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Also remember that the DMG and MM were released at different times, so the MM may not follow the exact rules of the DMG (Goblins are an example of not being the 'proper' CR).

Look at the optional scores for Honor and Sanity in the DMG for some inspiration. A negative score in Honor could be respected among cutthroats who look for Notoriety, or just replace Sanity with Notoriety entirely. Another resource to look at is the Factions and their rankings for Adventurer's...

"Have you heard about that weirdo, Draxus? All he does is sharpen his claws and 'chase the wind'. What does that even mean?" "Yeah, dude refuses to even breath lightning. Says it 'interferes with his breathing rate'. Guy was watching a hawk hunt the other day, saying he wanted to learn how to...

~double post~

Spells of the same level are ~roughly~ seen as equal. If you have a CR 5 with X spells available, it should be fine to just pick appropriate level spells. By the math, swapping one Mage's Fireball and giving him Animate Dead would change the CR based on the change in offensive CR, but I think it...

I'm completely different. My only distinction is between PCs and NPCs. All my giant spiders and village blacksmiths and demiliches all fall under the 'NPC' distinction. PCs get class levels, and I use stat blocks for all NPCs. I often steal a lot of features or inspiration from the PHB classes...

I think the design goal was to try and simplify combat and make everything run smoother, so less time is spent looking up rules or away from the actual game. Even if the party misses a whole bunch, the rounds move quickly and there is less puttering around. So the combat can still be 'fast...

I've played with a lot of people who have complained about ranged being the obvious choice and melee being underpowered because cover is never counted (look at how many people think that the Archery fighting style is almost an auto-hit). Cover is there to help even it out a bit; I like the...

A key thing to remember is that the CR can give you numbers, but the DM gives the difficulty. Looking at a NPC/monster's stat block gives some help about what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how you use them can change a lot. A couple Hobgoblins with some Wolves will be a lot scarier...

Depends on how you'd like to rule it. If they were frightened by something like a Dragon's Frightful Presence or something that you can gain immunity to, I'd think that the Aura snaps you out of it and it is dispelled. For an ongoing condition (cast from a spell), standing near the Paladin...

All good replies here. Player used a good idea, and hopefully the party remembers later if the Rogue is trying to run away from an angry mob while invisible, he better not have taken an arrow to the knee.

Yes, the same reasoning. Think of the creature having (natural) reach weapons. A Pc with a whip (10' reach) and a creature with a Tentacle attack (10' reach) would use the same mechanic.

I'd rule that it could only use the attack that is provoked. So if you move from 5' to 10' and it doesn't use it's reaction to claw you, if you move 10' to 15' it can only bite at you. If you move 15' to 20', then it can tail-strike but not the others, as you are out of those attack ranges...

This is how I generally try to do it. Something that has helped me is look at how Dungeon World gives each creature goals. Jotting some quick bullet points and looking at their Special Traits (ex. Hobgoblins and Orcs will attack differently even with similar goals) helps me think of the creature...

If he has the Great Weapon Fighting style or Great Weapon Master feat, those bigger dice will only be more potent. It's easy to see how this could really increase his melee damage and chance to hit (the d30 with advantage is probably too much), so make sure you think of that when building your...

Not sure if this has been said, but their "Gnome Cunning" racial trait gives advantage on Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence saves vs. magic. So if anyone tries to cast Charm Person, their 'fey origin' can be seen just like Elves.

I play on Roll20 and always have this 'quick reference' page open when the game is on, but if anyone uses a laptop (not sure about phone) it can save a tonne of time : https://crobi.github.io/dnd5e-quickref/preview/quickref.html. Click on the icons to expand with more details.

A funeral possession and a new headstone :P But even if Earth Glide only affects the Earth Elemental, I like @Ahglock's idea of using the burrowing speed (without triggering Earth Glide) to physically tunnel through the earth, leaving a muddy or rocky path. A Strength or Athletics check might...

And now it's time to unleash the infamous Leopard Claw Dragon Fang Five Finger Death Palm technique!

Remember that Shadow Monks get their Shadow Step feature at 6th level, which greatly enhances your mobility and gives advantage to your first melee attack on that turn (but takes your bonus action), and that your movement speed will keep scaling. How often do you use or want to use Disengage...