Roleplaying
Bards often find themselves as the “face” of the party, making the various charisma checks to stop the impending brawl between the party’s fighter and the local bugbear tribe. For those of us who want to be the faciest face, there’s now the College of … read more »
Unearthed Arcana (UA) is a system Wizards of the Coast uses to test new D&D 5th Edition content before it makes its way into any official material. Players are invited to use these new additions to the game and give their feedback on balance and … read more »
Classes have been a key part of Dungeons and Dragons since 1st Edition all the way back in 1974, when players could choose between fighter, wizard, and cleric.* Over the intervening 45 years, the class system has been changed a multitude of times, but at … read more »
So your first-level Fighter just took a sword to the chest. Are you so wounded you can hardly fight anymore, even though you’re still alive? Do you get powered up for a devastating counterattack? Maybe you suffer no consequences at all besides losing some hitpoints. … read more »
I have seen in various roleplaying games a sort of “training time” mechanic. Basically in addition to gaining the needed experience points/levels/whatever to gain a new skill/power/attribute, your character must also devote a given amount of in-game time to training. These times pretty much invariably … read more »
Can you write a column about language proficiencies as a game mechanic? Are there any games that do it right? Language proficiencies (esp in DND5e) often feel like they suffer from the problem of being too situational and thus expensive for their cost, and it … read more »
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (5E) is one of my favorite RPGs out there. It has an almost comical lack of balance, but the sheer scale of the system provides an almost infinite number of builds, and I’d like to share four of those builds. Read more »
Roleplaying mechanics can be difficult to balance, and magic can be difficult to balance, so it’s no surprise that when you combine the two, you get serious fireworks. I’m talking about powers and abilities that aren’t just overpowered; they can bring entire games to a … read more »
Plenty of RPGs have unbalanced rules or abilities, and sometimes those broken powers get so out of control that they bring the entire game to a screeching halt. This episode we’ll tell our own stories of RPG destruction. We’ll talk about magic systems that go … read more »
Good afternoon! I have a roleplaying question. But first, some context: I’m a DM and my party of adventurers is about to visit Candlekeep (like a giant library in Faerûn). One of my players put a lot of work into his backstory, describing how he … read more »
