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Sakana, I'd love to know what exactly you did such that "you don't roll to hit". I love the insight perspective on "martials get counterspelled on 25% of their actions"!

I skipped some middle pages, so forgive me if this is already said. Been playing Baldur's Gate 3, which is "based on" 5e. I'm aware of all the divergences, that's not the point. The point of bringing it up here is the DCs - and something 5e tried to accomplish with "bounded accuracy". And...

Orcs, undead, and aberrations (The Far Realm type, not flumphs) have always been my mainstays. Undead are easy - and no "undead babies" issues - and things that want to eat your brain are pretty clearly "bad guys". Orcs due to LotR and literal decades of lore and novels and games. And in the...

Also keep in mind that it costs more to eat healthy. Look at the different in price between junk food (or the college-standbys of Mac'n'cheese and Ramen noodles), and fresh fruit, meat, etc. [Just forget post-COVID nonsense pricing for a minute.] You can get a big bag of chips for $3 (local...

Some "Table Rules" that aren't "social contract": Show up early on or at least on-time, you start the session with Inspiration (or a single-use of "Lucky") For your birthday session, you get 1 extra, which is over and above the previous rule Your character is present, whether you are or not...

My group has been friends and gaming together in most cases for 20+ years; a couple for pushing over 35 years. We have no written social rules. At certain rare occasions over the years (even just last year), we have had to step up and apologize for certain comments or attitudes, but otherwise...

I agree with the OP in concept, that systems that only impose penalties get "forgotten". In BattleTech, for example, most mechs have more weapons than they can "afford" to fire each round, with the penalty being Heat. Heat causes penalties. In many players' eyes, this means "design a mech...

I restrict a handful of feats (Lucky, for example, but because I houserule a level of good luck for all PCs), and thematic races - all races are not in all settings (current game has no half-orcs, because my world has no orcs; previous game I allowed a single warforged as a unique experiment of...

Can't wait to read more about your experiences with the game rules and the campaign!

I'd be on board with these CtW spells existing as both "quickies" and Rituals. But the quickie version either might fail, or lasts a minuscule amount of time. you can cast fly or wall of stone or gate in combat / in seconds, but then it lasts only for seconds and might fail. Or you can cast...

Fair -- I give "working professionals" increasing levels of proficiency bonus and/or Expertise, without giving them levels. So total agreement there. My suggestions were colored by the general consensus I have encountered that no one wants to nerf the casters. so that does mean boosting the...

Well I won't waste time arguing that, since I always make my own worlds and adventures - I know that I was consistent in applying the concept, with unique NPCs being the only ones with PC classes. [In fact, I even took it a step further and wrote rules for "upgrading" existing NPC class levels...

You're totally right about rules begetting more rules. I have absolutely seen that in action in this and other games. ("These [insert sci-fi weapon here] bypass shields!" "Oh, but these shields resist being bypassed!") The shield throw example was an off-the-cuff idea as I was typing. But...

A previous edition - 3e? - had "NPC classes". PCs were Fighters, NPCs were Warriors; PC were Rogues, NPCs were Experts; PC were Clerics and Wizards, NPCs were Adepts. And so on. (Actually, that about covers it.) PCs were just straight up better than NPCs in the same "profession." Anyway...

That's an interesting limitation, Thor, one that I was wondering about reading the synopses. Facing down a demon and Barrow Wight and a possessed bandit lord, and no one died was a surprise. I can definitely see "grind down more, don't kill" as a theme - and the PCs can (mostly) choose to...

Yeah, I Iike the adrenaline rush of Hardcore in Diablo / Path of Exile / etc.... right up until the character dies unexpectedly and I have a punch-in-the-gut feeling about all the time now lost. And then I don't play the game any more for a long time. So I'm not the intended audience of this...

I have enjoyed reading all the synopses of play sessions, but man, I do not want to play Torchbearer! And I'm sure that most of my players would hate it; I tried just getting them to track generic "wounds" gained from Critical Hits in 5e, which minorly impacted HP recovery, and that was a...

I know there are systems - but do they play well and quickly? [Sadly, I know that while I love the complexity, my gaming crew might have one other person in it that would enjoy it.]

This recent conversation - and another I read recently, very similar - is more about combat than world, but still on the topic of "model the physics, not the story". What was I saying? Oh, right: I love this level of thought and detail; damn, modeling down to the number of grains of powder in...

Had a thought, reading this thread and the numerous similar threads. Two simple fixes that require no new rules, but are endlessly tweakable to your (or your DM's) taste: 1) Full casters do not get HP or HD after 5th class level. 2) There are no "spells" beyond 4th spell level. (You still...