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This doesn't mean good rules don't help DMs. I find e.g. Apocalypse World's success-with-consequences, Blades I'm the Dark's clocks and even effectively used skill challenges (the explanations were bad) useful tools

Instead before 2e you had loot tables, XP for GP, and roughly 80% of your XP coming from GP. And monsters were rated by hit die with the wandering monsters callibrated by dungeon level. These do the same basic job as long as you are playing a game about dungeon crawling where the number of...

Which doesn't prevent a lot of D&D's rules in any edition being all about the combat. And 5e possibly has the worst combat of any edition.

You also can never eliminate friction. This is not an excuse for leaving out ball bearings, oil, and grease.

A big problem with 4e in 2024 is that character creation in 4e is a minor horror without the character builder (which you can't get legally). A big part of why I think my retroclone is an improvement.

If you don't want mechanistic combat then you shouldn't be playing D&D - a game that has it's roots in a hacked tabletop wargame and has dozens of pages of rules in the PHB alone for mechanistic combat. (The fireball spell? Pure rules for mechanistic combat. Hold Person? Almost pure mechanistic...

The PHB is mostly a player side supplement - although there are numerous QoL changes. Balance is better than ever before while the new feats lead to greater build diversity (+2 ASI is boring). In general: For players or DMs of the following classes it's an almost complete win other than maybe...

So ... GWF does something to help prevent you missing? If you're worried by bad luck get a graze weapon Oof. I'm not sure about this; you're wielding a greataxe or halberd (I think) if you want cleave. And while I fully accept that 0.25 damage per swing on the greataxe >0 I don't see it as even...

Day 0 errata. The review copies had the wording you indicate and it got fixed

I'm not saying that specialization is inherently a bad thing. Just that it is the opposite of D&D 5e wizard design with their spellbooks and their ability to change their spells from day to day and their biggest spell list in the game. Wizards are designed to be generalist casters. That's a bad...

Fortunately the sorcerer is no longer so weak that it needs that. And old twin was OP (which it needed to be to carry the class)

Major image exists. This is minor stuff done in a hurry. To add special effects layer on the cantrips. Yes I've used Thaumaturgy as rhythmic pounding of the earth shaking before casting the illusion. Don't forget Upcast Major Image at L4 (an excellent change). And to me that's where illusions...

If you want a limited caster play a sorcerer, a bard, or a warlock. And pick a list of spells that suits your conception of your character. Some concepts for illusionists include enchantments, others don't. Wizards being the school specialists is bad legacy design; the wizard's big thing is...

So what do your illusionists actually do from round to round other than create Illusionary shrubs to hide in? For how an illusionist attacks by default I see two basic options - psychic damage or weapons. GOOlock Eldritch Blast is psychic, making it one of basically three choices for an attack...

And this illustrates a clash in approaches. The Illusionist is something that exists outside D&D. Is matching a pop culture illusionist more important or is matching the D&D implementation more valuable? I'd consider the latter incestuous and the former far more important but reasonable people...

It's IMO far more deserving of success than D&D 2014 where the problem wasn't the malice of the corporate overlords but e.g. pandering to the RPG Pundit. And the laziness of the designers where there were abilities that seemed to be written without even a thought towards play (Assassin, Beast...

Levels 1-4 it's legit to have gone True Strike instead of Eldritch Blast in the 2024 rules. TS is stronger at 1-4 with or without Agonizing Blast. Hex is something you need to play dirty to use as a warlock at higher levels. You cast it before a short rest, rest up, and bring hex plus all your...

Pre 14 means pre level 14 here - Illusionary Reality is a game changer. And warlocks are far more focused magically than wizards

At least the D&D team in 2024 are in a better place than they were in 2014. They aren't putting thanks to the RPG Pundit and Zak S into the credits - and 2024 isn't nearly as half-assed as 2014 with e.g. a quarter of the the Warlock invocations giving you less than an extra spells known was...

The problem is that WotC didn't follow its own paradigm and screwed up in 2024. There should be three types of zone. Physical objects like spikes and blade barriers you get hurt for moving through Fast zones like crackling lightning or spirit guardians that you get hurt for starting your turn...