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I misread this as "16th and 20th level". So you'd go 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19.

I would like to reduce the number of prepared full-list casters. The wizard approach is better to me. I could see Runestaffs and equivalent that just add to the "spells you can prepare" instead of adding "prepared spells". That gives you design room to make these staffs do more than just add...

You crit 1 in 10 swings; but only 1 in 20 swings change because you are a Champion. If you just pay attention to "did they swing and did the foe die from the swing", Champions are actually hard to tell apart from baseline Fighters. The impact of the crit ability is about as good as a...

So, 4 level 5 PCs have a total level of 20. A CR 15 monster should be beatable by a party with a total level of 20, especially if the PCs are heavy on daily abilities, optimized and are doing a single-encounter day. Especially if the PCs get the drop on the monster. (If the monster gets the...

This poll would be more useful if you also asked "and find monks weaker than paladins". As ignoring encounters/day just results in short days and very strong per-day classes; so you'd expect if you ignored it to just boost CR higher (or stop caring about it; at 1/day, a group of 5-6 L5...

At level 5: XBE gives the Bard (1d6+2)*2 = 11 DPR(+6 over baseline) Fire Bolt gives the bard 2d10 = 11 DPR (+6 over baseline) +2 dex gives the Bard 1d8+3 = 7.5 DPR (+2.5 over baseline) Light XBOW gives the Bard 1d8+2 = 6.5 DPR (+1.5 over baseline, but free) Baseline is 2d4 = 5 DPR At level 4...

Sure. Which is why I consider it part of the "describe the world" problem that DMs have. 1. DM describes the world 2. Players make choices One choice is "I don't look at the clues and pick something random". But the DM should be providing some kind of clues asto what choices have what...

Choices only matter when the PCs have actionable information between the choices. "There are 3 doors, which one do you open" isn't a choice, it is a random number generator. If the same encounter is behind all 3 doors regardless of what scouting work the PCs do, it is a fixed random number...

Target might not; but hopelessness clearly is intended to. I'd rule you can cast it not "on" creatures, but you can use it to separate creatures. Like a defensive wall, cutting enemies off. They are free to run into the wall without you triggering hopelessness -- you just can't directly...

"Target" in 5e includes hitting something with a fireball. It isn't like 3e, where "target" was a keyword. (You could probably cast a fireball you didn't know would hit a creature.)

There isn't really a feat that will let you deal decent damage in combat. The best sorcerer cantrips are 1d10 (so +3 damage per hit, 6 at level 5-10). Still, you won't be doing great damage. If you have 16 cha/14 dex, a rapier does 7.5 damage already and is almost as accurate as firebolt.

"Oh no, you managed to beat my tests and find the thing that lets me corrupt you for the next 100 years, woe is me".

Also, if it is hard enough to get the name, only really powerful fools know it. So...

Wish costs you 33% chance to never cast Wish again. And it can be warped; the easiest way to learn the name of a Fiend might be to become a simulacrum of that Fiend. And Wish is nothing if not lazy; pre-existing magical effect it can poach? Seems simple. Congratulations, you are now their...

So, an attempt to sketch out "power sources"s that replace magic items. Power Source: A power source has a level. Your PC level cannot exceed your total power source level. Each power source takes an attunement slot. Some power sources have physical incarnations as an object, like magic...

I'd start with gritty rests. So 1 week in safety for a long rest, a night's sleep for a short rest. Usual patches That, by itself, extends L 1 to 20 to about 2 years. Next, some real downtime rules, because you want it to be fun. It has to support week/month/year/decade scales somehow...

The video game Stellaris provides a treasure trove of tropes. Only a few are elvish. Mossy rocks: Your species is a bunch of rocks covered in moss. Their communication, when translated, is very slow; on the other hand, they consider other species communication also slow, because their...

Small numbers add up. A) 14 dex, +0 weapon, +0 arrows, +0 fighting style, level 7, against AC 18. Makes 20 attacks for 1d8+2 each; gets 1 crit, 7 other hits, deals 56.5 damage. B) 20 dex, +1 weapon, +1 arrows, +2 fighting style, level 7, against AC 18. Makes 20 attacks for 1d8+7 each, gets...

No, it is simulating the preparation step without walking through it explicitly, in an out-of-order way. Your character spent time gathering gear and planning. What gear you gathered and what preparation you did isn't simulated then, it is simulated later. Or are you restricting simulations...

I want verisimilitude, surprise, and the ability for PCs to impact events in ways that (at in retrospect) make sense. I believe that simulation is a joke, however. Any kind of complex situation is going to be far more complex than any mere human, set of tables, or similar could simulate with...