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Not to re-rail this discussion on encounter distance, but I just wanted to answer the idea that a Balor being beaten by 6 level 7's is a failing in CR math. According to the encounter chart, the 22000 XP Balor that's a Medium encounter for a party of 4 level 19 PCs is a Deadly encounter for 6...

For something just as awesome and much easier to pull off, the fire damage done by normal burning torches can also hurt a creature immune to nonmagical weapon damage, since it isn't piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning damage. For a related brain teaser: A ranger casts Conjure Barrage or Conjure...

One thing I find myself suggesting a lot is starting with 17 Str and taking Heavily Armored at level 4. That would be starting with 17, 12, 14, 8, 10, 14, as an example. It's a ways off, but in the end you get +1 AC over medium armor and you're already picking between 12 dex 14 con or 14 dex 12...

Considering Assassins also get a disguise ability, I'd assume they don't have to be hidden to surprise someone. Since the rules literally do not say when surprise ends, it's left up to the DM to decide. For my own part, I'll say that when I am surprised, the sensation goes away a little after I...

The ranger is quite guilty of that already, though I try to avoid letting it influence the rest of the game. Natural Explorer's benefit of learning the size, number, and age of tracks seems like something any tracker could roll for, and Feral Senses knowledge of the location of non-hidden...

The 5E animal friendship spell just charms one not-too-intelligent animal. It doesn't even make them friendly to you. Getting any effect other than "the animal does not attack the ranger" out of it is up to DM whim. I just wrote it off as another one of the ranger's abilities that's great for...

I've often remarked that there's two parts to each of 4E's roles (maybe more). Defending is being tough enough to take hits and discouraging enemies from hitting others. Striking is strong attacks and avoiding enemies attacks. Leading is aiding the attacks of others and restoring their condition...

Not to read the entire thread or ignore 1000 posts of history, some commentary. 2E occupations seem to match much better to 4E power sources than roles. Roles are a thing that has always been there as a nebulous concept of what is this character doing? What is this character good at? The...

I completely agree with this part. Like the Artificer subclass, that character still needs to be capable of providing some HP recovery. Like the Artificer, it doesn't have to be very good. This may just mean that they have a bonus feat, not specifically for healer but you know it's there if...

You're welcome to disagree, but you'd be wrong. If all healing must be magical, that is a side. If that is the default, that side has been picked. Non-magical healing is ubiquitous and effective. All PCs have Hit Dice, and all characters are restored to full HP after a long rest. The default...

It's much more than flavor based differences. Healing can be done before, during, and after the fight. It targets whoever needs HP. Temporary HP has to be done beforehand. It can be wasted, so it requires prediction who will need HP. Parrying to reduce damage has to be done in the middle of...

The Battle Master is at best a fighter multiclassed into leader abilities, but it isn't the warlord or the tactical mastermind, for me. The fighter is about personal skill with arms and armor, and I can see that the battle master extends that to skill with a tool and evaluating the skill of...

Only the bard and rogue have expertise, rangers have a benefit from familiar terrain which has a similar mechanic.

I actually went through level by level to compare spells per combat and average "level" of spell used, before taking a good look at the spell lists and finding out a simple fact. Warlocks don't have nearly the kind of spell list that wizards have. The only 5th level spells naturally on their...

Conjure Animals takes an action to cast, though it lasts plenty of time to have ready pre-battle. The ranger gets 16 wolves one time only. Any that die cannot be replaced piecemeal. With their lower attack bonus, their damage does not have the same value as damage from the archer. With their...

From what I can see, the whole Ranger class needs a rewrite. In the meantime, giving only the Hunter subtype permanent Hunter's Mark is a good stopgap. It'd let them use their other spells to bridge the gap between hunter and beastmaster. I'd recommend it being added alongside their level 11...

Over 5 rounds, the fighter throws 38 (4d8+20) damage each round for 190 damage total. Each AS used adds 38 more. Each SD used adds 6.5 more, at a minimum. (Using precision attack to turn a miss into a hit is worth more damage, but I won't calculate that.) These features are restored by a short...