Recent content by Scott Christian

I am going to start with this, because I think it is an area of the game not discussed enough. Outside the table talk, both during the campaign and after, is definitely how the story of the game gets remembered. Key scenes, key antagonists, key NPCs, key dialogue. It is very similar to a...

My answer is 1. But there should be some caveat. This allows the players to look like heroes (a la, Legolas taking out 15 orcs), but at times still feel overwhelmed because the caveat let the minions live. As an example, you can add that they have to roll "to hit" twice during their action to...

Classes: I have a like/dislike relationship with addition of core classes, especially when they work so hard to balance them. When playing D&D, there is a side of me that likes classes to fill a role. But, there is also a side as a player that says, "It's awesome that I am the cleric and not the...

I voted 1, just because I think any clever party above 6th level can try to manipulate the environment enough to get a long rest. That said, what I have found is that the tables I play at adhere to the social contract of the game and "want" to tell a story with drama and suspense. So, if the DM...

If issue #1 is 100% true, then stick to your course. This is especially true if issues #3 & 4 are 100% true. They'll be happy about it in the end. Memories are not just made by time, but by other factors as well. I ran a month-long campaign one time that my players still talk about. That was...

That's why "simple" can go various ways. I definitely see it as an "in game" situation, not "out of game" like session zero or when levelling up. You have all the time in the world when building a character or increasing a level. You can sit, one-on-one, with the player having difficulty and...

Yes, the cost can definitely add up. But I can say this about that business, if run with fidelity (and it seems the guy who runs ours does), it is a great way to meet players. But again, you are right, if you are paying for yourself and a child, and then you get drinks and something to eat while...

That's fair enough too. It's just if you have one-on-one time to explain it to the player, they seem to do really well. But, it is hard to explain over and over again how/when/where certain spells work. But you are right, both are elements that could be improved with a simple caster.

That is awesome. How easy did you find it to port? How did it go for the players? Did they already know those modules?

There has been a lot of discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of 5e D&D lately. So, I thought it might be good for us to understand each other's experiences. To do this, maybe we should share an overview of the 5e (2014 & 2024) D&D campaigns we've DMed or played in. A simple chart like...

This is exactly why DPR or battlefield control or buffing or defense can't be measured. All that happened is people looked deeper into what combat is, noticed other variables, then decided to do the same thing with those as earlier people did with DPR. That's it. That's all they did. But every...

@Snarf Zagyg Thank you for explaining this in a way only you can. There have been so many debates on "balance" that it is impossible to count. The +1 argument is real. This hopefully helps DMs and players understand that the number of variables in a game diminish the "true statistic" many keep...

I have been thinking about it, and when we talk about a simple casting class, the spells should be looked at more than the class progression. That is the "confused player during combat" piece that I see. It happens much more often than "confused player while levelling up."

Sure. Break/lift/jump.

It's left up to the skills the player wants their character to focus on. If they are great at persuasion and performance, yet terrible at athletics, then odds are the player is describing their character as charismatic. If they are great at sleight of hand, and terrible at persuasion and...