Category Archives: D&D fifth edition

In 1981 a Troll Named Grimtooth Set a Path for Today’s D&D Books

Posted on April 30, 2019 by David Hartlage

Starting in 1981, Flying Buffalo Games published a series of Grimtooth’s Traps books. They featured diagrams of traps that showed heroes on the verge of being folded, spindled, and mutilated. For instance, one sample shows a covered pit trap where … Continue reading →

Posted in D&D fifth edition, Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Are the Authors of the Dungeon & Dragons Hardcover Adventures Blind to the Plight of DMs?

Posted on March 20, 2018 by David Hartlage

Adventure paths reveal their linear design in the name: They follow a path. In a linear adventure every play group follows the same plot thread, through the same scenes, to the same conclusion. For adventure creators, linear adventures bring advantages. … Continue reading →

Posted in D&D fifth edition, Role-playing game design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Spell Blow Back—How Part of D&D that Everyone Avoided Shaped the 5th-Edition Power Curve

Posted on July 3, 2017 by David Hartlage

The original Dungeons & Dragons game featured some activities that most players didn’t enjoy and eventually came to skip. I already wrote about mapping. Unless your group plays D&D in a deliberately old style, you don’t draft a player as … Continue reading →

Posted in D&D fifth edition, Role-playing game design, Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

7 Dungeons & Dragons character builds absurdly good at one thing

Posted on May 25, 2016 by David Hartlage

The designers of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons want to avoid changing the game as it exists in print. In a Tome Show interview, designer Mike Mearls said they would only make changes if something proves “horribly broken.” Although no … Continue reading →

Posted in Character builds, D&D fifth edition | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

A dungeon master’s guide to Glyph of Warding

Posted on September 29, 2015 by David Hartlage

From the beginning, Dungeons & Dragons has included a few spells for dungeon masters. In my last post, I cited Magic Jar as inspiration for adventure. Player characters won’t cast it, but villains might. In today’s game, Glyph of Warding … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, D&D fifth edition | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

The evil wizard’s guide to defense against murderous treasure hunters

Posted on September 16, 2015 by David Hartlage

Every evil wizard occasional faces the threat of treasure hunters, do-gooders, and other barbarians. In order to exterminate such vermin, you must learn to defend yourself from their attacks. Preparation Alarm [1st-level Abjuration] (V,S,M) (casting time: 1 minute) (duration: 8 … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, D&D fifth edition | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Saving fifth-edition D&D’s evil wizards from meddling do-gooders

Posted on September 9, 2015 by David Hartlage

In more than a year of fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons, I’ve pitted player characters against a lot of wizards. Often, a published adventure or one from the D&D Adventurers League offers a spellcaster as a climactic encounter. These showdowns typically … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, D&D fifth edition | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

What is the typical amount of treasure awarded in a fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign?

Posted on May 4, 2015 by David Hartlage

The fifth-edition Dungeon Master’s Guide advises dungeon masters, “You can hand out as much or as little treasure as you want.” The new Dungeons & Dragons game offers DMs the freedom to create a gritty, low-magic campaign without any “intrinsic … Continue reading →

Posted in D&D fifth edition, Rules | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Improved fifth-edition dungeon master screen and initiative tents

Posted on March 18, 2015 by David Hartlage

When the first set of fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons basic rules arrived, I created dungeon master screen inserts. I put these pages in my mini screen from Hammerdog Games. Others have attached them to screens of their own creation. As … Continue reading →

Posted in D&D fifth edition, Dungeon master's tools | Tagged , | 4 Comments

How fifth edition keeps familiar spells and a Vancian feel without breaking D&D

Posted on February 10, 2015 by David Hartlage

In my last post, I described the how Dungeons & Dragons tended to break once players gathered too many magic items or certain combinations of items. Earlier editions included several rules that worked to prevent the problem, but fifth edition’s … Continue reading →

Posted in D&D fifth edition, Role-playing game design, Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments