Shield Master Unleashed

Can we rewrite the Shield Master feat to fix its fiddly action economy?

Artificer: Cantrips vs. Crossbows

Examining damage outputs of cantrips vs. crossbows for the new Unearthed Arcana Artificer. It seems crossbows can outscale cantrips, but at what cost?

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.

Non-Metal Druid Armor

Since the Druid's non-metal armor restriction is purely thematic, we're taking a close look at the rules and reskinning the metal options to give Druids access to the full armory!

Two-Weapon Fighting Calcs

Over the past couple weeks, we've looking into issues with Two-Weapon Fighting and solutions to fix Two-Weapon Fighting. While discussing potential solutions is a good starting place, theorycrafting can often fall flat at the table. In order to identify which systems are the most balanced and deserve testing, you've got to run the numbers. The … Continue reading Two-Weapon Fighting Calcs →

You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Weapon

Natural weapons are weapons that are "built in" to a player character race. We're taking a look at how the D&D designers have built natural weapons through the history of 5th Edition and making a template of our own.

Warforged AC

On July 23, 2018, along with the release of the Eberron setting for 5e, D&D released the Races of Eberron Unearthed Arcana, featuring updated versions of three races (Warforged, Shifter, Changeling) and one new race (Kalashtar). Today's focus is the Warforged. Integrated Protection The thematic highlight of the Warforged is its armored body. Great design … Continue reading Warforged AC →

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.

How Minotaurs Caused the Shield Master Rule Reversal

Dungeons & Dragon’s May 2018 Unearthed Arcana updated the Minotaur race. With three years since the original release, the improvements in the race design can tell us a lot about what lessons the Wizards of the Coast D&D team learned in that time.

Dual Wielder vs. ASI

Since Two-Weapon Fighting (TWF) only allows you to make an off-hand attack if both the weapons you wield are light, many new players are tempted by the allure of upgrading that damage die with the Dual Wielder feat. Often an Ability Score Improvement (ASI) to your attack stat is the more effective and versatile choice. … Continue reading Dual Wielder vs. ASI →