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

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

Although many adventurers find their fortune in dungeons and strange wildernesses, the cityscape provides another landscape for them to...

Hello, all! The Helpful NPCs team are here to present a new and REVISED NPC for your games: the BODYGUARD! Player characters can hire...

Hello, all! The Helpful NPCs are here to present yet another drag-and-drop encounter. Many of our encounters have focused on the...

Hello, all! The Helpful NPCs team are here to present a new NPC for your games: the BODYGUARD! Surely you've run into a situation where...

Hello, fellow adventurers! Today, the Helpful NPCs crew are bringing you something that your game desperately needs: XP rewards for...

Hello, all! Today's offering by the Helpful NPCs is a cheat sheet for conditions in your D&D games! Since 5e has a boatload of conditions...

Flames, flames on the side of my face! Today's One Page Encounter has the player characters rescuing the Sutters from destructive...

Hear ye, hear ye! There's an adventure before you! Villains and foes and terrible troubles await. The kingdom calls to you for aid! If...

Continuing our previous table of unusual grub, the Helpful NPCs take you on a jungle journey. Forage in the tropics and let the Helpful...

Proposed WotC marketing campaign. According to a leaked memo, Wizards of the Coast executives expressed concern that D&D 5e is too consumer-friendly to be profitable. The memo outlined a multipart plan to modernize the brand to “align with contemporary corporate values" like greed and hostility. One high ranking executive, who initially thought Dungeons and Dragons was a TikTok challenge, was quoted saying, “We don’t have the staff for mass layoffs, and we can’t afford a roc

Some of our favorite magical items are not the ones that slay dragons. We love the simple stuff that gives parties flavor and utility. ...

Hello, fine friends of the Helpful NPCs! We have something exciting to share with you: a new sidekick class for the fifth edition of the...

How should players approach alignment in D&D? With fear and trembling and consideration of the rest of the table. No classes have an...

Nothing kills a game faster than bad DMing, and alignment is ground whereupon a DM must needs tread carefully. As most DMs handle...

Take a listen to the fresh beats of the Helpful NPCs crew as they tackle the controversial system of alignment. It has been (rightly and...

Following up the previous topic of frittering away your gold, the Helpful NPCs crew discuss treasure management within D&D. You're going...

Spoilers: It's Savage Worlds. Sometimes D&D can get a bit samey and you need a break from d20s, hit points, and saving throws. The...

After listening to Chapter 1, Episode 2, you're mentally prepared for your first RPG session. Now you have to get a character ready for...