RPG in a Day

I started out to write a summary of our second session with the new Dungeons and Dragons starter set. Unfortunately I can't address the problems I had with the adventure without potentially spoiling the next session for my players. I'll post a combined review of parts two and three together once I've run our October session.

In the meanwhile I've decided to do the following exercise inspired by The Angry DM. Essentially here are the answers to 31 questions about my RPG habit posed by David F Chapman, designer of the Dr. Who RPG. Originally these were supposed to be answered one a day but I just stumbled across Angry's post yesterday sooooo.....

1) First RPG ever played: The first RPG I ever played was one of those old books TSR produced that actually included an honest to god character sheet and rules for dice rolling, similar to the Lone Wolf series. It was called "The Soulforge" and recounted Raistlin's test at the tower of high sorcery. I remember thinking "this is neat but I wish I got to play his brother the fighter. He's got a cool helmet."

2) First RPG game mastered: The Mentzer red box. My initial attempt was a dismal failure. I don't think we got much further than the carrion crawler outside the gate. After asking one of the guys who would become one of my regular gaming buddies (and the best man at my wedding) some questions I managed to put my cousin through the entirety of the adventure. At that point I was hooked.

3) First RPG purchased: Middle Earth Role Playing...and I have yet to run it. Role master/MERP is perhaps one of the most inaccessible games ever created.

4)Most recent RPG purchased: D&D 5th and I am eagerly awaiting the release of the Monster Manual and DMG.

5) Most old school RPG owned: Bunnies & Burrows 1st edition.

6) Favorite RPG I Never Get to Play: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, any edition.

7)Most Intellectual RPG I Own: Burning Wheel, which is probably a bit too introspective for my tastes, at least so far as running a game of it. I will play anything though.

8) Favorite Character: Angus son of Haggis, a dwarf watchmen I played in a game of Warhammer back in college. He was fun to play and the closest I've ever come to an uber-competent character in a system that is notoriously unforgiving.

9) Favorite Dice: I have two d6s made out of deer antler that I picked up at a seven years war reenactment. They look really neat and they always roll high.

10) Favorite Tie-in Novel/Fiction: Drachenfels by Kim Newman (writing as Jack Yeovil) like most of his Genevieve novels it's actually a good book first and a Warhammer tie in second.

11) Weirdest RPG Owned: See the answer to #5.

12) Old RPG You Still Read and Play: This is tough because since I only get to game once a month and like 5th ed so much I think most of my gaming time will be devoted to that for the foreseeable future. If I had to choose though I'd go with Warhammer 2nd edition.

13) Most Memorable Character Death: That would be the vampire character in one LARP who escaped getting chopped up in the turbines of a hydro electric plant only to be hit by a truck and torn in half by werewolves.

14) Best Convention Purchase: Dwarfs: Stone and Steel, the last supplement for Warhammer 1st edition that Hogshead put out before they dropped the license.

15) Favorite Convention Game: The angelic LARP where I got to play Lucifer

16) Game You Wished You Owned: The Dune RPG by Last Unicorn.

17) Funniest Game You Ever Played: The 2nd edition AD&D minotaur game I played in college as Og, a completely moronic minotaur who thought he was a multi-class everything

18) Favorite Game System: The d20 system (Under which I will include 3.5/ogl, all WotC Star Wars, 4th and 5th ed) since it's hard to find a system as variable, easy to run and easy to explain)

19) Favorite Published Adventure: I don't really like published adventures too much but there was a really cool one in the back of GURPS Horror 2nd edition that I'd love to run sometime.

20) Will Still Play in 20 Years: I'm willing to play anything old, new or yet to come but it will probably wind up being D&D.

21) Favorite Licensed RPG: The One Ring, a really well written game that finally does right by Tolkien's books.

22) Best Second Hand RPG Purchase: The original 1st Edition Deities and Demigods with Cthulhu, Elric and Fafhrd and the Mouser. 2$

23) Coolest Looking RPG: The first edition AD&D Monster Manual. This was the book that got me gaming with it's crude but atmospheric art.

24) Most Complicated RPG: MERP. The example of combat reads like a joke straight out of Knights of the Dinner Table.

25)Favorite RPG No One Wants to Play: Warhammer first edition and I include myself under "no one." It has great atmosphere and a lot of memories attached but it really shows it's age.

26) Coolest Character Sheet: Exalted, the epitome of the White Wolf fill in the bubble style sheet.

27) Game You'd Like to See A New Improved Edition Of: GURPS. I loved 3rd edition but I think they jumped the shark a bit when they consolidated the system in 4th and removed a lot of the modularity which was one of the games best features.

28) Scariest Game You've Played: It's really very difficult to scare me in a game but there was this time playing Mage in high school where the description of a light I'd turned off being inexplicably on sent a shiver down my spine.

29)  Most Memorable Encounter: At the climax of our Warhammer game in college, we had literally been playing all night, facing off in the final battle against a greater demon (which are so deadly in the Warhammer universe that they refuse to stat them in second edition!). Angus has lugged a giant keg of gun powder to the top of a mountain plateau called The Anvil of the Gods. In the midst of the battle I set it off and leap off the cliff to avoid the blast rolling a 1 on my Initiative test (it's a % system so this is good) and manage to land on the ledge as the gun powder explodes taking the demon with it (come to think of it I can't remember how the other PCs survived...) The GM turns to me and says "Congratulations you just smote The Anvil of the Gods". The end.

30) Rarest RPG Owned: If we're going for actual games rather than sourcebooks, I'd say without a doubt Bunnies and Burrows. Otherwise it's a toss up between Warhammer Dwarfs and Deities & Demigods.

31) Favorite RPG of All Time: Much as I love Warhammer I have to go with D&D. There may be other games that are objectively better for magic or combat or character creation or what have you, but D&D has a special kind of magic to it. D&D is like an old friend, the kind that you can pick up with where you left off without having seen or spoken to each other for years. As far as editions go, I'm going to say that provisionally I think 5th is probably the best yet, though I do enjoy 3rd and I'd also like to play 2nd again with the benefit of about fifteen years more experience as a player and a DM.

Player's Handbook Part One: Character Creation & Races

The Player's Handbook for Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition is a massive tome containing lots of rules and option. As such it's going to take me some time to digest it all and quite a bit of space to talk about all the various features and benefits. As such I've decided to review the book in segments, sharing my thoughts on the various pieces as I read through. First up is character creation.

Character Creation

The book opens with a walk through of the character creation process step by step. It's fairly standard as far as such things go but there are a few changes from prior editions that speak directly to the design philosophy behind 5th edition.

1) Choice first, numbers second: In just about every prior edition the first step in character creation was ability generation, followed by a choice of race and class (you were generally encouraged to choose race and class together as some races favored certain classes). 5th edition flips this on it's head by suggesting you choose race, then class, then ability scores (which can be rolled or assigned, see below).

Of course you can ignore this and generate your ability scores first, but I think the change in priority speaks to a spirit of storytelling over mechanics. While race and class do have gameplay elements included in them and ability scores are important for roleplay, the fact that you are intended to start with words, like "elf" and "warlock" instead of numbers and bonuses is a subtle suggestion that you should think in terms of character rather than statistics.

2) Ability generation and the balance of power: Dungeons and Dragons has had several methods of random ability generation going back to first edition, a combination of different random methods and a point buy method. The problem is that these methods have never really been compatible with each other and the point buy method has always lent itself to min-maxing and munchkinism.

The Player's Handbook presents three methods of ability generation, each of which could be used by a different PC in the same campaign without upsetting the balance of power in the party. The nice thing is that there advantages and disadvantages inherent to each method, giving the player another decision to make (if the DM doesn't mandate that everyone use the same method). Thus even random scores become a choice.

4d6, drop the lowest: The method that has emerged as the standard random method across just about every edition of since 1st remains the suggested default in 5th. The advantage is that random  generation is the only way you can get an 18 at 1st level, making characters with truly exceptional abilities relatively rare. The disadvantage is that you are at the whim of the dice and may wind up with some terrible scores and low bonuses. This method is a gamble, albeit one in which the odds are not overly against you.

Standard Array: A set of pre-generated numbers that provides you with four bonus level scores, one average score and one score with a penalty (before adjustments for race are added). The advantage of this method is that it's quick and fairly adaptable when combined with racial bonuses. On the other hand you lose the potential of the random roll and the customization of point buy

Point Buy: The last method is listed as a variant which a bit of a misnomer in my mind as there is nothing that precludes it's use alongside the first two methods. In any case all scores start at 8 and may be bought up to 15 using a pool of points. This method gives you more ability to customize your abilities then the array but at the loss of a potential 18. The ability cap also means that you will have fairly balanced scores across all six abilities.

As an illustration of how these two aspects can work together in interesting ways consider three characters I want to create:  A tiefling sorcerer, a halfling rogue and an elf bard.

The tiefling sorcerer is a creature of chaos (to the extent that he uses the virtue name "Random"). The only ability that is important to his conception is Charisma and I want that to be as high as possible so the random generation method is perfect. Of course he may get screwed by low rolls but anarchy gives no guarantees!

I see the halfling rogue as a character who is quick witted, nimble, tough and smart but not particularly friendly and downright weak. The standard array works perfectly for him since it's quick and covers all my bases without the risk of the random method or the extra effort of the point buy.

I don't want the elf bard to have any weaknesses, a true jack of all trades but a master of none. Point buy allows me the sort of control I'll need to achieve this since it allows me to have mostly average scores with a few bonuses.

The XP Chart

One other point of note you should be aware of is the XP chart. While 5th ed uses a standard chart for all of it's classes like 3rd edition, it eschews a linear progression and there are some really weird things going on. For instance the amount of XP you need to advance does not always increase. It actually takes fewer XP to advance from level 11 to 12 than from 10 to 11. It's a code I've yet to crack for myself but if you spend enough time with a calculator some patterns do suggest themselves.

The most expensive level to attain in terms of the percentage increase in XP is 5th, the first level at which you can cast 3rd level spells. Costs drop precipitously after 11th (when you get your first 6th level slot).

If you cross reference the amount of XP needed to advance with the suggested XP per encounter you'll notice that the number of encounters you need per level is fairly consistent across each tier (tiers in fifth ed. are a measure of what kinds of threats you can handle and have no other associated mechanics). What you notice when you do this is that the number of encounters you need per level is very small in the early levels (an average of 8 moderate encounters per level). The bulk of your adventuring career will be in the second tier with an average of 15 encounters per level. This decreases in the 3rd (11) and 4th tier (10) which is only fair given that the variety of monsters that can truly challenge character's of such exalted levels is fairly limited. This is a marked change from previous editions in which the assumption was that it would take 10 encounters to raise your level every time and it makes the game seem less cookie cutter. There have been a few people online proposing that you drop the XP chart but I would argue that there is definitely a method to this madness.

Losts Mines of Phandelver Part 1

This is the first post in a series where I provide an in-depth report of one group's expedition through The Lost Mines of Phandelver, the first adventure for the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Thanks to Adam, Chris, John and Pete for being my guinea pigs. Be warned: spoilers abound so if you don't want to know all the twists and turns check out my spoiler free review and stop reading here.

I had four players. Three chose to play the pre-generated PCs included in the starter set: Talon (The folk hero fighter) Sir Lloyd (the noble fighter) and Delxenlos (the elf wizard). The fourth decided to create his own cleric using the rules from the Basic Rules PDF and the point buy method for ability scores. We lost a fifth player to puppy fatigue so I chose to NPC Anders the halfling rogue, since I'd had fun rolling dice for him during my session prep.

I should mention at this point that I put a lot of time into prepping the adventure, at least three times as many hours as we actually spent playing. I'll go into this in more depth in a future post but suffice it to say I made the adventure my own and I attribute much of it's success to this fact.

The Adventure

The adventure begins with the PCs hired by a dwarf named Gundren to transport supplies from the city of Neverwinter to the town of Phandalin. Along the way they are attacked by goblins who have ambushed Gundren and his bodyguard Sildar, and must follow the goblins to their lair to find out what has become of them.

I say 'must' but in reality there are any number of places where the adventure could go off the rails if the PCs choose to go off script. My players could have very easily decided to leave Gundren and Sildar to their fate and continued on the Phandalin, becoming involved in the events in town or they could have interrogated the goblin they captured alive but unconscious and learned the location of an area that they probably won't be ready for until their third level at the beginning of the adventure and gone off gleefully to be slaughtered. Fortunately for us all they followed the designers intent and the goblin trail to their nearby hideout.

Along the way they encountered and disarmed one trap. The published adventure calls for two but that felt redundant so I chose to use only one. Traps are another topic I'll post about at length in the future and the rules for Perception in general which are one area in which the rules are a bit unclear and the adventure is inconsistent.

After finding the goblin lair the PCs made mince meat of the guards and in their zeal to wake up their comatose captive accidentally drowned him in a stream (the cleric not realizing that it's hard to hold your breath when you're out cold). Inside the lair they knocked out the goblin's wolves with alcohol and proceeded to climb up the goblins garbage chute and surprise the big bad: a bugbear named Klarg and his pet wolf. The cleric cast Guiding Bolt and the rogue proceeded to use the advantage granted by the spell to launch a sneak attack. Between the two of them the bugbear was reduced to about 2/3 of his total hit points in a a single round. Unfortunately the wizard had already used up both spell slots in the previous combats and forgotten to use arcane recovery so magic missile (which could have ended the fight quick) was unavailable. The wolf then attacked the cleric and got a critical hit knocking him out of the fight. The wolf and bugbear focused their attacks on the rogue and despite some spectacularly bad rolls on the part of the bugbear took him down in two turns.

While the wizard and the fighters focused on the other goblins the cleric rolled a 20 on his first death save and was returned to 1 HP whereupon he used his last spell slot to cast cure wounds on himself. The rogue stabilized on his first death save but remained unconscious. The noble turned his attention to the bugbear and as the goblins were done away with the other PCs followed suit. Finally the bugbear was killed with a spectacular blow to the head from the noble's greataxe,  leaving only the wolf, who was also finished off by the noble.

Before taking a short rest the cleric decided to take a quick look outside the cavern to make sure everything was clear and spotted the three goblins waiting to operate the flood gates upon being warned of intruders. The PCs managed to surprise the goblins...and spectacularly failed to hit anything...except for the noble who scored a critical hit with his first blow. The remaining goblins let loose with an equally ineffective round of shooting and were then summarily dispatched by the PCs who proceeded to rest for an hour. The wizard regained one spell slot with Arcane Recovery, the fighter recovered their hit points and their use of second wind and the cleric poured a healing potion down the rogue's throat restoring his consciousness and most of his hit point.

The rogue was then sent out to scout ahead. He encountered the goblin guarding the bridge and I rolled a few dice "off screen" to represent the encounter. The halfling got hit by a goblin arrow and ran back to consume the last of the healing potions from the bugbear's loot while the goblin ran the other way to warn the rest of his buddies that their were enemies on the way. This was another departure from the adventure text which seems to assume that the goblin on the bridge would flee to warn the goblins outside the bugbear's lair to flood the tunnel and flush the PCs out of the cave. I figured that even a goblin would be smart enough to figure that anyone approaching on the bridge itself instead of the tunnel below had already dealt with the flooders and would instead head towards the other goblins.

The PCs followed in due course and made it across the rickety bridge (I played up the idea that it was dangerous even though there was really no chance that it would collapse). They confronted the last goblins and made a pretty good start of killing them before I introduced the bugbear's lieutenant threatening the life of Gundren's bodyguard Sildar. There was a nice bit of roleplay between the lieutenant ending with the goblin getting frustrated and pitching Sildar off a small cliff. The cleric stabilized the unconscious Sildar and the mage knocked off some more goblins with magic missile. The rogue used the cleric's proximity to the lieutenant to launch a sneak attack with rather pathetic damage and the cleric finished him off with sacred flame. The rest of the goblins were dispatched in short order and a quick intelligence check allowed the PCs to figure out that they'd seen pretty much everything in the cave and cleared it out. After a few hours of loading purloined supplies (which the cleric recognized as belonging to a merchant company in town) into their wagon Sildar regained consciousness.

Sildar informed the PCs that Gundren and his brothers had discovered the entrance to the lost mines of the Phandelver's Pact, an ancient alliance of dwarf prospectors and human mages. The goblins who captured them were in league with a mysterious villain called The Black Spider and that Gundren had been taken to someplace called Cragmaw Castle. The adventure ended with the PCs en-route to Phandalin hoping to find some trace of Sildar's missing contact in the area, a wizard named Iarno Albrek, a level higher and several copper and silver pieces richer.

Postmortem

All in all we played about four hours. The game flowed really well. This was one of the smoothest games I've ever run and definitely the best first session with a new system where most of the players were largely unfamiliar with the rules. A lot of this was due to the effort I put into preparing before hand but the system itself certainly played a part. I think the phrase "elegant in it's simplicity" fits 5th edition well.

The new spell system was not as difficult to explain as I'd feared and combat was fluid and quick without miniatures. The monsters felt (to me at least) like they were appropriately balanced against the PCs, challenging but not overwhelmingly so (I should note that I did fudge hit points on a minion or two to conclude a couple of combats more quickly). Everyone but the wizard took a little bit of damage and two of the party were placed  in danger of death.

There were two things I wasn't completely pleased with. The first is the aforementioned rules for perception and surprise. I modified these pretty heavily and my house rules seemed to work well.

The second point I remain ambivalent about is cantrips, particularly for Clerics. For those unfamiliar with the new edition cantrips are at will spells that do not use a caster's spell slots. Both the wizard and the cleric have damage dealing cantrips that increase automatically as they gain levels. While it works OK for the wizard, it makes the cleric seem a little bland. In the old days clerics generally lacked damaging spells of any kind until they reached high level so their role in battle usually consisted of wading into melee with mace and shield and breaking off to heal as needed. It was a very flexible mode of play and one I quite enjoyed. In 5th edition a cleric will most likely stand away from the combat, with mace sheathed casting sacred flame. As an added wrinkle sacred flame doesn't require an attack roll (instead the target gets a saving throw). This means that there is no penalty for attacking an adjacent foe with the spell instead of a melee weapon and the cleric's player is not rolling dice, thus becoming less engaged in combat. You could choose not to pick sacred flame as one of your cantrips but then you will find yourself grossly outmatched in your capacity to deal damage at higher levels. It's a tricky problem that I'll certainly be turning my thoughts to once I get a look at the full range of options in The Players Handbook.

All in all I'm willing to call Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition a rousing success at this point. For all it may lack the tactical challenge and attention to detail of 3.5/Pathfinder, it's a fun game that empowers the GM to make their own calls, a nice blend of the narrative flexibility of old school games and the simpler rules of their newer successors. It remains to be seen how the game will scale up as the PCs. There's only one way to find out. Time to start the prep for session 2...

Starter Set Review

This particular post has been a long time coming as I've digested all the contents in the new Starter Box. I have yet to run a party of adventurers through it so be warned that most of these opinions are untested. I will eventually be posting play reports which will provide more detailed assessments.  I've also tried hard to keep it spoiler free so players who might be venturing into The Lost Mine of Phandelver may proceed without fear.

Dice:

The starter set comes with six dice: one  each of the standard polyhedra. While it may seem weird not to have 2d10 percentile dice are only mentioned once in the mechanics for the Augury spell so chances are good you won't miss them much. A second d20 would have been nice given how frequently advantage and disadvantage could come up. They have a deep blue pearl finish and roll nicely with satisfying weight to them, a far cry from the  disintegrating, pastel dice of yore that seemed to be made from recycled ballpoint pen caps.

The Characters:

In lieu of character creation rules you get five printed character sheets representing the classic archetypes of wizard (elf), cleric (dwarf), rogue (halfling) and two fighters (one melee, one ranged; both humans). All the information you need to play them is included on the sheets including information on alignment and how they advance up to 5th level.

While I generally don't care for pre-gens there are two things I love about these.

First (and most importantly) they are effective without being game optimized. While this does lead to a few weird gaps in logic (the rogue is the most likely character to be surprised for instance), it's nice that the designers are presenting characters that do not take advantage of every rule to eke the most damage from every hit. It's refreshing to see a product for beginners that doesn't cater to the worst impulses of the munchkin.

Second the character's personal stories are very well integrated into the story of the adventure. Every one of them has a good reason to undertake various quests above and beyond blind greed and the usual adventurer's imperative. The integration of the background element (one of my favorite bits of the new edition) really makes them more than just  stereotypes. They also play against type by making the cleric a soldier and the wizard an acolyte (a devout non-cleric).

The Rulebook:

The included rulebook is a fairly solid rendition of the game, though there are some cases in which the lack of character creation rules could potentially cause some confusion when a player moves up from the starter set to Basic D&D or the full Player's Handbook. For example, mention is made of Clerics being proficient with all armor but this is only the case because of a class and race feature built into the particular cleric included with the set rather than a general rule. It also makes it less attractive to the experienced player as a quick reference.

While the material presented is mostly solid there are a few vague areas, particularly as regards vision, lighting the ability to hide and the targeting of spells. Though  some of this is an inevitable consequence of moving the game away from requiring miniatures, but I think there was plenty of room for improvement in this area.

Adventure:

The Lost Mine of Phandelver is not likely to stand alongside Castle Ravenloft and The Temple of Elemental Evil in the pantheon of great modules but it is quite good as introductory adventures go. It's really more of a mini campaign as it covers enough encounters to bring the players up through fifth level and should take between four and five sessions to play.

There's a good mix of combat, exploration and social interaction as well as plenty of  advice for the novice DM about how to make it all work. A few bits  felt a little forced but it's a solid example of adventure design which bodes well for Wizards of the Coast given that their business plan seems to hinge on the successful sales of modules. 

A word of caution: although the adventure is set up in four parts and the designers expect players to go through them in order there exists a strong possibility that the players will skip half of the first chapter and proceed to the second (especially if they are experienced players who are  wary of DM meddling). This can wreak all sorts of havoc with the plot and leave the characters critically underpowered at critical moments in parts 3 and 4. Part three is also almost completely freeform. The DM must be familiar with the character's background at this point, as each of the pre-gens has specific goals that tie into something. If a player forgets that their character has a reason of her own to explore the ruined village of Thundertree the DM should be ready with a reminder. Far from a weakness, this is actually a strength of the entire package. The integration of the characters' personal history transforms what would otherwise be a melange of side quests designed for level grinding into a part of their evolving biography in a very organic way and encourages the players to move beyond the published plotline in potentially interesting ways.

It would behoove you to read the entire adventure through at least once and make copious notes because it's much more complex then your standard dungeon crawl with a simple map and key...though it's got that in there too!

The Final Analysis:

The Starter Set is a decent product. Not great but good enough to get folks who have never played excited about the game. It certainly helps that the rules themselves are the most accessible that they've ever been. A lot has been made of the fact that there is no battle mat, or cardboard tokens as was included in the 4th ed red box or the Pathfinder beginner box. This is another strength in my opinion. The starter set includes everything you need to play D&D in it's simplest form. A bunch of components you don't really need would only serve to intimidate new players, especially since the addition of miniatures would require more detailed rules for their use. The one thing I would have liked better would have been some form of character creation rules in the box. Though they are available online for free, the new player is more likely to encounter D&D through the starter box and I feel that the process of creating your own persona is so integral to the Dungeons and Dragons experience that it should have been included.

For experienced players most of the appeal will be lost once the full set of core rulebooks is released (or when monsters and magic items are added to the basic rules). That being said if you're an old time grognard who is on the fence about whether to plunk down 150 dollars for The Trilogy the starter set does provide a taste of what 5th edition has to offer with a fraction of the time and effort that building an adventure of your own using the basic rules would take.

Five Spells That Are Too Good Not to Have Prepared

The nature of spell casting in Dungeons and Dragons is such that there will never be a single best spell*. A lot depends on the situation of the moment and spells are very limited in their purview. Sleep is perfect for when you're surrounded by goblins but pretty useless when being attacked by skeletons or drowning in a flooding chamber. That being said there are some spells that are so good that not preparing them is almost silly. What follows are one DM's picks of five, a mix of Cleric and Wizard from the first level list provided in the starter set and basic rules PDF. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments.

*Except of course for the ever elusive Wish.

5)Shield (wizard): In previous editions Shield was the poor man's Mage Armor. It's limited duration and relatively low bonus to AC combined to make it relatively unattractive despite the fact that it blocked Magic Missile. So what's changed?  In fifth edition certain spells, including Shield, can be cast as a reaction,  meaning that the spell is actually cast in an opponents turn when triggered by another action in this case being hit by a successful attack. This means that you don't have to use the spell slot until you know you're going to need it because the enemy just flung a magic missile at you or hit you with an attack. Plus if the DM is rolling in the open or telling you what his attack rolls are you know whether the spell will make a difference and can choose not to waste the slot.

4) Burning Hands (wizard). Burning Hands has always been sort of the hipster equivalent of Magic Missile, the first level attack spell you take just to be contrary to the accepted wisdom or because your character happens to have a bad case of pyromania. In fifth edition the improvement of Shield has made Magic Missile less effective locking the two spells in a kind of arcane detente.  In this environment Burning Hands really shines. Shield offers no protection against it (nor armor for that matter) and it has the potential to cause more damage if spread over multiple targets.

3) Healing Word (cleric): Healing Word not only allows you to heal damage on a target at a distance (60 feet) it is also a bonus action. This means that after casting it you can cast a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action or make another action (such as an attack or a disengage). Though it doesn't heal as much as Cure Light Wounds, it's a great way to beat the old problem of the cleric not getting to do anything in combat but buff. The third level version (Mass Healing Word) is even better as it allows you to heal more than one companion at a time.

2) Guiding Bolt (Cleric): This has got to be one of the best spells ever designed for any edition. Not only does it have a range of 120' (better than the max range of a hand crossbow) it requires no material components and does 4d6 radiant damage...at first level. But wait there's more! In addition to all of that, the first attack against the target gets advantage, effectively doubling it's chance of a hit. Time it just right and a rogue can use that advantage to add an extra d6 from sneak attack. It does require an attack roll to hit but you should have a more than decent shot of pulling it off.

1) Ray of Frost/Sacred Flame (wizard/cleric): I've cheated a bit and lumped these two together since they are essentially the same spell. Ray of Frost requires a ranged attack and imposes a movement penalty whereas Sacred Flame can be avoided with a Dexterity save, but both spells cause the same amount of damage (d8). They also share a 60' range and neither requires any material components that can be lost or taken away. Both are cantrips so they can be cast at will and in addition to a spell cast with a bonus action. They also increase their damage automatically as the character raises in level whereas every other spell must be cast using a higher level spell slot to do more damage. These factors combine to make Ray and Flame the most reliable way for the wizard or clerics to keep pace with the fighters extra attacks and the rogues sneak attack ability at higher levels.

Welcome to the Dungeons

It has come to my attention that folks over on Facebook may be becoming weary of my incessant posts regarding the 5th Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game produced by the fine folks at Wizards of the Coast. They perhaps wish to see less about how awesome the dagger is or the chances of a rogue against a fighter in a balanced fight and more dog videos/pictures of cute babies. I cannot say they are wrong in these desires and so I have begun to delve these dungeons for myself.

Others may wish for additional detail or a more archival venue that makes it easier to return to savor the posts of old for comfort in the dying glow of their twilight years. You are just the sort of creatures I am looking for to infest these catacombs and keep those damn adventurers away from my treasure.

Perhaps you have come here through the mystical meanderings of the Digital Plane. Welcome! I hope you find much here to enlighten and entertain.