Proficiency Scaling

D&D's latest tech is proficiency scaling for class features. Let's dive into this new tech, see what the designers are saying about it, and figure out what we need to look out for in playtesting.

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!

Starting Gold Dice

Recalculating starting gold dice based on the standard equipment options for each class.

Magic Reserves

Diving into Wizards of the Coast's latest Unearthed Arcana offering for a look at the Magic Reserves class feature and how you can turn your Barbarian into an infinite mana battery!

Two-Weapon Fighting Hacks

Last week we explored the mechanics and design goals of two-weapon fighting. This week, we're going to examine some hacks to make it more competitive with other fighting styles. Feel free to borrow pieces of these to spruce up two-weapon fighting in your game. While the goal is to achieve a system that fits into … Continue reading Two-Weapon Fighting Hacks →

The Evil of Mandating Equipment

D&D 5e is great because it allows you the flexibility to build on top of the system. Sometimes we rush to fill gaps that are empty for a reason. Designing good content requires knowing these pitfalls so you can navigate them. Character features mandating equipment are one such case. What can we learn from Mike Mearls about how to design them?

The Agnostic Adventuring Day

We're going to make the adventuring day agnostic as to character class. That way, everyone's going to be on a level playing field, regardless of how many encounters you run. How do we do this with linear fighters and quadratic wizards? It's simple. We kill the short rest.

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.

RPG Scorecards: Action Tracker

I grew up hanging out in ballparks. Every once in a while, you'd see some grognard jotting notes in their program as the game progressed. Eventually, I tried keeping score myself and I loved it! Tracking a game on a scorecard gives you a heightened level of engagement and serves as a fun memory of … Continue reading RPG Scorecards: Action Tracker →

Psion Character Class Release and Build Notes

Back in December, I wrote about The Dark Sun Mystic. After D&D head gurus Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford commented that the Mystic subclass (teased in Unearthed Arcana) needed a major overhaul, I wanted to see if I could fix it myself. No easy task. After countless hours reading, digesting, concepting, charting, comparing, stat-ing, rolling, tinkering, testing, … Continue reading Psion Character Class Release and Build Notes →