When you get down to it, my D&D designs are greatly influenced by the form of the game that Gary Gygax seemed to be writing about in the DMG. And that means dungeons. Lots and lots of dungeons. Yes, I know that he also wrote about territory development and wilderness exploration, but those sections are rather scant in the DMG, whilst there’s a lot on … Continue reading Caverns of the Oracle: One of my personal megadungeons
Skills have seen a wide variety of approaches over the years. The earliest forms of D&D tended to only have formal mechanics for the functions of the thief, but the role of mechanisms for overcoming non-combat challenges have expanded since then. The current skill system is relatively pared down and uses a simple resolution system. D&D 5E uses the Ability Check as the basis of … Continue reading A Primer on Skills and Proficiencies in the new Dungeons & Dragons
Although I’ve written a lot about the various initiative systems in D&D, I could quite easily fill a lot of space talking about how healing has changed through the editions. For players moving from AD&D to 5E, the way healing works is likely to be quite strange. Yes, you still have spells that allow you to heal, but why are Hit Dice being used for … Continue reading A Primer on Hit Points and Healing in the new Dungeons & Dragons
The new Basic Dungeons & Dragons PDF is now available, as you probably know. It contains the new procedures for spell casting in D&D, which have a few differences from earlier forms of the game. What hasn’t changed is who can cast spells: Fighters and Thieves can’t, Clerics and Wizards can. The Basics: Prepared Spells and Slots Each caster prepares a number of spells at … Continue reading A Primer on Spell Casting in the new Dungeons & Dragons
For those players who haven’t been involved in the D&D playtest and are coming to the new rules with knowledge of earlier systems, it’s probably worth discussing how the system works. As with 3E and 4E, the new combat system uses Cyclical Initiative. At the beginning of the combat, each combatant makes a Dexterity check and then everyone acts in that order, from highest check to … Continue reading A Primer on Combat in the new Dungeons & Dragons
The new edition of Dungeons & Dragons continues the trend of having a list of Conditions that can befall characters and monsters. Conditions provide a useful shorthand for the game, allowing the designers to create spells, powers and rules that share a common language. The list of conditions in 3E and Pathfinder is quite long, but the list was pared back in 4E, and the … Continue reading Basic D&D: Changes to Conditions
If, like me, you’ve been happily playing with the interim Dungeons & Dragons rules included in the recent Scourge of the Sword Coast, Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle and Dead in Thay adventures – or with the public playtest that those rules are drawn from – you are probably wondering what has changed. What do I need to know as I adapt to the new version … Continue reading Basic Dungeons & Dragons: Combat changes
A few pages from the Starter Set have been posted online by people who have been sent the set early, and there are a few notable changes. I’m not planning to analyse every little thing that has changed since the Interim Rules Document, but there are a few highlights that are worth noting. In particular, the Cure Wounds spell has changed from 2d8 healing per … Continue reading Changes from the D&D Playtest: Starter Set Spells
It is probably fair to say that the main line of D&D development never had a coherent initiative system until AD&D 2nd Edition came along in 1989. Gary Gygax was many things, but a writer of clear, unambiguous combat rules was not one of them. The systems in the various versions of Basic D&D were used by many as the basis of how to run … Continue reading Initiative in AD&D 2nd Edition
With the posting of the archer build of the Fighter with a Folk Hero background, we’ve learned… not that much more. Folk Hero: This is a new background, which gives the Rustic Hospitality trait. Skills? Certainly Animal Handling and perhaps Survival. Fighting Style: Archery: The bonus to attack has changed to +2, up from +1. No Mount proficiency? Does the Vehicles (Land) proficiency include riding … Continue reading Changes from the D&D Playtest: More Starter Fighter changes
