Ronin's D&D Ramblings

D&D 5th edition arguably has a sweet spot. Levels 5-10 is where 5E really clicks in my opinion. Wizards design team has even stated that in their surveys most players rarely play above level 10. Campaigns usually fizzle out at or before 10th level. Most if not all of wizard's campaigns take place within levels 5 and 10. I personally feel the only reason they kept levels above ten was because it's part of D&D legacy. I've personally never been a fan of high power levels in high level play. I would rather a dragon always be a fearsome beast and a group of goblins always have a chance of over running the party. I guess that is why options like Epic 6 always had an appeal to me. Capping off hit points and combat bonuses so games never turn into fantasy super heroes is very appealing to me. On the low end of leveling wizards has really streamlined and made the first three levels of the game into an express way. Again I feel like wizards felt level 3 should be the real ...

Backgrounds in 5E are a mixed bag for me. I like the extra level of customization, good in a game where there are few real choices at character creation beyond class, race, and subrace. At the same time I find the ideals, personality, and bonds parts of background kind of useless. I understand the intent is to help flesh out your character and provide framework to gain inspiration. I find that in reality they seem forgotten. I would rather we had something disconnected from background. Something like flaws characters could play up for inspiration. And maybe goals players could work towards for bonus experience points. A list players could add to and cross off as they accomplish over the life of the character. Something a bit more custom to the players vision than "loyal to my friends" and "you value knowledge".

I've been towing with the idea of creating options for the basic free rules of 5E D&D. Of these I'll be toying with a 5E version of Epic6. Possibly expanding it to Epic10. Most these options will be separate posts using the tag expanded basic.

One topic that comes up especially in D&D circles is the railroad v.s. Sandbox styles of DMing. Most any time these terms are used it's to point out the superiority of one or the other. I would like to propose that not just are they both totally valid, they should be thought of as being useful together. My average game is a mix of both elements. I would like to better define what I mean by these two terms. whenever most people say a game or adventure is a railroad style game thy mean the game is set on a path. The plot is linear and travels from point to point without deviation, like a train on it's rails. The players talk to an NPC who sends them to a location, the location has clues that send the players to another location. Everything is planned out and the game moves along the points to advance the story. Most premade adventures and campaigns are railroad style games. A sandbox adventure on the other hand is an open world. The players are set down in it and can fol...

After playing Shadow of the demon Lord I can't help but love its boon and bane system. I think it could easily be used in D&D. Boons and Bane dice are D6s. Boons are added to the D20 roll, bane die are subtracted from the D20 roll. Unlike advantage/disadvantage players can gain more than one. They can even gain some of each. They cancel each other out. So if a player gains 2 boons but 1 bane the player rolls just the one boon. If more than one is rolled only the highest die is used. I've toyed with the idea of using this option with proficiency die option from the DMG. Making the boons and banes additional proficiency dice.

Nothing is more dramatic in D&D than rolling a critical hit. The die rolls a 20 and everyone gets all excited. The players picks up his damage dice,  grabbing extra dice ready roll that double damage. The player let's loose and rolls snake eyes. The lowest possible roll. We decided this just wouldn't do. Our rule is the first damage die is always maximum. For example 6 on a D6. The second die is rolled as normal and added to the 6. For example if the damage die was a D8 the player would roll 1D8+8 (plus any bonuses). No matter what that D8 rolls its exceptional, because even a roll of 1 is greater than the weapons normal maximum.

I run games for large groups. For about three years now my smallest group size has been six, and this was just a few sessions. My largest has been thirteen. The average group size in usually eight to ten.  When I mention this to other groups or people online I get a range of reactions. From disbelief to shock. The most common sentiment is "I never run for more than 5 (average 4-6)" and "games break down with more than 6 players" Some of the recent reactions inspired this post. This post is in no way me claiming to know the best, or only way to run big games. This is simply what has, and is working for me and my group. First of all my group is full of adults, couples mostly. We don't have much free time to game. An average session for us is between 2 to 4 hours with the majority of sessions being 3 to 3.5 hours. This is relevant because big groups take a level of intensity and focus that gets harder to hold onto as time passes. Once game starts the...

Hero points is an optional rule for a more heroic game. There is a hero point system in the DMG, this is my alternative to those rules. Hero points totally replaces inspiration. Unlike inspiration, hero points can be saved. Hero points can be awarded much like inspiration for good role-playing, or for heroic deeds as the GM sees fit. Characters can have a maximum of 2+character level in hero points. Hero points are spent giving one of three different effects. Like inspiration. Character points can be used to give advantage on a Saving throw, attack, or Ability check. In addition hero points can be spent on a damage roll making the damage the maximum that can be rolled. Another use of hero points is a Heroic surge, healing the character for a single hit die equal to the characters hit die type.

The idea behind the momentum die is that as combat progresses characters get into a rythem and combat becomes deadlier. And hopefully speeds up encounters. Momentum Die is inspired by the escalation die of 13th Age rpg. On the second round of combat (top of the initiative order)each player sets out a D6 on the number one. At the top of each turn advance the die up one value.  The number showing on the die is a bonus to hit and damage. Players can 'spend' the die by lowering the number by one and choosing to gain advantage on the next attack, saving throw, or Ability check.

Some people find standard initiative in D&D unsatisfactory. Here is a few house ruled initiative systems we have used and found useful. Some people like things to change from round to round without adding complexity to the game. Here is a few options. At the top of every round have every player roll initiative. The highest roll goes first. Then players take their turn going around the table either clockwise or counterclockwise from the first player. If you want the direction random base it on the winning roll. On an even roll play goes clockwise, on odd play goes counterclockwise for that round. Another option is to have initiative rolls at the top of every round. This is actually my favorite option, I like the totally random turn order. When I use this option I have players roll a D10 rather than a D20. When I use this option the rolls are totally unmodified, I like the chaotic randomness of combat. Lastly, an option that we found fun was to roll seperate for each round of comb...