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Tag Archives: Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition

D&D 5E – Line of Effect

1 Comment Posted by on March 14, 2022

Line of Effect Definition for Fifth Edition

The Player’s Handbook says:

“To target something [with a spell], you must have a clear path to it, so it can’t be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point that you can’t see and an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and that point, the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.”


This isn’t especially clear and and leads to many questions.
A clear definition of “line of effect” would clear up much of the confusion. However, neither the Player’s Handbook nor the Dungeons Master’s Guide use this term at all. Because fifth edition doesn’t define a line of effect, below is my unofficial definition. I went back to the definition in third edition and modified it to account for the differences in 3rd and 5th edition. Because the following is not official, you should consider it a house rule.

Line of Effect [for Spells]

You must have a clear line of effect to any target that you cast a spell on or to the point of origin for any spell’s area of effect. A spell’s area of effect affects only an area, creature, or object to which it has line of effect from its origin.
Line of effect is a straight, unblocked path that indicates what a spell can affect. A line of effect is canceled by a solid barrier. It’s like line of sight for ranged weapons, except that it’s not blocked by fog, darkness, and other factors that limit normal sight.
A line of effect is also blocked by a solid barrier that doesn’t block sight, such as clear glass.
An otherwise solid barrier with a hole of at least 1 square foot through it does not block a spell’s line of effect. Such an opening means that the 5-foot length of wall containing the hole is no longer considered a barrier for purposes of a spell’s line of effect.
Line of effect is required for spells unless the spell description specifically states otherwise. Any spell that says that you need to see the target still requires a line of effect. If the spell description says that an effect spreads around corners that effect doesn’t require a line of effect.

Concentration Spells

If a spell must be maintained with concentration, you must have a line of effect to cast the spell, but you do not need to maintain a line of effect to maintain concentration. However, if the concentration spell allows you to use an action, bonus action or reaction to effect a creature or object then any round that you perform that action you must have line of effect to the target.

Line of Effect [for Auras]

The line of effect for an Aura is different than for spells. To be effected by (or to detect) an Aura there must be a straight path to the source of the aura that isn’t blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.

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D&D 5E – Encounter Size Tables (revised)

6 Comments Posted by on March 12, 2022

Tables for Determining Encounter Size

These tables more closely conform to the guidelines in the Dungeon Master’s Guide than the ones I published in 2020. Many thanks to Andrea Mosconi for pointing out my mistakes and taking the time to create these revised tables. [For my followers that are Italian speakers, you might find the site he used to help manage a useful resource www.dragonslair.it ]

There are separate tables for groups of 3, 4, 5, or 6 PCs. Just use the PDF file for the number of PCs in your party. Then go to the Easy, Medium, Hard, or Deadly encounter table. Find their average character level on the left side of the table and go across to the column that corresponds to the CR of the monster you want to use to see how many monsters you should use for the encounter (according to the DMG).

This works even if the encounter has different types of monsters as long as they each have the same CR. But what if you want the encounter to have monsters with different CRs?
Just see how many of each CR monster you need for an Easy, Medium and Hard encounter. Then you can put them together in a single encounter using these formulas:
1D=4E=2M=2E+1M=1E+1H, 1H=3E=1E+1M, 1M=2E
Where D is Deadly, H is Hard, M is Medium and E is Easy.

Or, if you aren’t a math geek:
For a Deadly encounter you can use four Easy, or two Medium, or two Easy and one Medium, or one Easy and one Hard encounter.
For a Hard encounter you can use three Easy, or one Easy and one Medium encounter.
For a Medium encounter you can use two Easy encounters.

Here are the files:
Encounter for 3 PCs
Encounter for 4 PCs
Encounter for 5 PCs
Encounter for 6 PCs

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D&D 5E – Armor Grades

3 Comments Posted by on February 19, 2022

There has been a lot of talk about how Armor Class (AC) is calculated in D&D and how armor could be be handled differently. This post is not about that. Without changing any of the basic D&D rules, the house rule I am proposing here simply adds to (or subtracts from) your armor class depending on the quality of the armor.

This system is simple and easy to remember. This works with all armor. Use the armor in the PHB but change the price and Armor Class (AC) based on the grade of the armor as indicated below. Shields are not available in Excellent or Poor condition.

EXCELLENT
These are created by the best armor smiths in the land. Armor of this grade isn’t always available.
Cost: 4 times the PHB price
Armor Class: +2 bonus to the AC

FINE
This is a the best armor most people will ever see. It is highly prized and often passed down from father to son.
Cost: 2 times the PHB price
Armor Class: +1 bonus to the AC

GOOD
This is the grade of the armor in the PHB.
Cost: PHB price
Armor Class: Use the AC in the PHB

FAIR
A peasant or low CR monster might have such armor. No fighter would use such low grade armor if he could passably get something better.
Cost: 1/2 the PHB price
Armor Class: −1 penalty to the AC

POOR
These may be found discarded or abandoned on a battlefield. They are often rusted, chipped, broken or have pieces missing. They would typically only be used when there is no other option.
Cost: 1/4 the PHB price (or found)
Armor Class: −2 (or greater) penalty to the AC.

DAMAGING ARMOR [Optional Rule]
When you take Slashing, Piercing, Bludgeoning, Acid, Lightning, or Force damage from a critical hit your armor takes a permanent and cumulative −1 penalty to its AC. The damage is applied to your shield unless your opponent had advantage on the attack. In that case, or if you aren’t using a shield, the damage is applied to your other armor. If this penalty drops the armor’s AC to 0, it is destroyed.

The DM might apply the penalty in other situations where the armor might be damaged.

 

 

House Rules, Optional rules ,

D&D 5E – Weapon Grades

1 Comment Posted by on February 16, 2022

Wanting to add more weapon options to your Dungeons and Dragons 5E game? The weapons available in the Player’s Handbook (PHB) are simple and easy to play, but there is no variety based on the quality of the weapon. All short swords do the same damage. The house rules I am presenting here will allow allow your characters to spend more gold for a higher quality weapon that does more damage, or if they can’t afford the best they can get a lower quality weapon that does less damage.

This system is simple and easy to remember. This works with all weapons. Use the weapons in the PHB but change the price and damage dice based on the grade of the weapon as indicated below.

EXCELLENT
These are created by the best weapon smiths in the land. Weapons of this grade aren’t always available.
Cost: 4 times the PHB price
Damage Dice: Roll two additional dice and drop the lowest 2.

VERY GOOD
These are a the best weapons most people will ever see. They are highly prized and often passed down from father to son.
Cost: 2 times the PHB price
Damage Dice: Roll one additional die and drop the lowest one.

GOOD
This is the grade of the weapons in the PHB.
Cost: PHB price
Damage Dice: PHB damage

FAIR
A peasant or low CR monster might have such a weapon. No fighter would use such a low grade weapon if he could passably get a better one.
Cost: 1/2 the PHB price
Damage Dice: Roll one additional die and drop the highest one.

POOR
These may be found discarded or abandoned on a battlefield. They are often rusted, chipped, or broken. They would typically only be used when there is no other option.
Cost: 1/4 the PHB price (or found)
Damage Dice: After rolling the standard damage dice, roll one additional die and subtract that from the total of the others. If this total is zero or less, your weapon damage will only be the ability modifier you are using for this weapon (STR or DEX).

CRITICAL HIT
If your attack roll is a natural 20 (a 20 on the dice before any modifiers), roll double the standard damage dice before making an adjustment for weapon quality.

CRITICAL MISS [Optional Rule]
If your attack roll is a natural 1 (a 1 on the dice before any modifiers), the weapon attack misses. There is also a chance your weapon is damaged. Immediately make another attack roll applying all of the same modifiers against the same AC but this isn’t an attack, it is a roll to see if you damaged your weapon. If this second roll is a miss your weapon drops to the next lower grade. If your weapon is already poor quality, it is destroyed.

House Rules, Optional rules ,

D&D 5E – ICRPG Conversion Guide

10 Comments Posted by on January 6, 2022

Conversion Book Cover - Small

Looking for ways to adapt more ICRPG into D&D 5e? Perhaps this can help.

Download your free 15 page PDF HERE.

Never heard of ICRPG? I believe that Index Card Role Playing Game (ICRPG) is only a little over 5 years old. The latest version (Master Edition) came out last month. Quoting from the Quick Start “How to use the ICRPG rules? Short answer: don’t.”
“Index Card RPG is a way of thinking. Your players invested in another system? No problem. … Take what is useful for you, and toss the rest!”

The basics are simple. Here are some examples.
Movement and distance are somewhat abstract. Everything is either close, near, or far.
Turns are always taken clockwise around the table.
In combat, your character can either move far, move near and take an action, or take an action and not move.
A target number is set for the room or encounter area. It becomes the AC for all monsters and the DC for anything else you may attempt.

I couldn’t find any good conversion guides, so I wrote this one. If any of this sounds interesting to you, I recommend downloading the free ICRPG Quick Start available on “DriveThru RPG”.

You might want to run an ICRPG session or two using this conversion guide. If you and your players think any of these rules would enhance your D&D 5e game, drop all of the ones you don’t like and just use the ones you like as house rules in your next D&D game.

Let me know how it goes.

Revision #1, 1/8/2022: Removed copyrighted text and images as requested by Alex from Runehammer Games.

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D&D 5E – Nautical Adventures – Version 2

5 Comments Posted by on November 24, 2021

Revised rules for conducting a seafaring campaign in D&D. Including rules for Ship-to-Ship Combat.

You can download a free copy here:

This is a major update to my earlier Nautical Adventures supplement. I have changed form a Ship Record Sheet to the Ship Stat Block format as presented in the “Ghost of Saltmarsh” book under its “Of Ships and The Sea” appendix and have streamlined the special officer actions. This has made running ship to ship combat much faster and easier to play.
Everything here is fully comparable with “Ghost of Saltmarsh”. I highly recommend its “TRAVEL AT SEA”, “OCEAN ENVIRONS”, “ENCOUNTERS AT SEA”, “RANDOM SHIPS”, “MYSTERIOUS ISLANDS”, and “UNDERWATER LOCATIONS” sections for use in your nautical adventures.

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D&D 5E – The Complete Guide to Lycanthropy

1 Comment Posted by on October 11, 2021

The official rules for Lycanthropy in D&D 5E don’t make it clear on how a DM should run the game should a player’s character become effected by the curse. I was looking to come up with some house rules when I ran across this post by Halfling Hobbies. I didn’t think I could improve on it much so I thought I would share.

Source: The Complete Guide to Lycanthropy in D&D 5e | Halfling Hobbies & Trinkets

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D&D 5E – Epic Level Play

1 Comment Posted by on September 26, 2021

5.0-Epic Cover - Small

Think only being able to go to level 20 in D&D is too restricting? Want to take your characters on truly epic adventures? Then this supplement is for you. Download your free PDF copy HERE.

Using these rules you can take any class, or multiclass character beyond level 20. There is no upper limit! This expands each class’s progression of class features beyond 20th level. And for spellcasters it introduces Epic spells with rules for creating and casting any spell you can think of!

I want to thank Bailey, a reader of this blog, for giving me the inspiration to create this.

Update #1: 10/9/2021 Revised Epic Spell creation rules.

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D&D 5E – Effects of Magical Aging

5 Comments Posted by on August 15, 2021

Can my D&D character die of old age?

In 3.5 and earlier editions of D&D your character could die of old age. This is not presented as an option in 5th edition. If you want some rules for how your characters are effected when they are magically aged, with the possibility of dying from old age, this post is for you.

Your character ages normally as time passes in your campaign. Most campaigns won’t represent a long enough time for your character’s advancing age to effect your character’s abilities. But the world of D&D is a world full of magic and anything can happen.

The Player’s Handbook tells you when each race is considered an adult and their expected lifespan. You also learn that the “petrified” condition ceases aging and creatures under the effect of the “imprisonment” spell don’t age. You also learn that the “resurrection”, “true resurrection”, and “revivify” spells don’t work on creatures that died from old age. I would also have to assume that a properly worded “wish” spell could change the age of a creature.

From the Dungeon Master’s Guide you learn that both the “Boots of Immortality” and the epic “Boon of Immortality” both stop you from aging, make you immune to any effect that would age you, and with them you can’t die from old age. You also learn that a creature trapped in an “iron flask” doesn’t age.

The Monster Manuel only has one monster that effects aging. The “Ghost” has a “Horrifying Visage” ability that can age a character 1d4 x 10 years. The aging effect can be reversed with a greater restoration spell, but only within 24 hours of it occurring. [For the following rules to work as intended, change the aging from “1d4 x 10 years” to “one age category”.]

In the magical world of D&D there may be additional spells or magical effects that are not in any of the core books. As the result of some magic, you might be unnaturally changed to any older (or younger) age. I have created the following unofficial rules to provide a framework for the DM to handle these situations.

I have divided the ages into 3 groups: Young, Mature and Old
Each of these groups are further divided into three categories. Although the Player’s Handbook says that you can choose any age for your character, it is assumed that a starting player character would normally be somewhere in the “Mature” group.

The three age groups and the categories for each group are as follows.
Young: Infant, Child, Adolescent
Mature: Young-adult, Adult, Middle-aged
Old: Senior, Elderly, Venerable

When a creature is affected by magic which changes its age, it will typically make it older (or younger depending on the magic effect) by a single age category. When your age is changed in this way your character changes as described below. Please note that, except for Infants, you are NOT changing any ability scores. Also these changes are NOT cumulative. When your age is magically changed to one of these categories you should start by removing any previously applied changes from earlier age changes before applying the new changes.

PC age categories

Infant: Your size becomes tiny, Your speed becomes 0, You loose all ability to communicate. You can’t cast spells. You loose all of your proficiencies. All of your ability scores become 3. You automatically fail all ability checks and saves.

Child: Your size becomes small. Your speed becomes 10. You can’t cast spells. You loose all of your proficiencies. You have Disadvantage on STR, INT, WIS and DEX checks and saves. You have Advantage on CHA checks and saves.

Adolescent: You loose all weapon and armor proficiencies. You must succeed on a concentration check to cast any spell. You have a -2 on STR, INT and WIS checks and saves. You have a +2 on CHA checks and saves.

Young-adult, Adult, and Middle-aged: No changes.

Senior: You have a -2 on STR, DEX and INT checks and saves.

Elderly: You have disadvantage on STR, DEX and INT checks and saves. You have a +2 on CHA and WIS checks and saves.

Venerable: You automatically fail all STR and DEX checks and saves. You have advantage on CHA and WIS checks and saves. If you fail any CON save you receive one level of exhaustion. If you die from exhaustion, you will have died from old age.

Too young or too old:

If magical ageing makes you younger than the youngest category you die from never having been born. Your body dissipaters and your sole returns to the font on the Positive Energy Plain from whence it came.

If magical ageing makes you older than oldest category you die of old age.

PC Races

For the races that are in the Player’s Handbook.

Dwarf
Young: Infant 0-1, Child 2-19, Adolescent 20-49
Mature: Young-adult 50-99, Adult 100-149, Middle-aged 150-199
Old: Senior 200-249, Elderly 250-299, Venerable 300-350

Elf
Young: Infant 0-1, Child 2-19, Adolescent 20-99
Mature: Young-adult 100-199, Adult 200-299, Middle-aged 300-399
Old: Senior 400-499, Elderly 500-599, Venerable 600-750

Halfling
Young: Infant 0-1, Child 2-13, Adolescent 14-19
Mature: Young-adult 20-49, Adult 50-89, Middle-aged 90-129
Old: Senior 130-159, Elderly 160-199, Venerable 200-250

Human
Young: Infant 0-1, Child 2-12, Adolescent 13-17
Mature: Young-adult 18-24, Adult 25-44, Middle-aged 45-64
Old: Senior 65-79, Elderly 80-99, Venerable 100-120

Dragonborn
Young: Infant 0, Child 1-3, Adolescent 4-14
Mature: Young-adult 15-24, Adult 25-34, Middle-aged 35-44
Old: Senior 45-54, Elderly 55-64, Venerable 65-80

Gnome
Young: Infant 0-1, Child 2-19, Adolescent 20-39
Mature: Young-adult 40-99, Adult 100-159, Middle-aged 160-219
Old: Senior 220-279, Elderly 280-339, Venerable 340-500

Half-Elf
Young: Infant 0-1, Child 2-14, Adolescent 15-19
Mature: Young-adult 20-34, Adult 45-69, Middle-aged 70-94
Old: Senior 95-119, Elderly 120-144, Venerable 145-180

Half-Orc
Young: Infant 0-1, Child 2-5, Adolescent 6-13
Mature: Young-adult 14-23, Adult 24-33, Middle-aged 34-43
Old: Senior 44-53, Elderly 54-63, Venerable 64-75

Tiefling
Young: Infant 0-1, Child 2-12, Adolescent 13-17
Mature: Young-adult 18-24, Adult 25-44, Middle-aged 45-64
Old: Senior 65-99, Elderly 100-119, Venerable 120-150

Monster age categories

For NPCs and all Creatures that do not have a class level (monsters) what happens when they are magically aged depends on their type. They will use the age categories that are shown below for the monster type. We can ignore their actual age in years.

Aberrations, Celestials, Constructs, Elementals, Fey, Fiends, Monstrosities, Oozes, and Undead are immune to magical aging.

Beasts
Beasts are assumed to start as an Adult.
Beast age categories:
Child: Disadvantage on STR and DEX checks and saves.
Adolescent: -2 on STR and DEX checks and saves.
Adult: Starting age.
Old: Disadvantage on STR and DEX checks and saves.

Dragons
Dragons have their own age categories. When they magically change to a different age category all of their stats change to those for a dragon of the same color but with the new stat block.
Dragon age categories:
Wyrmling 0-5 years
Young 6-100 years
Adult 101-800 years
Ancient 801+ years

Faerie Dragons
They will change color, and the abilities associated with that color, as they change change age categories.
Faerie Dragon age categories:
Red 0-5 years
Orange 6-10 years
Yellow 11-22 years
Green 21-30 years
Blue 31-40 years
Indigo 41-50 years
Violet 51 years

Giants and Humanoids
Use the same age categories as shown for PCs.
Giants and Humanoids are assumed to start as an Adult.

Plants
Plants are assumed to start as an Adult and they don’t die from old age, they just get larger. Use your common sense, for instance plants that don’t have a speed or move rate don’t get them when they change size.
Plant categories:
Young: Size decreases from Adult by two size categories and reach decreases from Adult by 10′ and speed decreases from Adult by 10′.
Young-adult: Size decreases from Adult by one size category and reach decreases from Adult by 5′ and speed decreases from Adult by 5′.
Adult: Starting age.
Middle-aged: Size increases from Adult by one size category and reach increases from Adult by 5′ and speed increases from Adult by 5′.
Old: Size increases from Adult by two size categories and reach increases from Adult by 10′ and speed increases from Adult by 10′.

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D&D 5E – Armor & Weapon AC/HP

4 Comments Posted by on July 25, 2021

Broken-Sword

Armor & Weapons AC and HP

There may come a time when a character needs to destroy some armor or a weapon. By RAW (rules as written), in D&D 5E you can’t attack armor or a weapon during combat while some creature has it in its possession. Nevertheless, this need sometimes arises and that is the reason I created the following tables to use in my games. The AC (armor class) listed for the various types of armor is the AC for the armor itself and not the AC that the armor provided to its wearer. Damage types that any armor or weapon is resistant to only does half damage to the item, and any that they are vulnerable to does double damage.

Armor

All armor types are immune to cold, force, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, and thunder damage.

ArmorACHPResistanceVulnerable
Light Armor
Padded1010bludgeoningacid, fire, slashing
Leather1112 bludgeoning acid, fire, slashing
Studded leather1214bludgeoningacid, fire
Medium Armor
Hide1214bludgeoningacid, fire, slashing
Chain shirt1215bludgeoning, slashingpiercing
Scale mail1416bludgeoning, slashingpiercing
Breastplate1417bludgeoning, slashing, piercing
Half plate1518bludgeoning, slashing, piercing
Heavy Armor
Ring mail1417bludgeoning, slashingpiercing
Chain mail1618bludgeoning, slashing piercing
Splint1719bludgeoning, slashing
Plate1820 bludgeoning, slashing, piercing
Shield
Shield1410 bludgeoning, slashing, piercing fire (wood shields only)

Weapons

  All weapon types are immune to poison, cold, radiant, necrotic, thunder, force, and psychic damage.

WeaponACHP ResistanceVulnerable
Simple Melee Weapons
Club1510 fire
Dagger1918firebludgeoning
Greatclub1513 fire
Handaxe1918firebludgeoning
javelin1918fire 
Light hammer1915bludgeoning, fire 
Mace1918bludgeoning, fire 
Quarterstaff1510–fire
Sickle1913fire 
Spear1913fire 
Simple Ranged Weapons
Crossbow, light1710–fire
Dart194firebludgeoning
Shortbow155–fire
Sling116bludgeoningfire
Martial Melee Weapons
Battleaxe1918fire 
Flail1110bludgeoningfire
Glaive1918fire 
Greataxe1918fire 
Greatsword1918fire 
Halberd1918fire 
Lance1918 fire, bludgeoning
Longsword1918fire 
Maul1918bludgeoning, fire 
Morningstar1918fire 
Pike1918fire 
Rapier1915firebludgeoning
Scimitar1915fire 
Shortsword1915fire 
Trident1918fire 
War pick1918fire 
Warhammer1918fire 
Whip118bludgeoningfire
Martial Ranged Weapons
Blowgun156–fire
Crossbow, hand176–fire
Crossbow, heavy1713–fire
Longbow1510–fire
Net155bludgeoningfire

Weapons with wooden shafts.

The Staff has these traits which are different from its metal head:

AC 15, HP 10, no resistances, vulnerable to fire.

Magical armor and weapons.

Other than potions and scrolls, most magic items have resistance to all damage.

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