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But the DM isn't master of fate. The proper term for the master of fate is "Author". DM implies dice and player free will. As long as you use either, there is no such thing as preordained fate. This brings you to the uncomfortable situation of either ignoring the dice and the players or...

Let's wait until we see the rules for destiny. If we see nonsense similar to the nonsense from Saga, then we can toss this into the continuing pile of DOA D&D rules across editions. (Or, optionally, have religious ceremonies in which people ritually pledge to serve their god for some number of...

That would be interesting. You have two stacks of hit points, one based on morale, and one based on actual resistance to injury. You can regain the first, but not the second. This would mean that you couldn't use healing surges to get above the bloodied condition. Huh. I kind of like that.

But in this case, you can't tactically plan at all; if tripping is something that happens, from the character perspective, other character's can't (in character) expect it and prepare for it. They can cluster around an enemy for no good reason, wonder why they are doing so, and then react when...

So, under fortune at the end, do characters know what they can and cannot do? Should a character be able to recognize that he's used a daily ability and that it won't work again, and make in-world choices based on this? Can characters observe the world and notice that no matter how hard they...

"Our product has problems, we're aware of them, here's how to fix them." is, IMHO, a better message than "Either we are unaware of our product's problems, or we assume you won't notice them."

It's funny. Exhaustive, well-balanced, shared mechanics are the single best way to get "Yes you can." IMHO. You want to rip the harpoon out of you? OK, you have rules for that. Specifically, you make the movement limitation contingent on not ripping the harpoon out of you; you're moving with...

"So, what you're saying is that this plate is actually ultra-rare plate, since no one but orcs has a need for it, and I just need to find 30 orcish warlords who could use a set, keeping in mind that orcish warlords tend to be rich and can afford things like high-quality armor?" "Er-" "Come to...

Eh. As long as you treat it as a tournament dungeon and not something that actually exists in a world, ToH is fun. When you treat it like something that exists in a world, you get players who carefully strip-mine the place, disassemble it stone by stone and disintegrate the stones, and then...

Point the first: They don't happen at your table. You never have to adjucate the result of a cat or catlike creature (possibly a wildshaped halfing druid) facing off against a commoner (because you choose to wave it away). Likewise, there have been examples in my games of scenarios in which...

For a given value of wildly-ineffective, yes indeed. Again, I'd like the untrained version to represent that the circumstances in which you want to do it are rare; simply making the opportunities in which you can do it rare strikes me as poor design. So, multiple opposed rolls, opportunity...

Only insomuch as you assume that the 'real' reality is that high-level characters can die of lucky stabs in a D&D world. It is true that all people can die of a single unlucky blow in reality. That doesn't mean that a system that models high-level characters is unrealistic; it simply means...

Let us sum up. 1: Tripping should always be a possibility in combat. 2: Tripping should rarely be the optimal combat action, on the order of once a combat barring specific circumstances. OK, then. Not seeing a problem here. We design a set of rules akin to those of Third Edition, in which...

Well, no. Greater Manyshot was "You are so badass at archery, you can do this." Split the Tree is "You can do this poorly-fluffed ability once, then you need to recharge. Recharge what or how, nobody knows." Stat Power Attack as a once-per-encounter ability and you'd get the same reaction...

What are you talking about? That's the kind of awesome DMing that will no doubt bow before the first scheme to make effective use of black mambas as offensive weapons. Soon, the hells will quail before the might of the Prime and its virulent venomous creatures!!

What happens to lava when submerged in lava? Perhaps Circular Finger-Sized Miscellaneous Magical Item of Contingent Transmutation Into Nonliving-But-Animate-Being When In Lava will be the new Ring of Feather Fall. After all, since you're not living, you can't die, and therefore can parade...

Look, either enemyism requires mutual emnity, you declaring them your enemy, or them declaring you. If its either the first or the third, then you can't target an unsuspecting enemy, and cheerfully remain oblivious to "Target enemy" powers by putting on a blindfold and not entering combat. The...

Oooh, ooh, I've got one! You start by looking at the elements of the world that you're working with. Your world has elements like size, combat skill, armor, a tough hide, and so fort affecting difficulty to be hit. You look at what your challenge can have. You look at what they can't not...

Point the first: Simulationist players rapidly adopt death protocols, based on how easy it is to turn an enemy corpse into a threat again (either via reanimation or resurrection). Good luck turning a pile of neatly quartered corpses into threats. Point the second: If traps were within the...

Really, I don't have a problem with it; it's simply accepted that certain macro-scale monsters have extraordinary abilities related to consumption, in the same way that dragons have extraordinary abilities related to flight and dietary requirements. Yes, that tyrannosaurus is partaking of the...