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Tolkien elves are just plain better. Their long swords do not need to have Finesse. D&D elves are more elfin. They would prefer Finesse weapons. Naturally, we get a disconnect when equipping D&D elves with favored weapons of the Noldor.

Although a double-damage Mighty Blow might work well as a two-action attack, for dealing with DR or the equivalent. Providing melee fighters with a small set of attack actions rather than a single I Attack! can make life interesting too.

Hi, Of course, D&D is not designed at all around what people really want to be. Otherwise, it would include some of those all important Feats (or class Features?) that are not very useful in play but utterly worth having, such as Maximized Orgasm, Filthy Rich, Drop Dead Gorgeous (ok, taken...

Hi, I recommend taking a deep breath and then allowing everything that isn't UA. Start off empowering your players by leaving them choices. Start off focused on developing your game world rather than on second-guessing playtested and released material. Over time, you might find that some...

Hi, D&D5 was designed for Feats to be optional, so it kind of makes sense that the game works fine without them. Stuff about most characters not caring about Feats at all until after level 8 has already been said. In most editions of D&D, humans had some distinct advantages in terms of power...

Hi, It is far more important to be good or very good at all levels than to be awesome at the end of your career. This means that the full list of goodies poached from all three classes really don't matter much. The incremental features at each level matter a great deal. The kind of...

Hi, Steal something small that you think is cool. Read through it. Run it straight. See what you like and dislike about the experience, what you might want to do differently. Start doing a bit of that. Rinse and repeat. Anyway, Ken

As long as someone is casting Bless!

Hi, I sympathize with that temptation. I recommend not yielding to it. Dice have an important role to play to support your preferred style of GMing, which has many virtues. But dice fail when dealing with issues of this kind. Sadly, this style of GMing also fails, because it depends upon a...

Since we're having a conversation here, you already know there's something wrong. Don't allow this to happen. Method 1, GM fiat: I think you're acting OOC and this isn't appropriate. Method 2: Warn Harry's player that things might not go according to plan. The necromancer is extremely...

Awesome. I enjoy reading your guides and perspectives.

Oh. Well that certainly settles it.

I think so too. And hex too.

Hi, EB is only great because of the invocations that enhance it. Otherwise, its damage is similar to FB. It does have a superior damage type. The importance of EB to the 5e Warlock is a design feature, inherited from the 3e Warlock. Not a flaw. Not a bug. If anything, the 5e Warlock ought...

Hi, One level of Hexblade: The biggest thing this offers is leveraging Cha for weapon attack. A character that already plans on Dex or Str 16+ gets much less out of this. A character that plans to do something other than attack with weapons also gets much less out of this. The second...

Min-maxing is good. Players who min-max are engaged with the rules of the game. They are paying attention. It is a great gift to the GM if he can count on his players to min-max. He can design scenarios that best fit his group, because he knows their real capabilities. And if he is not...

On a good night, it's possible to see the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye. 2.5 million light years. If you have a telescope, *or if you're an elf*, you can see light from far vaster distances. Range is another thing that games tend to get very wrong, especially when it comes to weapons...

Hi, You asked about basic pros and cons: Barbarian hits hard and can have good endurance. Advantage + GWM is a party favorite. Not many tricks, but you only need one. Fighters give you many different ways to go, even for melee. EK gives you a touch of spellcasting, for Shield and...

Hi, You might find, especially with the utter lack of real spellcasting in your party, that staying with Lore Bard all the way is a big win. 3rd level spells at level 5, magic secrets at level 6, then 4th level spells, mass suggestion at level 11... the goodness never stops all the way until...

Hi, Similar to mellored, I recommend Bard. Your spells are all technically Arcane, but your spell list includes good spells that are typically Divine. Your class feature lets you cherry pick any great spells your list might have missed. 1 level of Fighter or of Stone Sorcerer improves your...