•7 min read
Summon the Unusual - 3 New Spells for DnD 5e
Homebrew options for arcane pet play: animate weapons, clockwork constructs, and mephits, with balance notes, scaling, and narrative discovery hooks.
Posts tagged with “Mechanics”
•5 min read
Gritty Survival in 5e - Breathing life into Death Saves
A proposed 5e house rule ties risk to negative HP and CON saves, raising urgency, nerfing Healing Word, and making knockdowns matter again.
•6 min read
Decoding D&D - The Enigma of Armor Class
Explains AC as an abstract defense working with HP to pace damage over time, guiding narration and design without literal blow-by-blow realism.
•5 min read
Decoding D&D - What the heck are Hit Points Anyway?
HP in D&D are an abstract tool shaped by the DM to set tone and stakes, not literal wounds, evolving across editions to serve fun.
•15 min read
You Have the Power - Places of Power in D&D
High-risk magical sites let casters supercharge spells via attunement and metamagic checks with failure risks and rarity tiers, giving DMs rich hooks.
•2 min read
Reimagining the Mark Option in D&D 5E - Empowering Martial Characters
Proposes a streamlined Mark rule: if you hit a foe in melee since your last turn, you can make one opportunity attack each round without using your reaction.
•5 min read
Experience Matters - The benefits of XP in 5th edition
Advocates experience points over milestones, tying growth to player actions, pacing adventures, rewarding exploration and roleplay, and preserving memories.
•4 min read
Design Goals of Etherea
Outlines a Shadowdark homebrew where belief shapes reality, with lore-driven monsters, risky magic, and evolving hooks for adventures and towns.
•4 min read
Revised Injured Condition
Add lasting injuries to DnD 5e for higher stakes and strategy, with levels affecting rolls, recovery checks, class perks, and magic-based healing.
•3 min read
The Return of the Write Spell - A Nostalgic Callback or Unnecessary Complexity?
Playtest adds Scribe Spell to handle wizard scribing, a throwback to Write, but the author argues it adds fiddly complexity without real payoff.