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Dungeons, Dungeon Crawls, and Dungeon Crawl Classics
Grab you d27 and get ready to roll on critical hit table XIV as we talk about our experiences with Dungeon Crawl Classics!
Helpful NPCs
Jan 121 min read
Humans & Hit Dice
What ARE Hit Dice, anyway? I'll discuss how they function and my take on humanoids with Hit Dice.
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Dec 26, 20252 min read
Armor Class vs. Armor Classes
It is an inevitability that people needlessly demand expansions to the rules of a game for no good reason. They desire options and demand choice regardless of the (usually negative) impact on the rest of the system. Armor Class in D&D is one such arena where being spoiled for choice worsens the game. Today, we're all familiar with the bloated list of armor types and options available to players: padded, leather, studded leather, spiked armor, scale mail, halfplate, full plate
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Dec 23, 20253 min read
THAC0 is Easy If You're Smarter Than a 10-Year-Old
If you'll kindly note the frequency of the phrase "ages 10 and up." I'm feeling bombastic today, so I'm taking a moment to defend THAC0 and descending Armor Class as a whole. Why? Because I was an ignoramus up until today, when I had a flight of whimsy and decided to learn how they work. I am here to report back that neither descending Armor Class nor THAC0 are confusing unless: You are illiterate and/or innumerate. You suffer from poor pattern recognition skills. You are les
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Dec 18, 20258 min read
The "Or Else" Clause: On Skill Checks and Saving Throws
Skill checks are bad! Fix them with this One Simple Trick!
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Dec 17, 20254 min read
Dungeon World 2e: A Tale of Two Editions
Dungeon World 2e is in development. Will it alienate its existing fanbase to draw in diehard PbtA fans?
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Oct 27, 20255 min read
DC 13 Is Great, Actually, And Bounded Accuracy Is Fine
The math in D&D 5e is pretty solid with a few rough spots, and most of your skill rolls should be DC 13. That's a great starting point when we assume that: Skill checks are only made in dangerous or uncertain situations. The average adventurer is reasonably competent at core adventuring tasks . Superfluous (non-impactful) d20 rolls are elided. 5e is built around point buy, with the assumption that your primary ability score will have a +3 bonus with a 16 or 17 base. (Clerics
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Feb 13, 20255 min read
Your Mechanics Feel Bad (So They Need to Be Redesigned)
Game designers obsess over probabilistic precision when designing their TTRPG mechanics. They'll run formulas through AnyDice and pore over the exact results, tweaking convoluted dice mechanics and numerics to achieve the perfect spread of results. Then they totally disregard how those mechanics play at the table. TTRPG mechanics need to "feel good" in play. You cannot design a good RPG around mathematically-perfect probabilities because RPG is not a math game. An RPG is a so
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Nov 9, 20244 min read
PSA: Baldur's Gate 3 Isn't D&D
Baldur's Gate 3 is a great videogame. It's a terrible D&D game. Baldur's Gate 3 utilizes the D&D 5e (2014) rules to fuel its gameplay,...
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Jul 23, 20241 min read
Ditching Ability Scores in D&D 5e
Ability scores worsen 5e. They encourage cookie-cutter point-buy characters and they slow the game down because you're calculating derived values like saving throw DCs and attack values. I don't know about you, but I'd rather spend less time mathing around and more time playing around. Moreover, there's the disparate impact ability scores have on the game: Dexterity influences Armor Class, melee and ranged attacks, and the all-important ability to move around without alerting
Helpful NPCs
Jul 12, 20244 min read
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