This is part of the series on representing disability in D&D. In my previous post in the series I looked at lower-limb prosthetics. I’m now starting a new campaign, and one of my players has been inspired by my posts to play a character with a disability, but rather than working with the lower-limb impairment I … Continue reading D&D Disability – arms
Level Up A5E is a rethinking of D&D Fifth Edition with the benefit of 5 years of practice and hindsight. The PDFs dropped in November, and the print versions are now out. I have read part way through the PDFs, but I find that having the physical copies makes me more inspired to just pick … Continue reading Level Up A5E first impressions – Adventurer’s Guide
This is part of the series on representing disability in D&D. In my previous post, I introduced Meurtle to the Domenechs, describing what it might be like getting his first prosthetic consultation (based on descriptions by amputees Jamie Andrews and Harry Parker). Now to turn the story into mechanics. I have tried to think through … Continue reading D&D Disability – mechanics for basic lower-limb prosthetics
Last week, DM David wrote about the problems caused in D&D with monsters who run or surrender, given that you then have to account for them and what will happen as a result, and characters will tend to give chase, or start interrogating/torturing the captives, and so it’s just simpler if you let the fight … Continue reading How do the monsters react?
I will return to the theme of disability and prosthetics next week, but for now here’s something completely different which has been brewing for a while. Regular readers of my blog will know that I started off playing D&D in the 80s with the BECMI boxed sets and Mystara gazetteers, then had a long break, … Continue reading Has magic become too ubiquitous?
Have you considered how your characters would cope without their equipment? What would they do? Suddenly both exploration and combat become rather different. Now think about it as a GM - you've set up a scenario where the players' characters have had their equipment taken away. How do you make it feel like an interesting … Continue reading Coping without equipment
Dungeons and Dragons is one of the most iconic role-playing games, and Fifth edition is the most popular version of Dungeons and Dragons. It started playtesting in 2012 with the Basic Rules released in July 2014 and the Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Master’s Guide came out in August, September and December of that … Continue reading Level Up – rethinking D&D Fifth Edition
Plenty. That's the inspiration for day 18 of #RPGaDay2019, following One yesterday. How often do we consider the implications of things being plentiful? I know D&D isn't meant to be an exact simulation of the world and that's one of its strengths, but anything common becomes inherently less valuable. In the BECMI days, 80% of … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 18 – Plenty
One. That's the inspiration for day 17 of #RPGaDay2019; normal service is resumed following my Dream yesterday. You may have gathered I've been around a while, and started with the Red Box Basic Set. And I am torn between the old style and the new style. One innovation since my time of which I whole-heartedly … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 17 – One
For day 9 of #RPGaDay2019 we get critical, following Obscure yesterday. When I started with BECMI, there was no concept of critical rolls - no critical success or critical failure. My friends played AD&D, so I'd hear them talking about a critical hit and wonder what this was. Fast-forward 35 years to 5e. It's there … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 9 – Critical
