2025 in review, and a preview of 2026

Well, I had intended that last post to be my farewell to 2025, but my kids are munching on dinner and I need a break.  Plus, the idea of writing a Year in Review post for a blog that's one month old is hilarious.  

So let's get down to it, and answer some burning questions.

How did this blog come to be?  I needed a place to post my random DM fun and rules hacks and module reworks and system neutral RPG ideas and bad poetry/experimental-rpg-musings.  oh yeah, buckle up--if you thought this blog was a bit all over the place in 2025, 2026 is going to be a WILD RIDE!  

But going back to the question, I also plan to publish some of this stuff, and what simpler way to preview, share, and workshop ideas than a blog?  The last several years, I have spent many joyful hours reading OSR/NSR blogs, and the world needs one more.

What's your long-term angle here?  Well, I have a full-time job and needed a distraction, and this beats drinking.  Like any storycrafter, I really just want people to listen, to take up my ideas and stories and weave bits and bobs into their dreams, and then come back and tell me about their adventures.  I am not in this to make money, but I am going to sell a few things eventually and charge money for them so folks take them seriously (there's so much good stuff out there, posted as random free PDFs on itch.io and DriveThruRPG, lost in a roaring crowd).  My goals are:

• One day make enough to cover my DMing costs of $10/month.
• One day soon, release my fantasy heartbreaker as a free text-only PDF, and have one table (other than my own) play it and like it.   
• Keep posting fun stuff to this blog, discussing RPGs on Discord with other bloggers and creators, workshopping ideas, and watching the blog reader count NUMBER GO UP (I confess, it's mildly addicting).
• Maybe, if the ADHD gods are kind, write that fantasy novel I have bouncing around my head.   

What are you playing right now?  I am running two games, all I have time for.  

Mausritter: With my kids, we just finished the starter adventure, and they are heading back to their home town by the river to buy a ship to chase down the DeadRatz, who fled away downriver with kidnapped villagers.  They will find every ship in town is busy ferrying folks across to watch the 'Song of the Frogacle' race.  And our adventurers get offered a paper ship, completely free if they compete and win the race!  For parents with fidgety kids, i recommend printing the items out on cardstock (or buying the physical boxes).  

DnD 5e: My in-person dad's game, weekly since June 2024.  To limit prep time, it's a sandbox populated with interconnected published OSR modules, which I hack to different degrees (5e folks: module prices ranged from $5-20).

First arc was Black Wyrm of Brandonsford (using this nice 5e conversion and this wonderful review, except for the Dragon and Giant, which use this excellent OSR-->5e thread).  I hacked the knight's tomb however, it was not challenging and needed a cursed treasure to blind them and properly scare the shit out of them. They tried to trick the Goblin King, and he turned their trick on them, nearly destroying the town.  In 2026 I will post my light remix of the module, it really sings if you add a little bit of dragon gold folklore.

Second arc was a Into the Wider World (City-River-Port) arc, they visited Marlinko to sell treasure ("I hate that town so much. We WILL one day return, take over, and burn it to the ground": 5/5 DM stars), went downstream and got snookered by the Pirates of the Goblin River (my remix) and a slaver airship, then got further cursed and sought help in Eversink, where they accidentally released several horrors on the city, got geased by an angry Church to guard an upcoming sea voyage, killed a thieving kid (poor lil' guy), decided to rob a mysterious magical zoo (V***m, before I knew about the creator, sigh), and then fought off the mimic colony they imported on their way out (paranoia levels high, as the Elder Mimic set sail and telepathically said "see you soon...").  

Third arc has been pirates! A mash up of Pirate Borg and the Secret of the Black Crag.  Forced into a sea voyage, they uncomfortably helped the Church oppress some poor port town (but drew the line at slaughtering rioters, risking Geas-death over dishonor).  Then they helped the lead priest try to ambush some pirates, and they doubled down, chasing the pirates into a kraken storm, only to wake up shipwrecked on a far shore.  Losing little time, they stole a ship from the pirate port, gratuitously murdering and resurrecting a completely unrelated priest on the way out. 

Following a treasure map, they plundered a island of trapped tombs and flaming dinosaurs (the first dungeon I created for this campaign, to spice up Brimstone Island)--only to be chased into the ocean by a stone titan, fled other treasure hunters (a familiar Elder Mimic and slaver airship), then went for repairs to Black Coral Bay island, where they amassed a small fleet and more treasure.  Eventually, they found a way past the Rokewind guarding the Black Crag (the place where the cursed items have been literally been pointing), freed a pirate's soul, and just arrived at the secret of the Black Crag.  With any luck, 2026 will involve more 5e pirate wavecrawl, Pirate Borg one-shots with their fleet, and maybe even Skycrawl.  But who knows with this crew?  They might hare off to fight a Lich's armies, investigate a cabal of dark mages, or go check out this deed to a warehouse they inherited.  

What are you plotting for 2026?

On the writing front, I will finish the Shadowdark feats series with a teaser of the Quirk system--all to be published in January or February I hope as my first RPG supplement.  

Then I will take a break from lists, and talk about hacking Nimble 2e, action economy in the OSR, colonial empires and cannibals and evil enemies, my favorite magic systems, and how I want (possibly) impossible things from OSR class design (all hail the GLoG).  Later, I want to talk about death in RPGs, why we need it, the fail states it leads us to, and some ways around those fail states that I see in different RPGs.  I'll present my own take on death in RPGs, and how I handle it as a DM.  This may include (bad) art.  

Beyond that, random thoughts, whirling around.  No resolutions this year, I have achieved peak humility and who wants to ruin perfection?  

Have a wonderful 2026!   

 

d20 OSR Shadowdark feats, Part 4: Wizards

Inspired by the number of potential feats across DnD- and OSR-dom, I came up with "badass normal", OSR-compatible feats for Shadowdark.  Part 1 of this series banged out 30 Fighter feats, Part 2 snuck in 30 Thief feats, and Part 3 extolled 20 priest feats. Today we dare to disturb Wizards.

This completes a full set of feats for the four base classes; see the beginning of part 3 for some background on how these feats are intended to be used with Shadowdark.

If you like these feats, consider buying me a coffee in the new year as I launch my first RPG publication, a Shadowdark supplement with all these 100 feats gathered, plus another 30 general feats to share, and 100+ fun Quirks to further customize your characters. If you want to be notified on launch, email thorn at dreamshrike.com or subscribe to this blog.

Now, to ring in 2026, I bring you 20 magical feats for Wizards. Happy New Year!

Feats followed by a * may be taken more than once. Any class restrictions on feats are included in the Feat name, with [Brackets].

Wizard Feats

1- Arcane Blink: Once per day, teleport 30 feet instantly as a reaction.

2- Armor Mage [Wizard]*: Cast spells in 1-slot armor (e.g., leather). Take again to increase armor slot proficiency by 1.

3- Combat Caster*: +1 to your spell rolls in combat. This feat can be taken twice.

4- Counterspell [Wizard]: Once per day, you may cancel a spell being cast NEAR you. Roll INT vs DC 12 + spell level.  If you know the spell yourself, and succeed on the roll, you may do this 2x/day.

5- Dark Bargain: Select one spell you do not know, at a tier you can cast.  You may cast this spell once per day. When you do, roll on the magical mishap table.

6- Dodgy: +1 AC while wearing light (1-slot) armor (or no armor).

7- Echo Spell: If a spell fails but misses by 1 or 2, it is forgotten but still casts with halved effect or duration.  GM will decide on the lesser effect.  

8- Elemental Endurance*: Pick one element (e.g., fire). Rolls to resist it are at Advantage.

9- Extended Spell*: Add one target to a single-target spell (e.g., twinning Magic Missile), but your spell check DC is +2 higher.

10- Focused Caster [Priest, Wizard]: For each spell, the first time your spell focus is tested by damage or distraction, roll with Advantage.

11- Grimoire Bound*: You have a spellbook that can hold 1 spell you know.  If you forget the spell, you can study the spellbook for 30 minutes and regain the spell.  If the spellbook is destroyed, the spell is lost until the book is replaced.  Each time you take this feat, select another spell.

12- Hidden Lore: INT rolls to study, recall, or read ancient history are Easy (DC 9). This includes lore on historically famous monsters. 

 

13- Magic Initiate*: Learn a 1st-level spell from either the Priest or Wizard list. Cast it once per Rest.

14- Maximize Spell: When casting a spell, choose to maximize the damage dice roll (for the first damage die: 2d6 becomes 6 + 1d6), but your spell check DC is +3.

15- Polyglot*: Learn one extra language.  In addition for wizards: as you were studying, you practiced the language of inanimate objects.  You may ask and receive an honest answer from an object once per day.  Retake: +1 language, +1 question/day.

16- Power Spell*: When casting a spell, choose to do +1 spell damage in round one, but your spell check DC is +1.

17- Runed Staff [Wizard]: Your staff is bound to you, and may be called to you from afar. It deals 1d4 damage (1 point of damage is magical).  You may bind a new staff to you after a long rest.  

18- Scholar*: INT checks to recall information on a chosen topic are Easy (DC 9)--you must choose a specialty. During downtime, you can research any given topic and ask a question of the GM.  They must answer truthfully, although they may withhold some information.  

19- Transmuted Spell*: Change the elemental damage type of a selected spell you know: add “Transmuted” to the name, creating a new spell option with a +1 DC to cast. If you fail the spell check for either spell option, both spell options fail.

20- Wizard’s Tongue [Wizard]*: Each day, you can tell one lie that is believed (without question) by anyone less than half your level/HD (round up).  Taking this again means you can tell an additional lie each day.

These feats have not all been playtested.  If you playtest them and/or have feedback, please email thorn@dreamshrike.com or comment below, and thank you!

d20 OSR Shadowdark Feats, part 3: Priests

Inspired by the number of potential feats across DnD- and OSR-dom, I came up with "badass normal", OSR-compatible feats for Shadowdark.  Part 1 of this series had Fighter feats, and Part 2 had Thief feats. Today we call upon Priests. Some background from last time:

I noticed that when leveling up in Shadowdark, every other level you do not roll for a Talent.  In my games, I now allow players the option to take Feats every even level (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th).  PCs with Feats will be stronger than PCs without, of course.  Throw them in more trouble!

Optionally, players may substitute Feats for Talent rolls on level up (although Feats are generally weaker, by design). Feats may also be given out as a form of treasure.  

In designing these feats for Shadowdark, care was taken not to overlap existing base class abilities or spells.  These feats can be easily converted to other OSR games.

Now, on a quiet and reflective week, I bring you 20 solemn feats for Priests. Happy Festivus!

Feats followed by a * may be taken more than once. Any class restrictions on feats are included in the Feat name, with [Brackets].

Priest Feats

1- Chant of Peace: Spend 1 action. If no hostile action is taken this round, all NEAR foes must re-roll reaction checks.

2- Detect Evil [Priest]: As an action, make a WIS check (DC 12) to sense evil magical creatures or items out to NEAR. Non-priests may learn this if faithful.

3- Divine Ward: Immune to normal diseases. Advantage on saves versus magical ones.

4- Exhort [Priest]: On your turn, make a WIS check (DC 12) as an action to give an ally Advantage on their next roll. Can be learned by devout non-priests.

5- Greater Rebuke [Priest]: +2 to Turn Undead spell checks. On a natural 20, Near undead that are equal to or less than your level are destroyed.  

6- Holy Chant [Priest]: Cast any spell and pass your spell roll to heal all Near allies for 1d2 HP per spell tier used (replacing your original spell effect).  

7- Humble Prayer [Priest]*: At your next level up, instead of learning a spell from one of the tiers normally indicated, learn 2 spells from the next lower tier. Re-take Feat to repeat.

8- Lay on Hands* [Priest]: Use your action to heal others: 3 HP per three PC levels, once per day.  Can be learned by devout non-priests.  

9- Medicine: When tending a downed ally, each Stabilize attempt lowers the DC by 3 (15 → 12 → 9).

10- Mighty Pet*: You have a 1 HD pet that obeys basic commands. If lost, you can replace: trained in d4 weeks. Take Feat again to increase HD.

11- Nemesis [Priest]: +2 holy damage to attacks against Undead, Demons, and Devils. Can be learned by devout non-priests.

12- Oathkeeper [Priest]: Choose one commandment or code that affects how you adventure/fight. While you keep it, you have divine favor, a +2 you may apply to any roll, 1/day.  If you lose it, for one day you have divine disfavor: the GM can apply -2 to any one roll.  Can be learned by devout non-priests.

13- Sacred Flame [Priest]: Once per day, ignite your weapon with divine fire for 1 minute. +1 damage on hit, +1d2 vs. undead, demons, etc. Can be learned by devout non-priests.

14- Sanctified Spell [Priest]*: Pick one spell (add “Sanctified” to the name). Enemies save vs it at Disadvantage. Repeatable.

15- Shining Aura [Priest]: Make a WIS check (DC 12), once per fight. If successful, all attacks vs Close allies have Disadvantage until your next turn. Can be learned by devout non-priests.

16- Soul Armor [Priest]: Your soul protects your body.  You can bind a suit of armor to your soul, and summon it to cover you if you are unarmored (+2 AC/round until fully summoned). Also, your soul protects you like thin armor at all times, as weightless, invisible mail (leather armor +1, 0 gear slots)) that shines bright gold when struck. Can be learned by devout non-priests.

17- Soulful Hymn*: Speak (or sing) to an ally and make a CHA check (DC 12) to give a conscious ally 5 temporary HP that last for 10 rounds. Once per ally, per fight.  This feat may be taken twice, increasing temp HP to 10.

18- Special Rites [Priest]: Take 1 turn to bless a corpse, it cannot return as evil undead. You may also make a WIS check (DC 12) to beseech a humanoid corpse for aid, raising it as a friendly skeleton in six hours.  Skeletons last for one day.  

19- Talking to Who Now?: Touched by the divine, you start to hear voices.  Ask them a question once per day.  The GM will roll a secret reaction roll to determine the truthfulness and/or usefulness of their answer.  Non-priests roll with disadvantage.

20- Water Font [Priest]: During downtime, you can pray to bless 1d6 holy water vials (1 gp per special vial).  Holy water does 1d8 damage when used on undead. 

These feats have not all been playtested.  If you playtest them and/or have feedback, please email thorn@dreamshrike.com or comment below, and thank you!

d30 OSR Shadowdark feats, part 2: Thieves

Inspired by the number of potential feats across DnD- and OSR-dom, I came up with "badass normal", OSR-compatible feats for Shadowdark.  Part 1 of this series had Fighter feats. Today let's talk Thieves. Some background from last time:

I noticed that when leveling up in Shadowdark, every other level you do not roll for a Talent.  In my games, I now allow players the option to take Feats every even level (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th).  PCs with Feats will be stronger than PCs without, of course.  Throw them in more trouble!

Optionally, players may substitute Feats for Talent rolls on level up (although Feats are generally weaker, by design). Feats may also be given out as a form of treasure.  

In designing these feats for Shadowdark, care was taken not to overlap existing base class abilities or spells.  These feats can be easily converted to other OSR games.

Now, on the next week of the holidays, I bring you 30 tricky feats for Thieves. Enjoy!

Feats followed by a * may be taken more than once. Any class restrictions on feats are included in the Feat name, with [Brackets].

Thief Feats

1- Acrobat: Climb and balance checks are one DC step easier (-3). Fall under 50 ft? An easy DEX save halves damage and you land on your feet.

2- Blade in the Dark: once per combat, reroll a failed melee attack with a Finesse weapon.  

3- Bombardier: +2 to hit when throwing potions, oils, or explosive brews or bombs. You are expert at carrying them, and roll with advantage on checks to avoid smashing them or setting them off.

4- Cat’s Reflexes: +2 to Initiative rolls, and reroll nat 1 initiative rolls.  

5- Fast Hands [Thief]: You may attempt two thief actions (e.g., pickpocket) on your turn.

6- Friends in Low Places: You know people in the bad parts of most towns. With your reputation, they will help-for a price. In new areas, you must make contact.  

7- High Society: You know the rich. They can help-with strings attached.

8- Houdini: Escape manacles or prison cells in 1d4 minutes (no roll).  If you are recaptured and steps are taken to stop you, your next escape takes 1d4 hours, then 1d4 days, months, years, etc. 

9- Light Tread: Sneaking silently is one DC step easier (-3): roll DEX.  If you move slowly, you do not have disadvantage on sneaking silently in total darkness.  With an hour to prepare, you can arrange and pad medium armor so that it doesn’t give disadvantage on Stealth for one hour.  

10- Martial Artist*: Your unarmed hits do d4 damage. Taking this again increases the damage die size (d6, etc). If you attack with two hands (or a weapon and your off hand), you attack once, roll both damage dice, and take the higher result for your attack damage. 

11- Master of Disguise: Disguise checks are one DC step easier (-3). Spend 1 Luck to suddenly “appear” in a scene you were secretly already in (if feasible).

12- Mocker: You can mimic voices, sounds, calls-almost anything.

13- Nimblefingers: Pickpocket checks (DEX) are one DC step easier (-3). Spend 1 Luck to suddenly remember that you have a small, non-magical item in your pocket.  

14- Prince Charming: You have learned to be “charming”. +2 to CHA rolls for first impressions and reaction rolls.

15- Poisoner: Advantage on checks for making or identifying poisons.

16- Quick Cut: Once per combat, make a second melee attack with a Finesse weapon.

17- Read Languages: Poorly read most languages: 4 in 6 chance to roughly understand maps, texts, or magical scrolls. You can slowly cast magical scrolls you understand: if you pass the spell check (INT), casting takes 1 round per spell level.

18- Safecracker [Thief]: Lockpicking checks (DEX, with tools) are one DC step easier (-3). You always have lockpicking tools squirreled away somewhere. 

19- Scavenger: When you search a body, lair, or ruin, you always find one minor useful item (GM decides).  

20- Setting Traps: Traps take 1d4 rounds and INT check to set. Trap detect/disarm DC = 10 + your level. Traps deal your weapon damage, trip, alert with noise, or as arranged with GM.  

21- Shadowfriend: Hiding in deep shadow (DEX) is one DC step easier (-3). If you move slowly, you do not have disadvantage on hiding in total darkness.  

22- Silent Climber: When climbing, you make no noise. If you pass your climbing check you do not need to roll to move silently, and you do not have disadvantage climbing in the dark.  

23- Smoke Bomb* [Thief]: While resting, craft a small smoke bomb; it works for two days. On your turn,  drop it for a personal smoke cloud. You vanish from view until the start of your next turn, if you stay Close. Taking this again: increases bomb lifespan by 1 day and increases either A) your cloud size to Near or B) smoke duration by 1 turn.

24- Stuck In [Thief]: After you backstab, you may leave your weapon in the wound. It takes an action or move to remove. If the target does not remove it, they take automatic weapon damage at the end of their next turn(s).

25- Thief’s Light [Thief]: While resting, ready a small dark lantern or similar item (1 hour of light). It sheds dim light to CLOSE for two people. Others can only detect its glow from Near when you use it, or Far if someone else does. Light can be lit or snuffed as an action.

26- Trained Ear: You hear much more than most. Make a WIS check to listen out to NEAR. 

27- Underworld Contact: In every city, you know a criminal contact who will trade info or goods (GM decides prices).

28- Untrained Cutter: Use your action to perform butcher’s first aid on an unmoving ally for 1d6 HP; they lose 1d6 HP at the end of combat as the adrenalin wears off and the pain sets in.  

29- Wall Runner: When within Close of a wall, you may run along it for 1 turn; you do not touch any floor traps or hazards.

30- Wise Arse: Once per fight, taunt an enemy. They make a CHA check or lose their cool.

Changelog: Friends in Low places edited to convey greater impact (thanks u/peyton4545). Martial Artist has been edited to fix the damage scaling (thanks u/jollyhedral).

These feats have not all been playtested.  If you playtest them and/or have feedback, please email thorn@dreamshrike.com or comment below, and thank you!

d30 OSR Shadowdark feats: Fighters

I love Shadowdark--it's lean, it's elegant, it's evocative.  Everything you need from a fungeon crawl, nothing you don't.  But coming to the OSR from a perspective of loving multi-classing (my favorite addition to ADnD) and CRPG talent trees, I was wondering if I could add some character customization back to Shadowdark without breaking the game.  

Feats seemed like a good place to start.  I checked out published OSR feats, but apart from the few I could find for OSE, most seemed overpowered for OSR play, adapted from DnD 3e and 5e without scaling the power back to mere-human OSR levels.

So, inspired by the number of potential feats across DnD- and OSR-dom, I came up with "badass normal", OSR-compatible feats for Shadowdark.  I noticed that when leveling up in Shadowdark, every other level you do not roll for a Talent.  In my games, I now allow players the option to take Feats every even level (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th).  PCs with Feats will be stronger than PCs without, of course.  Throw them in more trouble!

Optionally, players may substitute Feats for Talent rolls on level up (although Feats are generally weaker, by design). Feats may also be given out as a form of treasure.  

In designing these feats for Shadowdark, care was taken not to overlap existing base class abilities or spells.  These feats can be easily converted to other OSR games.

Below you will find 30 dangerous Feats for Fighters. Enjoy!

Feats followed by a * may be taken more than once. Any class restrictions on feats are included in the Feat name, with [Brackets].

Fighter Feats

1- Berserker: Enter rage on your turn: +1 to melee hit and damage, immune to fear and pain. Can’t heal or help allies; if an ally injures you they are an enemy during the rage. Lasts 1 minute. End it early with a Hard WIS check (DC 15).

2- Blind Fighter: In darkness, after an enemy hits you in melee, you have no penalty for your next melee attack against them if they stay in that location.

3- Combat Reflexes: Once per combat, make one free attack against a CLOSE foe who misses you in melee.  This attack can be on their turn.

4- Cry Havoc: Once per fight, make a CHA check vs foes’ Morale DC (Hard or Extreme). Success = all attacks vs terrified foes gain Advantage for 1 round.

5- Cleave: Kill a foe, or roll a Nat 20? Make a free melee attack on another Close enemy. 

6- Deflect Missiles: On your turn, pick one: A) Actively defend, gaining +1 AC vs ranged attacks you can see coming, or B) Focus, subtracting 1d4 from the damage of the first ranged attack to hit you each round.  

7- Desperate Strength: If you fall to half HP or less, gain +1 to damage until the end of combat.

8- Favored Enemy*: +1 to hit and damage vs a selected enemy type (Hobgoblin, Orc, etc).  May be taken again for a different enemy, or same.

9- Feint: 1/day, turn a hit on you into a miss. Next round, your melee attack gains Advantage.

10- Fight dirty*:  After a successful attack, you can make a DEX check to blind, deafen, trip, or disarm foes.  Succeed or fail, your initial damage is halved (round down).  Effects (determined by the GM) last until the end of the enemy’s turn unless they take an action or a move to end the effect. May be taken again for +1 on DEX check.

11- Focused Fire: Use your action to aim. If you don’t move after aiming, gain Advantage on your next ranged attack.

12- Guardian: If you are Close to an opponent you are attacking, they have -1 to hit targets other than you with melee attacks.  Once per fight, use your action to take a hit for an adjacent ally.

13- Improved Critical: You inflict critical hits on 19 or 20 with a weapon.

14- Inspiring Leader: All the fighter’s allies within Near gain a +1 bonus to Morale and fear checks.

15- Mounted Fighter: +1 to hit and damage while mounted.

16- Nobody Tosses a Dwarf: Throw any weapon to Near range, without penalty.

17- Off-hand Fighter: If your off hand is free to hold a second one-handed weapon, you may attack with it.  Make one attack like normal. Roll the damage dice for both weapons,  and take the higher number for your two-weapon attack damage.

18- Parry: If your off hand is free to hold a dagger (or other versatile weapon), parry with it. Each round, on your turn pick: +1 to hit or +1 AC.

19- Precision Strike: Take -1 to your damage roll to gain +1 to hit.   

20- Rapidshot: 1/round, on a natural 19 or 20, fire a second ranged shot. 

21- Reckless Attack: Take -1 to hit for +1 melee damage.

22- Second Effort: Once per fight, reroll damage on an attack.

23- Shieldwall: Gain shield use. If already trained, once per fight reduce damage by shield bonus + STR mod for 1 round.

24- Shields will be Splintered: Once per combat, you can destroy your own shield to block all damage from one melee hit.

25- Tactician: You and allies CLOSE to you get +1 on Initiative rolls.

26- Veteran’s Eye [Fighter]: Once per day, ask the GM what a foe’s tactics or weakness might be. If you get an answer, it’s true; if you don’t get one, use it again later.  

27- Weapon Expertise*: +1 to hit with a chosen weapon. Repeatable with different weapons.

28- Weapon Specialist*: +1 damage with a chosen weapon. Requires Weapon Expertise, repeatable with different weapons.

29- Whirlwind Attack: Hit all CLOSE enemies with one melee attack. Divide damage among them.

30- Wrestler: You are a wrestling madman: +2 to all STR or DEX checks to shove, pin, or restrain foes (or avoid the same).  

These feats have not all been playtested.  If you playtest them and/or have feedback, please email thorn@dreamshrike.com or comment below, and thank you!

Changelog: Deflect Missiles and Fight Dirty have been updated to be more dynamic and interesting.

Pruning 5e: A response to '5 Cuts To 5e That Make The Game More Interesting'

Domain of Many Things (DoMT) had an interesting blog post about how 5e is fundamentally a good game, but that quality is obscured by 'layers of interdependent ill-considered bloat' that need to be cut off. Overall, I agree with their assessment: I just like different solutions. I am more a pruner than a logger, by nature.

Let's take them one by one.

1) Darkvision & The Light Cantrip. DoMT argued they remove the challenge of darkness, and should be cut.

I agree that if you are starting a campaign, removing Darkvision and the Light spell are possible 5e hacks. BUT not all parties will agree, and if you are running a campaign already, taking these away from PCs is un-fun. Are there other options?

My hack:

Let's say we are starting a campaign.  Here's two alternative hacks: 

A) Instead of banning Darkvision and over-penalizing elf and dwarf PCs, instead convert all Darkvision to Dimvision, which sees in dim light like it is bright sunlight.  Moonlight, a faraway torch, they see like owls.  But complete dungeon darkness?  No way. 

B) Keep the Light spell--and make it require concentration and be on an object the wizard is carrying. Wizards have to choose between between concentrating on Light or another defensive spell.  If the wizard gets hit hard, out go the lights. And what monster with Darkvision (let's say they ALL have Darkvision, copying Shadowdark) wouldn't prefer to attack the light source?   Parties will learn to carry a torch instead, less risk.  

In the middle of a campaign and can't change the rules?  

C) Make frequent usage of the Darkness spell by enemies and cursed objects.  Give any necromancy-affected areas a side-effect of Greater Darkness, a homebrew fog of war that limits Darkvision and light sources to 10-20 feet.   And remember that Darkvision is black-and-white dimvision in the distance, which gives enemies advantage on hiding.  A few sneak attacks from the darkness or scenes puzzling out color wall runes in black and white, and they will start carrying torches.  

2) Goodberry.  DoMT says it removes the challenge of food, and should be cut.  

I agree Goodberry is an annoying hack if eaten daily, but it lets a druid or ranger save the day the first time it is cast. Can we have both?

My hack:

Sure, just make a Goodberry magically OVER-filling. It's something that 1) cannot be eaten more than once a week, 2) is uncomfortable to eat and can't be fed to unconscious people. Now the party can hoard them as emergency food, but it only saves them from starvation for a day and cannot heal the dying.

3) Base Carry Capacity & Bag of holding.  DoMT says they remove the challenge of inventory.  Bags should be cut, and a homebrew carrying capacity system is needed.

Not everyone enjoys inventory management, and giving a party a Bag of Holding is one way to waive that away and focus on the fun.  I do it in my home game.  

Know your group and pay attention to what they do at low levels.  If they track inventory like hawks and always carry tools for all jobs, DoMT is right, avoid giving them a Bag of Holding.  But if they don't care about inventory and/or hate tracking items, give them the Bag--they will RARELY have the tools they need for a job anyways.  Murder-hobos gonna murder-hobo, not doom-prep.  

As for 5e's inventory issues, DoMT is totally right, it stinks.  There are a variety of homebrew inventory systems: I have a SUPER SIMPLE one for you.  

My hack:

If you decide your group would benefit from a Bag of Holding, keep track of who is carrying the bag.  Nothing can be retrieved quickly from there, so combat uses are out.  It takes 5-10 minutes to rummage through it.  

Regarding inventory, DoTM's inventory system is cool, check it out.  But I like even simpler: I have my inventory-averse players only track what they are carrying.  Everything else takes an action to retrieve from their pockets/backpack.  When you think they are getting overloaded or about to carry massive items, warn them they are close to carrying Too Much Stuff.  The simplest encumbrance system is BINARY: 

• Too Much Stuff (disadvantage on every roll, half speed), or 

• Enough Stuff (normal).  

Gold in 5e weighs about 50 gp to 1 pound, or about 100 gp to 1 kilo.  When they start carrying a 50 lb (25 kilo) sack of gold (2500 gp), that's Too Much Stuff to be fighting with (when added to the armor, weapons, backpack, etc.).

4) Arcane focuses.  DoMT says they remove a needed 'internal character balance'.

Agreed, removing all spell components is problematic. But 5e is just recognizing what many tables do in practice--keeping track of spell components is not FUN. Exception: for some spells, especially powerful ones, securing the right spell components (the ones with costs) should require a quest, and is FUN.

But bat guano? It's hard to feel heroic unearthing a trove of bat shit.

My hack:

Small "change"--arcane focuses can't replace costly or rare spell components (because they cost $ to get!).  If you think a spell is overpowered in 5e (looking at you, Banishment), just require a costly or rare spell component (in Banishment's case, it already requires a rare one, as written)  The Weave changes, and existing spells can change as the DM gets sick of them (or better, anticipates abuse).  

5) Healing Word.  DoMT says healing is too easy, either cut the spell or double-tap to auto-kill unconscious players.  

Whoa!  I completely agree with DoMT that magical healing in general makes death all too rare in 5e games, and that Healing Word is too much healing as a bonus action, creating a death yo-yo as unconscious players pop up and down.  But I feel double-tapping downed PCs as a solution is unlikely to get player buy-in at many tables.  You might as well remove the Unconscious and Death Save mechanics altogether.  Even most OSR games are not quite that lethal.  

My hack:

The first time you drop to 0 hp and get back up from magical healing you have a level of exhaustion, this first level goes away on a short rest.  For each additional time you go down and are raised by magical healing, you gain an additional level of exhaustion, and the moment you hit level 2 all the levels take a long rest to get rid of as standard.  Failed Death saves don't reset until a rest clears you of one level of exhaustion (or you roll a nat 20 death save). Source: Unknown Redditor (Mylon Pruett? See comments).

6) Long rests DoMT says they reset everything, undermining resource management, so use mid-night wandering monsters and bedroll requirements to limit long resting.  

Yep, this is good stuff, DoMT is on the money here.  Not only are long rests unrealistic and hard to justify in terms of recovery (you nearly died just now, 8 hours later you are all WELL), they make it hard to challenge players who like to field rest often (curse you, Leomund's Tiny Hut!).  

My hack:

Fictionally, I make it clear to players that they made a deal with an unknown patron before starting adventuring, and that's the reason they heal so unnaturally fast.  In game, I turn long rests into short ones by hitting them with mission time limits, wandering monsters, freezing floors that keep them awake, earthquakes, all-night undead pirate shanties, you name it.  They are used to waking up mid-watch and realizing the DM will not let them long rest here.  Anything to keep up the pressure.  

They often fort up and attempt to rest mid-dungeon--and half the fun for me is anticipating that and shooting. it. down.  The other half is rewarding them with a long rest when they are clever and fort up well.  

But if I was starting a new campaign?  

I would limit long rests to comfortable beds in secure places: no dungeon long rests unless they have fully cleared a floor and have dry bedrolls.  And once they discover the glory of the Tiny Hut, that's when the monsters start howling outside all night and digging under the dome.  

Da BEST initiative: Chaos sandwich!

Initiative (who gets to go first in combat) is one of those things that is endlessly discussed in RPG circles.  If you haven't read an excellent roundup of initiative systems, read this one and then this one, and then come back to me.  I will wait.  That's because I have the BEST initiative system for you to use.*

*choosing initiative systems is really a matter of personal taste, but bear with me, this system is GOOD, and different.  I call it 'chaos speed sandwich initiative', or the chaos sandwich, for short.  I have playtested it over 40+ DnD sessions, and I can say it is fast, fun, and dynamic.

Let's start by asking questions:

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Simple question 1: Why do we need initiative AT ALL?  

Answer: Initiative's greatest usefulness is deciding who acts first, the enemies or the heroes.  Beyond that, it can be useful in resolving which simultaneous actions occur first.   If the heroes are all charging an opponent on a narrow bridge, who gets there first?   

But once combat has started, I find limited value in re-rolling initiative in subsequent rounds, as it injects randomness and slows play, without providing significant strategic returns.  

Twist: It's never good fun when a player surprises the kindly merchant by telling the GM, "I draw my dagger and stab him." and you say, wait roll for initiative and the fighter, who is like 60 feet away haggling with the sheep seller, gets to go first.  Now, it has to be a clear case of surprise to skip initiative, but...

Resolution: If it's already obvious who shot first, you don't need initiative to start combat.  In 1977, Han Solo shot Greedo and completely surprised him.  Greedo would go second, but wait, he's dead.  Moving on...  Point is, you only need initiative in this case for everyone else.  The initiating actor goes first, then everyone else (Greedo, the bar patrons, etc.). 

Chaos Sandwich Rule #1a: Roll initiative AFTER resolving the first action of the combat.  BUT if both sides (enemy and hero) were expecting violence to break out, then instead roll initiative to see if the enemies or heroes go first.  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #1b: Roll initiative ONCE for the whole combat.  

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Simple question 2: Why do we need formal turns at all?

Answer: Well, if we already know the enemy is going first or last...no, not really, we don't need turns.  Reasonable people can be kind and quick and decide who gets to go first.  No you go.  Oh no, I insist, you go.  Oh, the humanity.  Everyone deserves a chance to speak and act in a combat round, and we should all respect that.  But do we need formal turn orders to achieve that basic goal?  

Twist #1: The argument in favor of taking formal turns is that they are fair and don't require discussion.  It's also boring to wait for your turn, leads to stilted combat, and is SLOW.  It's like doing all your six loads of laundry in one washer, when there are six laundromat washers in a row, all unused. 

Twist #2: The argument against getting rid of turns is that groups can bicker on timing and endlessly debate the group tactical choices.  Furthermore,  even where parties quickly agree on what needs to be done and quickly act as a coordinated group, side initiative (where either all the enemies or all the heroes go, in two groups) is super-swingy.  Either the monsters curb-stomp all the heroes before they act in round 1, or vice versa.  

Resolution: Speed sandwiches fix the side initiative problem by breaking up player actions into BEFORE or AFTER the enemies.  If you roll higher initiative than the enemies, you go in the BEFORE "pack"--and if not, you go in the AFTER "pack".  Each pack can coordinate their own actions, and individuals can take formal turns within each pack if they want to, based on their initiative roll.  This system is widely used, and rocks.  At the very least, small packs resolve who goes first more quickly.  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #2:  All the enemies roll initiative together once, as one group.  PCs that rolled higher than the enemies go first together, in any order, as a pack. Then the enemies act, then all the other players (that rolled lower) as a pack.  In rare cases with multiple factions of enemies (fighting each other), each has their own initiative, and there may be more than two packs of players acting together.   

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Simple question 3: Is this solution a speedy one?  

Answer: Well, no.  We haven't really sped up combat at all yet.  We have just made determining who goes first clearer (Rule 1a), eliminated needless re-rolls (Rule 1b) and broken up player actions into subgroups (Rule 2), making it possible to ignore turns if we want to. But a formal group could still take formal turns in this speed sandwich framework, based on their initial initiative roll, and do six loads of laundry ONE. AT. A. TIME.  Excuse me while I go doomscroll and wait for my turn for half an hour.  

Twist:  You want faster?  What you are modeling?  The chaos of combat. Actions are simultaneous.  Information is limited by the fog and chaos of war.  Discussion is limited, at best, and comes with risks of enemy action while you think.  To hesitate is to go last. 

Resolution: Ask all members of a pack to declare their actions at the same time, and to roll for success at the same time (for DnD-alikes, all players should roll attack and damage together, folks).  Imagine a two-person pack, going before the enemy.  The hero who declares first, attacks 'first', but the other hero can't wait to find out if that attack was successful.  They need to decide what to do now, then their pack rolls as a group..  Most crucially, if they truly delay, the enemy acts, and the player slides to the AFTER pack for that round.  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #3a:  Everyone in a pack declares actions simultaneously and then rolls together to see the outcome simultaneously.  Initiative order is only used to resolve the order of conflicting actions, like if several PCs rush onto a narrow bridge.   

Wait.  Does this system mean that two people may shoot the same weak monster, and kill it twice over?  Yep--that's what happens in the chaos of combat, right?  In general, I allow players to react to sudden deaths and switch targets if they are in melee, but not if they are at range--arrows and bullets and spells take time to fly across the battlefield.  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #3b:  Players in melee range may switch targets if they see it die before they attack.   

Double wait.  What do you do if a pack decides to discuss at length what to do?  Well, an easy solution is to verbally press the players to play, but if they don't respond right away, I roll dice.  Specifically 2d6.  When a 1 comes up (or honestly, when I am sufficiently irritated by delay), the monster acts out of turn, immediately.  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #3c: Characters that truly delay their action go last in a round.  Packs that delay their actions with excessive discussion risk the GM rolling 2d6 to determine if the monster attacks out of turn, immediately.  

Triple wait.  How does the GM and players resolve what the hell happened, if each pack is moving and attacking simultaneously?  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #3d: Once the players have resolved their rolls, the GM decides the order and manner of what happened.  Just like you would do when all the monsters attack at once.  If two players rush and attack a single monster, the first to hit is the player who first decided what to do.  

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Now we have rules 3a-d, the chaos sandwich initiative system is FAST.  It's easy to run.  What's more, if a GM doesn't run it well, it defaults back to a speed sandwich with formal initiative turns--fair and clear. 

 And cherry on top?  If you are in speed sandwich mode, it's easy enough to jump back into a chaos sandwich the following round--just say "No, remember your pack goes all at once, initiative only matters for ties and to make sure we don't forget anyone."  You can tune the chaos up and down, scene by scene.

Chocolate sauce on that cherry?  This system simultaneously rewards players who have built fast characters to win initiative as a tactic (via the speed sandwich) AND rewards players who decide quickly on their turn (they get to go/talk first in their pack, even if their action is simultaneous).  This second reward is psychological, but it ain’t nothing.  

And in this system, it's especially fun to interrupt a player who just declared their action and rolled and say, sorry, but the enemy attacks you a second time before you can act  Giving challenging enemies another turn to act is especially visceral here, because it interrupts simultaneously resolved turns.  Everyone else got to go, but I got hammered first before I could go?  

See?  Da BEST initiative system!**  Da Best!*** For everyone!****

**yeah yeah, I know it's all to taste.  But this one is fun.  Give it a try!  I run six players in a DnD 5e game with the chaos sandwich and we can do multiple combats in game sessions <2 hours long.  

***and, for me at least, maybe the most important thing is to remember initiative rules should be flexible, and responsive to player perceptions of what is happening (the 'fiction').  I don’t believe they are meant to punish players, just make games fun and fair.  Even when rushing players into simultaneous actions and deciding which one lands first, it's fun to then pause and ask each player in turn to narrate what happens.  

**** On Reddit, u/Onslaughttitude was concerned that slow, shy, or quiet players would always be upstaged by fast players in this system.  I updated the ‘chocolate sauce’ paragraph as a result.  I have new and quiet and slow players at my table and they like this system. They don’t feel pressured to hurry since the spotlight is off them while they think, instead of everyone staring at them to go if they win initiative. Since all is technically simultaneous, you may have to wait on them anyway before resolving the action, but less than before.  Like in parallel processing, speed is limited by the slowest processor—as it should be, to be fair to everyone.  The game can’t progress without everyone weighing in, and if I feel a player is being upstaged, I slip back into speed sandwich ordered initiative for a while, until they find an alternating group rhythm.  Normally, I call on players in rapid fire to simultaneously decide on actions, and I make it a point to check the slower players first, then come back to them if they need more time. Rewarding the fastest players to speak is 100% optional—you should resolve actions in any order that makes sense.

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Image: jefferyw, CC-BY-.20

Here's all the Chaos Sandwich rules, gathered together:

Chaos Sandwich Rule #1a: Roll initiative AFTER resolving the first action of the combat.  BUT if both sides (enemy and hero) were expecting violence to break out, then instead roll initiative to see if the enemies or heroes go first.  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #1b: Roll initiative ONCE for the whole combat.  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #2:  All the enemies roll initiative together once, as one group.  PCs that rolled higher than the enemies go first together, in any order, as a pack. Then the enemies act, then all the other players (that rolled lower) as a pack.  In rare cases with multiple factions of enemies (fighting each other), each has their own initiative, and there may be more than two packs of players acting together.   

Chaos Sandwich Rule #3a:  Everyone in a pack declares actions simultaneously and then rolls together to see the outcome simultaneously.  Initiative order is only used to resolve the order of conflicting actions, like if several PCs rush onto a narrow bridge.   

Chaos Sandwich Rule #3b:  Players making melee attacks may switch targets if they see it die before they attack (within reason).

Chaos Sandwich Rule #3c: Characters that truly delay their action go last in a round****.  Packs that delay their actions with excessive discussion risk the GM rolling 2d6 to determine if the monster attacks out of turn, immediately.  

Chaos Sandwich Rule #3d: Once the players have resolved their rolls, the GM decides the order and manner of what happened.  Just like you would do when all the monsters attack at once.  If two players rush and attack a single monster, the first to hit is the player who first decided what to do.  

****You know what really delays an action? Getting knocked out.  If a PC is hors de combat at any point, and then recovers, they act last in every round from that point onward.  If a players goes to the bathroom mid-combat and doesn't leave instructions, same deal.