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Barring feats feels more like a hit on the Fighter. If you're a wizard, for example, you can spend all the ASIs you typically get in a campaign on INT, CON, and DEX, and be just fine. But for a typical Fighter six ASIs by 16th leaves you pumping up an ability you probably don't use much, when at...

I don't like multiclassing because it's invariably a path to munchkinism. Feats are fine, because IMO you just don't need as many ASIs as they give you. Some of the feats are stupid (crossbow expert), but not stupid enough to house-rule.

Back in my day, beating Super Mario Bros 3 meant playground bragging rights, and doing it with a Game Genie did not. Regardless, D&D isn't a multiplayer video game. Reading the module ahead of time to know where the traps are and how many times to hit the BBEG before you can use Power Word: Kill...

In video games, D&D has more in common with single-player games than MMOs. You're playing through a story once, not loot-farming a boss 735 time to get a rare drop. Playing a game with a walkthrough the first time is generally regarded as pretty lame, if not "cheating."

For me, it's more of an issue with monsters. I was running an online game, Forge of Fury I think, years ago, and when they ran into some invisible duergar, one of the players piped up, "It says here that this is a short rest ability for them, so if we leave and come back in 15 minutes, they'll...

Since D&D isn't a board game or video game, the difficulty is purely a matter of adventure design. I've played very easy B/X sessions and very difficult 4e sessions. The biggest change impacting difficulty over the years has been the philosophy of adventure design, not the rules themselves. When...

I've killed a lot of PCs. I don't use homebrew monsters because that sounds like work, something I am firmly against as a DM. Mostly I just don't really give a crap about trying to "balance" anything and leave it up to the players to figure out what to do. Running things this way also means I...

A moving object seems a little rules-lawyery, but a 10x10 zone of hot steam that the monster's nearest neighbors are sitting in would be a straightforward way to get a lot out of the spell without having to argue corner cases.

I voted #2, in that the Bard class as written seems to be unconscious of any conflicting rules, and therefore should be read as overriding them.

The Paladin should use Compelled Duel, and the Druid should use Entangle. The Artificer should cast Warding Bond on the Druid. The Druid and the Artificer should both have Longstrider already cast on them (both Druids and Artificers can cast this spell), making it pretty easy for them to stay...

This seems to be the most sensible way to read the AD&D rules. Every text must be interpreted in its cultural context:

Seems like it could be even more useful to put the fog cloud around its target.

What sort of object are you creating with Phantasmal Force to blind an enemy?

I should add that the last character I played for more than 2-3 sessions was a Valor Bard for Tyranny of Dragons, so most of my spells were of the Illusion/Buff/Debuff variety. Illusory walls, illusory floor spikes, illusory wall blades...lots of stuff to do with Major Image. So far, Color...

I'm probably going to go Illusionist, since then I can use Silent Image to create illusory monsters with sound, e.g. scare goblins off with an illusory owlbear. Our current party composition is Barbarian, Monk, Ranger, Cleric, Wizard, and since IME Wizard single-target damage is pretty lame...

I did not notice Blindness was non-concentration. Definitely taking that.

I'm playing a wizard in our new campaign, and my plan is to take no damage spells outside of cantrips. No Fireball, no Magic Missile, no Disintegrate, none of that. Now, I don't want to hear about why this isn't optimal. I know it isn't! If this wizard ends up dead, oh well, new character sheets...

You explicitly said that if there's a Ranger and a Rogue in the party, you won't be sending the Ranger's Companion on any scouting. Why is this your decision? Are you the Ranger? Because presumably, if a Ranger chose a stealthy Companion, such as a Panther, he intends to use it. I frequently see...

Players who dictate to other players what they're allowed to do tend not to be popular at any given table. Being able to bring more firepower when scouting isn't a bad thing. It's a good thing. If PWOT is up, you can go scouting with Clattery Clankles, the Noise Domain Cleric. Spells are a...