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So if a player were to bring you a homebrewed character class that had all of the abilities of a MC FTR/ROG, the outlander background, specific feats as class features at set levels and so forth, basically presented a MC, feated character as a custom class that was relatively balanced and true...

I still don't understand the motivation to tell players how they must express their low stats. What purpose does it serve? Are we trying to get people to play the character they rolled, rather than the one they imagined? That's not the sort of D&D I ever want to play. The purpose of stats is...

Says who? Where is it written that a low stat must indicate a pervasive, evenly distributed deficiency rather than a specific weakness that affects performance across a broad spectrum? That seems to me to be a horribly simplistic and limiting way to interpret stats, and in no way reflected in...

If your DM doesn't allow the optional rules in the PHB, how likely is he to accept a whole new class published after the fact? In that sort of environment you might be able to go with the ranger as written and ignore the spells or the animal, because you'll be playing alongside a fighter whose...

I wouldn't let the numbers get in the way of a good character concept. You can be personable and have a low CHA; there's just something about you that keeps you from influencing people. Maybe it's ugliness or a speech impediment, or maybe nobody takes you seriously because you're self-effacing...

I usually start with a concept, then open the books up to see how to make it powerful within the theme. I'd like to think I weave them out of whole cloth, but I was raised in large part by my friend and mentor the television, so anything I do is going to be derivative to some extent.

You can do all of that right out of the book, though. Take the first two levels as a rogue (outlander BG,) five as a battle master fighter, one more as a rogue if you like (for the Assassin's ambush feature,) and the rest fighter. Grab feats to simulate the other things (Mobility...

You're right! I misread it to mean, "this isn't a situation that calls for Intimidation," when I think he meant rather that the characters needed to have done something to try and cow the other combatants into giving up as opposed to the players just saying, "I use Intimidation on them." My bad!

It depends on the class. Some classes represent members of orders and organizations; some are just labels that exist entirely outside of the narrative to define a suite of abilities. Even in the case of a class based in an organization, it's not a hard and fast rule - you can be a high ranking...

I strongly disagree. I think that a player initiating a skill check rather than just lobbing another attack roll is good for the gameplay and the narrative both. This situation was a perfect setup for an Intimidation check - the intimidating characters had the upper hand, and the intended...

It depends on the campaign. If the narrative supports the character's absence, the character is absent. If the character had to be there, then it stays in the game and is operated by me. If I can find an excuse not to use the character's abilities in the session I'll do it; otherwise I just...

When I ran, I ran everyone at the same level and had them gain levels together as they played, keeping a rough estimate of their progress by encounter DCs and challenge performance. If someone did something exemplary, the whole party got credit. If someone wanted to retire their old character...

There's nothing written in the rules about it, but if it was done on very rare occasions I'd have you spend your reaction to add your STR or DEX bonus to the intended victim's AC. If that would cause the attack to miss, you take the damage from the attack. If it was something you plan on doing...

What's the difference between having 'defined' skills, versus just using attribute checks and giving characters proficiencies that they can choose with the GM? Is it just a degree of specificity? It sounds like you're proposing that the proficiency rules be scrapped, and the players and GM...

I wanted a very similar concept, but I went at it from the other direction. I started with a rogue with an outlander background, and at lv. 2 I'll start taking fighter levels. It follows the arc of the storytelling, as he leaves the more peaceful life of a scout and survivalist behind and...

Getting crazy supernatural power on sheer "faith" alone is much less plausible than muttering the special explosive gibberish with a side of emphatic hand gesture? What about "my great great grandfather was a dragon and I really want things to catch fire?" Or how about, "I'm really fond of...

Gods are jealous things at your table. That phrase at the end is important. Your gods might see fit to abandon anyone whose faith wavers, to cast followers aside rather than fighting for them. That could be why these concepts seem implausible to you. Not all pantheons are written thus, and...

I'm interested to hear more about why the power "should" be gone, and whence comes the assumption that the pact is with an enemy to their patron gods. Only one of the explanations acknowledges an adversarial relationship between the god and the other entity.

The coolest thing right this minute is a Halfling rogue con artist who gets into trouble in his hometown and has to burn his identity. So he flees to another city, styles himself as a knight in some ridiculous, imaginary fey court who's been stranded in the Prime Material and seeking his trusty...

I could see a few different ways you could narrate a paladin/warlock. Here we go: - The paladin is a knight of an order that champions a set of ideals that aren't embodied in any one god. They're devout in their calling, so much so that the gods who oversee those portfolios they represent...