Recent content by J-H

I had to hit Page Up to see if this was a post from 2022 that resurfaced.

Here are the statblocks I used.

"Oh good, we have some steady light to see by now."

Hmm, so either you get a mutation/new growth that's not "just cancer" or you simply take damage that heals over time. I like the idea of measuring dosage in Grays simply because it's a really, really ominous name. "You have two Grays." 5 grays of acute exposure gives a 50% chance of dying...

I've used ancient magic before (or seen it used) but actual hazardous radiation is kind of an OCP for D&D characters if Detect Magic doesn't work on it. Did you stat up a Deathclaw for 5e? I'm always interested in ways to make something that's not just "basically an ogre with better stats" that...

This is not a place of honor. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. Nothing valued is here. What is here is dangerous and repulsive to us. The danger is still present in your time, as it was in ours. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited. Has anyone written an adventure...

I have found myself using a strategic time crunch or clock in most of my games. It helps prevent the 5 minute adventuring day, as well as creating opportunity costs for more decisions. "Do we X or Y" is much better than "Do we do X then Y?"

How do you make a spell-less ranger work? The 3.5 version, as I vaguely recall, was not very good. In 5e, a spell-less ranger and a Scout rogue pretty much overlap completely.

The 5e Ranger had a very weak spell list across the first 3 levels of spells, with some good spells that come online late game. The Paladin list, in comparison, is much stronger, and the Paladin is one of the best-built classes in the game. Part of the issue is the Paladin's better damage...

A fiendishly influenced dire sword crab. Why? 1. It doesn't actually swim, so it's not limited to water. 2. It has native blindsight, so muddy, dark waters are its ally. 3. It can grab foes and drag them underwater to drown (if they can't breathe water). 4. Because it's a sword crab, it's...

I implemented the "HP growth stops at 10" in my Baldur's Gate II game (alongside a LOT of magic item availability). I've been very happy with it. Only the martials and rogue are over 100hp at level 17. The one fight where an enemy wizard opened with Meteor Swarm did involve the Cleric going...

Or you have to have an explanation for the abilities. Osteomantic Shield spell doesn't work as well for you, because you're a living being, not an undead like the Bone Death Wizard you just fought. Phil's Phlebotomy only does 4d8 damage when you cast it because you're not a vampire. If you...

This is basically what I ended up coming up with a system to do. Link: PC-like NPC chart It's on the DM's Guild, but PWYW and the primary chart is visible in the preview, except the spellcasting columns seem to have been cut because it's displayed Portrait instead of landscape. You go across...

All the time to some extent Setting - sometimes Monsters - always Class rule tweaks - always Player options - some, but I rarely have players take me up on it Magic items - usually

I would take a page from 2e and cap hit point growth at level 10. At level 11+, classes gain 3, 2, or 1 hit points (warrior, cleric/rogue/bard/druid/etc., wizard/sorc/warlock) upon levelup. I have done this in my BG2 5e game and it has helped prevent the massive HP bloat that I have previously...