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.

D&D: The SADdening

Examining D&D's added ability score flexibility and how the SAD/MAD balance affects characters.

mXc Traps

5 traps inspired by Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (mXC) a/k/a Takeshi's Castle.

Size & Strength DCs

Can giants use their own doors?

5 Skill D&D

Why have 18 skills when you can have FIVE?

We’re giving D&D players more agency over the narrative implementation of their skillsets by streamlining a bloated system and highlighting a popular variant rule.

Expertise Skill Hack

5th Edition D&D has a skill problem. It lies in a feature called expertise, which allows you to add your proficiency bonus twice when using a skill. Let's see what problems this causes and I'll give you a simple hack to fix them!

Passive Skills vs. Reliable Talent

Reliable Talent makes all your skills passive. In order to see what you're really getting from this class feature, you need to find out what skills already function passively, and what skills only function actively. We'll examine passive skill treatment in the rules and analyze where each skill should fall.

Skill Challenge Odds Calculator

Skill Challenge Odds If the interactive sheet appears broken, check here for a read-only copy. You can find great tools by looking to older editions of Dungeons & Dragons. 4th Edition introduced skill challenges, which are an interesting way to run a narrative event (such as a chase or an escape from a collapsing building). … Continue reading Skill Challenge Odds Calculator →

Running for High Perception Characters

Player Characters with high perception bonuses can be a bane to DMs who are unequipped to deal with them. Let's explore the odds and different ways to manage high perception. High Perception Characters As arguably the most useful skill, Wisdom (Perception) is a natural proficiency investment for any character. This is especially true for skill-monkey … Continue reading Running for High Perception Characters →

Grappling with Grappling

Grappling is a D&D mechanic that has evolved from many maligned paragraphs of text to a simple skill contest. Let's look at where the current iteration stands, and what can be done to improve grappling in your D&D game.