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I’ve ditched inspiration a while ago. We tried different ways of handling it (DM gives, players grant it, etc.) but everyone always forgot to use it or give it. I adopted a version of 4e’s action points instead and it’s been working well.

Level 15 is still tier 3 though. It's not quite as crazy as levels 17+. The issue with challenging players is that it's tough to create challenges that are "tough but fun". The CR rules work okay at lower levels but rapidly break down at higher levels. If you go even further beyond into levels...

Healing Word is in many ways better than the cannon’s temp hp. Healing Word brings back PCs from unconsciousness, which is arguably its best use. If you’re at 0 hp, temp hp won’t make you conscious. You need at least 1 hit point for that, and temp hp don’t do that.

Check the CR 9-11 creatures. They all have well over 100 hp and can make 2-3 attacks. Mooks with several attacks and 100+ hp? A bookkeeping nightmare. I’ve run a game at tier 4. It’s a mess. The saving throw issue is real, and it’s awful to have a player taken out for several rounds by a stun...

It works, but it's also a mess. CR? A huge gamble. How do you challenge players? It's so swingy and hit-and-miss. Huge hp pools, low ACs. Everyone hitting all the time since hp are the main defensive attribute. Oh, and non-proficient saves against action-denial effects... 0%-5% chance of...

Absolutely not. Levels 17-20 are already a mess and a half. Adding even more levels on top of that? No. You really think the gameplay is improved by making everyone even more of a hit point sponge? Even more spells to track? The game barely functions in the final tier as is. The main audience...

The issue of him needing such a high Str score to be worth the CR 16 doesn’t fly. You could also give him more attacks, or legendary actions, or a feature that boosts his longsword or melee attack damage (like hobgoblins and some other published creatures). I’m guessing they looked at his older...

Eberron generally takes the approach that race doesn't equal culture. Orcs in the settings have various roles depending on which culture group you're looking at. The most high-profile of Eberron's orc cultures are the orcs of the Shadow Marches. These orcs can be druidic protectors of the...

The 4e online tools only had the rules, not the flavor and lore (for the most part). So the tools didn’t exactly replace the books. No art, no descriptions of places, etc. Just the classes, powers, monsters, etc. DnDBeyond isn’t directly comparable.

Right, but the premise assumed no magic items. Hence the impossible odds for the non-spellcasters.

But the wizard could cast a defensive buff inside the sphere. Invulnerability could be an overkill, but it’s a 10 min immunity to damage. The archer can’t deal any damage for a 100 rounds. Or the wizard polymorphs into a target that’s immune to non-magical damage, so the archer can’t do anything.

How can any non-spellcaster beat a wizard trapping them in a 1h non-concentration barred forcecage? An archer can’t do much either without magic items since the wizard can save themselves from lost initiative by having a resilient sphere as their contingency spell, followed by a defensive buff.

I just wanted to mention that the 4e 5 min short rest is not always guaranteed. Just some time ago the group in my 4e game was assaulting an enemy keep. They had to fight 3 full encounters without a short rest in between since their rests were interrupted by enemies coming down from upper...

Do you have the same issue with the 5e battle master short rest maneuvers? They're short rest powers! So are 5e warlock spells. Doesn't PF2 have focus abilities, and you can regain focus with a short 10 minute rest? I'm very much a story-telling DM, it's all about the story for me. Whether...

Not all 4e classes get powers at the same levels. Classes like thief, slayer, knight, hunter, scout, and elementalist don't get daily powers. Some classes like bladesinger don't get additional encounter powers, or get power points to be used with at-will powers, like ardent and psion. Some...

The wording on some of them is non-standard for 5e. "Requires use by a warforged." That should be, "requires attunement by a warforged." The syntax of the Battle Rod description sounds off. "So a fire bolt cast using a battle rod..." It's the little things.

Xanathar’s guideline on solo encounters suggests that a group of 6 level 10 PCs could take on a CR 16 legendary monster. Probably influenced by magic items and feats. For what it’s worth, Roll20 has baseline support for mythic actions in their 5e sheet. It doesn’t use the same block as...

Ok, so they look for more information, and they look through SCAG, finding no mention of Ubtao. Then they read ToA, and learn that Ubtao left his people because he "grew angry over his worshipers' endless warring" and their "reliance on him to solve all their problems". Ubtao is not worshiped in...

Ok, but then they go check the 5e source on Chult, ToA, and they realize that Ubtao isn’t suitable and instead they mention one of the other deities?

How would the DM know that Ubtao looks about right when SCAG has no mention of Ubtao, and in ToA, which details the 5e Chult, makes it clear that Ubtao has receded and is not actively worshiped? A PC native to Chult would be from Port Nyanzaru, and ToA describes the city and its temples. The DM...