Recent content by Melfast

I'm planning to get pretty much all of it. The 2024 core books look to have much more new and improved content, and there is a lot of stuff coming out for 5e that I remember from the old days. No matter how many other games I bring my players to, DCC, Cypher System, PF2, Fate, etc., we always...

I was just looking at this product on their website. Good timing for me to have you cover it!

TSR crashed in part because it put out too many products that competed with each other. 3e and 4e put out a ton of products that could look intimidating to new players. It looks like a huge investment to get into the game, and it looks overwhelming to learn. 5e took a different path. Fewer rule...

It seems to me the problem may be related to expectations, and how each person sees the game being played. Some people may be used to games where dice rolls can allow anything to happen as long as you roll high enough, where others expect that the rolls are bounded by the narrative. The classic...

This is one of those weird things that I've only seen clarified by JC and Mearls tweets. They said anyone can use a tool to try and pick a lock or disarm a trap (since nothing in the rules appears to require proficiency to use a tool), but you only get the proficiency bonus if you are trained...

Having ability score draining monsters can be really scary for a low level party. We had a TPK to shadows once upon a time. I think they are fair though if the players have a chance to learn about them. I strongly believe players need to spend more time preparing for their adventures. They seem...

We were fighting giants, and they proceeded to grapple our fighter and paladin, and drop them down a deep well. This is obviously not a grapple build, but it does come up in games. I expect my Giant Barbarian to be using it once I have two attacks per round and maybe before that if I need to...

Technically, I think picking a lock or deactivating a trap are Dexterity checks, and not Sleight of Hand checks (neither of those two checks are listed under Sleight of Hand in the PHB). However, they are listed as actions under the Thieves Tools section in the PHB. So, I think you only get to...

Familiars scouting can be a problem. On the other hand, they are likely not large enough or heavy enough to discover traps, they can't open closed doors, they may have limited views of areas, they may move slowly, their scouting will take time if the party expects to draw maps and check things...

I think the new rogue is fine. It has several improvements, like weapon mastery and cunning strike. Reliable talent comes on board 4 levels sooner. The sub-classes also all seemed to get a boost that makes the sub-classes better. The rogues in our party consistently do great damage -- often more...

This is a player choice to emphasize combat vs. being broad in their skills. If you always make Intelligence and Wisdom dump stats, then you won't be as good at skills involving learning or such as a character who chooses to put some points into them. I'm ok with that. I rarely have a 8 or 9...

Based on their quarterly financial report, it appears they've made about 60 million from Baldur's Gate 3.

We use the Pathbuilder2 Android app. Between that and the Archives of Nethys web site, you can do character creation pretty quickly and try out different builds.

We've played a fair amount of PF2, now. Our GM was initially concerned about the impact of +level, but it has worked out fine. Creatures up to 4 levels above or below party level are effective in encounters and relatively easy to balance to the party. While creatures more than 4 levels below the...

I know you mentioned you looked at the Cypher System with the lens of Numenera, but they recently published a Cypher System book called The Stars are Fire, which is all about using the Cypher System to play a variety of spaced-based Science Fiction games. It starts with hard science fiction with...