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In answer to the original question... I am a DM with a strong focus on narrative. For example, I love the idea of playing in a true sandbox without a metaplot, or even a hexcrawl with procedural dungeon generation. But as a DM I bounce off it every time I try. It's like I just can't not create...

I love them both.

I'm in total agreement on that. But I think I would use a d20+mod vs target number to resolve portions of those where a die roll was called for.

What's an example of a system missing from D&D that would be worth the extra effort of mastering?

If you want to create some urgency, you could even have the goblins kidnap a couple NPCs who were on the wagon. Maybe one of them is a guard from the Keep and the other is a shop owner (weapons or armor, perhaps). Maybe the goblins are holding one for ransom, and gave the other to the Chaos...

Well, I agree that a single skill check does not a wilderness trek make. Or a dungeon crawl. Or a negotiation. I'd like a better framework for all of that and I'm sad 5E doesn't provide that. But I don't want one resolved with percentile dice, another with a coin flip, and the third with a deck...

What was wrong with the fighter?

Session 5 with my son (age 6) and daughter (age 9). He's playing a dwarf rogue, she's an elf cleric. They went to Cave B with the steam mephits and kuo-toa. Another big, pitched battle. They defeated all the enemies but haven't quite explored all the caves or recovered all the loot. We're...

For D&D, I feel the unified d20 mechanic was a huge leap forward. So was putting all classes on a single XP progression and balancing them against each other. So was removing the legacy restrictions on class and race so you can build the character you want. It's amazing how many HUGE...

Erin Roberts is living the dream of many a Dungeon Master. Congratulations to her!

I love that idea. But the Starter Set uses class boards with all the abilities by level pre-printed on the board. So I'll have to save this idea for later date.

Fair point. The Alexandrian blogged that it's this close to being a sandbox. I think you could make it one pretty easily by ripping out the metaplot and mixing in whatever elements you like from the new Forgotten Realms GM book and the older Legacy of the Crystal Shard.

Are these all linear campaigns? I wouldn't say so. To me, Tyranny of Dragons is a linear campaign. Tomb of Annihilation is not. Nor are Tomb of Annihilation, Princes of the Apocalypse, Rime of the Frost Maiden. Storm King's Thunder and Dragon Heist are written as linear adventures...but they...

Welp, this just got me to subscribe to his Patreon.

A fantasy RPG without ability scores could be lots of fun, and I would definitely try it. But it wouldn't be D&D. Ability scores aren't a sacred cow. They are a core design pillar of the game, at least since third edition. I've always felt that skills in D&D are just okay. I would be...

Session 4 with my son (age 6) and daughter (age 9). He's playing a dwarf rogue, she's an elf cleric. Gobs of fun. They went to Cave D, the goblin cave. Freed Vrix the dwarf, killed two goblins, and got the goblin boss to run away. (To return later, naturally!) The fighting was intense, with...

At least all the ones started by Zardnaar!

I too recently came across Knave. Its take on gear/wounds is brilliant. I'm in the process of hacking together Knave and Shadowdark because I do want SOME kind of character progression outside of gear.

My next 5E campaign will start players with Constitution score + rolling the class hit die or taking the default increase. Then no Con bonuses as they level. That keeps hit points higher in Tier 1, but lower in Tier 4. Which fits the power curve of 5E better.

Oh, don't even get me started on "themed spell lists". I ran a 1-20 level campaign with a shadow sorcerer...and guess what? Sorcerers don't get shadow spells. That character felt soooo shadowy every time she cast polymorph or meteor swarm. [Facepalm] I am almost literally dying for D&D to have...