Recent content by Hawk Diesel

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with this characterization of teleportation in 5e. We really need to examine what currently exists in the game to determine the balance considerations of teleportation and how it has been viewed by the game's designers. The earliest way to achieve a true...

I disagree. From the reaction I have seen at my table, players now get excited by rolling really high and rolling really low. It has literally doubled the fun, from that perspective.

Sure, but I also imagine we've all taken tests that we were confident about and ended up getting a poor grade. Or for sure knew that someone we cared about returned our feelings, only to learn they couldn't feel more differently. The system that I proposed is not used universally. But in matters...

I'd like to clarify a few things to help contextualize why the approach I described in the OP works for my table. So one of the things that I like to implement is degrees of success/failure. If the failure is only by a couple, or closer to a roll of ten, then yea, a player may just get a "You...

Something I have previously struggled with as a DM is how to hide the success or failure of a check from the players. Obviously, there is the hidden roll where the DM makes the roll on the player's behalf behind the screen. But in my experience, it's more fun for the player to roll their own...

Clearly see things differently. Good luck finding a way to play in a way that is satisfying for you and your table.

Actually no, you don't need spellcasting. I have had a character that I described having an arm cannon like megaman that was mechanically just a crossbow. Obviously a mechanical version of teleporting has advantages over walking. But we are also talking about how to effectively implement these...

Do you actually need a mechanic to teleport? Why not just describe your movement speed as a teleport? Mechanically it is no different from walking, but you can make it still feel like teleporting. And like @Steampunkette mentioned, if they take the disengage action and move away from an enemy...

I voted that I will not buy WotC products, regardless. Hasbro is an awful company. They didn't sit great with me to begin with, but after the OGL scandal, I'm good. I'd much rather give my money to 3rd party pubishers.

Sorry, just to clarify. I wasn't commenting on your house rule, so much as the idea of why things may be different in combat versus out of combat, at least for D&D (other systems may be different). If you want to treat the different pillars of play in D&D as each being more consistent in how the...

I don't think it's so much that Dash isn't allowed out of combat, but rather that it doesn't make sense. We aren't tracking rounds out of combat, so why would we track speed as rigidly as we would in combat? Personally, I think of combat like it is represented in BG3. The turn-based mode doesn't...

I don't know that its a problem so much as an abstraction. We don't tend to worry about exhaustion when a combat happens, but for anyone that has actually fought it is very much at the forefront of mind and strategy. Just because the rules don't directly mention other senses doesn't mean it...

In case anyone is interested, here's my take on the Hide action. The intent behind it was to clarify how hiding works, formalize the use of the Hide and Search (which is an action that I think is largely ignored) actions, and reduce rolling by making the active character roll against the passive...

I wouldn't limit the number of times a utility cantrip can be cast, just as I wouldn't limit the number of times a non-caster could use a shovel or swing a hammer for blacksmithing. Any prolonged activity, whether mundane or magical, can be limited by calling on an ability check to determine...

Something that may help you is to stop thinking about any mechanical drawback aside from maybe exchanging some racial features or requiring a feat. It's not always fun for some players to get a benefit that comes with a curse. Especially when this ability benefits you as a DM to further drive...