Session 0+1

There's a lot of cargo cult Session 0 rituals. Let's trim the fat to get players rolling and role-ing the first time they sit down to play D&D.

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.

THAC0 5e

Updating an old D&D tool to 5e for quicker and more satisfying combat resolution, without all the math breaks.

Gunner feat for Spellcasters

The Gunner feat has replaced the Crossbow Expert feat as the prime feat for martial blasting.

Monster Knowledge DCs

Answering the question, "what does my character know about this monster?"

Poisoner’s Kit DCs

Fleshing out the missing rules for the Poisoner's Kit in 5th Edition D&D.

Lucky Death Saves

Exploring how 5e's dice manipulation features affect your odds to survive death saving throws.

Reverse Illusions

Illusion magic in D&D 5th Edition tends to function a certain way. These spells create some sensory effect which a creature can make an investigation check to discern. Here's a list of spells that work this way (spell level in parentheses): Minor Illusion (C)Disguise Self (1st)Distort Value (1st)Silent Image (1st)Phantasmal Force (2nd)Major Image (3rd)Hallucinatory Terrain … Continue reading Reverse Illusions →

Design Evolution: Bolstering Magic

Let's take a look at the Barbarian Path of Wild Magic's design evolution from the Unearthed Arcana's Magic Reserves feature to the D&D Celebration preview's Bolstering Magic feature to see what kind of tips we can learn.

Sleep Spell Reawakening

If the sleep spell is keeping you up at night, because of confusing mechanics or soft scaling, come take a look under the hood and sample two sleep spell solutions.