." Just because something is true for NPCs in the game universe doesn't mean it needs to be mechanically reinforced via the rules. Sure, in game, the average man is stronger than the...

Don't worry about putting things in a sandbox that are way higher level than the PCs, as long as they have an opportunity to avoid it. This usually means showing them the beholder and then letting them decide if they want to engage it or run away. Besides, players sometimes surprise you with...

I'm not a fan of gnomes. They're either stereotyped quirky little inventors or quirky little dudes who hang out with badgers. It just seems like it's extra difficult to make a complex gnome character--or at least I haven't seen one.