Author: Ian Story
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Spell Slots
IDEA: Casters have three primary ways to cast spells (analogous to 4e’s At-Will, Encounter, and Daily abilities): CANTRIPS: can be cast at will, without spending any resources. FOCUS: use up a limited number of slots that are replenished during a short rest. EMPOWERED: use up daily-renewed resources. Maybe also requires a FOCUS slot? Or otherwise…
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Health
IDEA: Resources: Any damage dealt to a character removes temporary hp first. Lots of effects grant temporary hp (healing potions, bolstering, non-daily healing spells). Temporary hp typically stacks, but the combined total of hit points + temporary hp cannot exceed a character’s base hp (some effects may allow this total to be exceeded, by some…
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Multi-Action Penalties
The primary actions a character takes become less effective the more times they use those actions in a round. The basic example for this is attacks: after using an attack action, you receive a cumulative -5 penalty on further attack actions. This rule extends the concept: if you cast a spell using 2 actions then…
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Thoughts on Magic Items
Powerful magic items come into existence by being commissioned. An individual or organization approaches an artificer or master craftsman with a specific request and the item is made to spec. In addition to the time and expertise of the craftsman, creating magical items typically requires rare and expensive components. Additionally, magical items are complicated to…
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Concentration
Some spells require you to maintain concentration in order to keep their magic active. If you lose concentration, such a spell ends, unless an alternate effect for losing concentration appears in the spell description. If a spell must be maintained with concentration, that fact appears in its Duration entry, and the spell specifies how long…
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Armor and Shields
D&D worlds are a vast tapestry made up of many different cultures, each with its own technology level. For this reason, adventurers have access to a variety of armor types, ranging from leather armor to chain mail to costly plate armor, with several other kinds of armor in between. The Armor table collects the most…
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Weapons
Damage Types Weapons do one of three types of damage: slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning. Slashing attacks are most effective against unarmored or lightly armored opponents. But medium and heavy armor protect against slashing attacks better than piercing or bludgeoning weapons. To represent this, the base damage for slashing weapons is generally one die size higher…
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Resting & Momentum
Heroic though they might be, adventurers can’t spend every hour of the day in the thick of exploration, social interaction, and combat. They need rest—time to sleep and eat, tend their wounds, refresh their minds and spirits for spellcasting, and brace themselves for further adventure. Adventurers can take short rests in the midst of an…
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Chapter 8: Adventuring
Delving into the ancient Tomb of Horrors, slipping through the back alleys of Waterdeep, hacking a fresh trail through the thick jungles on the Isle of Dread—these are the things that Dungeons & Dragons adventures are made of. Your character in the game might explore forgotten ruins and uncharted lands, uncover dark secrets and sinister…
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Advantage and Disadvantage
Sometimes a special ability, spell, or situation tells you that you have an advantage or a disadvantage on an ability check, a saving throw, or an attack roll. When that happens, you roll an additional die (ranging from 1d4 to 1d12) along with the d20 when you make the roll. For an advantage, add the…