Recent content by J-H

Dungeons are pretty consistent. The alternative is nova fights, and exploring a dungeon is fun for both sides. Dragons? Usually only 1-2 per campaign.

I usually give an extra attunement slot or two out. The 5e rules are really inconsistent on what requires attunement. An armor of resistance to 1/13 damage types is not worth attunement in my mind. When I did my BG2 campaign, I limited attunement to items that modified base stats (6 core...

I agree with the others... you need more upper bounds if this is a YTD figure. Meeting 3 weeks per month for 2.5 hrs for 10 months = 75 hours. Short sessions already puts me in your largest category, without accounting for the irregular play with my wife & kids.

I wouldn't class the Handmaid's Tale as science fiction at all. There's no scientific or technological advance. It's just a thriller* of some sort set in the near future, similar to how many of Tom Clancy's novels were when they were written. *I don't know the actual genre, but it probably...

I got to get college credit for taking a Science Fiction literature class in college. The prof's definition was basically "Science fiction takes the real world and asks "What if X? What would that look like?, where X is at least somewhat scientifically plausible." It's where you end up with...

Dune falls under what I would define as "science fantasy," as it borrows elements from science fiction ("What if...?", other worlds, space travel) as well as fantasy (magic BS mental powers, ancestral memories that are entire personalities, and prescience which, on my recent rereading of the...

I don't really get the doom'n'gloom about the world some people are having right now, but I too have been wanting more noblebright type stuff in my settings. I'm tired of "evil is winning, it's killed a lot of people, and we can eke out a win amongst the ashes." I think my next campaign is...

My dad drove us up and down Pike's Peak in a day. Only after I became an adult did I realize how tough that must have been! If we go with our kids, I think we'll take the train...

Go with assassin. 1. Wizards and sorcerers don't have great initiative-manipulation abilities, unlike 3.5. With high Dex and Alert, you're likely to get to go first. 2. Even true seeing and see invisibility don't help if you're silent and hidden. 3. Non-magical disguises aren't foiled by dispel...

I houseruled GWM & SS to only give +2 damage (like a fighting style) long ago. Fixed the big complaint some have. "open hand and mercy are the only good subclasses" Shadow Monk waves hello from on top of the enemy castle

My experience has always been that the 2014 monk is fine, as long as the DM lets the players have magic items. Particularly with the Tasha's monk dedicated weapon ACF, they are good. A few more ki points would be nice, but that's about it.

What does a psionic character do that is different? I'd rather see something more off-the-wall than "spellcaster but X." For example, I recently read Dune Messiah for only the second time (first time was 30 years ago), and decided to throw together a character class based on Paul Atreides'...

I had to hit Page Up to see if this was a post from 2022 that resurfaced.

Here are the statblocks I used.

"Oh good, we have some steady light to see by now."