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  1. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) How much space (pages) does a spell use up in a Wizard's spellbook in 5th edition?

    (I cast Animate Thread....) I always felt that "one page per spell level" was right. Generic mundane spellbooks had 100 pages, but the magic item boccob's blessed book was super awesome - but had the limitation of only 50 pages. (Cantrips were either "1 page" - i.e. the cantrip spell - or a...
  2. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    Nope, not playing D&D for superheroes. :-) I was just being complete in the math. If I want a superhero game, I'm going to play Mutants and Masterminds probably. Or maybe dig out a copy of Fantasy HERO for hours of min-maxing fun! ;-)
  3. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    You did leave out this part: "Size and Strength. Larger creatures can bear more weight, whereas Tiny creatures can carry less. For each size category above Medium, double the creature's carrying capacity and the amount it can push, drag, or lift. For a Tiny creature, halve these weights." So an...
  4. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    (sorry, wanted to capture the quote-in-quote too, but my forum-fu is weak) I wanted to suggest this viewpoint: in a world where learning the right formula and applying sufficient will can change or break the laws of physics, why is it unreasonable to assume that a superlative individual could...
  5. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    One of my players has said in the past that his favorite parts of Game Night are when something he does makes me (the DM) sigh in frustration. ( He will generally exclaim "There it is!! My night is complete!")
  6. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    Tactics = winning the battle. Strategy = winning the war. Much of D&D relies on tactics these days, the rules and focus is on the battle. "5 encounters a day" is a "strategy-level" thought. but D&D shouldn't be played as a "strategic game" because that implies "players vs. DM"; it's not Axis...
  7. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    I have wanted to run an "explore the unknown wilderness, conquer it, and expand civilization" campaign for literally decades. Ever since playing a Basic D&D "carve out your kingdom in the north" module. Plus lots of CRPGs where you might know "way to the south is LA; between here and there, no...
  8. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Add

    In our previous - 4e - campaign, the martial characters generally had two weapons: the one they preferred to use, and the backup. In that particular party, most of the backup weapons were cold-based because they had an ice mage with them who frequently imposed "Vulnerable 5 cold" to his...
  9. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Add

    I like more crunch - my "add one thing" was more distinction in weapons (and armor, but mostly weapons). Like the whole conversation about the Trident (was that this thread? or the "bugs me" thread?) being "Martial", and mechanically identical to the Spear (despite costing more, being heavier...
  10. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Add

    I have occasionally asked myself why I'm not just playing PF2! [And the answer is "my gaming group wants to play D&D"....]
  11. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    I did something like that once... the PCs (5th level) were exploring some ruins they found in the wilderness, and decided to take a long rest in a tower. They "woke up" instead in custom-made PCs of their choice (with some thematic limitations), 10th level, and played a two-session...
  12. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    Well so far - the players just reached 5th level - the players have had to make a couple poison saves against giant spiders, some STR saves against being knocked prone (dire wolves), one disease save (gas spore), and a series of paralysis saves (carrion crawler). They have fought one caster...
  13. rmcoen

    D&D General Things That Bug You

    I read through all these pages, and I noted that there were several that my group of "RAW or nothing!" diehards had already edited or handwaved away. Simplest example being "if you can't see your target, you have disadvantage REGARDLESS OF THE TARGETS ABILITY TO SEE YOU". I also hate - oops...
  14. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Add

    I have done exactly that with specific monsters. I noted an example in one of these threads, somewhere. The party faced some chitinous bug things, and were having trouble (at 3rd level) hitting kruthik ACs of 16 and 18. Then they noted that the cleric's warhammer was hitting more frequently...
  15. rmcoen

    You can't win this encounter

    The issue I see, with these players I've been DMing in one campaign or another for decades, is this: M: Guys, this looks bad. I think we should flee. K: Whatever, sure. I'm at half hits. C: If we flee we don't get XP! Me: (remember, I give XP for overcoming challenges and moving the story...
  16. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    My table uses "hit 0hp, gain a level of exhaustion". Healing Word is an emergency spell, subpar to the more powerful (but more action-costly and touch-ranged) Cure Wounds because you are likely to go down again quickly after the weak Healing Word! By the third drop, you're fairly useless in...
  17. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    That's a good question. One of the other quirks of "save spells" is that while attack-spells can critically hit, save-spells cannot. A firebolt can hit you in the face, but a fireball cannot. In a "Defenses, not saves" system like 4e, everything can critically hit. At our table, having just...
  18. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    There are many other tweaks you can add if you take a page from Pathfinder and expand the list of "what is a weapon property". For example, the trident might have all its current stats, but add "on a crit, the target is immobilized" (because they are impaled), or maybe "Reroll damage dice of...
  19. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

    I enjoyed 4e. I liked the simplicity of "everything is an attack". I liked that archers could use "armor-piercing arrows" and attack Reflex instead of AC. In the saving throw system of 5e, that would be mechanically identical to saying "Armor-Piercing Strike: target makes a DEX save or...
  20. rmcoen

    D&D 5E (2014) What Single Thing Would You Add

    Whoops, I forgot this was a "one thing you'd add", and not a general discussion of THAC0 ;-P ... I mean of topics. I would chime in with "weapon and armor distinctions" (breaking the wish rules by using "and"). As someone else said pages earlier, the PF2 weapon table makes every weapon...
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