In the previous few posts, I looked at the history of Skills in BECMI, looked at the different 5e skills in detail, and explored what skills can (and equally importantly can't) do. The last post introduced more complex scenarios where one action isn't enough to resolve the situation, and considered a complex task: crossing a … Continue reading When one action isn’t enough (part 2) – Negotiations
What do you do when your D&D party come across a situation which is too complex to handle with a single action? Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash In the previous few posts, I looked at the history of Skills in BECMI, looked at the different 5e skills in detail, and explored what skills can … Continue reading When one action isn’t enough (part 1) – Complex Tasks
"I'm going to chat up the barmaid. I roll Persuasion - look, it's a natural 20. I get her to come outside with me, and then I kill her and I get a free attack because she's surprised because I rolled that natural 20."Summary of incident at early session run by my son Sound familiar? … Continue reading Skills aren’t magic
In my previous post, I examined the development of skills checks in the Basic Boxed set D&D line, and gave a quick contrast with the 5th edition skills. I never really got the chance to use the skills in earnest in my games - I only invested in the first four gazetteers before I moved … Continue reading A flash of Insight into skills
[...] A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backwards on to the grass... Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead he gave an almighty belch and several slugs … Continue reading Damaged magic items
The original RPGaDay2020 prompts graphic by @WillBrooks1989 Yesterday in RPGaDay2020 I looked at Close calls and how 5e is more survivable. Today the theme is Ride. And what more natural to ride than a horse? Except, I really don't know much about horses and horse riding - I left that to my sister. So when … Continue reading RPGaDay2020 Day 29: Ride – what are you riding?
Experience Points were one of the greatest innovations in the original role-playing game by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Not only could characters have adventures, but they could improve and get more powerful as a result of their experience. As originally published, the rules were clear — each gold piece value earned was worth 1 … Continue reading Experience Award Tokens
It's August 31st, day 31 of #RPGaDay2019, and the Last day, following Connection yesterday and a whole month of posts. And the inspiration today, appropriately enough, is Last. This seems like an appropriate time to have a retrospective on the season. But first, I claim the triumph of completing it, and not only completing it, … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 31 – Last
What's the Big Idea? That's the inspiration for day 26 of #RPGaDay2019, following the combined Triumph and Calamity yesterday. I have come to realise I definitely prefer running my own homebrew campaign to running a pre-published adventure. This means I have to come up with the idea for each encounter, session, location, setting and story … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 26 – Idea
Let's Focus. That's the inspiration for day 10 of #RPGaDay2019, following Critical yesterday. A bit ironic given that I've got a stinking cold and my mind feels stuffed with cotton wool... So what shall we focus on? Robin D. Laws, in Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering, says The focus can be held by any … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 10 – Focus
