Recent content by Tessarael

I agree. Magic item pricing is difficult. The other problem with making magic items expensive is that if they find such items, they can sell them for a lot, which may have other unintended consequences. I'd be inclined to have legacy magic items or similar that scale with the characters in an...

Regarding issues with 5E D&D magic item prices, I recommend to take a look at the thread below, in particular the PDF linked in the first comment. We used that pricing for a 5E campaign, and it worked quite well. ENWorld thread: D&D 5E (2014) - Sane Magic Item Prices Giant in the Playground...

You are correct, as they cannot sheathe a weapon as a free object interaction to cast the Shield spell as a reaction. But there are very few spells that are limited in this manner by the rules as written (RAW): Absorb Elements, Counterspell, Hellish Rebuke, and Shield. For other cases, where...

The A5E Stronghold rules are pretty good in my opinion. That's where we have been funneling spare money, to get the +1 ability score bonus at a level 3 stronghold, another +2 at a level 6 stronghold, and there are other benefits as well depending on the type of stronghold.

A5E has spells, maneuvers, and knacks. It works fairly well, though knacks are class-specific.

I'd argue that one of the key things that makes certain spells and combat maneuvers iconic is that they have a one or two word name that at a high level describes them well. For example: Backstab, Cleave, Cone of Cold, Conjure Elemental, Deflect Missile, Feint, Fireball, Invisibility, Lightning...

There are distinct bumps in character effectiveness in 5E at level 5 in particular. While that was present in 3E and earlier editions, it was not quite as major - Fireball only did 5d6 at Wizard level 5 in AD&D and 3E, and then there were the different XP progression rates across classes as you...

5E and 5.5E D&D don't allow the Dexterity maximum bonus to AC to be increased significantly for bounded accuracy reasons. You're limited to one of the following: Light armor AC 12 + full Dexterity modifier => maximum of AC 17 with Dexterity 20. Medium armor AC 15 + Dexterity modifier (max 2) =>...

I agree. It is good to have a common maneuver and spell system, as there's no way everyone is going to be able to remember all of them if they are unique for each class. That said, having a few encounter or daily powers codified by class also makes sense, or have a generic mechanism to handle...

Compared to 5E and 5.5E D&D, A5E has much better utility/exploration development for all the classes. They get knacks et al., some of which do provide new skill proficiencies or similar. I really like this aspect of A5E. What would you prefer to see for the armor table?

Take a look at rare spells in A5E. It is a good mechanic, and works well for treasure, or spell crafting during down time.

Negative levels from earlier editions are a dreadful mechanic. It can permanently nerf a character vs. their fellow party members, either on XP, if restored at the lower minimum for the level, and/or level, if not restored. This is something that I absolutely hated as a player. Item saving...

I prefer the 5E skill system to 3E. The problem with the 3E skill system is that it was quite complicated, particularly with skill synergies, and there were a bunch of crap skills that were very situational and should be mostly avoided. 5E has a simpler skill system, with better consolidated...

There were a few reason why 4E failed. Two of the key ones from my perspective as a player: Insufficient play testing, so excessive errata. It got to the point where I could not make a character using the books. Removal of free access to the online platform to create a character with the class...

A key question is where they're making most of the money going forwards. Is it core rule books? Adventures (doubtful)? DM's Guild long tail sales of 3rd party products? Computer game licensing? One way or another, it looks like the focus is going to be increasingly digital. Simpler mechanics...