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    D&D 5E (2014) Polymorph vs. Petrified

    I wouldn't treat the spell text as a complete description of how the spell works. I'd treat the spell text as a description of how the spell works under normal, standard conditions. When you leave the realm of normal, standard condition, that is when (a) the DM needs to make a call, and (b)...
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    D&D 5E (2014) With Only 4 Ability Scores, How Would You Handle Spellcasting Abilities (+)

    I'd flip this. Picking features that make you better at fighting with heavy weapons grants you a bonus to strength ability checks. Ability checks are used when you don't have a feature that governs a situation. They are not used when using a feature. So you don't make an int check to see if...
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    D&D 5E (2014) With Only 4 Ability Scores, How Would You Handle Spellcasting Abilities (+)

    Might, Will, Wood and Could Primary attributes for the 4 core classes: Fighter Cleric Druid Rogue
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    D&D 5E (2014) With Only 4 Ability Scores, How Would You Handle Spellcasting Abilities (+)

    Definitely not these 4. Might Dexterity Savvy for sure. But Charisma wouldn't be just Charisma. It would include Luck and Willpower and Fate. I'd rename Charisma as such: Might: Strength, Endurance, Toughness Dexterity: Agility, Adeptness, Reflexes Savvy: Knowledge, Intuition, Perception...
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    D&D 5E (2014) What fighting styles would you add?

    Duelist: One-handed melee weapons deal +2 damage. Two-weapon fighting adds your attribute bonus to damage. If you have a hand not holding a weapon, you gain +1 AC. Great Weapon Fighting: When using a melee weapon held in two hands, odd rolls on weapon damage dice are maximized. So a 1 on...
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    D&D 4E [Orcus/4e] House rules - including a skill challenge replacement

    1. No enhancement bonus to hit. 2. Light armor does not give enhancemnt bonus to AC. Heavy keeps it. 3. All armor gives an encounter power to gain +Enhancement against an attack that hit by less than that on AC and (Reflex) light (Fortitude) Heavy. 4. Feat bonuses to hit limited to +1. 5. No...
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    D&D 4E [Orcus/4e] House rules - including a skill challenge replacement

    In 4E, with baseline 60% PC hit rate and monster 40% hit rate, a +1 level on a monster (with no other stat changes - same HP, damage, etc) makes it 60%/55% tougher and 45%/40% deadlier, or about 23% more dangerous. Every 4 levels this is enough to scale monster danger by 2.3x - basically, the...
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    D&D 5E (2014) If "Extra Attack" Was A Feat, What Would Its Prerequisites Be?

    Ya, I'm thinking of how I can make the basic game loop for each class diverge a bit more than in 5e. While still feeling like 5e. Leave fighters with extra attack, maybe with a bit extra spice. Rogue with sneak attack is already distinct; just want to avoid other classes stepping on them...
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    D&D 5E (2014) If "Extra Attack" Was A Feat, What Would Its Prerequisites Be?

    I mean, if I wanted to retool extra attack, I'd start a bit lower. Barbarians get Power Blow. They deal +[W] damage with their weapon, and can make an unarmed or improvised weapon attack as well. (damage increases by another +[W] at 9, 13 and 17). Paladins get Holy Sword. Their weapon deals...
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    D&D 5E (2014) If "Extra Attack" Was A Feat, What Would Its Prerequisites Be?

    Preq: Combat Style, 11th level, 16 strength, 16 dexterity, proficiency with a martial weapon, heavy armor proficiency, shield proficiency, proficiency with strength saving throws. Still a top notch feat with all of that.
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    D&D General Explain Bounded Accuracy to Me (As if I Was Five)

    Sure. But level 6/7/8/9 spells are restricted highly, and in the designed 6-9 encounter day you get to use at most 1 per encounter on average. Forcecage works on creatures up to a certain size, and slightly larger if they have no ranged abilities, and doesn't work on certain types of foes...
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    D&D General Explain Bounded Accuracy to Me (As if I Was Five)

    I mean, name the class? Fighters aren't it. They gain accuracy (bounded to linear), attribute points and number of attacks. They are explicitly quadratic, not linear. Paladins aren't it. They gain accuracy (bounded to linear), and smite damage that scales with level (plus increasingly good...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Fixing Challenge Rating

    A creature that acts twice and deals 10 damage per action isn't substantially different than a creature that acts once, and does 20 damage on that action. "Action Economy" matters when actions don't deal damage, and various forms of action nullification that scales better on fewer targets...
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    D&D General Explain Bounded Accuracy to Me (As if I Was Five)

    Bounded accuracy means there is a reasonable chance to hit or miss a foe, even if they are extremely weak or strong. It means that the d20 is a large component of if you hit or miss. In comparison to 3e and 4e where to hit and AC modifiers went into the stratosphere, ranging from +5 to +45...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Fixing Challenge Rating

    Sure, but make the look-up table simple. Don't make it a 3 dimensional lookup based on monster CR, number of PCs and PC level to produce a difficulty. My point is that you can get really close to the precision of that by doing the work on the design side. If you follow through the math above...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Fixing Challenge Rating

    I mean, I spoke about it? It is like the difference between having the weight of the stuff in your room and a cargo van capacity, and having a program that lets you tag items and tells you if they fit in the cargo van. Sure, you can go around tagging items until the cargo van is full. You can...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Fixing Challenge Rating

    Sure. But 4e's system was a fixed XP rating (that grew exponentially with level, and had level-bands, due to +1 ATK/DEF per level). A level 15 solo was for almost all purposes just 4 times the XP of a level 15 normal. You could balance encounters by just adding up XP. You could also balance...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Fixing Challenge Rating

    I really don't like the 2 dimensional matrix mearls is using here. [PC level, Monster CR] -> CPs It enforces table lookups by the user (either automated or not) and by design encourages tiny tweaks in the values. We should resist lookup tables with all of our might, even at the cost of...
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    D&D 5E (2014) House ruling away bonus actions?

    Here a set of rules I don't think you can really abuse: Two Weapon Fighting is part of the attack action. Polearm Mastery, Double Scimitars and Monk Martial Arts count as forms of Two Weapon Fighting. Only Monk Marital Arts lets you deal your attribute bonus to damage by default. All other...
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