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This is beyond ridiculous. D&D catering to white men isn't hurting anyone. You might disagree with it and want them to expand their market, but to say they are causing harm is preposterous. That would be like saying that the NFL and NBA catering to men who like sports is hurting men who don't...

Discussions about sexism are pointless. They typically go 'round and 'round with people bickering about what the definition of sexism is, which is perhaps only slightly more useless than quarreling about the definition of "is." Given that everyone has a different conception of what constitutes...

Inspired by this thread. This whole "pillars" paradigm is worrisome to me. It reminds me too much of "roles" in 4e, where a class is defined by a metagame concept and not how it exists within the game. The idea itself is not problematic, but I see the developers attempting to codify...

One of the positive aspects of D&D is that it is not free-form. Instead, it offers structured character creation and advancement. This gives an entry point for new players into the game. Imagine for a moment the difference between the fighter class and a free-form fighter "point buy." The...

If I may interject briefly: If you want D&D to feel like D&D, you need to have healing spells, not healing surges. You can argue about what makes more sense or which is more believable or which is better, but the most important question is, "Does this feel like D&D?" The transition from 2e...

I can't name anyone off the top of my head.

Monte Cook is not a very good designer. I've never met a product of his that I liked. His fame in the RPG community baffles me in the same way that Mike Mearls's does--both are mediocre at what they do, routinely producing junk, and yet they are "star designers." Monte's participation on...

No, they are not. The polls are an accurate measurement of what a small, vocal contingent of the online D&D community want. And even then, not all of us vote in the polls, so it's even smaller than you might suspect. However, I suspect that it doesn't much matter what the polls say. Given...

Don't like surges. Don't like self-healing. Don't like encounter-based healing. In-combat healing should come from healing spells and potions. Out-of-combat healing should come from resting and the Heal skill.

Yes, when you look at that red-scaled demon in the eye, grab your frost sword, and charge at him, you're looking at a good chance of death. The smart move is to escape, nurse your wounds, resurrect your party members, and try again. But the awesome move is to grit, bear it, and take that...

I will only comment to say that using the "rule of cool" to design a game is exactly what lead to the problems that 3e players (such as myself) had with 4e. The rule of cool--at least, in using the term derived from that awful wiki that I won't link to--demands AWESOME. AWESOME is awesome that...

Given D&D's focus on combat, every class should be able to contribute meaningfully in combat. That does not mean the following: 1. Every class does damage every round. I would very much like to see the end of buff spells keying off attacks. It really rubs me the wrong way when the cleric...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is only a problem in the post-encounter-strutured editions of D&D (3e and 4e). D&D needs to return to a focus on exploration and adventure, not on the combat encounter. Every class needs to bring something special to the game. When your game is...

• d20. • Classes. • Levels. • Hit points and HD. • Vancian magic. • Clerics that cast cure light wounds and wear armor. • Wizards that cast magic missile and don't wear armor. • Six ability scores. • Armor Class. • Saving throws. • +1 weapons and armor. • Dungeons. • Monster and traps in said...

Paladin has smite/spells, ranger has spells/animal companion, barbarian has rage, and cleric is strong enough as-is.

I'm pretty sure that they've confirmed at-will powers for wizards with the burning lance (or spear or something) in the playtest. Perhaps not for you. But there are some players who look fondly on the days when clerics didn't cast spells at first level. Personally, I'm in favor of a mixed...

Simple solution that I'm incorporating into all my D&D games from now on: only fighters get AoOs. The rest don't. Simple, easy, and it gives the fighter something to do that the rest of the classes don't.

I understand what you don't want feats to do, but I don't understand what you do want them to do. Give me an example of what a good feat is for you.

Here's how I run things. If I'm DMing, I'm the boss. I get to make the rules, I get to interpret the rules, I get to change the rules. You, as the players, are ultimately subject to my whims. You are allowed to make suggestions, to question my decisions, to argue with me. In the end...

This may need to be moved, but here's my question: as a baseline measure that ignores all situational modifiers and presupposes an "average" adventurer, what should the chance of success with an action? That is, how often should the average fighter hit with an attack? What about the average...