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1500 questions
90
votes
1 answer
What is the Oberoni Fallacy?
In my travels across the internet, I've occasionally seen mention of a logical fallacy relating to roleplaying games called the Oberoni Fallacy. What is this fallacy, and where does it come from?
DuckTapeAl
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89
votes
10 answers
What happens when an Immovable Rod is activated while in a vehicle?
The Red Bandits have boarded the train, hidden among the other passengers. They wait an hour or two - to be sure the train is far from any city - then, on the boss's signal, they all pull out their weapons. The boss shouts, "Everybody down! This is…
Mar
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89
votes
10 answers
Should I warn my players when they're about to do something stupid?
As a GM, I occasionally run into situations where the players want to do something very poorly thought-out. Honest mistakes, not intentional derailing. In these situations, I often feel the urge to warn them, or ask if they're really certain what…
kviiri
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89
votes
5 answers
Rolling a D10 (0-9) for hitpoints. What do I get with a zero?
My character leveled up and I rolled a D10 to determine the rise in hitpoints. The dice that I used goes from 0 to 9 and I rolled a zero. The DM told me that this means I only add my modifier (0 + 3 = 3).
I didn't agree with this and think it…
Iarwain
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89
votes
16 answers
How do I stop my PCs from acting like insomniac monkeys on crack?
An issue came up in the last session of my Pathfinder campaign - that of chronic PC impatience.
It happens especially when they go to cities and between major adventures. They go into a frenzy of trying to buy and sell and talk to everyone and do…
mxyzplk
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88
votes
11 answers
Player may be manipulating die rolls, but I'm uncertain. How do I approach the situation?
I'm a new DM for four people who are all friends (I am also friends with all of them). During the game, I observed one player turn a D20 from a lower number to a higher number a couple times with her thumb when all the players were rolling…
Chris
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88
votes
21 answers
Why would I ever choose rolling hit points?
In DnD 5th edition, all classes seemingly have the option of rolling hit points -or- just increasing their hit points by a set value.
That set value is defined as the dice roll's average, rounded up.
Given that it is rounded up (and thus will…
TheMorten
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88
votes
10 answers
What can I do to paper to make it look aged?
I want to add some props to my game, I'm thinking of ancient scrolls or maps. What methods can I do to artificially age the paper in order to make it look older?
A simple google search gives several responses to this question. The common responses…
briddums
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87
votes
15 answers
A player always wants to recruit NPCs into the party. How do I handle this?
TL;DR: I have a player who wants to recruit lots of NPCs to avoid putting his own character in danger and to grab more spotlight for himself. I'm concerned about how this will affect challenge balance and the amount of fun the other players have. He…
Foxy_Japacan
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87
votes
2 answers
What defines a "West Marches" campaign?
There are a few questions on this site that mention "West Marches", but they all seem to assume that a reader already knows exactly what a "West Marches" game is. Some questions link to multiple blog posts, some questions link to a different site…
Secespitus
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86
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14 answers
My PCs have a plan that will get them all killed; how and why should I save them?
Related: How do I help my players figure out how to stay alive in a realistically-deadly sandbox campaign?
I am running a sandbox game for a group of players who are used to more traditional campaigns. While my players all said they were on board…
Tim C
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86
votes
4 answers
Do you have to have thieves' tools in order to pick a lock?
Does a character have to have thieves' tools (TT) in order to pick a lock? Not necessarily proficiency in the tool, but at least have the tool itself?
I'm confused about picking locks and whether or not it A) requires thieves tools to even attempt…
Jason K
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86
votes
2 answers
The Stack'O'Mounts
This is an exercise in ridiculousness, but I find it quite fun to consider - hence powergaming.
Let's consider three characters: a gnomish cavalier (small) with his wolf mount (medium), half-orc druid (medium) and druid's companion, a gorilla…
eimyr
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86
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7 answers
D&D 5e and "Theatre of the Mind" in combat
Our target play style for combat encounters would be to use battle boards roughly half the time (when there is enough of interest in play that the tactics are fun to play out), and to skip that with faster "cinematic" combat otherwise.
We have not…
Neil Slater
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85
votes
2 answers
Who can use magic scrolls?
I'm confused about who can use scrolls in 5e. In the DMG, p139 under Magic Item Categories: Scrolls, it states that:
Any creature that can understand a written language can read the
arcane script on a scroll and attempt to activate it.
This…
Jason K
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