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Also, most demons (of the ones in the MM, only the balor and marilith use manufactured weapons), some devils, and quite a few undead, including the very powerful lich and demilich. The tarrasque, too. Really, quite a few of the classic big threats don't use manufactured armor or weapons (metal...

So maybe the reason light/daylight spells don't injure vampires is the lack of UV? That would make sense, because fires are generally a lot cooler than the sun so firelight wouldn't contain much UV.

It's more like the old Fire Seeds druid spell... so much so that I think the spell was based on that specific scene. But I don't think that spell made it into 5th edition (it's at least not in the Player's Handbook). http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fireSeeds.htm Meteor Swarm is way too...

Interestingly, there's a sidebar in the Player's Handbook Dragonborn entry saying that draconians are dragonborn with the breath weapon ability swapped out for each draconian type's unique effect.

In a D&D world, I think elves would be struggling to keep their populations stable. If they don't reproduce until 100+... and D&D worlds tend to be full of dangerous monsters, and occasional big cataclysms too... I think the only reason elves can survive is that their long lifespan also means...

I wouldn't really expect elves to have "a vast amount of mineral wealth" - that's more a dwarf thing. I'd expect metal to be relatively rare and valuable, acquired by trade. Most elvish metal items are probably magical; you don't waste metal on ordinary stuff. I'd expect their general tools to...

The way the spellcasting classes are done is one of my few complaints about 5E, which is my favorite edition so far. There seem to be too many spellcasting classes with relatively similar abilities/spells distinguished mostly by flavor... and I dislike that because it sets a "default" or...

I'd imagine they trade for it, mostly. (And... natural gas? That seems a bit beyond the general tech level of most D&D worlds). There are probably elven smiths, but I doubt they mine iron - they'd buy it from humans or dwarves. What do they sell in return? Potions and minor magic items...

Assuming a 'Europe-like' climate: Stands of fruit and nut trees [mixed together in a nature-mimicking way rather than mono-species orchards], berry shrubs, grapevines (if the area is warm enough). Pigs and small livestock like rabbits (and maybe edible insects) -- no big cleared fields for...

Back to the original topic... In 5E terms, I'd say he's multiclass, yeah. Probably wizard or sorcerer 6/ranger 2 or something (so he can 'speak to animals' or 'animal friendship' Shadowfax). That limits him to 3rd level spells but he's significantly more powerful than a pure 5th level...

"A host of Elves in armor of the Elder Days" isn't necessarily the same thing as ALL the forces of the First Age elves. It could mean a Third Age-size force with First Age class equipment. (And the First Age elves lost against Morgoth's armies anyway.) "Sauron was 'greater', effectively, in...

I see 5E darkvision as a simplified version of both 3E darkvision (see in the dark as in dim light) and 3E low-light vision (see in dim light as if bright light). So no 'blinded by light sources'. Infravision in old editions was different, but IMO that's why they changed the name. I don't...

I agree that Dragonlance doesn't really need many special rules, at least in the War of the Lance-Chaos War era and the post-War of Souls era when magic is 'D&D normal'. The distinctive elements have more to do with the setting; it's a somewhat more "constrained" setting than, say, FR (all...

I don't really see why people in a D&D type world would be generally suspicious/fearful of magic anyway... or at least the way it tends to be portrayed. People would be fearful of destructive magic, but not of healing or utility magic, the way we feel about technology. I'd expect at least as...

I believe the Hobbit talks about the eagles getting tired out on the (much shorter) flight in that book, and they are afraid of shepherds with bows. They seem to be non-magical beyond speech/intelligence and size. But if they were more like the First Age Eagles, who were "manifestations of...

Lack of thermals, so the eagles would get exhausted faster (which is already going to be a huge problem for long-range transport). And that assumes night would even impair Sauron's vision, which I'm not at all certain of given that Morgoth's servants are tied to darkness. I disagree. Giant...

Googling it, average speed for a Golden Eagle is like 30 mph. They are very fast in short bursts, but that's not endurance flying. Also, these guys are mostly soarers, so that means exploiting air currents, so not necessarily straight-line. Not long. Given that one was able to carry Gandalf...

It's not explicitly stated, but I'd expect Elrond and Gandalf to know Sauron's powers and resources quite well. Elrond was involved in fighting Sauron in the Second Age, and Gandalf Even if he didn't realize it was an attempt to destroy the Ring, Sauron would still act against Great Eagle...

Store of Vengeance - a highly dangerous retail establishment Forcecave - instant dungeon! Forcecape - become a superhero Day of Frost - 24 hours of freezing weather Way of Frost - creates a bridge or road made of ice Burning Bands - only effective against musical groups Phantasmal Forge - good...

I think this is pretty certain - Tolkien wrote about LOTR not being an allegory of WWII and that if it were, it would have been decided by the Free Peoples using the Ring against Sauron, etc. -- But I don't think that necessarily argues against the use of "magic" items (in the sense of the...