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The two adventures set in the Free City are some of the best and most memorable in the campaign. Tha'ts not just my opinion, but the recollections of the players I've run through it. The doppelganger part could easily be changed or trimmed completely, and you would lose very little - I...

I found Magic Missile to be useful when playing an EK (from 1st to 7th level), especially as I was a dual-wielding type so didn't actually have a decent ranged combat option except for Eldritch Blast which I picked up via the Arcane Initiate feat (and Hex). Protection from Evil and Good is...

I've never been a fan of Cursed items, and from memory 5e does a poor job of implementing them, probably worse than AD&D was (where they at least fit into the 'save or die' type mechanic, i.e. something for DM's to pick on their players with). That said, I don't recall any items in 5e that I'd...

Ah yes... anyone who is going to run White Plume Mountain should be aware of its history, i.e. the designer just threw all of his weird and crazy ideas into a single 'adventure', as a pitch to get a job at TSR... he didn't expect that they would like it enough to actually publish it as-is.

There are two questions here: 1) is using these "save or suck" spells fair / balanced? 2) is throwing three high level spell casters, with four helpers, against 6 PC's, fair? Question #1 should have been resolved BEFORE you or the players started using them in anger. Complaining that spells...

I don't recall a Kelpie being a seaweed creature previously; historically it's a shape-changer demon/horse thing capable of looking like a human; the 5e version talks about its 'true form' but if the true form is seaweed that's weird IMO and not what the old Scottish legends say. Personally I'd...

I've used Psionics in my 3.5 game, where they were finally OK (2e tried to fix them, but implementation was off even for DarkSun). I've also played a Fighter/Mystic recently in 5e (v2, then v3), and it had some big problems still IMO including what the top 10 or so levels should really be...

I added a note about the inappropriate sizing of the G1-3 Lairs for 5e's Huge giants.

Fighting a water creature in its natural environment is MEANT to be a tough challenge. I was a player in Forge of Fury back in 3.0 days, and the fight against the Black Dragon is meant to be a pain in the butt for the players, and it's meant to be the cornerstone BBEG encounter. We were...

Yep, all the above. Also, its a good chance for an NPC to arrive and warn that Strahd is on his way... Have Strahd try and kill that NPC, for added effect, giving the PC a chance to escape. Personally Ive never run a solo adventure, but it is typically a great chance for a clever amd cautious...

Sorry, it's on the Hexblade list. I've recently created a Hexblade, which is a better close-range/melee Warlock.

If you don't like Fireball, try Destructive Wave - centered on you, but you can avoid your allies. But yeah, not worth stressing too much about spell selections, the main thing is to avoid overlaps given you can only cast 2 or 3 spells per short rest; you just need to make sure you have a...

A lot of the early adventures, at least the ones I read, did indeed feature Elminster in person. For example, the 'sample adventures' in the original grey box for AD&D i.e. 1e, and as noted the infamously terrible IMO 'convert to 2e' adventures. Sure, no-one forces you to run your games like...

I must say, Ed Greenwood presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms is one book I'd like to browse, but have never seen. However, my great fear is that, like too many other FR books, adventures, etc, the fact that Elminster features, is an immediate turn-off; I just can't stomach Galdalf er I mean...

Acrobatics is very useful when your Rogue gets grappled. Performance seems to get used enough in games I've run or played in. Handle Animal isn't used as much, simply because Domesticated Animals don't feature in most D&D games, as much as they should or could, e.g. 5e in particular makes riding...

D&D has messed around with what an Elf is, vs a Fey, vs an Eladrin. Some of it started with 2E (Planescape), then 3.x changed some of that. Then 4E definitely changed it again (Eladrin were 'original' elves from the Feywild, where other Fey lived including the Faerie Court, whereas Elves were...

I've only got some general advice - try not to script the plot too heavily. For example, in session 1 you didn't expect the PC's to flee from your snake, you wanted to make sure they had a fight - IMO you should always try and set up Encounters, not Fights; let the players decide when it's...

Personally I've only run one game to 20th level and beyond, and am not sure I have the fortitude to do it again (but you never know). So when I did, I used more of a "late-4e Epic" kind of approach to my high-level NPC type foes (ala 4e MM2 / MM3 / DMG2), and also key 'monsters', i.e. the BBEG...

I don't tend to throw overwhelming opponents into a fight vs the PC's, I tend to give some clues, and not force it into combat immediately. That's how some people roll, but not me. I prefer to give the players some idea of what they are up against, and give them a decision-point or two before...

This is a very key point... dice are to be used when the result is uncertain; in those cases, the DM sets a difficulty and what type of check to use, then the player can roll vs that DC. You are completely right to say if something is completely impossible, just as you are right to say...