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The real issue is I should have said (over six years ago), "It is a bit frustrating when players think their builds can't be touched." The DM fully understands.

I'm a DM looking for players in the Pittsburgh area. It's 3.5 rules, Underdark campaign leading to City of the Spider Queen, set in the Forgotten Realms. We also use miniatures. Monstrous races are allowed, preferably those of Underdark origin. We typically play on Sundays at Pitt's...

It seems that the invitation to add a plot hook would be a means not an end. The true end is a power grab, and if it's transparent, a look from the DM should be all that's required to indicate the absurdity of the proposition. Given the situation, if one of my players honestly tried to argue...

As has already been mentioned, speaking is a free action you can perform even when it isn't your turn, which means you CAN use a free action power word, such as "Shazam," in conjunction with contingency to interrupt another's actions. As others have pointed out, the speaker must be aware of the...

As DM of my own group, my players often try to hold me accountable to the written rules, and most of the time, I do adhere to the RAW. The 3.5 rules are so specific that any action can be interpreted by a die roll and a modifier of some kind. There’s very little that a DM can invent that an...

I just wrapped up Age of Worms last spring. We started in April of 2006. Set in the Forgotten Realms. Here are some of my experiences and some of the other additions I made to Age of Worms: Diamond Lake: A great place to start, and it fits anywhere. Plenty of characters if you have the Age...

I didn't mean "lethal" as "lethal damage dealt through an attack." I meant "the gnome didn't intend to kill or incapacitate the werebear with his kick."

I would not allow a rogue to deal sneak attack damage by kicking someone (especially a larger someone) in the shin, and especially if the person being kicked is standing in melee range directly in front of the rogue and is expecting the rogue (or rogue/wizard) to cast a spell or perform any...

It might depend on the campaign setting you're playing in. In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, Ao is the being who would bestow or remove divine ranks from the scores of deities in the FR pantheon. As another example, I might also suggest that Eru Iluvatar of Tolkien's universe is...

I've always enjoyed this image: My favorites are Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley,Tony Diterlizzi, Wayne Reynolds, Jeremy Jarvis, and William O'Connor just to name a few. Wayne Reynolds in particular lately. His Pathfinder work is astounding.

Thanks for the feedback, Celebrim. You've given me some things to consider as I weigh my portrayal of Hell. *This may be a bit off topic, but I tried to keep it about alignment* I also appreciate your take on LotR. Perhaps Gollum was capable of being redeemed given enough time and...

I appreciate your response, Celebrim, and I know exactly what you mean. There is definitely a black and white opposition in the D&D world. The existence of alignment is evidence of this. What I'm suggesting in my own campaign is something I have to handle delicately, because my players would...

I've always found alignment difficult to juggle with my players. Some have their own opinions of what are good and evil acts. For example, the stalker of Kharash in my group believes that the wanton slaying of anything that bears an evil alignment is a good act. I disagree. Others might...

Ed Greenwood's novel Elminster in Hell is, in my opinion, a eye-popping first-hand experience of Hell's horrors from the perspective of some of the most-powerful archwizards in the Forgotten Realms library. Aside from the source books already mentioned, that novel can be a great resource on the...

I like to set contingent spells to fire off by a deliberate act performed by the target, such as a command word like "Shazam." Assuming the target isn't flat-footed, unconscious, or silenced, speaking (in most cases) is a free action that can be performed even when it's not your turn (3.5 PHB...

Check out Savage Species. The drider is broken down into a class in that book.

The information gathered through true seeing and see invisibility relies on the observer's eyesight, not on divination magic alone. See invisibility and true seeing buff the observer with enhanced vision, nothing more. It's still up to the target of see invisibility or true seeing to spot...

The RAW is clear on this. See invisibility has a range of "personal" and a target of "you," in other words, the caster. See invisibility's target is always the caster, never a subject beyond the caster (with or without mind blank or nondetection cast). See invisibility cannot be cast at...

I agree. I wouldn't even call it shopping in our case. My players are looking through the books, but it's assumed that their characters are making requests for items through NPCs who mentor or sponsor them. In some cases, those mentors are archwizards in charge of an academy of wizards, which...

I'm running an Age of Worms game set in the Forgotten Realms. My group is between 18th and 20th level. I don't set caster level limits on purchasing magical items because there are enough NPCs in my campaign world to allow for a certain amount of higher level items, but I do force time and...