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I would argue that a solid claymore hit across the torso or head that doesn't penetrate the ribs or skull would do less trauma than a six inch blade piercing the spleen, liver, or one of the kidneys. The deep laceration from a sword swing looks ugly, but the penetrating trauma will bleed...

I think there is some legitimacy in not allowing sneak attack damage for all light weapons. When a thief (sorry--a rogue) performs a sneak attack in combat, I see it as a thrust at an enemy's vitals. A thrust can be quite devastating in the right spot, as it creates a penetrating wound that can...

Why do they have to be hiding out? Maybe the only way they can stay out of the reach of the inevitables is to keep running. If they're jumping randomly from plane to plane, the inevitables might be tracking them but haven't caught them yet. That means you could have the PCs meet them pretty much...

I voted yes, but here are my caveats: A successful Sense Motive will tell the PC if the NPC is being deceptive, which isn't always the same thing as telling the truth. The NPC could be making a statement that is 100% factually accurate, but withholding crucial elements that would lead the PC to...

"So what can you do after you disarm an opponent?" Stab him repeatedly until he dies. Mechanics-wise, I would probably allow the disarmer to make reckless attacks against his opponent. I would give him advantage on all his attack rolls and his opponent advantage on all attack rolls against...

The type of mask someone wears could affect how they interact with other masks. For instance, a blue mask has advantage on Insight checks vs red masks and Intimidation checks vs green. Blue masks also suffer disadvantage on Deception checks vs black and Insight checks vs yellow. The PCs all have...

Another advantage produce flame has over other light producing cantrips is that you can use it to start fires. I don't mean as a weapon, but simply lighting candles or campfires or the like. Yes, you can certainly use flint and steel, but if you're really role playing your characters, anybody...

Hill giants (IMO) would first go after the weaker party members--in this case the NPCs. 1 or 2 rounds of that would take a chunk out of the paladin and cleric's healing spells/abilities (I'm assuming the paladin and cleric wouldn't let NPCs die). If the party doesn't have much in the way of...

Once the ghost manages to possess a PC and have him hang himself, is there any reason he wouldn't then leave that body and attack the rest of the party to make it more difficult for them to help? If--after dropping to the rope's full length--the PC's body is still alive, the ghost could draw and...

I'm not complaining that I've been deceived and bought a campaign setting that isn't medieval even though it is advertised as such, I just don't like that theses type of settings have become the norm. I know, I'm a grumpy old man and simply complaining about other people having fun the "wrong"...

The bank is run by an order of paladins (kind of like the Templar Knights of history). No issues of being swindled by the bank and anyone who tries to steal from or swindle from the bank soon finds himself being hunted by a group of powerful paladins (likely with a cleric and/or wizard who is...

As long as we're ranting about ignorance and misconceptions as they apply to the game, one of my biggest pet peeves is campaign settings that are more Steampunk than medieval. One of the fundamental aspects of the medieval mindset (in my opinion) is that people looked to the past and its wisdom...

I haven't really found the need to balance out races mechanically because there are role-playing advantages and drawbacks to certain races. In my 3.5e games, I even gave elves (and half-elves) extra mechanical advantages but this seemed to be made up for by role-playing considerations. Dwarves...

A proven method for improving your rolls is as follows: Whenever you roll up a new character, buy a new miniature and a new set of dice. This only works if you buy from your FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store). Also, if you need any extra dice (d6s for wizards, d8s for clerics, an extra d20 for...

The way I understand it, Insight only tells you something about the speaker's sincerity--nothing about his veracity. If someone is telling you something patently false, but he believes it to be true, Insight won't be of any help. At its best, Insight is a lie detector, not a truth detector. I...

My question is: if he doesn't understand Common, how does he know what is an appropriate reply? Unless there is some sort of magical curse affecting him and limiting what he can say, the biggest problem he would have is understanding what the rest of the party is saying. He would probably be...

I like critical misses. I have a table I use that leads to some interesting results at times (like when my players were on a combat on a ship and the fighter threw his sword overboard). As for save DCs, 8+2 = 10 for low level characters. I don't see the need to change it, but that's just my...

Good acts in D&D are pretty much what players do most the time: defend the village from orc raids, stop the evil necromancer from killing people to create an undead army, etc. If you want to put in the time, you could have relatively simple acts that require a great deal of effort on the PCs'...

Is cannibalism inherently evil? I'm speaking purely in a fantasy RPG setting--not trying in any way to justify it in the real world. In the real world, cannibalism is almost universally taboo. Also, killing a sentient being to eat him is certainly evil. But, eating the flesh of a sentient...

You do realize that 55% is about what you'd expect from the 5e rules? If you're both proficient in the relative skills (Insight for the investigator, Deception for the liar), it would take someone with a 14 or 15 Wisdom ('genius level' wisdom) to be 55% accurate against someone with a 12 or 13...