Fastball Special

D&D's new Giant Barbarian has massive talent, but it shouldn't be the only one who can do a fastball special.

Flanking Damage

What if flanking did extra damage instead of causing advantage? Methods, pitfalls, and an exercise in implementation.

Changing Spell Damage Type

Players piloting spellcasters often want to swap out damage types for thematic or mechanical reasons. They might think that a fireball is cooler as an ice explosion. Or, they might want to swap a lightning bolt to fire to keep a troll from regenerating. How can we implement this mechanic in an exciting way for 5e?

What Am I Counterspelling?

Counterspell is a spell you cast as a reaction to stop another spell: Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGE) introduced an optional rule for identifying a spell. It also costs a reaction: This creates a tension between identifying a spell and deciding to counter it. You can only spend your reaction on one. The grand implication … Continue reading What Am I Counterspelling? →

MCDM’s Illrigger Preserves and Pushes 5e Design

Exploring how MCDM's Illrigger class capitalizes on classic 5e design and pushes the envelope with a new spellcasting template.

Heward’s Handy Haversack

Unpacking D&D's magical backpack.

The Gunslinger Misfire

Examining the Gunslinger's Misfire mechanic as a cautionary tale for importing character options from other games. Why to never base a class on a "critical fumble" mechanic.

Way of the Word (Monk)

This shout-based Monk subclass charges up different power words to attack with elemental force and to fortify abilities with enhancements.

Avoid the Zone of Truth Torture Chamber

Fixing up an social spell so it does what it says without pushing the player characters to torturing the subject.

DC 0 Checks

As a matter of adventure design (or when improvising as a DM), you shouldn't lock mission-critical information behind a skill check. Because if the characters fail the check, the plot line is dead. But, the solution isn't to get rid of skill checks. The solution is progressive skill checks, starting at 0.