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I'd start with fiction first. In fiction when there are "big enchantments/curses", it works well for there to be a bit of poetic justice or internal logic for WHY this enchantment, WHY in this way, WHY this person. For ex: Mortimer Larks is an undertaker who didn't open a rapping coffin for...

Oh, and there are some ideas of how to make combat spicy in my cheat sheet. Forgot about that.

covered this one above! You could run this as dice poker (you can google examples), where "busting" indicates getting pecked/temporarily petrified. Closest to 21 guesses the closest to actual number of feathers. ...oooor you can reveal the whole thing is a scam, because no one has had the...

@Steve Gorak You're approaching the bearded Reghed tribesman tending the dogs. This would normally be an automatic or very easy check (dc 5), but because they're on alert it will be a tricky (DC 12) Persuasion check. Success gets permission to approach dogs. Failure means he tells you to leave...

Almiraj Ring Toss = draw/print picture of almiraj inside a 2-inch circle. players must roll dice from X distance. if die lands entirely in circle they win.

Gotcha. I don’t really have “unimportant” fights come up (or they’re so rare I can’t recall examples), which is partly a play style thing and partly a paradigm thing. However, I vary how I handle initiative, such as handwaving it when the rogue takes down a guard. EDIT: I’ve definitely been a...

There's a lot of nuance to each of your questions, and also several points of failure (imho) in the example/premise. To engage in your questions in good faith, are you looking for a "question the premise" dialogue? Or are you more interested in a "show me examples of Alternative Narrative/Quick...

I did a reverse yuan-ti dungeon. PCs managed to get an agreement to "parlay with the leader." They were led blindfolded into the dungeon. Provided slight sensory cues. Revealed map - they were at center surrounded by "black" unknown. When things went pear-shaped (yuan-ti infighting), PCs had...

yes

Uff, that roller does you no favors, does it? The complication I went with is that Lumrolur has no easy way out of The Blue Clam now without being noticed by half-orc guard Darn Braig, and that one member of the caravan crew (the one in unseasonal sailor's clothes) is now on alert. Both will be...

GM POST The dockside tavern "The Blue Clam" boasts a long hearth with benches full of weary fisherman hunched over spiced chowder. Plenty of wary gazes scan the windows facing the caravan, punctuated by quiet chuckles of muted mirth. The half-orc staring out the window with folded tattooed arms...

@Neurotic I think this is a good place to call for a Deception check, medium DC 15 to get the caravan guards to buy the disguise and go inside The Blue Clam to investigate. You have the disguise self going and you are guising yourself as a NPC who you've correctly identified as being connected...

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Just some questions on your post for clarity... By "guard" are you referring to the other half-orc standing inside The Blue Clam with crossed arms looking at the caravan outside? I am confused by who you mean by "guards" in this context? Are you assuming there are town guards in The Blue...

I always love to help a fellow gamer, but my time for RPGs is extremely limited these days. Even my participation on the forum has dropped off to a sporadic post every now and then. I'm not sure which publishing firm you represent? Doing editing of a sizeable playtest document gratis is beyond...

Mine is a very long list (a lot incorporated into my frankenstein 5e-ish already), but one thing I would love to see is tender loving care and genuine design effort + playtesting put into gray areas of the game. Chase rules (that are actually awesome, not 2014 DMG milquetoast rules) How to...

@Neurotic None of the NPCs in the caravan has grey/white hair. @VLAD the Destroyer @Steve Gorak @Aethmud @TaranTheWanderer Quick recap of what I think everyone is advocating... Delay Torga's Caravan in order to Long Rest, then engage the caravan after rest... question of how to do this...

Good sandboxes use overlapping adventure hooks in intelligent and sometimes unexpected ways. An example of how I'd present your "+1 sword in a monster cave" hook: When the dwarves retreated to the foothills, they sought refuge in a cliffside cavern where they were attacked by winged monsters...

Boxed text has many points of potential failure that lead to that "checking out" @Morrus and other folks mentioned. For example, boxed text can... Assume mode of travel / directionality of PC travel that may be false (e.g. "to your left is a golden archway surrounding impenetrable darkness, to...

I agree with the problems of heavy natural language, especially verbose natural language. However, counterpoint: Abstraction of pure mechanics to the deficit of narrative explanation creates a huge stumbling block of interpretation, aka "WTF is this actually doing in the game story?" I saw this...