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Bganon is correct. If the PCs want to use ready action to coordinate attacks, the sequence goes: Fighter: Readies action to attacks the orc after the wizard casts. Rogue: Readies action to attacks the orc after the wizard casts. Wizard: Casts hold person. Orc fails its first save and is...

The low-level wizard in my game has dominated the humanoid fights through judicious use of Sleep. Sure, he does less damage than the other characters with cantrips, but Fire Bolt is hardly a waste of time and magic missile gives the wizard a better average damage output than any other PC (for...

It's important for 5e DMs to keep in mind that surprise is a huge deal. Even without PCs sleeping out of armor, being taken in an ambush (day or night) can turn an easy or moderate encounter into a real nail biter. The additional logistics of reacting to a nighttime raid makes the issue even...

I would love to see some of the original D&D properties given a reboot. A modern take on the DragonLance game would be great, as would a second look at the original Dark Sun series of adventures. I would also enjoy a "heroes vs. horrors" game where the PCs start the series by waking up on a...

You could let the guild teach him a low-level ritual, maybe after months of mind-busting effort. It's outside the rules, but unlikely to be game breaking. Just think of "specialized guild training" as a magic item or 4e-style boon. -KS

I think it's pretty clear that this was a massively powerful foe that could be interacted with in multiple ways. After all, you interacted with him in a different way. The blue dragon is similar. I've read several different ways in which PCs saw the scenario, didn't like their odds in a...

First, I don't see why the players are being shamed into doing something. Their characters may be, but the players have a choice. Second, Option 2 is totally heroic. I don't understand you definition of "heroism" if willingly facing a night-unwinnable fight doesn't qualify as "heroic."...

I don't understand why you think that the encounter humiliates a PC or a player. It seems like there is something particular about your approach to the game that is giving you this reaction. I see the HD encounter as a fairly standard type of encounter design (with the delightful variant in...

I think the rule against casting two full spells in the same round is directed at being able to blast out multiple higher-than-first level spells in the same round. For example, Healing Word doesn't strike me as a big deal, but being able to blast out a Mass Healing Word along with a Flame...

I call your attention to "Simple Encounters" on page 56 of the DM basic rules 0.1 for 3.x style one-monster encounters, "Multipart Encounters" and "The Adventuring Day" on page 58 for waves and "populate your dungeon level" rules. And, of course, the "players decide if they want to fight or...

To me, the number one tip for experienced DMs running 5e is a reminder that the rules are designed to be fast and quick and the DM (and players) are the only real sources of common sense realism, if that's something you want in your game. In particular, the flat DC system is designed to give...

I think the point is that 5e (like Mike Mearls) doesn't care how you build your encounters. If you want to grab a single opponent, that's fine. If you want to carefully construct an encounter out of creatures of multiple levels, that's OK too. You can even send in the baddies in waves, if...

Two other bits of advice: - Like any other ToM-style game, it's important to be generous with your players when it comes to saying yes. If ranges a little fuzzy, you want to give the players the benefit of the doubt when it comes to "how many orcs can I fit in this fireball", "is the wizard in...

I've done this for years. Gaming with a whiteboard (and no minis) was the traditional way we played until 3e brought us to the grid in 2000. (And even then, gridless maps are great whenever you want a scale that isn't the usual 5' squares.) It works really well since it gives the players a...

If your table (as I understand it) plays tactically but doesn't enjoy it, using disadvantage for cover could be an excellent house rule. Essentially, you would ignore partial cover, but 3/4 cover would be very useful. -KS

The thing with advantage/disadvantage is that it's either on or its off. There aren't gradations of advantage and if you have advantage (or disadvantage) from two different sources, the second source doesn't affect the combat. The benefits of having advantage of a mechanic are simplicity and...

I like most things about the 5e monsters, but I agree that most combat spells should have a brief half-line summary to make DMing easier. -KS

I had the same initial reaction as Thaumaturge, but have been persuaded that - if the restrained condition permits attacks - it should permit some amount of somatic spell casting. Certainly, the Burning Hands response is a traditional (albeit painful) response to finding oneself in a web...

First, consider whether TotM is the best way to run combats with tactically minded players. I prefer TotM to battlemaps, but that's because I don't like spending time waiting for my players to count squares or figure out which one is better. If your players do that quickly and efficiently...

A dangerous, but not lethal fight for a party of 7th level characters. I think CR is for eyeballing an appropriate challenge. When you start getting to balancing number of PCs and easy vs. medium vs. challenging encounters, you use the xp totals. -KS