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Articles by RS Conley
Is homebrewing D&D okay?
In about 35 years of playing role-playing games, I have seldom witnessed anyone play 100% by-the-book. Don’t take the names of things too seriously. What really matters is the results of rules, not the names they use. The “in game” justification for a rule may be different from the “game design” reason. Unfortunately, many games only give you the “in game” justification and leave you to puzzle out the “game design” reason yourself.
How does a shadow monk teleport into magical darkness if they don't have line of sight to a square inside of it?
There was a question similar to this question posted here. Where the jist of the question was asked what use does a Shadow Monk have for casting Darkness if they can't see through it. My question is along the same route but slightly different. The spell darkness states that creatures with darkvision cannot see through it. Which negates elves and other creatures, including those helped by the spell darkvision.
Should encounters be adjusted to a full-magic party?
As the GM I would not worry about it at all. IMO the cardinal sin a DM can do is make the players feel "safe". Don't confuse balance with maintaining a FAIR/consistent world but frequently the two get confused when talking about balanced. Yes a level 18 character should not have to fear a single skeleton but I don't fear a bee or a fire ant but I still am willing to take one seriously if it's crawling on my arm.
How to deal with anti-authoritarian player characters?
After trespassing in Wookie territory the party was snatched up and brought to the clan chief. The chief said he needed the parties help and would in turn forgive their trespassing - but would keep some gear as collateral. Bobs reaction to this: starts to pull out a thermal detonator. Charles sees this and pull out his blaster and sets to stun. It was a bit tense however Charles won initiative and was able to drop Bob before activating the thermal detonator. Charles turns to the Chief.
Should the DM allow characters an equal opportunity to flee or avoid an encounter?
In an "anything is possible" game, this is fair. In this kind of game, it is necessary for players to actually, truly believe that they can get themselves into so much trouble that they will not have a "final warning" that their PC is about to die, and Death is the most (and often only) effective teacher in this regard. And fortunately, players always get another chance at RPG "life" with a new character.
What is the point of the barbarian wolf aspect to track while moving fast?
On PHB 50 the totem warrior barbarian's 6th level wolf ability is You gain the hunting sensibilties of a wolf. You can track other creatures while traveling at a fast pace, and you can move stealthily while traveling at a normal pace (see chapter 8 for rules on travel pace). So, on PHB 182 the Travel Pace chart says that you can normally only move stealthily at a slow pace, but there is no mention of a restriction on travel pace for tracking.
Stealthing and hiding
You are correct, generally, you cannot hide behind another PC or creature and make a stealth check. However, lightfoot halflings can (they make great rogues for this reason) if the creature is one size larger than them (which includes medium sized PCs). The skulker feat though, does not allow hiding behind PCs. It allows hiding in "lightly obscured" areas, which is not the case where there is half cover, but no other situations.
How can I get new players to explore more?
I have refereed the Lost Mine of Phandelver twice. The essential trick is to think of what you would be seeing if you were actually there and then roleplay that as the referee. Since you are presenting a situation that leads to adventure this will provide a natural way to hook into the information that the player need to proceed. There two broad ways for the player characters to become involved. One is that their background has some elements that propel that character's roleplaying.
What are the choices for proficiency in a musical instrument?
The rules say the following regarding musical instruments (PH p.154): Since this text is an annotation for the equipment list on the same page, one might assume that a "type of musical instrument" refers to entries from the list. So "flute", "horn" and "pan flute" would all be distinct proficiencies.
Neverwinter & Sword Coast adventures
If you want something that fits in directly with the time period of the Forgotten Realms as depicted in Phandelver then the new Princes of the Apocalypse adventure starts out just to the east of Phandelver. I have the book and the initial adventures are in the Dessarin Valley. The north end begins at the eastern terminus of the Triboar trail as you can see in this map. Wyvern Tor is in the Northwest corner.
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