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The origins of the D&D 5e spellcasting classes are ad hoc. The power sources help systematize and disambiguate them. The earliest spellclaster is the D&D "Magic-User", contrasting the "Fighting-Man". This mage intended to be a caster of any and every kind of magic, including sorcerer, warlock...

Here are the spell lists from the UA2025 for the Psion class and subclasses Metamorph, Psi Warper, Psykinetic, and Telepath. In the lists an astrix (*) indicates a new spell in the UA. A ring (°) indicates the spell in the subclass list is also on the main class spell list. The premise of this...

What medievalesque skill name do you prefer for a new skill that relates to machinery, architecture, constructs, math, physics, complex traps, and similar technologies. • Artifex • Clockwork • Crafting • Engineering • Enginery • Ingenaria • Investigation • Machinery • Mechanics • Nature •...

Skills are somewhat fluid. Each setting can have its own skill list. I am wondering what interesting things DMs are doing with skills for their settings.

Like vancian casting, the six abilities are a recognizable tradition that works less well. It is possible to clarify and balance the abilities by adding Athletics and Perception to make eight abilities, or consolidating the eight to four abilities. • Strength-Constitution • Dexterity-Athletics...

All of this is "5e", D&D the Fifth Edition. But when needing to specify versions, which do you prefer? • 2024 v 2014 (the year the core rules published) • 5.2 v 5.1 (the official names of the SRDs) • 5.24 v 5.14 (blending decimal with year) • 5.5 v 5.0 (using 3e as an analogy) • 5e24 v 5e14 (5e...

In 5e (5.5, 2024), every setting stands on its own. Even Forgotten Realms is no longer a "default setting", which I feel is healthy, because now FR is free to celebrate its own weirdnesses. The core rules offer broad strokes for setting suggestions, mostly lack details, and strive to be...

In real life, genetic engineering of the genome remains from the prehistoric species of Dire Wolves have made it possible for Gray Wolf surrogate mothers to birthe Dire Wolf puppies. This is the first case of reversing the extinction of a species. The three Dire Wolves are Romulus and Remus...

I love the classical five elements: earth, water, air, fire, and ether. Originally, the Greek terms 'air' (ἀήρ) referred to the atmospheric haze below the clouds, and 'ether' (αἰθήρ) the stratospheric clarity above the clouds. This haze was understood as a commingling of the elements, including...

In a formal American context (contemporary but educated), when it is necessary to routinely distinguish between singular you and plural you, which pronoun sounds least awkward? • you ones • you guys • you folks • you lot • yous So far I have been using "you ones", and it sounds literary...

This is a thread for understanding the numbers and the gaming implications for the 2024 Monster Manual. All analyses are welcome. Where necessary, distinguish between what the official numbers are, versus what they might ought to be. Here is the Alphastream video starting the conversion. In...

The thickness of each latitude line is: 10° = 23 hexes

In the YouTube interview, 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide | Everything You Need to Know, Perkins describes the playtest bastion system as a "glimpse" of what bastions are in the DMs Guide. The official bastions incorporate much feedback. Of note, characters can start building a bastion from level 5...

DMs, what makes running D&D fun for you? We hear alot about what players enjoy? What do DMs enjoy? For me, it is worldbuilding and describing scenes that players interact with. So I need core rules that support homebrew settings, and mechanics that are conceptual in ways to facilitate theater...

(Screenshot from @SlyFlourish) The 2024 core rules clearly include nontheistic Clerics. Reallife cultures across humanity comprise very different kinds of sacred traditions. I feel the mechanical and narrative rules now allow enough breathing space to draw inspirations from many or all of...

Personality and appearance is now part of your Abilities. The sequence for building a character concept is: class, background, species, and then abilities. Determining your abilities pulls the different sections together. This where the 2024 Players Handbook lightly suggests how to characterize...

This image from the 2024 Players Handbook presents the multiverse short and sweet. [Screenshot from Alphastream]

Split spells and rituals into separate design spaces. Rituals can do anything, require anything. Some rituals are powerful game changers, some are routine conveniences, some are just weird, quirky, or ultra specific. It depends on the particular ritual. Some rituals have requirements that...

Here is the cosmology map that appears in the 1e Players Handbook from Gygax. It is a closeup of the "Inner Planes". The features on this map are still true in 5e. The Inner Planes number from 1 thru 8. 1. The Material Plane is a fantasy version of our reallife universe. Both 1e and 5e have...

The world used to be the best ever, whenever people happen to be in their teens. The survey was for a politically-loaded question, "When was America the greatest?" But in the neutral analysis of the responses, the analysts realized were looking at the phenomenon of nostalgia. A more neutral...