In The question of Race, or nature versus nurture I looked at races in Dungeons and Dragons, starting with BECMI and AD&D, and then moving onto 5e. With the sensibility around racial predeterminism, Wizards brought out Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and included a section on varying the underlying cultural racial attributes of a character. In … Continue reading The question of race part 3 – Volo’s Guide to Monsters
In The question of Race, or nature versus nurture, I talked about an elf who grew up on the street and wouldn't have learned elvish proficiency, and other combinations where the character might try to claim benefits of a race without growing up among that race. I also talked about genetics versus culture across different … Continue reading The Question of Race part 2 – comparisons
Over the last year there has been a lot of talk against Dungeons and Dragons races and how they pre-determine various attributes of a character (generally with the conclusion that this is BAD and very un-woke and un-politically-correct). Tasha's Cauldron of Everything brought in some changes to attempt to address these concerns, but from what … Continue reading The question of Race, or nature versus nurture
One of my players is creating a new 6th-level character to join the ongoing campaign, and asked if they could make a Circle of Spores Druid from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. I took a quick look at the description and read: These druids believe that life and death are parts of a grand cycle, with … Continue reading A Variant Circle of Spores Druid
In previous posts, I have looked at A history of skills in BECMI, looked at the different 5e skills in detail, and explored what skills can (and equally importantly can’t) do. I've looked at complex tasks and negotiations which require more than one skill check. I keep thinking I've discussed different types of skill check, but while … Continue reading Skills: passive, active and proficient
In the summer, I discussed resting and house rules. It's time to revisit it after another few months playing. Coming from the BECMI boxed sets, the 5th edition resting rules seemed unrealistically generous to me, particularly the fact that characters completely heal on a long rest. Photo by JJ Jordan on Unsplash I considered the … Continue reading Resting revisited
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
