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Excuse me for needing clarification, did you mean you would like to see more of this ‘heroic’ sub-optimal play when you say it “falls away”? As in, it’s present in other media forms and then is absent in D&D? The more practical way of looking at it is that in other structured media the fate of...

If this were a generalized player resource (‘this’ meaning Volo’s), I’d agree wholeheartedly with you. It’s not. It’s explicitly an FR resource, and as such operates within the confines of that lore. If they released an Elder Scrolls supplement, then yeah, I would absolutely expect there to be...

Depends on the level of players in question. If I was low level, probably, since true sight is really powerful and the other options for it are limited. At high level no, because regenerate is probably close at hand and that stops me from owing anyone. Personally I'd be on the fence about such...

I say no, with a few exceptions. If I was doing a plane-hopping campaign focused on cosmopolitan inter-world hubs like Sigil or the City of Brass then I'd probably allow it, but for most campaigns inclusion of gnolls in the party is just too jarring given their reputation and typical behavior in...

Probably ban most of them, as there'd be no way to incorporate say, a Flind character in my current campaign setting, and most of the others would be highly suspect as well. The exception might be orcs, since I dislike half-orcs on general principle and so I might swap them for one another if...

You’re not the slightest bit more versatile, since you traded versatility in other forms for bladesong. Portent adds to wizard versatility. Summoning huge mobs of powerful undead is versatility. Using AoE without endangering allies is versatility. The argument is that buffing your AC is a less...

That's because it never needed to. If you want some chuckles at people's obstinate need to argue you can dredge up some of the older threads, which will also let you see some of the counter-arguments and counter-counter arguments. The important takeaway wasn't actually whether or not the mage...

Many level 5 mages have been successful, or so I hear. edit: Damn, beaten to the punch. Oh well.

Found your problem. Real world physics need not apply in D&D discussions, unless you're also going to apply it to every other source of contention like how dragons can fly, the ramifications of any number of spells, and the alleged physical properties of fantasy metals and substances. Seriously...

The only way this applies in my opinion is if you actually treat most of those as independent entities worthy of consideration. Functionally there's very little between an ogrillon, an ogre, and a hill giant. They're all big bags of HP with high damage single-target abilities. So I personally...

Because they don't have any. Everything you list here is accomplished by anyone trained in the skill, which any class can be thanks to how backgrounds work. Fighters receive no significant buffs to utility and no way to use skills in a fashion not available to other characters. They lose in...

Sure, lawful evil I think is sadly one of the more under-represented moral alignments in D&D, since it has a lot of potential facets. A merciless mercenary who cares for and protects his band of brigands could easily be a Devotion paladin. An enforcer of a tyrant who prefers the current system...

Con is fine, the reason that everyone takes it 3rd is because aside from niche character themes, you get virtually nothing for pumping other stats. Sure, the fighter could put some into charisma, but it'll end up being a minor buff to social skills he wasn't amazing at in the first place, at the...

This list is some pretty hysterically reaching, I gotta say, so props for that at least. I also like that we’re not 1 page in on discussing the CON stat and we’re already at wizards v. fighters. Again. Anyway… 1) The AoE damage is largely insignificant, likely takes the fighters action...

Again, mostly disagree. While the twist would throw some people off, the majority of players I’ve had in my game concern themselves first with the danger and mode of attack of monsters, then the motivations of the monsters. As long as it is still a threat of instant kill by brain removal, little...

Guess I'll be one of the dissenting parties and say that this actually increases my interest in Volo's, since it appears that there will be some actual creativity in the monster presentation. Hopefully this guy has some cool mechanical concepts in play and isn't just amped up AC/HP. I find most...

Not at all true. Strip away the names and lore and no one would mistake a Mind Flayer for a dragon, nor a beholder for a giant. One of the most common complaints about the 5e MM is how bland the monsters are, and you could craft a finely made novel spanning the history of the species, their...

Yeah, I don't mean to come off as rude, but needlessly making being a DM a more taxing task in no way helps the hobby. I enjoy DMing, but as many others on the internet or game stores have bemoaned, I rarely get to play a character because no one else in my group wants to take on the increased...

I would rule it as them being in the final stages of suffocating (out of breath) so it has CON = rounds to free itself or drop to zero. While it's obviously not the only interpretation, it's the only one that makes sense to me, since every character can hold their breath for a minimum of 30...

I'll have to take this in bite-sized pieces since you've put a lot of material out, so props for that at least. Off the cuff, the demon form thing seems like it is designed for a caster to become pseudo-melee, but aside from the loss of control there don't seem to be any tradeoffs. The Caster...