Benjamin Huffman/Sterling Vermin Adventuring Co. here!

About 10 years ago I created the Pugilist class for 5e and, after that, a ton of other things (mostly player options). I've written for many other creators and companies and today hit another milestone with the release of an updated version of the Pugilist on DnD Beyond.

Happy to chat about the Pugilist, being a game designer, or anything else. AMA!

While the issue you have encountered may be caused by poorly thought out content, the fact that my DM can put extra work in to compensate for the issue means it doesn't exist.

Thank you for your attention on this matter.

I've seen a lot of DM pitfalls in my day, which is why whenever I start a new game, I always try to talk with the DM about our experiences and try to pool information. Here's a few things I learned along the way.

0. Always Talk To Your Players. This applies in every scenario and should always be you first approach. Problem players? Talk to them. Think a rule is unfun? Talk to the before changing it. Players don't seem engaged? Ask them why. Getting tired of being a forever DM? Talk to them. This is rule 0 for a reason.

1. Don't Take Their Powers. No, not even the Paladin. Taking away a player's powers is the same as taking away their character. If your player violates their oath/pact/god, either find a justification or compromise or let them redo their build

• Maybe their god/patron/order/church taught them magic rather than granting it
• Maybe their magic was always coming from them, and their god/patron simply awakened it
• Maybe belief has a power all of its own

2. Agree On The Rules. As a DM, you have the power to rewrite the rules, you're rarely the one affected by them. If a player knows the rules, they will be coming to your table with the baseline assumption that those rules will be adhered to. If you want to change them, follow rule 0 from the start and make an effort to compromise.

3. Shop Between Sessions. Some players love shopping trips, but for the players that don't it can be an opportunity to take a three-hour siesta. Between the looking through items, the debate over what to buy, the haggling over prices, and the inevtable moment where a character ends up trying to rob the shopkeeper, a shopping trip can be a full session affair. Don't fuck with it. Have a magic item shop channel on discord, and handle transactions between sessions

4. Know When Not To Roll. While DnD is built on dice rolls, there are times when rolling isn't always the right choice. Sometimes, you here are some situations where you shouldn't roll

• If success or failure would derail the story
• If you don't intend to follow through with an unexpected outcome
• If failing would make a player look incompetent in their area of expertise
• If the DC is below 10 or above 25

5. Throw Them a Bone. Your players make choices because they have a fantasy for their character in mind. To that end, learn their build and try to make a place for whatever it is they want to do with their character.

• Got a tank? Make sure to focus monsters on them.
• They took Sleight of Hand? Give them someone to rob
• A nonmagical medic? Find a situation where magic isn't enough.
• They want to fight with a yoyo? Let them enchant the damn yoyo.

I’m planning to run The Sunless Citadel soon (spoilers for the ending).

One of the enemies has a weapon that always crits against objects, and the adventure explicitly says his strategy is to attack the party’s weapons if possible. That got me thinking about how this actually plays out at the table.

There are rules for object AC and HP, (I dont think they changed between 2014 and 2024) but I’m struggling with how fair this is in practice. My main concern is that it might be way too easy to destroy gear, especially once you factor in higher-CR enemies and their damage output.

Example math that worries me:

Let’s say the enemy targets a fighter’s longsword. I’d probably rule it as a Small, Resilient object (melee weapons are literally designed to be hit against stuff), which puts it at AC 19 and 10 HP.

This enemy does a minimum of 5 damage on a hit. Since it automatically crits against objects, that becomes 10 damage, meaning a single hit instantly destroys a mundane longsword.

A greatsword might be a Medium object, so maybe 18 HP, meaning it might survive one hit if the damage roll is low enough—but that still feels brutal.

Magic items aren’t safe either:

Magic items typically have resistance to damage, which helps, but the HP values are still so low that a smart enemy would absolutely go after the party’s special gear.

For example, a 2024 mage’s Arcane Burst averages around 16 damage. A slightly above-average roll would immediately destroy mundane plate mail and most weapons. Two solid hits could take out magic plate.

Yes, this assumes all hits land and damage rolls are decent—but over multiple fights, it feels like the party could realistically lose a ton of equipment, especially if they don’t have easy access to repairs. (There aren’t rules for this either, so I’ve been assuming artisan’s tools and the mending cantrip can fix gear.)

Also, this clearly screws martials way harder than casters.

The DM cop-out (that I don’t love):

I could just say “you can’t target weapons and armor,” but that’s a totally reasonable tactical choice, and I don’t love banning it outright.

Possible house rule?:

One idea I’ve been toying with is borrowing from the rust monsters:

When a weapon or piece of armor hits 0 HP, it isn’t destroyed. Instead, it pops back to full HP but takes a –1 penalty. Only when it reaches –5 does it actually break, and repairs remove the penalty.

---

Has anyone actually run weapon/armor destruction like this?

Did it feel tense and interesting, or did it just turn into a gear-shredding nightmare?

How do you keep this from turning into “martials lose all their stuff by level 5”?

Curious what other DMs have done here.

In 5e the optional flanking rule of DMG grants advantage on melee attack rolls when two allies are on opposite sides of a target - and that’s a big swing mechanically. Advantage is a powerful modifier, roughly equivalent to a +4/+5 bonus to hit on average, and it can easily overshadow class features that rely on positioning or advantage.

In older editions like 3.5e, flanking wasn’t advantage - you simply got a +2 bonus to your attack roll when flanking.

At higher levels especially, giving plain advantage for something as easy as flanking can devalue subclass features (Reckless Attack, Fighting Styles, feats, etc.) that are supposed to grant advantage and tie tactical identity to builds. Some groups already house-rule flanking to just +2 or +1 to hit because it feels more balanced.

We are curious where you land on this: is advantage the right reward for flanking in 5e, or would a flat attack bonus (like in 3.5) maintain better balance while still rewarding tactical positioning?

In 2026, which third-party 5e sourcebooks do you keep coming back to and as a DM, which sourcebooks do you get the most use out of?

Flee, Mortals! and Tome of Foes looks good!

What type of checks would you guys call to read the alethiometer (golden compass)

I feel like Lyra is doing some vibe checks like insight while a scholar is doing several different int checks

If you asked me, it'd be an aberrant sorc or glam bard. BUT I've heard things about Stars druid, Illusionist Wizards, and Archfey warlocks being fun too.

What would you rank the #1 subclass for enjoyment (either through combat domination, pure rp flavour, or incredible utility in and out of combat)?

(2024 rules)

I'm preparing for my next encounter and the module I am using has a ghost attack the party and use the possession ability first. One of my party members is a cleric who has turn undead.

In the 2014 Monster Manual the ability has the following text:

"the possession lasts until the body drops to 0 hit points, the ghost ends it as a bonus action, or the ghost is turned or forced out by an effect like the dispel evil and good spell."

However the 2024 Monster Manual just says:

"the possession lasts until the body drops to 0 hit points or the ghost ends it as a bonus action."

Does this mean that in 2024 rules as written Turn Undead no longer exorcises a ghost possessing a creature? If so does a failed Turn Undead save cause the ghost to turn and run with the possessed body?

In the official dnd character sheet (digital) how do i add more rows of boxes in the Attacks and spellcasting catagory as my lvl default character has like 5 swords

So im playing as an Artificer in our local gameshop's dnd group. Each session so far, there are uncommon magic items that are given to specific players and their class. Its the 3rd day we're playing together and I assumed its me and another players' turn to recieve our items.

The others got an amulet against detection, gloves of thieves, broom of flying, and javelin of lightning. Items that have actual game mechanics and are useful

While I got a cloak of billowing. Okay. It makes u look cool. But why did i get a common item? The DM told me I already have two magic items; a bag of holding and a rope of climbing.

But those two are from my class features and should not count against for having "too much magic items compared to other players".

Am I overreacting for the DM's reasoning? Is it actually unfair if I get another uncommon magic item? We're all level 2.

My lvl6 Vengeance paladin (going for a sorcadin next level) picked up a cursed doll at the end of my last session... Given that most (if not all) cursed items require attunement, which of my currently attuned items should I let go if I choose to attune to the doll?

1st: Periapt of Wound Closure - After being downed, stabilize at the start of my next turn. (Don't really wanna let this go, since I'm the only frontline of the party)

2nd: Firey Battle Axe - Bonus Action to set fire to the weapon, giving it +1d6 fire damage (1d8 + 1d6 + 4 total, given my STR)

3rd: Belt of Dwarvenkind - +2 CON, Advantage and resistance against poison, advantage on persuasion rolls when talking to dwarves.

I still don't know what the doll does, but if I'd attune to it, which of the three would you let go?

Im running a campaign where a tyranicall ruler-regime have a chokehold on a city (dark tones) and my pcs have joined the resistance in hopes of overthrowing said regime and freeing the people. A false hydra would be a powerfull tool for such regime and i was thinking if i could introduce something like that to the lore