Recent content by touc

It hearkens back to prior enworld discussions of what makes D&D....D&D (versus Pathfinder and all the other systems). Other systems have expanded the stats to 8 (e.g. Hackmaster). Fantasy Age (a D&D-esque system that replaced the math of the d20 with a 3d6) did away with the 3-18 ability score...

I'd identify CORE do not touch features first. IMO, it's the six primary ability scores ranging 3d6, the four core class types (fighter, divine, arcane, rogue), and hit points. Everything else I'm open for a redesign, though there's a question whether I'd be coming up with something new or...

Diversifying combat goals (e.g. protect that NPC for 10 rounds, DPR doesn't matter so much as protective abilities), or as you propose change combat mechanics can shift combat strategies but likely at the cost of longer combat encounters. The longer the combats, the less roleplay / exploration...

Knowing Strahd is a vampire isn't the horror or the "reveal" of Barovia. Instead, it's things like:

First post, welcome to the community (it's a wonderful one). So, caveat. Modifying rules when you've never DM'd isn't a definite "don't do it" (the creators dating back to the 1970s said the rules are guidelines and if you want something changed, then change it), but there is an underlying math...

Interviews with the artifact's namesake Tim Kask gives some clues, though he never actually says what Kwalish was. Most of this is taken from his years-long Q&A on the Dragonfoot forums: Kask was a first employee and early and prominent editor for O(School)D&D back in the 1970s-1980s (he was...

3/4 of my gamers literally put lamination on their default D&D sheets so they can dry erase hit points (and in case anything spills). Our 4th uses D&D Beyond which has only failed us once (internet failure) and is (mostly) great because at a touch of a button he's got spell descriptions, etc...

Here's what we're currently using for our Skull and Shackles pirate campaign. The purpose was to simulate how firearms can be awesome when used (as in real life) in the first volley but not for a melee. They're not meant to mimic anything and meant to stand alone as a unique item. The "exploding...

This is consistent with the D&D 5E SRD, which clarified: Tremorsense can’t be used to detect flying or incorporeal creatures. An incorporeal creature "has no body." In essence, it has nothing that would cause a vibration in the ground or otherwise create the movement necessary for an ability...

The author's points are taken mostly from a financial one. He sells a product rooted in enhancing and modifying monsters from official product whereas the average DM can do anything they want. If I want to "pretend" the Guard Captain actually only has a 14 STR to keep it real and the extra +2...

Summary if you don't want to watch the full video. In general order: OP Question (can we port the above points to later editions like D&D?): The morale, reaction, and wandering monster roll exploits are no longer set rules but totally discretion of the DM There's fewer adventures (in my...

Crucible of Chaos (Paizo, D&D 3.5, levels 8-10). It's about finding a flying city that crashed long ago (and possibly, if the DM wants, extending homebrew adventures to make it fly again). I ran this as "filler" in another campaign, easily converted.

Strahd's Castle itself (Curse of Strahd, obviously). Not sure rehashing material from an older edition counts, but it's just a creepy romp into one of the most amazing 3-D maps ever generated, whether you're trying to survive Strahd stalking you or simply exploring during the day and going...

I never did and ended up making up my own Deep Roads adventure based on the original Dragon Age video game, removing the endless battles that video games have, waiving the travel times with a montage, focusing on the creepy lore (some of the best in any RPG, hands down), increasing RP chances...

Let us not forget "many are called, few are chosen" (Knights of the Dinner Table, a statement about the gamer Dave Bozwell who occasionally gets the urge to step behind the screen and always does a cringe-worthy job by making the adventures all about his former characters), and the game store...