Search results

Well, they -tried- to change a lot in the 4e Eberron book, which we had to end up ignoring. My hope is that 5e has a bit more toned-down lore for worlds already with a following, and they can add something new to the information. So perhaps my hopes are fruitless, or even naive, but I'll hang...

Talents -somewhat- help bring some more in depth character development, which leads -somewhat- towards tactical play. It really increased our tactical-mindset with our 5e games... -somewhat-. This lead us to understanding that 5e could be just a backbone of a system, and sort of went crazy...

Ahh, now I understand. When we use this function, I just let the players know "Goblin is hitting squishy." They don't know the numbers, but know it will be a hit. Then the intervening person can decide whether or not to spend their reaction. They don't get to know if it is a Critical Hit...

A lot of time it does turn out as 'Taking the Hit', but I just like giving my shield-bearers a glimmer of hope that their AC 21 instead of the AC 18 Rogue will make the difference haha. Seriously though, that 3 points has -sometimes- saved anyone from taking damage. However, if you want it...

There's a simple homebrew idea we employ for 5E - 'Take the Attack'. Take the Attack (Reaction) : When an ally adjacent to you would be attacked by an enemy, you can move in the way of the blow, and the attack roll targets you instead. We make this simple option so literally anyone, from any...

Heh, the exact reason I bought the book was to help show support for the product in the long run. I figured if they got money for the playtest material, the real deal was sure to follow, and have a much more broad-sweeping budget than they may have initially planned. Did the investment pay off...

Decanter of Endless Water 20+1 =21 Dimensional Shackles 19 Dust of Dryness 13 Efreeti Bottle 20 Figurine of Wondrous Power 19-2 = 17 Folding Boat 17 Heward's Handy Haversack 14 Horn of Valhalla 23 I'll give a +1 for the bane of Dark Sun campaigns.

In one of the very rare times I played a character instead of DMed, an FLGS game, the DM decided we'd play his version of 5e - everything was an 'encounter' resource, meaning even spell slots came back at the end of each fight. It obviously made wizards crazy powerful, so he threw some really...

Honestly, we go variable because it is a Pro-Defender approach. With your 45ft assumption, in example, defender does nothing but rush forward at the end of the round and engage. If all the foes attack him on their turn, there's a high likelihood he doesn't live to see his next turn. We don't...

On Page 38 (DMG), there is a chart - starting characters at a higher level. It isn't -exactly- what you're looking for, but it'll be a good guideline. Otherwise, I'd just recommend basing it off of your party's makeup. If you don't have a healer-heavy character, in example, give them some...

I know it's a ton of extra work on me as a DM, but since I use Maptools for tabletop projection, I also use it to track all resources a character uses. That way, it's a double-check system to make sure the resources are marked appropriately. I trust my players emphatically to do the right...

That's awesome that it works for your group! Does seem like a great way to use 5e to its intended short-battle potential. I mean, when we first started playing 5e, we went purely by the book, including the Cyclical Initiative, and it in no way took away from the game. Our preference for...

I don't think these two views necessarily contradict one another (thus why I gave XP to both). I know myself, I have to be in a very rare mood to be negative about something - it just isn't in my nature to present my own personal problems with something, because I know things can be appreciated...

We hate static initiative SO much it's not funny. The current system my home game plays has a Speed cost for every action you take in a round, reducing your initiative for the next round, and that's sort of our staple we add to almost every game we play (even 5E). Popcorn is the greatest...

Yes, thank you! I knew I had read this somewhere, but couldn't remember the article for the life of me!

DM Dave1 had some more great suggestions - I'll add a few tips in the same vein: At home, I bought a fairly cheap digital projector from Amazon, and use Maptools (free VTT) to cast maps onto the tabletop, scaled so that players can still use their minis appropriately. This way, in between...

I don't experience the problem in the same way as you, in that we play weekly - however, there are similar situations that arise for different reasons; mainly, we've been playing for 20 years, and you have to continuously keep it fresh and interesting. Here's a few things that I use. While...

Own and read the MM? Sure. Read it in the middle of combat? Completely off the mark. This creates a major problem of DM agency being questioned (with less-familiar circles). I don't think I've run a monster 'by the book' in over a decade, unless I need to whip up a quick random encounter...

Yes, very true - I often forget the 1 hour short rest requirement of 5E due to the fact that when we play it, we use the 5 minute short rest alternate in the DMG - good catch though. We found that without a healer in the party, which is quite often since I'm the only one that really likes...

That's a great point - I hadn't honestly thought of that, but Warlock is considerably popular in our 5E games - could be just that reason. I didn't do any Multi-classing in the playtest, so I hadn't really checked that section out - the watered-down feats from 4E multiclassing, before the...