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    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Hydra www.wizards.com
      February 8 at 5:21pm
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      2 / 128
      AndyHolman
      AndyHolman
      I've always thought of the Hydra as a multi-headed snake - a snake body, and each of its heads is a snake head, rather than a dragon-like head. I'd be find with multi-headed dragons being some other thing, but to me, the Hydra in popular culture is very strongly slanted in favor of snake-like.
      -Andy

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      February 19, 2013 12:02 PM PST
      urzaden
      urzaden
      I have always thought of the Hydra are a sort of amphibian with skin that looked like that of a Frog. With that being said I always pictured the Hydra having a body and legs best suited for the water but was never constrained to just Lakes, Rivers, and Seas. How does that fit with all of you out there what are your opinions?
      February 19, 2013 9:03 PM PST
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Best Supporting Character wizards.com
      February 2 at 6:54am
      2 people like this external article.
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      D&D Next Goals, Part Two www.wizards.com
      January 14 at 5:55pm
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      2 / 281
      Tim.Maguire
      Tim.Maguire
      I must say you do have a difficult job in laying out the strategy as you release each new edition. From the standpoint of the three groups we've play tested 5e (Next) with we've come to the consensus that you must balance:
      1. Maximization within the market segments that yield the highest profitability (I am guessing this gets younger as the years go on).
      2. Various ages of D&D players who each have a special place in their heart for a specific edition.
      3. Keeping the original...

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      January 26, 2013 1:02 PM PST
      Shamanstarr
      Shamanstarr
      I would never call the lack of fluff reason for mechanics a weak point for 4e, personally, I think one of 4e's strengths was it put the fluff back where it belonged, in the hands of DMs and Players...out of combat actions, story, roleplaying, all work better in an environment where the rules aren't focused on them, but rather on just resolution mechanics, which 4e was. The DM an the Players bring the story, the exploration, and the interaction, they bring the story alive, and the more staid and...

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      January 26, 2013 4:59 PM PST
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Yippie Ki-Yay in D Minor www.wizards.com
      December 20, 2012 at 6:04am
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Wrapping Up 2012 www.wizards.com
      December 19, 2012 at 5:42am
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      1 person likes this external article.
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      2 / 341
      Sjachiskux
      Sjachiskux
      I think each class having the maneuver mechanic should have a different die size equal to the size of his hit dice: example, the fighter should have 6 d10 expert dice at high levels, when the monk has 6 d8 and the rogue 6d6.
      Also, on the subject of weapon choices, every characters had time only to learn two (2) weapons in the list given to his class, except for the fighter, who his better trained with weapons, who learns how to use two groups of similar weapons. His damage with such a...

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      January 4, 2013 7:37 AM PST
      RadperT
      RadperT
      To clarify, there is no difference between background and profession. More skills are needed, but profession is a category which helps define the character's skills. A woodcutter, for example, would be recommended to have the skills Climb, Drive, Gather Information, Plants Knowledge and Use Rope, while the ability of a woodcutter to fell trees would be described narratively, without specifying restrictive limits such as how long it takes or how much damage a falling tree would do. A character...

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      January 6, 2013 8:44 PM PST
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Lego My Ego wizards.com
      December 6, 2012 at 6:13am
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Class Design Concepts www.wizards.com
      November 26, 2012 at 7:34am
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Short People www.wizards.com
      November 7, 2012 at 6:53am
      1 person likes this external article.
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Sorcerers and Warlocks www.wizards.com
      August 25, 2012 at 4:11pm
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      2 / 368
      cowleymen
      cowleymen
      This is something i totally agree with. another post mentioned splitting different spells up between different classes, but then you need all those classes to cover every magic need. Letting people do different things via flavor, makes the spells seem entirely different
      February 10, 2013 6:35 PM PST
      cowleymen
      cowleymen
      I dont think the core rules need to give you that much flavor. Building a mechanic that lets you build your own background is much better. The fighter maneuvers and monk ki abilities are a great example. You can either chose ones that you like, or just pick and chose and slowly build your own fighting styles. By giving a base set of spells and abilites that all of that class has(set spell list) and then encounter powers that build your story.
      February 10, 2013 6:52 PM PST
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Die, DM, Die! www.wizards.com
      July 12, 2012 at 6:07am
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      2 / 56
      Rartemass
      Rartemass
      For the poll, I don't actually use a DM screen. All dice are rolled in front of the players.
      I do however make random arbitrary rolls with zero meaning to throw them off. I add either excited or upset expressions (or the much loathed by my players - evil grin).
      This way they never truly know what the dice rolls are for except for attacks and the occasional skill check.

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      1 person likes this discussion post.
      July 15, 2012 5:49 PM PDT
      Goken100
      Goken100
      I thought I'd found the perfect dm dice shortcut: the d&d virtual table! I had all the characters and monsters pre-loaded, and the players at the table never knew I was doing anything different (other than much faster monster turns). Sadly that all ends after July. I can only hope the next version of d&d will have even better digital integration options.
      July 18, 2012 4:20 AM PDT
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Rule-of-Three: 06/05/2012 wizards.com
      June 5, 2012 at 5:50am
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      2 / 120
      Zhandra
      Zhandra
      I like the racial archtypes created by racial penalties as well, but my playgroup is full of oldschool players anyway, so regardless of what the rules say, we never have Elves with 16+ Constitution; its just lore that we'll never let die. So whether or not they include the racial penalties in the mechanics, they'll always show up when ya want 'em to.
      June 9, 2012 6:46 PM PDT
      KarmothSteadybow
      KarmothSteadybow
      Floating bonus for humans: sounds pretty good. Bonuses in every stat as well? Not so much. I think it would serve the archetype of the adaptable, "everyone's unique" human better to have multiple floating bonuses (probably with a limit of +2 -- +3 at the most -- per stat) than to have static, across the board +1s. Humanity's adaptability comes from the adaptability of each individual, true, but also from the slough of differing abilities found when the race is taken as a whole. Additionally, I...

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      June 13, 2012 11:31 PM PDT
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Bounded Accuracy wizards.com
      June 4, 2012 at 6:29am
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      2 / 476
      PrestonSnow
      PrestonSnow
      I know this is a long shot, since your comment is 5 months old at the time of my reply, but bounded accuracy essentially describes a paradigm shift in the "mathematical engine" that runs behind the scenes. In earlier editions there was this ever-escalating quasi-arms race between the PCs and the DM, with the PCs gaining ability bonuses and attack bonuses every level making it increasingly difficult for the DM to construct challenging encounters. The bounded accuracy system spaces out these...

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      1 person likes this discussion post.
      March 14, 2013 10:00 AM PDT
      Greyson
      Greyson
      Thanks for the input on this, PrestonSnow. Now it makes sense. And you nailed something I do to this day in 4E - "level-up" creatures so they are a challenge to the party.
      1 person likes this discussion post.
      April 3, 2013 9:39 AM PDT
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Playtest: First Round Overview wizards.com
      May 28, 2012 at 6:46pm
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      2 / 635
      AngryPockets
      AngryPockets
      This is... very awesome. I like the idea of moves you activate when needed. You don't necessarily have to risk wasting a daily power when you might miss, you can just follow up a successful strike with an opportunistic combo. It also clearly separates the fighter's fighting mechanic from the wizard's casting mechanic, which is always activated daily-power style (with a few exceptions, like Feather Fall).
      June 7, 2012 11:41 AM PDT
      LupusRegalis
      LupusRegalis
      "We thought about casting minor spells as the kind of thing a wizard might use around a laboratory that also happened to be useful in a fight. For example, a cantrip used to ignite a torch could also burn a goblin. At the last minute, however, we decided that trying to make that design work would take too long to hit this playtest." - M.Mearls
      This is what I expect from DnDNext. Original ideas that may or may not work, but sound awesome. Give us the chance to playtest it and find out if...

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      June 13, 2012 6:17 AM PDT
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff posted to mcvos' forum thread on the DnD Next group.

      Forum Topic: Armor issues
      May 26, 2012 at 7:49am
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff posted to jpomzz1's forum thread.

      Forum Topic: it's just not fun to me
      May 24, 2012 at 10:46pm
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Hit Points, Our Old Friend wizards.com
      May 21, 2012 at 12:16pm
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      2 / 422
      LupusRegalis
      LupusRegalis
      First off, I like the Hit Dice mechanics for healing, and don’t have a problem with how HP’s are gained each level. Those are fine, but I think some of the other posters are right, just call ‘Hit Dice’ used for natural healing something else (surges, first aid, recovery dice, etc).
      ‘Hit Points’, as defined by M.Mearls, raises my hackles. Actually, it’s just a different way of saying ‘Wound Points’ and ‘Vitality Points’ like the Star Wars games. Which I liked, and they worked well, but...

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      June 13, 2012 5:47 AM PDT
      Skyshroud7
      Skyshroud7
      its fine, please turn this game back to 3.5 make your millions again, revamp it correctly and we'll love wotc for it.
      July 11, 2012 9:42 PM PDT
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Cleric Design Goals wizards.com
      April 23, 2012 at 9:40pm
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      2 / 227
      BerylBrightshade
      BerylBrightshade
      Clerics were more fun in 2nd edition. They were still healers which is (to me) their main distinction, but they did not fall behind as fast on the "I can hit that" scale because feats did not exist. In trying to balance the cleric in 3rd ed. someone somwhere thought they needed to have the same amount spells per day and the same top spell level as wizards. sounds good...but that means they have to lose ground in combat. But the 1st and 2nd edition description of cleric call the class a holy...

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      June 11, 2012 6:50 PM PDT
      LupusRegalis
      LupusRegalis
      1. The Cleric Is a Healer:
      “This one should seem obvious, but it's worth making it clear that we assume that clerics can heal and that their abilities should reflect that. A player new to D&D who creates a cleric could focus on keeping the rest of the characters on their feet, and the mechanics would make that easy to understand and do.” - M.Mearls
      No, absolutely not. Especially not at the top of the list. A Cleric has the ability to aid his allies, including the ability to Heal...

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      1 person likes this discussion post.
      June 13, 2012 4:29 AM PDT
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      A Menagerie of Topics www.wizards.com
      April 3, 2012 at 6:41am
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      2 / 201
      Cusidhe
      Cusidhe
      Ok, I have a few problems with this. I agree that if it doesn't feel like D&D then it is a failure, as let's face it D&D is a big enough phenomenon in the gaming world that it can't really be changed (kind of like Star Wars). My problems are that if the mechanics of the past are what worked, then why not used them? To me, fighters were much more creative and fun in 1e/2e than either 3e or 4e, though 4e wasn't too bad, they just felt like any other class with different trappings. My other issue...

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      April 11, 2012 1:19 PM PDT
      BenBalestra
      BenBalestra
      OK, now that I have read the article, I am even more convinced this new game is being even more marketing driven then 4e. They are looking for absolute answers to questions that are based upon peronal choices and openions. There is no set level were a campaign ends, that will far from group to group or camapign to campaign. I am currently starting a new camapign (in a Pathfinder/3.5 hybrid system) at 8th to 9th level, becase it fits the design for the campaign. When will it end, when the players...

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      1 person likes this discussion post.
      April 25, 2012 11:09 AM PDT
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Rule-of-Three: 03/20/2012 www.wizards.com
      March 20, 2012 at 6:16am
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      2 / 133
      Ed_Warlord
      Ed_Warlord
      Indeed, improving with level has always been a cornerstone of D&D.
      And won't people wonder why their fighter doesn't get any better at hitting things?

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      March 31, 2012 2:31 PM PDT
      JOARQ
      JOARQ
      I think that using non-scaling defenses to create minions is a good idea, but there should be a way to boost defenses against small numbers of attacks each round. For example, Fighters could take a feat to parry a certain number of attacks if they sacrifice a bit of + to hit on their turn, Rouges can dodge, Wizards and Clerics can cast defensive spells. This allows low level monsters to hit higher level characters if they come in force, while preventing every attack from hitting like in 3.5....

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      April 22, 2012 7:11 PM PDT
    • Damajeff

      Damajeff shared an article.

      Putting the Vance in Advanced www.wizards.com
      February 27, 2012 at 8:09am
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      2 / 405
      dwarvenwarmaster
      dwarvenwarmaster
      How about an ability similar to the clerical way of "memorizing" spells? An invoker can memorize a bunch of spells, but burn them for a fireball spell, similar to how a positive aligned cleric can burn (substitute) a bless for a cure light wounds. This allows for more flexibility than a straight vacian system, and allows for more utilitarian spells to be memorized without withholding combat effectiveness. You could go more of an opposite route with a utilitarian specialty memorizing combat...

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      April 15, 2012 9:04 PM PDT
      Otto_von_Rheinsberg
      Otto_von_Rheinsberg
      How about improvised magic as an option? This should be less powerful than planned magic. It is costed based upon the liklihood of the effect. Things that are likely anyway are easy and strange things are expensive. Maelstrom and GURPS both feature concepts like it. Examples are given for the most common cases (ie. iconic spells) and perhaps combat magic (which must be faster to draw upon both for the player and the character) must be of the pre-baked libraries (Vancian or Powers).
      1 person likes this discussion post.
      April 18, 2012 10:01 AM PDT

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