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I agree that resolution mechanics impose restrictions on possible outcomes. That's exactly why I want them to take a back seat when it comes to major, character-defining decisions. Because I think the mind of the person who created a character can create a more compelling fiction in those...

I think I agree with most of this, but the last sentence highlights the main problem I'm having with the framing of this debate. To me, taking a character that I created and control and then having to consider how they'd respond to a scenario I didn't anticipate is exactly what exploring a...

Regarding Inspiring Leader, it's worth noting that the wording is "Each creature can gain temporary hit points..." If a player felt strongly that their character would not be affected, the ability would not force them to be inspired. As it's come up in the Gandalf discussion, I'd also emphasize...

My preference would actually be for keeping both the Champion and the Battlemaster. One provides a simple fighter experience, while the other gives the player tools to build a broad range of more complex fighters. And both are relatively flexible in their flavor. This strikes me as a good...

This is probably pushing the bounds of backwards compatibility, but my top wishlist item would be a rebalancing of ability scores. A good starting point might be to allow extra proficiencies based on Intelligence and cut back slightly on how much you can do with Dexterity alone (perhaps it could...

If you're bringing in real world knowledge of cows producing milk (that's not in the stat block after all) I don't think it's a problem to bring in outside knowledge of the conditions under which it would do so. The again, if I'm letting a player choose to summon a cow, I'd let them choose what...

One of the quality of life improvements mentioned in the Future of D&D panel is adjusting the alphabetical organization of the monster manual. A Goristro, for instance, would be listed under G for Goristro rather than under D for Demon. This might also mean interspersing beast and NPC statblocks...

Knowledge and insight checks give a character information that they can interpret in whatever way the player chooses. If an NPC appears to be truthful, a PC might believe they're telling the truth or might believe they're simply a good liar. If a character remembers reading something about a...

If no one has total control over their emotional responses, that's true of the player as well as the character. If the goal is to simulate a human mind responding to unanticipated scenarios, then I think the best approximation is going to be a human mind responding to unanticipated scenarios...

Would four to five months be enough time to actually incorporate feedback from the class survey into a revised PHB? Between processing the surveys, making design decisions about what to change, adjusting formatting to accommodate the changes, and actually getting the books printed and...

This essay seems relevant to the discussion of "D&D polytheism" vs. real world polytheism. Even aside from such comparisons, though, I'm not sure how the "D&D polytheism" framework (here's a list of objectively real deities: pick one) came to be so widely assumed as the default. There are so...

I'm not sure why you're so convinced a character who's mechanically weaker in combat is a burden for the rest of the party. If the DM adjusts encounter difficulty to suit the party (as most do, according to this thread), then you're not actually ending up at any sort of disadvantage compared to...

Yep. Kenku and aarakocra are reptiles, though.

I'd argue that having "vanilla" subclasses that stick close to their classes' default themes is very much a good thing. It ensures that, if a player likes the overall idea of a class, they'll always have at least one subclass that supports that idea. Having subclasses that take things in more...

This seems like it could tie in well with the desire to limit specialist wizards' use of spells from other schools. A wizard could succeed automatically at learning spells within their school, but need to roll for others.

I definitely agree with the OP’s sentiments here: that making more ability scores useful for each class is a desirable goal and that Pillars of Eternity shows a good example of what this can look like, but that its specific implementation wouldn’t be a good thematic or mechanical fit for D&D...

I think there's a lot of variation encompassed in the 4th option (4d6 multiple rolls or rerolls). When I read this response, I think of something along the lines of rolling 6 sets of stats and picking your favorite. However, it would also include rerolling in only the most extreme cases (such as...

Out of curiosity, what do you mean by NPC class levels as opposed to PHB class levels. I know 3rd edition had classed specifically for NPCs in the DMG, but I'm not aware of anything comparable existing in 5th edition.

I’m curious as to how common it is for NPCs in various campaigns to be built using the classes presented in the Player’s Handbook. This question ties into both world building (How special is a 1st level character?) and game prep (Is putting together stats for NPCs a worthwhile use of time? Do...

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