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That really depends on how you look at initiative. It's like hit points or armor class in that way - it is an abstraction that takes more than one thing into consideration. It does certainly reflect who has the better reflexes and can react to whatever happens in the round, but it also is an...

All true, which is why you can call it whatever you want to. You can call it a contest, or a not-contest, based on your perception of it relative to other ability checks (opposed and otherwise.) It doesn't matter what you call it, it's just initiative.

Well, that's clearly not the case. If the Orc on the other side of the door is trying to push it open and the paladin is opposing that strength check, at the very least the ranger can use the help action to participate. It's not difficult to imagine that same paladin and ranger teaming up to...

Oh... oh, oh oh... Look, I know this is just a game, and I shouldn't take things too seriously. I am, on some level, aware of the futility of nerd rage. But... I gotta tell you, the idea that Magic settings would be open for 3rd party development on the Dungeon Master's Guild before Dark Sun...

Hmm. I'd drop the bite damage a bit, add a grapple to it, and give it multiattack, 2 melee attacks. I would also add another action, maybe call it Rend. Targets one grappled creature, digging in its teeth as it thrashes its head side to side. Damage equal to the bite, save for half.

It's an interesting choice that WotC made. It seems that people who are interested in Ravnica are feeling "meh" about the book because it is limited in its detail on the setting, and those of us who don't care about Ravnica at all are feeling "meh" about it because all the guild stuff is...

Nuh uh. One-handed weapon, not light. Although I'll concede the point about the ammunition trait--I had to look at the errata, my PHB doesn't say you need a free hand.

Absolutely. I think everyone agrees that it it an ability check. That's important, too, for the reasons you mention. The debate seems to be, for whatever reason, whether it is an ability contest. I don't really get that part. I mean, I roll a dex check, you roll a dex check, and we compare them...

Well, it is, sort of. It is a contest to see who goes first. It is an opposed ability check, but you're right that it isn't like the typical check. For most ability checks, you say "I want the thing to happen" and then if you win the check, it happens. In this case, it's just an issue of who has...

There is nothing magical about initiative; it doesn't activate the combat mini-game, or empower character abilities. It's very simple, really. When you need to know who goes first, use initiative. If everything happens at more-or-less the same time, you don't need it. You seem to be getting...

Another clever combo would be the Tavern Brawler feat and the Crossbow Expert feat. Using the shield as a weapon with the Attack action would give you a bonus action attack with the hand crossbow, which would be pretty slick. Edit: Although, since you could get the same number of attacks with...

Two-weapon fighting would not normally apply to using a shield as a weapon, because improvised or not it wouldn't be a "light melee weapon." The Dual Wielder feat would remove this limitation and let you use the shield with two-weapon fighting, and the Tavern Brawler feat would let you apply...

I have no interest in Ravnica or MtG whatsoever, but I am pleased to see a 5e hardcover that isn't set in the Forgotten Realms.

I try to be mindful of the things that go into AC when I describe a miss. "You caught it on your shield," or "You got past his guard, but glanced off his armor." I basically layer it DEX, then armor, then shield. I think it helps players understand what their hit target number is. For a "touch"...

See, if I agree with Crawford and you don't, I get to call you an idiot without the reading comprehension of an average 3rd grader. On the other hand if you agree with Crawford and I don't, I get to call you a mindless sycophant incapable of thinking for yourself. The internet is a bottomless...

Because they give us something to argue about, right?

For whatever it's worth, the most common and popular bonus action I've seen in play have been a rogue's cunning action shenanigans, followed closely by bonus action spells like healing word and misty step.

Thanks, that's good info. I think the flanking issue is a little odd, though, since flanking is just advantage and the DM can give advantage whenever he thinks it's appropriate. I guess you just wouldn't call it flanking. "The ogre is distracted by the paladin, standing all shiny there in front...

I have never participated in any kind of organized RPG play, so I genuinely do not know the answer to this question: What happens in an Adventurer's League game if the DM rules in a way that is contrary to the Crawford advisory opinion interpreting the rule in question? Does it matter if it is a...

That's logical, reasonable, and it would be totally persuasive but for the fact that no other implementation of bark-hard skin (or similar) is handled that way. Golems and other constructs, treants and awakened trees, even warforged in the new Eberron guide--they all handle natural armor in a...