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To clarify, for anyone not familiar with this: "Coup de grace" is French for "blow of mercy," and is used in English to mean a killing or finishing blow (with an implication that the fight was already pretty much over). In 3E it was an action you could take to insta-kill an unconscious enemy...

I used to track things like arrows and spell components (in days of yore, before spell focuses existed) very carefully. Never once did I come close to running out of anything. Eventually I realized it wasn't worth the bother. D&D doesn't want the hassle of a realistic encumbrance system --...

You might look at Zerg assets from StarCraft. The Zerg are basically a mash-up of Tyranids with "Alien" xenomorphs.

Sure, but those decisions are usually in the form of "X is allowed, Y is not." The DM chooses what tools the player can use; what the player does with those tools is "player territory" and outside the DM's purview in all but exceptional cases. Similarly, a DM might veto certain bastion...

My complaint about the old bastion system was that the system seemed like an insane amount of bookkeeping and was clearly designed as a "mini-game" with very little relevance to the in-game fiction of establishing a stronghold. Speaking as a DM, I don't much care either way. Speaking as a...

So Power Word Fortify does nothing, then?

Rend would be fine if they got rid of the distinction between slashing, bludgeoning, and piercing damage. I mean, how often does it even come up*? If you're going to streamline a system (which I generally favor), don't stop halfway. *Unless you're playing BG3, in which bludgeoning damage is...

The two remaining Silmarils were removed from the Iron Crown after the War of Wrath. The Valar intended to take them back to Valinor, but Feanor's two surviving sons, Maedhros and Maglor -- bound by their oath to reclaim the Silmarils no matter who held them -- killed the guards and seized the...

I mean, sure, it has its limitations, but you can do it at 7th level* if you've got a wizard in the party. The Shapechange stuff doesn't come online until a level where you can make yourself totally immune to damage for 10 minutes, or lay down four gigantic blasts dealing 140 points of damage at...

I think it was a deliberate choice to remove the need to keep track of where your temp hp came from. Not sure they considered all the implications...

Polymorph. Wizard X/warlock 1 if you insist on doing it all yourself; but it'll be more effective if you go pure warlock and get Polymorphed by an ally. Then you don't have to hold concentration while getting beat on in melee, and you can use a fast-refreshing warlock slot to upcast AoA. Plus it...

Low-level combo: Get the Fiendish Vigor invocation. This allows you to top up your temp HP at will. So you have 12 temp hp, renewable with an action whenever you want; and as long as you don't let them get taken to zero, you deal 5 cold damage to anyone who hits you in melee. At level 2, this is...

You got that vibe from them? They seemed like long-term friends and colleagues to me. Unless you think everyone you meet is just automatically lusting after everyone else you meet. Which seems like a pretty absurd, uh... um... * looks at the rest of BG3 * ...Okay, yeah, you're probably right.

Well, if it really is the original Iron Crown, it had its gems pried out of it, then it got beaten into a collar and put around Morgoth's neck while he was being hauled back to Valinor to be cast into the Void. And then it had to be refitted to a human-sized head, since Morgoth was gigantic. It...

Some folks are going to complain no matter what. Some of them are going to be vile about it. This is the Internet. Trolls gonna troll, bring fire damage. That doesn't mean WotC gets a pass for doing a bad job. I agree that they are not to blame for the printer screwing up*. They are, however...

I try not to get on the "everything WotC does is awful" bandwagon. But jeez, that bandwagon looks like a pretty sweet ride these days. It isn't that they are spectacularly evil. They're just so amazingly bad at engaging with the D&D community. And that's an ominous long-term sign, because this...

That's crossing well over the line into "rules exploit" as far as I'm concerned.

In 2014, dual wielding was straightforward. Pick up two light weapons and you get an off-hand attack with your bonus action, but you can't add your attack stat to the damage. Take TWF and you add your attack stat normally. Take Dual Wielder and you get +1 AC and can use non-light weapons...

Vex makes a very substantial difference, and significantly complicates the math. Assuming 5th level, Dual Wielder feat, Two-Weapon Fighting Style, 18 Dex, access to all relevant masteries, and an enemy with AC 15 (that is, a 65% chance to hit): Two short swords: 19.2 damage over the first...

Exactly. Good managers do a lot more than "get out of the way." They keep their employees aware of business requirements and constraints; resolve interpersonal issues; keep people on the same page so the final product comes together; go to bat to secure the resources their team needs; ensure...