Recent content by rlor

Bleh, apologize for the necro...

Normally in these situations I think that the scene the DM is picturing is different than the one the player is picturing. Perhaps the player keyed into a particular sentence of your description and was erroneously thinking the chain devil was surrounded by the party and was at a disadvantage or...

A playstyle difference then. As a DM the player states an action, then I say what happens or ask for a roll. In that past I did it differently but found a large portion of game time was spent with the players spinning their wheels which was fun for no one. In the example the DM knew that...

In general a player expects their die roll to determine the success of an action. If a character succeeds their sleight of hand check versus a NPC's perception check they expect to steal their coin pouch. Not that they made an excellent attempt but it failed due to DM fiat. Note, I don't have...

Depends how I want the situation to work as either could be reasonable. In either case I'd let a sufficient knowledge check or some piece of information (if found) reveal to the players how it would work and I'd stay consistent to that for the rest of the campaign. In general though I'd say...

The sage advice article clarified that the DM picks the creatures: http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/SA_Compendium.pdf "The design intent for options like these is that the spell-caster chooses one of [the CR and number of creature options], and then the DM decides what creatures...

If I wanted flavor I would set your cold area as Cania in Hell. When a spell attempts to resurrect them a devil gives them a choice, they can ignore it and pass on to their afterlife or promise to do a task for the devil that does not violate their alignment (making the deal might do so in the...

It might still take a year+ of trying with countless failures to create a masterpiece (or it might never happen). The failures may not be bad either, simply that they didn't catch the public's eye. A person might have the same proficiency in playing a guitar and understanding of music as a...

I'm in agreement that in general they're not worth much as far as boosting CR if it is damage OR using the ability. Something like an Ultroloth does pitiful damage but has a stun that is in addition to their attacks and I think that is factored into its CR a bit. I disagree with the way WotC...

I guess there are two parts to this: 1. House ruling con to death saving throws. Me personally I don't care one way or the other and could easily be talked into ruling in favor of it. 2. The DM has ruled one way and the player is choosing not to follow it. This seems pretty clear cut to...

Speak in a sincere and calm voice: "I'm not willing to argue with you further, but this is the way I'm ruling on death saving throws. It is the way it is written in the book, but even if it was not it is how it is going to be played at this table. If it was reversed and you were the DM then...

I think the cost and to a bigger part the time spent is to have it more as an NPC option than a PC option. Much like clone: "Ok everyone, we're going to take 120 days off adventuring until these clones mature, don't worry, that lich probably won't have crushed too many villages between now and...

#1 A game that is inconsistent in scheduling and the cancellation notices are all last minute, especially if I had other stuff I could be doing. So if the game is set for every Sunday morning and the DM commonly cancels games the day of, then I'm going to find something else to do. Most of the...

I wouldn't have a problem with PCs sharing their spellbooks with each other assuming they're paying the costs or even choosing their spells at level-up with the plan to share them with the other wizard. As both a player and GM I've found with the concentration mechanic and the "At Higher...

I'd say as a sheer damage option, Animate Objects is superior as well against anything but damage immune targets. Having your fighter friend use an action to open their spare coin pouch and spill a bunch of silver coins on the ground next to the baddies and you're now playing Magneto...