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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • Mappers had to look listen to the description of the DM and try to draw a “good enough” map. Very easy to get things mixed up or one square off, and have to erase and redraw. “A doorway to the left” can be confusing when you’re are heading south and it on the right of your map. Or maybe the DM means the left of the map?

    Bear in mind, there was often treasure hidden in secret rooms, so knowing where the unexplored space was could be pretty important.

    Once in a blue moon there was a player who got a thrill from that, but most folks hated the hassle.




  • You can also safely check with Vicious mockery. The spell can target any creature, but only damages the target if it can hear, which “inanimate” things cannot.

    On the other hand, Dissonant Whispers causes the target to hear (rather than hearing being a precondition as it is with Vicious Mockery) and with this you can kill petrified creatures, thus ensuring no spell casters return them to flesh-and-blood, without damaging the statue.


  • You’re not dead when you’re petrified, either, which can lead to some pretty interesting exploits, rules-as-written.

    Petrified creatures count as creatures, not objects, so rules-as-written you can determine if a statue is a petrified creature by trying to target it with a spell that requires a creature for a target.

    With the cantrip Poison Spray, you can check for petrified creatures without using spell slots or risking damaging the creature, since it would be immune to poison while petrified.











  • This can happen with new players who are native English speakers too, as D&D has a fair deal of vocabulary not everyone knows. Words like charisma and melee really got popularized by D&D.

    Deep cut here: When I was a kid (ages past) and first heard friends talk about D&D, I thought there was a lens to keep you on the border. And without it, you might go straight Into The Unknown.


  • Are you quoting something with those ellipses?

    If “5.2” were a marketing decision, then it would probably be getting used in their marketing materials. But there you see stuff like “One D&D.”

    Incrementing the second number here is in line with general “geek numbering system” convention. It doesn’t seem to me like marketing barged into the production room and insisted on a more “marketable” version number — not that that has never happened, but marketing would most likely have wanted “5.5” not the inscrutable “5.2.”




  • I ran 2 tables in 4E, but when 5E came out they never wanted to go back.

    It all came down to keeping track of all the powers, nobody liked that. They also hoarded their encounter and daily powers, rarely using them (and hoarding encounter powers doesn’t make a lot of sense).

    I was a little disappointed because the one table was about to hit their paragon paths, which seemed like fun, and the players seemed excited for. It’s a concept I wouldn’t mind seeing in a new game – it was a little like choosing a subclass at 10th level.