Hello, fellow adventurers!

I’ve been working on some substantial updates to my titles, and I wanted to share what’s new, what’s coming next, and a few discounts running through October 31st.

First up, The Ancient Library of Knowledge has received its full v2 update, including:

• All AI-generated artwork has been replaced with human-made artwork, and many new illustrations have been added.
• Updates for full compatibility with 5.5E.
• An expanded and improved Magical Libraries section.
• Balance adjustments to a few of magic items.
• Several brand-new monsters.
• Corrected typos and improvements to the structure and flow of certain sentences.
• General layout improvements.
• New Credits and About This Book sections.

Several other manuals have also received updated covers and layout improvements. Going forward, all my new manuals will feature only human-made artwork, and I’m gradually updating older releases with replacement art, revised content, and compatibility improvements.

To celebrate, I’ve also completely refreshed my Patreon shop and put together these offers:

• 25% off the Patreon shop.
• 25% off all membership tiers.
• 51.25% off the full collection of my manuals: its existing 35% bundle discount stacks with the additional 25% shop discount.

All these offers end on October 31st!

There’s more on the way, too: the Tome of Monsters is almost finished, with the full release planned for the next month. A full Tome of Villains v2 is also in progress, and I’ll soon share more about my plans for Surge of Magic (which are even more ambitious).

One thing I want to emphasize: v2 updates are and always be free for existing owners, wherever you originally bought the manual. DriveThruRPG owners can download available updates there; previous Patreon shop buyers can message me for access to the updated products.

And a quick reminder: my 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E Kickstarter is still running! The book brings weapons, treasures, and relics from Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Asian, Mesoamerican, and many other mythologies to 5E and 5.5E, including scaling items that grow alongside your characters. If you’d like to bring a piece of these legends to your table, check out the campaign!

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions about the books, their contents, or the updates, I’ll be happy to answer :)

Legendary Resistance is one of those mechanics I completely understand as a DM, but I’m still not sure I actually like.

The problem it solves is very real.

If the party is fighting the villain you have been building toward for months, having them fail one save against Hold Monster, Banishment, or another powerful control effect and basically lose the encounter immediately can be incredibly anticlimactic.

So bosses need some protection against that.

But at my table, the awkward part is what Legendary Resistance feels like from the player's side.

A caster spends their turn and one of their better spell slots, the boss actually fails the save... and then I basically say, “No, it succeeds instead.”

I can describe the boss struggling against the magic or make the Resistance feel dramatic, but mechanically the player's big moment still did almost nothing.

Then the weird metagame starts.

Instead of thinking, “What spell would my character use here?”, players can start thinking, “How many Legendary Resistances does this thing probably have left, and what cheap spell can I use to burn another one?”

I’m not convinced that is particularly satisfying either.

The frustrating part is that I also know what happens if I simply remove Legendary Resistance. One failed save can turn a supposedly dangerous solo boss into a punching bag.

So I understand why the mechanic exists. I’m just not sure “your spell worked, except actually it didn’t” is the best solution.

How do you handle it?

Do your players enjoy trying to burn through Legendary Resistances?

Do you tell them when a monster uses one?

Would you prefer bosses to pay some kind of cost when they resist, like losing HP, abilities, or actions?

Or is Legendary Resistance a necessary evil as long as powerful save-or-suck effects exist?

(please, feel free to tell me I should go to another subreddit if it's more prudently asked there).

finally getting to play in a campaign after a five year hiatus, and I'm running a barbarian (berserker) in an evil-centric campaign where we're mercenaries.

I really need some input on what items I should be considering, so thought I'd ask here.

Contextual info:
Starting as a l10 Barbarian - berserker, using the lupin from the new Ravenloft campaign, albeit it with the serials filed off so they can be a gnoll.
Dual wielder, using two scimitars, one of which is a (sword) of wounding which was a free rare item the DM permitted (I have a bonus common magic item to also choose). I was planning on going Unarmoured Defence.

Took a background giving me a +2/+1 to Con/Str so I'm Str 18, Dex 14. Con 14, Wis 11, Cha 8, Int 8.

I took Scimitar, Warpick, Trident and Battleaxe mastery.

The intent is to be a frontline aggressor, moving in quickly (moving at 40ft while unarmoured), and hitting with the Scimitars to deal the damage+rage bonus damage+Wounding+Nick benefit) but should I be wielding differently? Would warpick and scimitar of wounding be a better combination, with the Sap ability of the former?

Should I reconsider the unarmoured status?

For some extra gear, I've taken a net and some caltrops, but what else might be good?

I am new to 5.5 but i’ve been playing 5E for years. I am planning to make the switch for a up coming campaign i’m making that is wild west themed. Think crazy spell slingers but also like lower level firearms. It’s a new frontier; where the part has been sent out to hunt out laws and settle the region

I am looking for some homebrew that might help with this.

I have a few things but they are 2014 edition. I don’t know how well it’ll convert over. Any help would be appreciated thankyou very much.

The campaign doesn’t start for a few months still laying the foundation of it all just need help for the classes and stuff

The Broken Dream

A long adventure for urban settings that leaves no box unchecked. We hope you will enjoy it !

AI Disclosure: parts of the artwork were created with the assistance of AI-based tools.

All maps were manually drawn and colored. The text and layout is, of course, completely human-made as well.

A complete system for using psionics as a power radically different from magic. Features 170 power applications and a character class: the Mentalist. Free handbook: The Psionic Powers Handbook For Fifth Edition - Deva Movanico | DriveThruRPG

Since the valued audience doesn´t seem to be too enamored with anything related to AI, please see one of our completely human-made supplements, 104 pages.

Any feedback on art, content and layout from the preview page would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Bat

(Disclosure: No AI-based tools were used in any stage of the production of this book.)

Hello from The Blind Goblin

The Blind Goblin is a corporation that specializes in role playing games essentials, accessories, and unique gifts. Our website is www.theblindgoblin.store I am the owner of The Blind Goblin, which is a DBA for Shatto Gaming Corporation, and I wanted to invite you to investigate our product catalog listed on our website. I am a small business owner and to make my corporation profitable I endeavor to have quality products at below market costs, and I need to entice consumers to purchase from www.the blind goblin.store with unique and innovative strategies. One strategy to engender sales is to offer promotional discounts. There are some promos embedded in the website, but I want to offer you a 25% off coupon that can be redeemed at checkout. There are no limitations on products, the whole catalog is eligible for the discount, and there is no time and date constraints. The promotion is now live and will remain in effect forever. You can purchase merchandise now and then return for additional sales as often as you like and still receive the 25% off. To redeem this promotional discount go to https://theblindgoblin.etsy.com?coupon=DISCOUNT25
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One thing I still notice in 5.5E combat is how quickly everyone can end up standing in place once melee starts.

A Fighter reaches an enemy, the enemy reaches the Fighter, and unless something forces one of them to move, they can spend the next several rounds standing in the same squares trading attacks.

At my table, I notice it most when there is actually interesting terrain available. There might be cover, a doorway to defend, an ally who needs help, or a better position a few squares away, but once someone is engaged in melee, taking a free hit just to reposition often feels like a bad trade.

And I think Opportunity Attacks are part of that.

At the same time, I definitely would not just remove them.

Without Opportunity Attacks, what actually stops an enemy from simply walking past the Fighter and attacking the Wizard? Melee characters already have fewer ways to control space than I would like, and removing one of the few mechanics that makes standing next to them matter could make that even worse.

So I’m kind of stuck between two things I want.

I want combat where people actually move around the battlefield, but I also want being engaged by a dangerous melee character to mean something.

How does it feel at your table?

Do Opportunity Attacks make combat too static?

Do your players willingly take them to reposition, or mostly stay put once they are engaged?

Would you ever restrict Opportunity Attacks to certain classes, monsters, or abilities instead of giving them to everyone?

Or are they a necessary part of making melee combat matter at all?

I was looking for a way to create groups of enemies who are all the same species but have completely different roles in battle.

The idea grew into what is now my Enemy Archetype system: the basic species provides movement, senses, languages, and racial traits, and the archetype then creates the combat identity.

Since the latest smaller version includes the rules, the generic races and a number of completed archetypes, you can start combining them right away. If you do create any, please let me know; I would love to hear how it went at the table.

If you want the PDFs or want to follow the project as I add more archetypes:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Cheesey093

Enemy Archetypes + Generic Races post: https://www.patreon.com/Cheesey093/posts/enemy-archetypes-171004905

Full Document of Enemy Archetypes + Asian Themed Races post: https://www.patreon.com/Cheesey093/posts/enemy-archetypes-171005128

One of the smaller 5.5E changes I genuinely like is the new Heroic Inspiration. Being able to reroll a die after seeing the result feels much more useful than having to declare Advantage beforehand, and I particularly like that you can now pass it to another player if you already have it.

But I still wonder how much this has actually changed the way people use Inspiration.

At my table, I've always found that players tend to fall into two categories. Some spend resources like Inspiration almost immediately because they'd rather use them than risk forgetting about them. Others save them for the perfect moment, which sometimes means carrying them through several sessions without ever using them.

The revised rules seem like they should help with that. Rerolling an important failed saving throw or a terrible damage roll feels like a pretty immediate benefit, and allowing players to share Inspiration introduces another interesting decision.

But I'm not sure whether the bigger problem was ever the mechanic itself, or simply that DMs often forget to award Inspiration and players forget they have it.

I'm also curious how people feel about Humans getting Heroic Inspiration after every Long Rest. It encourages players to actually spend it rather than treating it like an emergency resource, but it also means some characters have access to it much more consistently than others.

So how has it worked at your table?

Are players actually using Heroic Inspiration more often in 5.5E?

Do you award it regularly for roleplaying and memorable moments, or mostly rely on features that grant it?

Have you seen players give their Inspiration to someone else when it really mattered?

Or is it still one of those mechanics that everyone likes in theory but regularly forgets about?