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Jumping not too far is automatic. Jumping pretty far requires a check of some kind. Jumping really really far is impossible. I hope this helps.

I actually misremembered 5e having a very similar section to 4e on monster lore checks. First World problem: too many game books... Checking 5e's skill section we have references to knowing about animals or monsters in the arcana ("inhabitants of other planes"), nature and survival skills...

What's missing from D&D tactics? All the basic concepts are there: surprise, focusing fire, flanking, cover and concealment, use of terrain to separate or compact enemy formations, team synergies, resource management, using stealth for reconnaissance, monster lore for enemy assessments, and all...

I've considerable experience with 4E minions, hordes as swarms, and 13th Age style roll-over damage mechanics. I like them all, but they have their own uses. 13th Age style is probably the most useful since it's an easy to remember rule that can be applied as needed. Kit-bashing monsters is...

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Rules for Fantastic Medieval Role Playing Adventure Game Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures and pdf Downloads and Apps and Monthly Online Distributed Content and...

This looks like it will be an interesting column and I'm looking forward to it. I think the RAF perspective includes ways and situations in which the DM might depart from both RAW and RAI to come up with the solution that is most useful for the situation and the group at hand--ad hoc house...

Restarting at level 1 comes from the sandbox/dungeon crawl concept of D&D with PC vs. the dangers of the dungeons or the world. If you were successful, you got to level up and gain new abilities. If not, you got killed. As you leveled you could mitigate deaths but also faced new dangers (like...

I'd say your workhorse would be the enlarge person spell, which puts huge creatures in the range of a lot of nice tricks (which often limit effect to target on size category larger than you): shoving a creature, grappling and possibly nets. If the DM rules that a Large net can restrain Huge...

You sound like you're arguing that vague rules are best because they allow the DM to pretend they are playing RAW for the benefit of the players all the while secretly making up their own way of doing things. That seems to be a very antagonistic way of playing to me.

I'd love a compiled annotations pdf. Transparency in the game's design and mechanics can only be a good thing for DM's pressed to make judgment calls or looking to house rule.

I used to do it all the time, mainly since I prefer a cinematic style of game with multiple individual climactic duels between PC and hated enemy and similar devices. I'm also a fan of sliding walls, portcullises, slides and other craziness that can split up a party. It tends to shake up the...

I don't allow evil PCs just for this reason. RPGs are communal, group-based activities and having one player/PC out for themselves at the expense of the rest causes more trouble than it's worth. I'd only consider it if the whole group was on board and excited about the situation. Too many...

If the tarrasque uses his made-up 'throw building' attack, why can't the wizard use his made-up 'deflect building' defense? The fact that some people are calling for 10 points of damage from a thrown attack and some calling for close to 100 is an indication that there is zero in the way of...

I can't speak to the class as a whole. Ours died mainly do to bad luck. A wizard in the same situation would have bought it as well, maybe a cleric too. Low-level PCs really can't tank anything and have nothing for crowd control. If the dice go against them it gets ugly fast. Rogues aren't...

Here lies Rowan the Thief, who also lies over there and over there and there's that little bit in the next cave. He was a rogue good and brave, risking life and a reduction of his hit point maximum to steal the demon statue's battle axe +1 so that the party's fighter might smacketh down yon...

Tridents don't just have a point, they have three! Any idiot can use a spear with its one uncomplicated point. It takes a true master of weapons to marshal the mighty forces of the three-tipped trident, I tell you. And what bronzed bare-chested demigod would be content with a mere footman's...

My mind went to flinds and their flindbars, but when I checked the gnoll entry I discovered they had been omitted. This is an outrage that will not stand.

Why roll dice if you're going to make up your own result? As GMs you have vast powers available to contrive the results you want. Just use those.

I guess I'm one of those rare players that has the true skillz* to avoid having any of his characters die. I'm just that good. Legendary even... Plenty of PC deaths in our group during the middle school/high school era were marked with shouting and dice chucking. Several led to heated arguments...

I always use a mix of 'men' and 'monsters'. I'll typically create an evil organization of humanoids (be it a horde, kingdom, wizard order, etc.) that actively sends out parties (of skilled NPCs) and forces (larger military groups) that vie against the PCs to complete goals. An example would be...