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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tallifer" data-source="post: 7974047" data-attributes="member: 84661">To distinguish:Reskinning monsters is a simple and useful dungeon master's trick behind the screen. He can alter the mechanics as well to fit the lore, the encounter or the adventure. The dungeon master's world is his own, but limited time means grabbing a pre-written monster or NPC and changing the name, etc is a standard tool. Moreover, it is an important tool to prevent players always using book knowledge to overcome interesting mysteries.Reskinning character mechanics should alter nothing mechanical on the character. It takes much more imaginative language sometimes (e.g. I hate the traditional D&D "cleric" as a mace-wielding armour-clad pseudo-fighter with pseudo-miracles: but refluffing the heavy armour and shield as cloth robes and a divine aura takes a lot of care.) The player should not be able to abuse the rules ("My heavy armour looks like cloth and my shield is a divine aura from a holy symbol" but do not let him say, "My heavy armour is weightless and has no penalties to movement etc." He would have to refluff it as "My robes are so bulky and voluminous that they encumber just like heavy armour.")I think reskinning is harder for PCs in 5E than in 4E, because many of the rules are such poorly written tldr paragraphs of mixed fluff and mechanics and imprecise language.</blockquote>