Search results

In my experience, while these game balance discussions always assuming no magical item drops, that's never been the case in any game I've been in that has gone on for four or more sessions. If I wanted raw AC and saves, I would have designed a Variant Human Fighter 1/Abjurer X instead of a...

Well, as long as you admit that your build only applies to a very narrow spectrum of the game (levels 19 and 20) and is being intentionally suboptimal for 'cool' points, I can live with that. High-level 5E D&D is super-easy, especially if you abuse Wish, Shapechange, and Simulacrum, so I say go...

And I'm telling you, designing an adventure to fit the 6-8 encounters a day paradigm is a genre violation of action-adventure fiction. Not only does it lead to fourth-wall breaking events such as random encounters and Ninjas In The Night, but it's a pacing unnatural to stories. Even games that...

All indications showed that Gygax rather sucked as a DM, though, so I wouldn't use an example of his experiences as anything but 'here's how you DON'T do it'. We are talking about someone who recommended repeatedly TPKing the party for wanting to play a race more powerful than a dwarf until they...

The 'fix' of the 6-8 encounters in an adventuring day misses the mark. Yes, if your view of an adventure is a dungeon crawl, that 'works' so far as not letting players recharge, but that paradigm fails on a basic storytelling principle: The basic structure of most action-adventure stories don't...

Yes, they are. First of all, a big problem with your 'but what about the Shapechange and the Simulacrum!' argument: that stuff comes online at level 17, minimum, which is really level 19 for you. What about all of the other levels in between? Builds that take until 90% of the game is over are...

No. If what you care about is melee efficacy, Sorceradins completely outclass Bladesingers until around level 13 or so. And if Simacrulum isn't in play (this is the spell most likely to be banned at non-AL tables IMX), until level 17. Quicken Spell is just sickeningly good for them. Quicken...

Here's the thing, though. All of those DPR increases don't come from the Fighter levels. They come from the Bladesinger levels. Why are you A) delaying access to these bad-ass show-stopper tricks or B) (discussed below) diluting your effectiveness as a bladesinger at the endgame. Also, you are...

Few things amuse me more than magical item-less, medium-to-high level Bladesingers that focus on melee combat to the point of multiclassing, especially when their tricks depend on high-level spells. Yes, that small increase to DPR was totally worth delaying your spell access and not getting an...

What's interesting about the 'SCAG is better than Extra Attack' orthodoxy from the front page is that: A.) It assumes absolutely no magical items. The core assumptions of the book assumes that, but the hardcovers, softcovers, and canned oneshots sure as hell don't assume that. B.) Even without...

This is dangerously close to saying that game balance doesn't matter either at the individual table level or stochastically throughout the hobby, so long as everyone's particular character concept is thematically represented in the game.

The same reason why no one was satisfied at, in pre-Heroes of Shadow 4E D&D, the suggestion that they could play a Necromancer by reflavoring the Beastmaster Ranger's companion as a loyal death knight. Surely you recall people bitterly complaining about martial characters having certain magical...

Here's my particular problem with "too easy" -- and that problem is that it's usually not a problem for most of the people at the table. I'm serious. I'd say that for every gamer who enjoys being challenged and threatened and wanting a shot at losing it all if they're not on they're toes, there...

The 6-8 encounters a day guideline in the DMG, regardless of whether that's actual game designer intent, is nonsense and is probably the biggest shortcoming of the 5E D&D ruleset. Over the past 3 years, I've played two hardcovers to completion, plenty of AL games, a couple of 3rd-party...

I'd be very surprised if the Bladesinger didn't make the cut, as it's probably the most popular subclass not in the core rulebook. It's comfortably ahead of the Swashbuckler in popularity, and THAT subclass is probably the second-most popular non-core subclass.

I am somewhat surprised that Purple Dragon Knight is doing so poorly, though. I think that it fits a niche that the other fighter subclasses do that -- that is, a socially competent frontline general. Sort of like (if you squint really hard and turn your head) the 4E D&D Warlord. I suppose...

Broadly, my complaint involves the generalization situation where the designer's assumptions of out-of-the-box difficulty do not match what's actually going on in actual play. There are a lot of ways for this to be the case (assumes too much about groups, too generically difficult, too...

It's still early in the poll, but it looks like the results are reflecting my preference: the most popular SCAG subclasses are the ones that put a significant spin on the base case -- Arcana Cleric becomes a ranged and/or melee glass cannon with unique anti-magic effects, Bladesinger is a melee...

Here's the thing that people don't consider when they present this fix: what if the players don't want you doing that? If my Eldritch Knight picks up a Flametongue and starts doing fireball damage every round, a lot of people aren't going to appreciate it when the DM ups the difficulty slider to...

Have you ever played one of the hardcover books like Storm King's Thunder or Tales of the Yawning Portal? I've played through both, and with the exception of Tomb of Horrors the adventures were significantly harder at lower level than at higher levels. Also, note that even though a DM can...