Low level (like 1st-4th level) D&D5e and high level (13+) require the same accommodations to prevent them from being murder slog fests.
You need to push for alternate routes, give conversations mattering a chance, and have stakes other than player character death on the line.
Or else you risk senseless TPKs, boring punching bag fights, and cheese strategies.
But those things tend to be forgotten about for levels 5-12, where player power and agency is JUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuST right for combat and normal standard ways of tackling issues. Interestingly that's also the levels in which 5e is most popular. People always want to start as close to level 5 (if not level 5) as possible, and the DM starts checking out usually around level 12.
Adventure books have trouble coming up with a narrative after level 12, because the variables that players can achieve are too great to account for to have a storyline that can be followed.
So is this an issue with high level magic and casting in D&D becoming too.... wild in its ability? Spells that clone you with all spell slots that last indefinitely is way out of scope compared to an Ice Storm or a Cone of Cold.....
Article from Kobold Press about their Tales of the Valiant 5e game announced that they are identifying the different types of people as lineages instead of species.
They said it was they ended up feeling most comfortable with, while keeping a balance between feeling like fantasy and not going full on sci-fi. Solid first point, and something that I myself have been trying to figure out. Lineage was the lowest on the poll of 17 people, with Ancestry being the highest preferred option.
Just sharing because I think its interesting how diverse the ideas are when talking about it, especially in the format of a fantasy game.
Listen, I'm as over 5e as the next person, but my local LEGO store asked me to DM a game night in conjunction with the new D&D LEGO set, and well, I can't exactly say no to that, can I?
This part of the ICV2 analysis of the hobby game channel falling off in sales is strange to me. Were there people saying "I wanted to get the most recent release but they just can't pull box office?" If movie box office negates sales, why doesn't video game sales increase them?
Just to clarify, I'm not saying sales AREN'T down, just that this felt like some strange speculation.
@Alphastream@WhatDoIKnowJR@Tim_Eagon additionally ICV data is only the hobby market. It ignores Target (where there were movie promos), Amazon, Walmart and Beyond
New to Mastodon, so it's time for an #introduction . I'm Lucas. I've been playing RPGs since I was in the 6th grade, when I first got into D&D 4e.
Now, I'm a full-time history teacher, and I write a blog combining these interests: how to use history to make better #ttrpg
content, along with homebrew resources and reviews. I also publish supplements for various RPGs (most often #dnd5e ). Check out the blog at https://www.veritastabletop.com!
Again, I find #LostMineOfPhandelver with kids a lot of fun. They have some #ttrpg experience under their belt, so they figured that Wave Echo Cave can't be too far from Phandelver, recruited a hunting party from the town, methodically searched the surroundings and found the entrance. They spied on the spider's minions and headed for the back entrance close to the spellforge, where they talked the spectator into a deal. Not at all how the authors envisioned this to go down -great! #pnpde#dnd5e
Why fuck around with side quests to track down NPC to tell you about the cave when you can just go and find it with a bunch of hirelings in 2 days time.
@LeviKornelsen I know. I really enjoy how kids seem to understand that role playing lets you do anything within reason (of the world and the rules) and don't bother with the "right way" to "solve" an adventure, the way many adults do. Also, here as in many games I have run for kids, they are talking about setting up a business around the spell forge and check on trade routes, prices and possible allies.
Monte Cook makes some great points, and while praising 5e, he doesn't mention the specific way NPCs have been treated in 5e Monster Manuals (simplified, unique powers, etc.) #dnd#dnd5e#ttrpg
For all that Hasbro and WotC were completely focused on digital tools as the primary focus in the #DnD4e days, the books have far better layout than #DnD5e
Looking at the Eberron books, information like the Calendar of Khorvaire gets its own sidebar in the 4e book while it's buried in body text in the 5e book.
I also really like the inclusion of a relevant statblock tied to the lore it goes with rather than all of them being shoved to the back of the book.
Show your appreciation for your #DnD DM with the ENnie-winning The Monsters Know What They're Doing, hailed as "the fourth #DnD5E core book," or the successor volume, MOAR! Monsters Know What They're Doing. Or my latest, How to Defend your Lair, a guide to designing well-defended locations.
"Aren't there many unhappy couples, if cross species reproduction isn't very common?"
This question was posed tonight in my #ttrpg session. While I'm open to the concept in my homebrew, looking at for example base #dnd where we got Half-Orcs, Half-Elves and Half...-lings(?), I found the question very interesting and wanted to ask the wider community.
@Imperor@dndhomebrew@dnd@DnD@askgamemasters@worldbuilding@ttrpgs I can only really say that for my part, in my setting of Enrathe, humans, "orcs", "elves", and "dwarves" are actually all the same species who diversified long ago into different cultures, and "halflings" don't exist.