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So I made a stab at this recently. My goal was make mechanics generate narrative if I could. Rather than map-based simulation, I used zone-based ranges: Contact Along side Bow-shot Cannon-shot Horizon each of these have a narrative difference in what you can do in them. We can then simulate...

So, there is this thing called the "my guy" fallacy. It is that in a RPG, your character forces you to do X. Thus you, as a dedicated roleplayer, have no choice but to have your character do X. It is not your fault! It is your characters fault! But, the thing is, the character's motivations...

Expectations of PCs? If PCs know things about the world, it comes from their knowledge skills. In my case, I remap "language X" to include "knowledge of contemporary culture X". And give the player a bit of world knowledge, some of which might contain adventure hooks or the like. The rules...

Nothing in the core rules of D&D states that NPCs use magic like PCs do. There are some examples of this happening in the core rules, but no house rules require a DM to say "no, that isn't how NPCs use magic". Meanwhile, much of 5e D&D presumes NPCs don't use magic (and gain abilities) like...

A riposte might be something that can occur when you use your action to defend. Like, if you took the defend action, and you do a critical pass of your defence roll, you do damage to them (or cause an attack, or impose disadvantage on their defence roll, or...)

I'm not sure what you are asking at this point; the chain of quote-and-reply and oblique references is too long for me to be certain. Something about something happening off-turn? I am not even sure what is supposed to be happening, and whose turn is "off", and if the event in question is an...

So, here are some concrete mechanics. Melee: Melee Characters have a Melee DC equal to 8 + Proficiency bonus + Strength modifier, and a melee threat. A typical character has a melee threat equal to their weapon damage plus their strength modifier, but at higher levels this is increased. When...

No, melee weapon attacks are not actions. Melee weapon attacks are what happens when you are in melee range of people with melee weapons.

An idea I have had is that "melee weapon attack is not an action". If you have a melee weapon and are near a foe, that foe is in danger. You don't spend your action causing that danger. Your action is somethjng else. Ranged attacks remain actions. Spells, cantrips, etc are all actions...

Attacks in 5e don't include fireballs, magic missiles, or a myriad of other stuff. Attacks are things with attack rolls, which are special kinds of d20 Tests. Automatic damage is not an attack. Saving throw means not an attack. Attacks are usually weapon attacks. If they aren't weapon...

The story behind the Slaad I like is that it was an attempt by Mechanis to attack limbo. They created a biological organism to spread order in chaos. The Slaad where the result.

Good point. Distinguishing Lawful from Lawful Stupid and Neutral at the same time is tricky. And same for Chaotic from Chaotic Stupid and Neutral.

The NG would consider the law and obeying it to have some value, and would consider directly opposing the law to be a possible problem. The people enforcing the law are also trying to do good, and them attacking your friend is understandable. The CG would consider the law unimportant noise...

Your best friend has murdered an innocent person. They did it for what they thought was a good reason. Lawful Good: you turn your best friend in. The rules/system and its integrity are more important than your friend's freedom. He broke the law, he should deal with it. Systems and Rules are...

Your BM is missing words about how to make your Beast attack prior to level 11.

Give every PC a power source as part of character creation, or in T1. This is why the PC is capable of gaining levels and reaching demigod levels of power in a single campaign. This is true of every PC - Wizards, Warlocks, Sorcerers, Fighters, Rangers, etc. The character may not know what the...

In my Prelude to Armageddon world, the civilizations are split into along the Chaos/Law axis. Lawful civilizations are those of the road and wall. They value rules and organizations over individual connection, on a society level; the Crown is more important than the Queen who wears it. Lawful...

No, 4e doesn't produce a balanced game. I played 4e extensively. Suppose we start with per-essentials. A level 30 PC in 4e has 18 feats, 3 encounter powers, 3 daily powers, 1 paragon path, 1 epic destiny, 1 race, 1 theme, 1 class, 1 subclass, and about 10 items of consequence. By the rules...

Huh? Who hurt you? Characters have plenty of cool things. Feats, class levels, etc. Sure they do, if the DM throws deadly encounters at the party and/or plays enemies like a tactical rpg. But encounter difficulty in 5e is really easy to scale. PCs that are 2x as powerful or 0.5x as...

Sure. 4e by level 30 I can provide a 20x ratio of damage output between naive and optimized characters, near complete immunity to damage by any published monster, almost perfect shutdown of almost every monster visible in an encounter, and other stuff. Pre-essentials 4e prescribes how magic...