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Noticed the action, but so far can only think of a few uses of it. What I'm predicting is class and theme features that boost what dodge can do, such as being able to move through enemy spaces whilst dodging etc. Perhaps that will include "whilst dodging you can also ready an action - if you...

This. There is creativity and going where a design takes you, there is experimentation, there is fashion. Afterwards, there are attempts at a narrative to explain what is you did and why . . . I'd fully expect Mr Mearl's dislike of "Mother May I" games with over-bearing controlling DMs is...

Sure, why not, it's exactly the same as if "You have enough first-level Wizards use Magic Missile from 100 feet away, and the dragon will auto-die in one round." It's a game, not a simulation, the rules are for resolving skirmish combat with a mixed team of heroes. It's very easy to break...

I remember that table well, and used it briefly. The main issue it had is that it compared manufactured weapons versus manufactured armour, so in a monster-bash made little difference. Rolemaster took this concept to extremes, and you had a table of all armour types with combat results for a...

Yes, it might make more thematic sense to keep encounter powers for the old martial classes, and have spellcasters with the dailies. And in my opinion this would be a useful device. I have a problem if everyone is given a all their best resources as dailies. The players have a strong incentive...

Does anyone remember the weapon versus armour table? Where e.g. longbows got +3 (? probably wrong memory) versus chainmail - because chain is bad versus piercing weapons etc? I cannot even remember what edition this was in (an optional rule in 2e?) Did anyone use it? Did anyone have players...

Well said, I was there (dude), and enjoyed Basic, AD&D et al . . . so a little nostalgic, too, for the combinations of random tables, bolt-on special rules, combined with schoolboy days playing "theatre of the mind" in lunch breaks! I probably won't be getting out the old core books any time...

I have used Charisma checks for assigning NPC interest for a long time now, e.g. who gets approached by a patron, whom the king first addresses, who the next social incident happens to. I recommend it as a way to spread attention between PCs, and remind them about their relative investments in...

OK, so I'm not going to be serious here, but any combination of serious nostalgia or parody welcome in the thread. In the 5E "retro" module, what rules are required to re-create the 1970s and 1980s games you remember (or you've been told about by gramps!): Suggestions: 1) Rules for how to...

It was a bizarre rule specific to dragons, you had to declare at the start that your intent was to subdue the dragon, and your chances of success increased as you did more subdual damage. I never saw it in action. Old school dragons also had unique progression (amonst monsters) - they had fixed...

Pure conjecture on my part, but so far: 1) I'm expecting the full text for Reaper will restrict effects to melee weapon attacks. 2) I'm also expecting that many of the themes are more akin to "class kits", or "builds", and less flexible than the full 4-way combination choice...

:-) Yes, it's a problem with murder mystery or curse of the werewolf adventures too, when powerful healing abounds. "OK, he's not dead, and you're not cursed. Adventure solved. Hmm looks like I still have some spell slots left, and we've just had breakfast, so let's head on."

When I DM I want to focus on creativity of how the characters make choices, describing the game world and advancing the plot. I don't want to be interpreting basics such as if and what Detect Magic discovers. Multiply that out by a few other spells left open to DM interpretation, and the Wizard...

This, for me. I'll play "by the book" if I can, and save the creativity for home-brew monsters and encounters. I have never outright banned anything (unless you count refusing to play/run D&D 2e at all for a few years :-)

I've gone the opposite way and don't really use xp, except as a ready-reckoner for balancing encounters, and in a "roughly ten encounters equals a level" way. Or simply, "You've completed the adventure - your game reward is levelling up". Not that my approach would need a module. I'll happily...

In fact there *is* a (4E) Background Born Under A Bad Sign, that allows you to pick a substitute stat to Con for your base hitpoints. So WotC have already "gone there" in a small way. Whether this kind of thinking makes it into DDN in a major way (and whether general feedback is good or bad if...

With a simple core set of rules, designers adding powers and effects for combat (which is heavily codified) have very little to play with. The game would be very boring (and maths based) if all background and theme benefits resolved to +- to hit and damage. Whether or not they should mess...

Things that are added to hit points that have nothing to do with Con: 1) They are in many editions, a random total, presumably representing some kind of long-term fate or luck. Must say I don't like this - a bit of bad luck just once in the game influences far too many hours of play. 2) They...

Any major wound from damage - a bleeding gash, a broken bone, a severed muscle or tendon, concussion etc - is badly represented by hit points. These things would most likely take a combatant out of a fight, or at the very least penalise them. As a "measure" of wounds, I have always taken "over...

I currently expect D20 bonuses to scale less than e.g. 3.5 or 4E, but damage to scale faster. Would also make sense to add more elements of character "rounding" such as situational effects and skills from each of race, class, background and theme, although not sure if these won't be modular, as...