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    D&D General [+] TRAPS! a positive thread

    One of my personal favorites is just a lever, switch, or button. Or a row of them. No signs, clues, or explanation. They serve no purpose but to trigger something nasty - a disintegration ray; or if a row of interactables, several minor effects. Once I had a wheel that opened flood gates...
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    D&D General Dryad thought experiment

    The area is populated with a forest of "ghost trees" that mostly ignore humanoid creatures; but hunger for and drain the life force of any wayward seedling or plant creature that dares set root in the area. And seriously freak out druids.
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    D&D 5E (2014) Opportunity Attack around a Corner: Yes or No?

    If you're having difficulties conceptualizing why Grimmwald could attack around the corner, I would tend to say: Don't straightjacket your thinking into a presumption that characters and movement ONLY occur in nice, discrete squares. Consider a case where Grimmwald is leaning half his body...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Is witchbolt underated?

    Concentration is the major issue with the spell. (Although the short range is unpleasant as well).
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    D&D General The big bad evil... Red Herring

    Nobody said that tombs were designed to be explored by interlopers. But putting lot of expensive carvings, paintings, and religious iconography is a good way to telegraph that there might be something worth stealing. The Egyptians themselves were well aware of this fact. Aside from inspiring...
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    D&D General The big bad evil... Red Herring

    The immediate question I have is this - If you were a cabal of mages or priests who wanted to keep a Very Bad Thing imprisoned, why in the seven hells would you ever "disguise" it as a tomb something else likely to attract interlopers? Better to disguise it as something innocuous and...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Guide to cruddy spells (v1.01)

    For reasonable ACs, Melf's Acid Arrow deals more damage on average than Scorching Ray; of a less frequently resisted energy type. It is a better spell. Of course, Magic Missile is better than either.
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    D&D 5E (2014) Redeeming Drow?

    I'm not entirely sure what is being requested here. From a psychological standpoint, even if a population ceases to venerate their previous head deity, they are likely to have a morality shaped by (in the case of drow and elves) centuries of history and tradition relating to that worship...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Wizards planning a change to lycanthropes?

    Honestly, the implementation of Regeneration in 5e is one of the most idiotic design decisions imaginable. Or at least the part where it is almost always shut off by the most common cantrips. I've never ONCE, not ONE SINGLE TIME in hundreds of games over the years since 5e has come out ever...
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    D&D 5E (2014) What's the worst spell?

    Blade Ward is a funny trick for Tiefling warlocks to pull when they invest in Armor of Agathys. Also occasionally amusing (if usually a waste of an action) on eldritch knights with the War Magic class feature (single melee attack as a bonus action after casting a cantrip) and/or sorcerers with...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Why does no one play Goliath?

    Beyond the fact that I tend to play relatively few melee characters, I just don't find the prospect of roleplaying a goliath particularly compelling.
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    D&D 5E (2014) Goldilocks Poll: Counterspell

    Do we SERIOUSLY need to have this discussion? It is trivially easy to bypass Counterspell. For counterspell to work, 1) the counterspelling PC needs a reaction available, 2 ) the enemy caster needs to be within 60 feet, and 3) needs to be seen casting the spell. Enemy caster runs behind a...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Goldilocks Poll: Counterspell

    Any number of ways you can house rule or improvise your way out of it. One I've used in the past was to give the Uber-Wizards of Legend a "Spell Lock" abjuration that imposed disadvantage on Dispel checks and added +5 to the DC*. Often still possible to dispel after "locking" with several days...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Goldilocks Poll: Counterspell

    Good blend of power and limitation, as long as the DM is not a phallus about it. The one I have some (minor issues) with is Dispel Magic: It's a little too easy to dispel ancient magicks cast by the Uber-Wizards of Legend that have endured for eons. Not an insurmountable issue, just an annoyance.
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    D&D General Using dreams to plant adventure hooks or provide motivation

    I use dreams fairly frequently (as in maybe once ever 8 sessions or so?) Primarily for two purposes: 1) They're one of my preferred methods by which spirits or deities communicate with clerics, paladins, druids, warlocks, or other character with a strong supernatural connection. Directly...
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    D&D General What do I do with a Player who doesn't care about the actual game?

    Short answer: Boot him. Longer answer: If you wish to continue to be friends with the guy*, tell him that he's not a good fit for the group; explain why; stress what you like about the guy; provide examples of ways you can still hang out. And boot him. * or appropriate other gender
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    D&D 5E (2014) Do Assassins suck?

    The main issue with the assassin is that it is VERY DM dependent. The chance for surprise tends to be inconsistent in most games IMX (though of course the character and party can usually take steps to increase said chance). Furthermore, the other features of the subclass can often be...
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    D&D General why do we have halflings and gnomes?

    I'm not so sure. Gnomes have a pretty heavy presence in folklore prior to D&D. Garden gnomes predate D&D by at least 50 years, if not more. I also note that gnomes as a playable race came about a year after the English translation of this fairly well known book. The 5e forest gnome seems very...
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    D&D General Old School DND talks if DND is racist.

    I can't help but notice that KKK titles have, for at least a century and a half, been... strongly evocative... of fantasy and myth: Grand Wizard, Goblins, Cyclops, Ghouls, Hydras, Titans. Maybe it's just that there's a lot of white supremacists who are attracted to reducing complex, thinking...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Moving out of concealment to attack - when is stealth broken?

    In this particular case, I tend to rule #2 - with successful stealth check. My informal rule is that if you can manage to get within 10 feet of a SINGLE enemy, you can step out and make a single melee attack before losing stealth. Exceptions may exist for creatures like beholders that have...
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