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To me, almost any rules that discourage a bard from pulling out an instrument when they want to use some magic are bad rules. If it makes the class less characterful and sabotages its shtick, then its a bad rule. In a local game houseruling is discouraged as they swap DMs a lot. So I made up...

I'd agree with Icherbezal, that's how I'd run it. The last time I saw that in a game, the DM just said, add +3 damage to your damage roll and ignore both of those features. He hated rerolls and I can't fault him for that. If the net effect is pretty much the same and it speeds things up, I...

For me, the stand out thing about elven culture is that nobody works, at least by human standards. On any given day, an elf may or may not turn up to work and everybody is OK with this. If the local blacksmith does not get his shipment of steel until a month after he ordered it, he is not that...

Not coming from a D&D background, I really have to ask, does the D&D casting system of components etc really add anything to the game? If you are playing a class designed to use a shield and sword and cast spells, what are you adding to the game by accounting for all this stuff? In a system that...

I don't really agree with this bit for the most part. Powerlessness is pretty integral to horror and it is really hard to manufacture with high level PCs, especially if you play by the book (which I don't). An unkillable horror stalking them becomes less of an issue if they can just teleport...

I played a game as King Monkey, Great Sage, Equal of Heaven. It was set after his fall from heaven and being trapped under a mountain for a hundred year, as his power slowly leaches away. Even memories of who he was died off in the mortal realms a generation or two ago. He is now just seen as an...

On a related topic, if PCs fail to use a skill when they should, or if their skill roll is not good enough to get the info you want them to have, I have found a technique I like. I give them the info later on, during some downtime or when they have a quiet moment to reflect. It is a bit of a...

Does horror work for players level 11-20? They are so powerful that I think the setting would lose its power, especially after having thoroughly trounced Strahd. What is it they are meant to be afraid of from that point on? They are the single most powerful group in the known world most likely.

The children are actually dream projections. When you get to the childrens room, you find that the nanny has put them under a sleep spell, there is a magical mobile above them, putting them in suspended animation. The children dream projected to get you there to wake them. The undead nanny...

I guess I am in the vast minority here. Is it wrong for somebody to tell the OP that they don't like the way they RP? I don't think so. It's socially awkward, but not 'wrong' in an immoral, or even social-contract, sense. It is natural to feel that somebody is being overbearing if they do that...

I think the thing to do is look at level 4, where both would have picked up another ASI or Feat. Human has +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +0 and a Feat V.Human has +3 +2 +2 +2 +1 +0 and a Feat and a skill, if they chose to even out their stats. So even if you for some reason wanted really balanced stats, the...

Regarding air cult retaliation, something I have used might work well here. Firstly, IMC there is 'sympathetic magic' like voodoo dolls. You do something to one item that is linked to another, and the effect travels. E.g. Snap a human leg bone while casting a spell, the target's leg breaks (or...

My players are terrified of entering dwarven or duergar places uninvited. They tend to make great traps. At its most basic, they make very good front doors. PCs walk up to "kick in the door" and find they simply can't open it. Not all doors have locks to be picked. Not all doors can be kicked...

Or why not just say "you all have to play rogues"? As far as I recall they lose nothing from the resting mechanic. You would want to play an archer though, as getting hit is a big no no in that game. Every martial class loses their active abilities and casters lose half their spells. The poor...

Most of it seems OK, if unnecessary, but the resting bit just seems really broken. I'm puzzled about the not regaining features other than spells on a short rest. So a Fighter can't get back their Combat Superiority, or a Monk their Ki, but a wizard can get back his spells? The former are...

Haha, umm, turning into a whale is definitely not the first thing that come to mind if I am falling off a cliff. You had me wondering for a moment if a whale would do anything but turn into an oily puddle if dropped from a plane. I can just see the party waiting at the bottom of the cliff...

How would the people who want a "songs only" bard feel about something like the following. You pick a spell effect, from any class that mirrors a bardic power and makes sense as a buff. That is your "spell" for that level. You only have a very limited selection of them. In return for this, you...

The thing is, the bard class does have the ability to be good at melee, buff party members and sing healing songs, just like the old-school one. They are just also a full caster. That is why the Bard is a pretty rocking class. If you want an old style bard, just take away half of their spell...

You have stumbled upon my pet peeve :) Everything in PWYW. If the people that bought it already paid for it, then they paid what they wanted to, or less. Nobody had a gun to their head. If Apple brings out a new iPhone or drops the price the day after I buy mine, I think I am the only person in...

Improvised weapons and staves used two-handed when caught unaware is pretty much it. I toyed with the idea of letting Longswords be d12 2-handed but still lack the Heavy property. This I think would make them have a purpose for anybody that was not a specialist GWM feat having combatant. IMC I...