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Look, I get your point, Nagol. Some stuff is harder for a party that lacks magic. That's the point of magic. That's a feature of the game, that you can have a game with a bit of a more low-fantasy feel with difficult environmental challenges, where assaulting an underwater frozen base...

None of those are remotely guaranteed to tell you the precise location of an unknown BBEG's lair. Do you have some explanation for one of them you think would work really superbly well? They're useful spells, but they aren't a panacea for finding information. None of them is actually as...

Yeah, I proposed an alternative for how the all martial version of this might play out on the first page.

So the only way to effectively discover the whereabouts of the BBEG are... what, in this scenario? Scrying doesn't work if you don't know who you're scrying for. Seems like you're assuming some kind of divination spell, but I can't for the life of me figure out what. And the only way to make...

Story time! I was DMing a game in my early days, this was probably... 20 years ago, ish? 2e, for sure. I had concocted this really long elaborate adventure of interlocking events and callbacks and grand artifacts and stuff... basically an adventure path, though that term didn't exist as far...

Athletics is probably the most broadly useful skill for physical action, though. You can use Acrobatics as a substitute in some cases, and in some niches it's even better, but Athletics mostly has the edge by a good margin. I'd say if I was just choosing between Initiative and Athletics, I'd...

Wouldn't all of these comments apply just as much to fighting with a sword? Footwork, precision, etc. are all hugely important. The reality, of course, is that D&D stats don't model reality well. An adept fighter, like any adept athlete, is going to have very good strength and very good...

See, I'm fine with stuff like that. Khanjali Mac? No problem. Robilar? Tenser? Even Melf or Rary? Sure. A recent player was going to play a human named Rob. When he saw the Dragonborn, he thought they looked awesome. But the Dragonborn "Rob" sounded dumb to him. His solution? Dragonborn...

For my 3.5/1e/E6 mashup homebrew game, I actually allow people to use Str or Dex for attack rolls with virtually all weapons. With some loose strength requirements to wield a weapon at all... a Str 10 warrior isn't going to be using Dex on his attacks with a Maul. But I don't have a hard rule...

So far I've run about... 8 or 9 combats with this initiative system, and this has been my experience too. Probably contributed to it due to most of the players being new kids or returning parents, but most declarations have been excited declarations with little heed given to who else is doing...

My other post was all predicated on the assumption that the other players share your frustration, and don't want help optimizing their characters. Because if they enjoy his overpowered damage dealing capabilities, and they don't feel overshadowed, then you don't actually have a problem.

Well, the first thing to do is talk to the player. You may want to crunch his numbers yourself to make sure everything was calculated correctly (what level are they? +13 to hit, without magic weapons, takes an extremely high level to pull off. Assuming he is multiclassed with fighter, which...

Quickleaf that is some awesome content, man. Very cool. I vaguely remember reading about the escalating die method before but I don't think I've ever used it. That's going to change, though. You put it to such elegant use, it seems like a great tool. Thanks for your contribution! That goes...

I sort of see your point, at least in some cases. For example, Arcane Trickster and Eldritch Knight are both cases where I think that the feel of the class is well served by knowing you intend to go that route in advance and playing up to it, at least a little. Just personal preference, but a...

I think you explained it well, actually. It's more of a pure improv style. I have to commend you... I used to use pure improv more often. And still do for some games... Personally, I think I find it easier to do in games with either a stronger story or just a huge weight of table history...

I'm curious how/when other people employ random events and encounters. I'm not making a poll because I don't really care about poll results, I'm more interested in the explanations people provide for their positions, and the conversations we can have. Do you use random encounters? Do you make...

This is good advice for random encounters in general. My reusable random encounter tables are always resolved by generating 2 results, so that the encounter is with a dynamic event rather than just a group of hostile or nonhostile dudes. In fact, I think I'm going to start a different thread...

Thanks. If indeed he would agree with your summary, then I understand a little better. I fundamentally disagree, but I understand. The single best thing 5e did for skills was introduce tool proficiencies not tied to a particular ability score, thus illustrating the precedent that the two need...

I actually didn't have in mind the game's advice to not even engage the rules unless it's needed. I more had in mind that all of the 3 core books contain a multitude of optional rules, many of which are mutually exclusive with each other, and frequently finish rule sections with suggestions...

It wasn't, actually. I definitely missed that. Since that is the case, it's clear we have a significant gulf in our approaches. Alrighty. Right, so our experiences in this regard differ. This is a truism. Being a deviation from the rules is not actually a meaningful criticism. Especially...