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DMs do not need the power to roll critical hits. Players, of course, really love them. Solution: Only Player Characters ever do critical hit (bonus) damage. NPCs and monsters never do crits. Make crits as deadly as possible since they don't apply to PCs.

In order for the DM to know what kind of weapon I want she would need my magic item wish list. Wish lists are worse than any problem with magic items I ever encountered in any edition prior to 4e. At least in my experience 4e suffered from lots of wish lists.

Ability scores never need to increase with level. Inflating ability scores creates increasing gaps between specialists and everyone else or between high-level and low-level characters. These gaps are bad for the game. Roll (or point-buy) your stats and they never need to change ever again.

Sacred Cows of D&D: Fantasy Races Equipment 1d20 Combat Roll Class Levels Monsters (and NPCs) Traps

You can find a diversity of opinions. Such as this feminist D&D blogger: Go Make Me a Sandwich: Paizo: Thanks for not being full of race fail, but... Or a prude*: 5e World: Commentary on Dungeons & Dragons Next: Do You Really Get What You Pay For? Or something between those two: An Open...

Taking the last first, you see around these forums that people don't want one PC to be always overshadowed by another PC. Put a ranger side-by-side with warlock; you'll see the ranger out-striker her fellow striker obviously. Since their jobs are "do damage" and the gap between them is highly...

There is a lot of hate for the dragonborn. What would a lizard race look like that would not draw so much hate? Is such a thing possible? Me, I wish they would have used plain old lizardfolk or cleaned-up trogs.

It seems almost funny. 93% of votes want PCs to be independent of including items in their "build". WotC says, "One of our goals in 4th Edition was to reduce characters’ reliance on magic items." - Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Magic Item Slots) WotC also...

I don't know how tall Amiri is but a frost giant is listed as 15 feet tall. 39" would be a conservative estimate for the total length of a human (medium) size bastard sword. A frost giant's bastard sword is going to be 7' 5" long, at least. Amiri is clearly lying about who had that sword before her.

If player's attacks should succeed 70% of the time then the corollary would be that their defenses succeed 70% of the time. Thus Dungeon Masters only "hit" 30% of the time. Monsters use different math than PCs. Each player rolls one attack per round and has a 70% chance of a hit. DMs roll 5...

I have had a similar experience to the OP though I don't think it was "purposeful" on the part of the DM. If the DM doesn't give strong clues about how many fights you'll have or which are high-danger you don't have any information about when to use "powerful" dailies. I always felt let down...

My Dungeon Master could care less about the rules. Certain players, myself included, provide technical rules answers if they're needed at the table. The DM has just enough experience to set DCs and make combat decisions for the monsters. She provides a strong setting & story, though!

I thought Monte Cook did good job of explaining vancian (as Gary Gygax's spin on the spellcasting from the works of Jack Vance) in Legends & Lore: Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Putting the Vance in Advanced)

Currently mage/magic-user/wizard and rogue/thief are winning the popularity contest (as opposed to this thread's infamy contest). The current losers of the "Favorite Class" poll are the lowly illusionist and assassin classes.

As a counterpart to Bruce Cordell's favorite class poll (go take it), I created the "Least Favorite Class" poll. Of the sixteen classes presented here, which is your least favorite? Which class will get the most hate? Let's find out. (Note: The official Wizards of the Coast blog poll seems to...

Is there a typing methodology or classification system for playstyles that's not already covered by this list of four polls? If so, please post a link. 1. Timmy-Johnny-Spike-Vorthos poll 2. Character Actor-Power Gamer-Storyteller-Thinker poll 3. Gamist-Narrativist-Simulationist poll 4...

Martial (non-magical) Assassin Barbarian Fighter Ranger Rogue/thief - including the purely non-magical version of the bare-handed martial artist Warlord Magical (classes that cast "spells") Bard - abjuration & enchantment/charm Cleric Druid Illusionist - illusion & greater divination Sorcerer...

I have played more than my fair share of "no magic" to low-magic games. Therefore, I desire enough purely martial classes to fill four functions: light infantry (high mobility, ability to reach strategic targets, and fast attacks), heavy infantry (high attack and defense), artillery (glass...

My friend always flavored his rogues, in-game, as *hint hint, nudge nudge* archaeologists. (Oh, and note that AD&D 2nd Edition says, "The character classes are divided into four groups according to general occupation: warrior, wizard, priest, and rogue." So rogue was introduced in 2e and...

When I think of a magic-using swordsman, I think of a warrior who fights in melee with physical weapons (like a bastard sword) and casts spells to make ranged attacks (like dropping a fireball now and then). The 4e swordmage class is cool but it feels nothing like a mixed-use warrior/wizard. It...