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This depends a little on party composition, level, and edition of the game. For some canonical D&D fun I would go for the Owlbear, but the Troll is also entertaining for that moment when you realise it just. Won't. Die. And provided they have some random resources at hand can start to try to...

Er.. I don't get it? What you describe doesn't sound particularly unique. In almost any system I can set a scene, presumably with some tasks or challenges to be overcome, leave it up to the players to decide how they do this and taking notes so that I can adapt future scenes accordingly. Is it...

Ah so the problem lay more with the party just giving up when they couldn't gain entry easily - that is frustrating. I know you don't want to railroad them, but perhaps you can arrange an encounter with the wife in the marketplace, and she could apologise for her husband's behaviour and perhaps...

I don't quite understand where the diplomacy check came into your scenario. If we think back to a traditional view of how NPCs react to PCs, then your homeowners might be suspicious, but they are not outright hostile, but neither are they neutral. If they were outright hostile, which I find...

Hm, an interesting prospect - it limits your maximum, but it get's tricky when you know the DC of something you're trying to do (if rolling a check is still involved). This isn't solved by a flat bonus really either though. I *still* want to see their original skill mastery idea (roll no lower...

Well, a trapezoidal* distribution, it's only two dice. Also the variance of the result increases as the size of the die increases. I will agree it gives you something to spend on skill tricks, though I'm not sure it's well used that way - a low-level character wants to use tricks (only loses...

2. Rogues are now bats. 'Bat-men' if you will. 3. Interesting. So high-level characters sacrifice more to pull off a trick. I don't like skill dice.

Whilst many of the concerns over abilities such as 'Taunt' focus on whether the action makes sense in the game or in the metagame, I think there's also a question of taste on the DMing side. With the Taunt ability as it exists, some DMs will be happy with players using it as a tool to dictate...

I have to agree with RangerWickett, I don't really like skill dice. I'd rather a simple modifier than a variable size dice. A system of skill levels, sure, that might work, but to me adding a dice to another dice is gimmicky. I would also rather offer players of the simple game a choice of...

I think we're seeing an interesting move from 'everything is core' to 'everything is optional' - also known as 'put it in a module'. I think really they'd be even better off if the 'core' system was just rules, and the first published races and classes are equally optional as everything that...

The fundamental hide/seek check is indeed an ability check. Dexterity vs. Wisdom is the most frequently appropriate, but I can see Intelligence also playing a role on both the hiding and seeking side of things. If I'm trying to sneak up on someone, that's Dex vs. Wis, but if I'm hiding from...

I've always thought that the D&D economy should be better integrated with a reputation system. Adventurers perform heroic deeds and earn great wealth, but there's an expectation that they spend this on status symbols, not just magic items and spell components. One's reputation can only go so far...

Ah - I hadn't grasped that that was the way you were implementing stealth. I think that works then, yes, if you have a stealth skill opposed by either spot or listen. In most circumstances you'll use your best, but sometimes one or other won't apply, so the super-alert character invests in both...

I'd like shields to be more interesting, but nonetheless simpler than you describe. I would make shields simply provide damage reduction against certain kinds of attack: Buckler - DR against melee attacks that target AC, does not work against 2H weapons or natural weapons of larger creatures...

The problem there is that the sneaker gets the benefit of only investing in one of the skills, but the person who wants to detect sneaking has to have both opposing skills. Otherwise you, the sneaker, choose to hide, and I, with only listen, can't use it against you. There are situations as you...

I also came to the conclusion that a combined perception skill is too good, the use of two separate skills is too bad and the use of the best of two separate skills doesn't achieve anything. I would make perception, that is not deliberately looking for things as you might with search or track...

Hm, I had a thought over the weekend that maybe the problem with the ability modifier array is its linearity. What if instead we used triangular numbers to determine your modifiers? Yes, it's not a simple formula, but I think triangular numbers are great for providing differentiation between...

Rather than creating one attribute that gives +1 to hit, and limiting how strength normally increases your chance of hitting to just +1, why not consider a triangular number system? For 1 benefit you can choose +1, for 2 you can choose +1 again and so on. Str 12 is +1 over str 10, and str 16 is...

I've only played since 2nd edition, but there has been a contrast in the way in which supplementary material has been introduced to the game across this time. I remember that for 2nd edition, the core rules were there, with plenty of suggestions for customisation in the DMG and indeed built into...

Well, as I described, if you had Wish in your spellbook, you could cast it using a 9th level slot by preparing it as one of your 2 Wizard spells for the day. Perhaps that's a bit mental. A simple check on power might be that you can only cast Wiz/Clr spells of level X if you have at least level...