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I’ve been playing in some Pathfinder 2 games, and they build in AoO into some monsters and not in others. I find that not knowing if a foe will take an AoO adds excitement and encourages players to chance it more often, especially if they have better AC. I might try to incorporate that into...

I’ve experienced the narrative twist in the old West End Games Star wars and the new Age of the Empire Star Wars games, and both of those games use a random mechanic (a wild die in the old game, and symbols on the normal dice that indicate complications). Honestly, I found those mechanics too...

I have always been a fan of differentiation within character classes. That’s what’s important. Every player should feel as if he/she has a meaningful choice in most situations. Balance should revolve around that rather than things like DPS, max damage, etc. I think D&D 5e does a very good job...

Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, we’ve placed this campaign on hold. We are currently playing Out of the Abyss. I’m playing a Duergar Barbarian named Drag, which is quite a switch from Lenora. I’m taking a break from writing up reports too. Hopefully, we’ll jump back to the old...

I voted for plot driven, but action works hand in hand with plot. I love a campaign that has story elements of rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.

From a role playing perspective I like your idea. Giving a player a choice to drop weapon and cower, or just cower until healed can add a lot to the pc story. If that’s not the player’s desire then unconscious it is. In either case, any healing will end the condition so I guess you’d still...

Keeping game notes to make it easier to plan and make meaningful connections in later game sessions. Players love when they see the fruits of their labor as the campaign continues. They also love to meet re-appearing npcs or villains and know that their actions (successes and failures) have...

I love playing both. I will only DM 5e. I got burnt out DMing 3.0, 3.5 and Pathfinder because it has more rules and more modifiers to keep track of. PF2 is an improvement, yet it still requires more rules knowledge than 5e. I just can’t go back.

This variation from table to table, game to game is one of the most fabulous aspects of the D&D experience. When I was a teen/young man, I loved going to The Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight movies in different cities because the audiences in each place created different lies/reactions to...

I love the ideas about making sure all players find reasons for their characters to adventure together (no PvP). With this guideline I have even allowed evil PCs in my campaigns. I often model neutral and lawful evil npcs and how they generally work with others to achieve their goals so that...

Just a quick post. I’ve played/DMd for over 30 years. This version of the cleric is by far the most versatile and fun to play. I’ve played a Storm Cleric, a Sun Cleric, a War Cleric and a straight up Healing Cleric, and I’ve enjoyed them all. They play very differently and feel different, but...

In short, yes. Online gaming has changed my style, but the changes can also be used for enhancing tabletop play. First, since online I can’t use eye contact or body language to engage players, I make a point of using character names more often to grab player attention. Second, I’ve sped up my...

In my experience, bad guys that escape have to begin escaping earlier in the combat. Waiting for 50% hp or less is cutting it too close. In my games, foes that flee to escape do it after they fight for a round and tell their minions, “get’em boys” like the villains in the original Batman...

Make sure you think about how it will work with Barbarian and Monk unarmored defense. If it is armor, then it will not stack so it may be totally useless for those classes. If it is natural skin and you raise base ac from 10, then there may be an argument that it stacks with unarmored defense...

I'm a fan of boxed text, but I'd even have pre-written adventures go further with the boxed text. Too many times, what's in the box is not enough. As most adventures are written now, the DM has to highlight a lot of information that isn't in the text boxes to be able to introduce more...

Lots of great advice so far. I'd like to reiterate: 1) Build on other PC actions, don't negate them. Feel the vibe of your group and work to fit in - compliment over conflict. 2) Don't hog the spotlight. Realize that you are one in the group, not "the one" in the group. 3) Don't argue rules...

In some of the Fantasy Grounds games I play in, the DM decided to use the roll each round option. In FG, the interface calculates and arranges initiative order so the extra die rolling isn't much of an issue. In a table top game, it would add too much extra time. Honestly, as a player, I...

You could structure it like an escape room puzzle where different clues are hidden in the room and by finding them and decifering how they fit together the party learns how to escape. Of course they cant talk and there should be some time pressure or damage per round element. I like the idea...

I agree with so much that has been said here, but since I’m an English teacher and DM, here’s my take on it. Encounter design in a session or campaign is like a good piece of writing,which becomes more interesting when it uses a variety of sentence types and lengths. In addition, with really...

While playtesting Pathfinder 2, similar concerns came up with the out of combat healing mechanic where a pc could use a medicine check every 10 minutes. Success allowed treated pc con bonus hp recovery. Critical success doubled it. But, if there was a critical failure, the victim could not...