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I have to say... the way you're expressing this comes across slightly hysterical. Sorry. The thing is, the PHB was officially out yesterday. This is incredibly early days in the edition, and the WotC team are probably still recovering from Gencon. What's more, there already are PDFs released -...

So, there are lots of ways to narrate damage. Without (please) getting in to the argument over what HP represent, I'd like to share the notes I've been using for a while - this came up in a discussion a few days ago in a game I was running, and I ended up putting this into formal shape to hand...

I think this is a great change. It opens up new room for character building that previously weren't possible. For instance, a failed Wizard's Apprentice: Variant Human, taking the Magic Initiate feat (True Strike (this is lovely for a scouting Rogue!) and Minor Image as cantrips, so many useful...

No, that's still subjective. Classes give you a choice from a limited pool. Backgrounds give you free choice with suggestions. If you picked background first, you might find the skill choices overlap badly, and end up backtracking to backgrounds to pick something else. Does that make this layout...

So, there's a few things in this that I think need comment. Obviously your opinions and preferences are your own and I'm not trying to say you're wrong - just to say that there are valid reasons for a load of the things you dislike which explain them (well, they do to me, at least :-) ) In 5e...

The variant I've been working on (and testing) for a while goes like this: Every time you drop to 0hp, you take a wound. Every wound you have adds one level of exhaustion. It's possible to heroically shrug off wounds for a short time - a wounded character may, at the start of their turn...

I'd just go with this as a houserule: When you ready an action to attack targets that provoke opportunity attacks, you may use the Extra Attack feature with your Reaction to gain multiple attacks against targets that trigger attacks of opportunity. You may use all the attacks against the first...

I am really starting to wish I lived in Manchester :-) Last weekend I was in Manchester for the Discworld Convention. I have a minor role on the committee, so I spent a good chunk of Thursday evening and Friday morning wandering around buying props and other items to run events. I stopped by...

Yes, I'm reaching back into the dim and distant past of this thread. But then, it's still alive and I was on holiday when the above was posted :-) I just wanted to make a point that Prestige Classes and new 5e Subclasses are about equal in their applicability to existing characters, and while...

I think sorceror subclass is definitely the way to go. That gets you access to most of the Wizard spells, which is a good start... for a more divine theme, we'd need to wait for the PHB to be sure how the various features look, but enough has been mentioned about Sorcery points to infer that...

Your asylum patient background already exists - check out the Hermit background that was leaked and read it with your idea in mind :-)

I've been thinking a bit about how short rests work and how satisfying - or not - some people find them. The thing is, during a short rest you can do a number of things - regain expertise points, regain some spells, perform mundane healing, etc. In a standard one-hour short rest, you can do as...

I think the new wording clarifies the "two actions" criticism - it's now a melee spell attack that uses the weapon as a required material component. The fluff that you're swinging a weapon masks the fact that it should be balanced in effect with any other cantrip.

Good point. A blanket prohibition on modifying the attack is best, I think. Goes to edit.

The metal requirement mostly comes from fluff around the person I'm considering it for, admittedly. Good point on finesse weapons, though - I'll edit it. I think knocking people back would be too much - I'm balancing it against Shillelagh, which does 1d8 damage at 10' range. Converting half the...

My wife has been playing a dragonborn barbarian for the last several years who has a habit of using improvised throwing weapons a lot. Usually this means corpses, but occasionally they are still living - at least, before being thrown. This feat is basically made for her - once her character has...

I'm considering offering one of my players this cantrip, if something equivalent isn't included in the PHB. What do people think? Channeled Blow Conjuration cantrip Casting time: 1 action Range: Special (5', or 10' if the weapon has the Reach property) Components: V, S, M (a one or two...

More importantly, how did the rules play out in terms of challenge, drama and fun?

It's not difficult to find, but it's really only a curiosity - and something to whet the appetite, because there are some lovely bits in it. As has been said, it's not something anyone should be using to run a game. It's fascinating to see the progression from the final public playtest to the...

I set most of my 5e playtests in a megacity setting that came into my head one day. The basic premise is a city roughly the size of France and Spain combined (or about 1/8 of the land area of the USA). It's ancient and densely packed, running from a coastline of cliffs and sunken docks in the...