Gunner feat for Spellcasters

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

Lucky Death Saves

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

Gender Bias in D&D Character Creation

I ran a poll asking folks about their gender identity, what races/classes they've played, and what races/classes are their favorites. Here's the results of 1150 responses.

Animate Objects Fix

Animate Objects is a 5th level spell in D&D 5e that turns objects in your environment into living weapons. Come along as we tackle balance and action economy issues, and deliver a precise rework.

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!

De-Magnify Gravity

I was checking out the new Explorer's Guide to Wildemount when I came across an absolute gem: Magnify Gravity. This spell is awesome! Super flavorful, must-take spell. Anytime I start thinking "must take" a red flag goes up. Let's check out the balance and see what knobs we can turn to tune it.

Starting Gold Dice

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

Oath of Secret Knowledge (Paladin)

Once upon a time, a character came across a shrine deep within an abandoned Dwarven stronghold carved deep into the Iron Mountains. Struck by reverence to the shrine of the lost deity Dumathoin, he knelt and prayed. So his character changed forever. I worked with the player to create a Paladin subclass devoted to the … Continue reading Oath of Secret Knowledge (Paladin) →

Martial Adept vs. Magic Initiate

We're comparing the Martial Adept feat and the Magic Initiate feat. While the effect of linear fighters vs. quadratic wizards most often manifests in class design (mostly due to spell access), there’s an interesting reflection of this design in the 5e feats, which we expect to be balanced against each other.

Feeling Lucky?

Analyzing the benefits of the various luck-driven abilities in 5th Edition D&D: Lucky feat, Diviner's Portent dice, and the Halfling Lucky racial feature. How do they stack up?