13
votes
Accepted
As a GM, how can I balance weapon proficiencies that I grant to players for good roleplay?
There are two questions I ask myself when approaching this kind of problem.
In what other ways can this advantage be emulated?
If there are any, then these other ways can be referenced to get a basic ...
- 14.6k
11
votes
Is this altered version of the spell "Crown of Madness" balanced?
You can play the opponents differently
As you say, the spell is weak as the target can just move away from its allies. In my experience, what this often results in is that the caster chooses a target ...
- 16.9k
10
votes
How to calibrate combat encounters for high level play?
Frame challenge
I'd like to offer a bit of a frame challenge.
You say:
However, I think they are playing with fire by pushing ever farther beyond the guideline to break us -- at some point, the risk ...
- 26.2k
7
votes
How does the balance of the UA Twilight Domain compare to the official Twilight Domain from Tasha's Cauldron?
The published version is stupidly powerful.
I recently played through a good portion of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden as a Goliath Twilight Cleric. Let me tell you this: how this subclass ...
- 107k
6
votes
Accepted
Would it be balanced to use the Starfinder system for races with more than 2 arms in Pathfinder 1e?
Balance-Wise This Should Be Fine
There's already an unrestricted 4-armed race in Pathfinder, the Kasathas (a core race in Starfinder), so in terms of balance this would be strictly weaker than their ...
- 2,444
6
votes
How to calibrate combat encounters for high level play?
I agree that the encounter difficulty calculations just don't seem to work very well at higher levels, and I routinely create "Deadly" encounters even though they barely break a sweat.
But I'...
- 26.6k
6
votes
As a GM, how can I balance weapon proficiencies that I grant to players for good roleplay?
Rewards as Options
Rewarding RP is great, but if you're concerned about the balance it might be better to award access to options that grant these effects rather than just giving them outright.
So ...
- 2,444
6
votes
Will making changes to verbal component rules break game balance?
It's more about the theme, not the game balance
Incantations and arcane words are the common fairy trope in many cultures. This is the main reason why verbal spells exist in D&D. Possible tactical ...
- 61.4k
4
votes
Is this altered version of the spell "Crown of Madness" balanced?
It's fine
Prior to your change, using this spell on an intelligent opponent would generally mean they'd run away from the combat until the spell wore off.
After your change, that's still true. They ...
- 76.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Help balancing a spell, dealing with blindsight, concentration and a unique character build
This is not particularly different than Fog Cloud in effect, only with a reduced area, reduced range, reduced duration, improved wind resistance, improved components, and significantly reduced action ...
- 4,233
4
votes
How to calibrate combat encounters for high level play?
I usually run games that go up to around ninth level, so not quite where you're at. But here's my theory:
Most of the time, players don't need to be sorely tested. Players don't need to come within ...
- 76.5k
3
votes
How well is the Unearthed Arcana Raven Queen warlock subclass balanced as compared to the officially published subclasses?
It's relatively balanced
I've DM'd a highly min-maxed Raven Queen warlock from level 1 to 14 and I've never felt that it unbalanced my game.
That said, this subclass excels in certain scenarios and is ...
- 11.1k
2
votes
How to calibrate combat encounters for high level play?
The DM and the players should communicate
First of all, not all groups have similar opinions on encounters. Some players like hack and slash and just killing enemies to feel cool and powerful. Some ...
- 744
1
vote
Will making changes to verbal component rules break game balance?
Maybe
As this answer mentions, another reason verbal components are important, is the effects of silence in combat. Another is being able to stealthily cast spells around other people. It sounds like ...
- 26.2k
1
vote
Will making changes to verbal component rules break game balance?
Not in a major way
There are other reasons why being able to eschew verbal components is strong, the most important ones are practical combat related:
the caster cannot be neutralized by casting ...
- 16.9k
1
vote
Is this homebrew Bard College of Comedy v3.0 balanced, compared to officially published subclasses?
Still seems very elaborate
Level 3
You provide three features. Published Bard subclasses tend to have only two, College of Swords has 3, so high end but OK.
Thasha's Hideous Laughter (THL): Adding a ...
- 16.9k
1
vote
Is a rod of Cherry Blossom Spell metamagic a bad idea?
You’re fine.
Cherry Blossom is a decent but not overpowered metamagic. Providing a magic item that players would normally never buy to encourage more creative play is one of the fun things about GMing....
- 129
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