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Avariel 20-2 = 18 All elves should remain grounded where they are easily stabbed Drow 17 Eladrin 22 Grugach 6 High Elf 26 Sea Elf 16 Shadar-Kai 11 Wood Elf 25 + 1 = 26 Because I had to upvote someone.

I draw the dungeon map on a whiteboard as the players explore. That map is then used as a visual aid during combat or exploration scenes. This works well for us since we usually play in Theater of the Mind mode. If a scene gets particularly complicated, I have a set of magnets that I can...

Do I understand correctly that with this proposed system a character can never be merely unconscious? The character who looses all HP remains conscious, but debilitated, as more and more exhaustion levels accrue, until Level 6 = death?

You keep saying this like the players have a textbook that they can compare against and cry foul when the DM invents a small feature during play. I honestly don't know how you can possibly run a game session without inventing material on the spot. My players are far too inventive for me to have...

Our table likes a more collaborative experience. I actively encourage players to invent and insert story elements into the campaign. In fact, our session zero is largely a cooperative world-building brain storm. I set up the basic premise of the campaign world and the players are asked to...

You seem to assume that everyone runs a purely simulationist game. Our group doesn't. The emergent story is of far more interest to us. Besides, if as a DM I must choose between two equally likely possibilities, every time I will pick the one that leads to the more interesting result. In fact...

I feel like I have wandered into a long running argument that I had no part in starting. Who said anything about lying? I was talking about ambiguity, specifically about objects in the environment whose location or existence had not yet been fixed in the narrative. Even in games that use...

Which is not what I said at all. Quoting myself from earlier in the thread . . . Sounds like you distrust your DM.

Currently, I have a player who participates in another game which has a much more adversarial style. (Its fun as well; I've also played with that DM.) I can often tell when the player has recently roleplayed with the other group because he starts asking off the wall questions. I have learned...

In my opinion, the wizard list is a bit more versatile that the cleric list. For the wizard this is balanced by only having access to the subset of spells that are in their spell book. Thus, I would be worried about giving the cleric the wizard list because clerics can access any spell on their...

I am sure that the level of ambiguity that Theatre of the Mind can create annoys some players and DMs to no end. However, it can be advantageous to dramatic action. If a player has an whacky and exciting plan involving a chicken, a banister, and a cooking pot, the details about how far away each...

When we play (TotM), we state distances in terms of moves instead of feet. "The charging orcs are two moves straight ahead. The thief is behind the rest of the group by a move, and the archers are 4 moves to your right." This can get a bit messy with characters with a movement distance larger...

. . . and I have exactly the opposite opinion; I'm glad the references to squares are largely gone. I am sure this is primarily because our group never uses miniatures or a grid. I don't envy game designers. Its hard to walk the thin line which annoys the fewest players by the least amount.

I believe the argument is that if all is rewarded equally, then nothing is incentivized. At which point you should ask yourself why are you bothering to award XP when there are simpler ways to decide when a character should gain a level.

Arguing this point (however true or untrue) is unlikely to change anyone's opinion. Whether its viewed as a reward for some or a penalty to the others is all about personal perception and personality type instead of logic. As an example, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away my group was...

Well then. Make a future villain in the campaign a stark raving lunatic who was once a shepherd who lived in said mountain valley. He's acquired strange powers from the otherworldly voice whispering in his mind and he has a bone to pick with the PCs for leaving his family to be devoured by...

You have just described one the major archetypes in Westerns, the drifter. And I agree, they are fun to play. It's also true that such characters may not have an overarching, long-term goal. But, you can't say that they don't have short-term goals. They must. Otherwise they would never strive...

Let me turn the question around. If it isn't a competition, why are we keeping track? I don't necessarily advocate this position. But, I can understand why some would feel that way.

Perhaps because many (players & DMs) view D&D primarily as a cooperative social game instead of a competitive one. Players succeed or fail as a group. To such players singling out any character to receive less of the spoils seems like a punishment. A system where XP are given only to those who...

Promote Big Underling #2 to the Next Evil Bad Guy (NEBG) for the next adventure (or perhaps for an adventure down the road). He has the rod and wants the other two so that he can complete his masters purpose. I would have NEBG flee from the current dungeon and start scheming somewhere else.