Do Vecna’s New Stats Mean D&D is Killing the Phylactery?
ThinkDM
by thinkdm
1y ago
On June 9, 2022, WotC released new stats for the undead lich Vecna via DnDBeyond, capitalizing on the zeitgeist around the villain of Stranger Things season 4. Notably absent from this stat block is something that has long defined liches in Dungeons & Dragons: the phylactery. What’s a Phylactery? In modern D&D terms, a phylactery is an object where a lich stores their soul. When a lich’s body is slain, it reconstitutes from their phylactery (presumably stored faraway in a safe space). Here’s a brief description from the 5th Edition Monster Manual: While many D&D monsters are funct ..read more
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Feat Trees’ New Roots in 5e D&D
ThinkDM
by thinkdm
1y ago
D&D’s last three Unearthed Arcana (UA) playtest packets included tech that hasn’t been printed since past editions: feat trees. Note: You may also hear these called “feat chains,” which describes a feat tree that only has one higher-level associated option, instead of branching into several. The term “feat tree” can describe both. Feat Trees in 5e Historically, 5e has strayed from including progressive feats, where one builds on another. Examining past editions, 5e’s designers looked at how feat trees were handled, and realized that in many cases, they were doing the opposite of what they ..read more
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D&D’s Newest Resource Pool Blends Proficiency Scaling and Arcane Recovery
ThinkDM
by thinkdm
1y ago
On May 23, 2022, Wizards of the Coast released the Giant Options Unearthed Arcana (UA), with new subclasses and feats. The Runecrafter Wizard, which D&D Principal Rules Designer Jeremy Crawford describes as “the sibling of the Rune Knight,” features new resource tech for 5th Edition. Proficiency Scaling Back in early 2020, D&D started testing proficiency scaling. Under this system, features receive a number of uses per long rest equal to the character’s proficiency bonus. This marked a design shift away from features that: (a) reset on short rests, and (b) give a number of uses based o ..read more
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The One Word Breaking D&D’s Moonbeam Spell
ThinkDM
by thinkdm
1y ago
Are you familiar with the moonbeam spell? There’s several like it: blade barrier, cloudkill, cloud of daggers, Evard’s black tentacles, forbiddance, sleet storm, spirit guardians. What do they all have in common? They all share tricky little mechanic, underlined in red below: Do you think this spell takes effect when you cast it? You might be surprised to find that it doesn’t! D&D Sage Advice clarifies that spells with moonbeam’s “enter” wording are not intended to proc when they’re cast (or moved onto a creature): For most spells, this distinction only matters on the first round, since ..read more
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Why DMs Are Banning Silvery Barbs
ThinkDM
by thinkdm
1y ago
Silvery Barbs was an Unearthed Arcana subclass feature that was playtested for the Strixhaven setting. After class-variable subclasses were abandoned, the feature was converted to a level 1 enchantment spell for bards, sorcerers, and wizards. This spell is published in D&D’s new book, Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos. Spell Mechanics The spell works like this: As a reaction, you can force a reroll (take lower) on an attack, check, or save. Then, you hand out a bonus inspiration that can be used for 1 minute. Reroll Mechanic The core mechanic is not based on disadvantage. It’s a forc ..read more
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D&D: The SADdening
ThinkDM
by thinkdm
1y ago
D&D players use the terms SAD and MAD to categorize character archetypes based on how many good Ability Scores they need to be relevant. SAD is an acronym that stands for Single Ability-Score Dependent; MAD stands for Multiple Ability-Score Dependent. For example, a MAD character like a Monk will require Dexterity for attack and defense, Constitution for health, Wisdom to set the DC of its features, and perhaps even Strength to make grapples or perform Athletic skills. Whereas a SAD character like a Druid can invest purely in Wisdom and rely on Wild Shape to round out their physical abilit ..read more
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Is D&D’s “XP Valley” Killing Campaigns?
ThinkDM
by thinkdm
1y ago
A sneaky system design quirk may contribute to D&D campaigns fizzling out before they reach high level. Is D&D a Low-Level Game? Prevailing wisdom says that most 5th Edition D&D is played at the lowest levels. Folks have plenty of reasons to feel this way: D&D’s April 2015 Player Survey data suggested “most of you are still playing in the 1st to 6th level range.” Notably, that survey was only a month after the game officially released. Folks also cite DnDBeyond’s Campaign Level Spread data, which controlled for certain factors in an attempt to only capture played characters, bu ..read more
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