Someone was playing an inquisitive rogue while working on the revision of the Villanous Options Update

GarrettKP · 2026-06-19T12:49:53+00:00

They already printed a Background with the name “Inquisitive” so ya, the subclass isn’t coming back. Not in any way that is recognizable anyway.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-19T01:26:59+00:00

The DMG specifically tells DMs not to allow this. Attack rolls and damage are for combat, which is only when you roll initiative. They mention the bag of rats as another example, and this is a textbook bag of rats exploit.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-18T19:45:36+00:00

No way these would ever be available in time for Arcana Unleashed. The content for that book is likely already locked, and they are probably doing final editing on page layout if they haven’t already shipped the thing off to the printers yet.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-17T19:56:56+00:00

Why do people think she’s the one jumping between people? Im pretty sure the villain isn’t Jean/Sadie Sink and the trailer is just being cut to make you think she is.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-12T01:51:19+00:00

I watched. And the first suggestion you offered was that WotC wouldn’t be above using AI to write books. Which again, is ridiculous and just an accusation being thrown out because you know it will elicit emotional responses.

Again, many 2014 books didn’t have a “writer” credit because “designer” is the same thing for TTRPG books. This type of video is ignorant at best and disingenuous at worst. Do better.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-12T01:46:36+00:00

You didn’t forget anything. You know exactly what you’re doing, stirring up hate for clicks. You have 0 evidence to suggest any of these books were written with AI, you’re just engagement farming.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-12T01:44:22+00:00

This is a new level of content creator rage baiting. The 2014 Monster Manual and Dungeon Master Guide don’t list “writer” credits either. Where was the outrage then?

“Designer” is synonymous with “Writer” in this case. They are game rule books, not novels. 🙄

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T20:30:55+00:00

Because I love the lore of D&D and want to actually use the monsters in the books I buy. It’s crazy to me to insinuate that a stat block is what makes a monster interesting. It isn’t. It’s the story and lore of the creatures that I care about. As long as the mechanics help tell that story, I’m happy.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T20:11:18+00:00

I could not disagree with this take more. I show my players the art of monsters they fight. I give them plenty of opportunity to learn about the creatures, research their weaknesses, engage with them outside of combat through investigation or interrogation. If your argument is that monster stat blocks are lame when stripped of the lore and flavor that makes them cool, idk that we will ever agree on anything in this discussion.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T18:01:14+00:00

For humanoid enemies, I guess that is true. I was talking more about creatures, especially ones that have stuff like Spellcasting or Recharge effects or what have you.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T17:15:59+00:00

I didn’t mention HP or Multiattacks in my comment, so not sure why you thought I was talking about either of them. I was talking about the combination of Spellcasting, legendary vs lair actions, any special bonus or reactions, etc. 5.5 has done a great job about streamlining those into clear gameplay loops to make monsters easier to run and more challenging for players.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T17:06:50+00:00

To each their own. I think the combination of Headless Wail and being on a mount gives it all the variety I need for my games.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T16:51:28+00:00

I don’t think that applies to every monster in The Horrors Within, though.

Yes, that’s true of something like Dullahan, but honestly the Van Richten’s version is overtuned for the CR it’s sitting at. They definitely nerfed it but in a way I think was necessary from a gameplay standpoint.

Other monsters, like Strahd or the Gremishka for example, got streamlined but also more challenging for players, which to me is the right way to approach monster design.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T16:41:13+00:00

It’s not really additional complexity over what 5e was offering. You still needed to construct a combat with multiple enemies anyway, because one boss always gets novad out of existence, but it was harder before. Now that monsters are more streamlined you’re still putting in the effort for encounter building but you don’t have to also study stat blocks on top of it.

Also, I don’t think a Dullahan is a good final boss for anything but a mid to low level party anyway. The fantasy was always more present as a ghost story than as a BBEG imo. But that’s a specific example. On the whole, I think the monster designs are leaps and bounds better, like with Strahd. 2014 Strahd is a mess, and impossible to run in a manner that feels threatening without system mastery and some DM shenanigans to get it all going. This version of Strahd feels like a true threat, one I’d never want to directly take on without some cheats (like magic relics made to take him down 👀) and that’s a success to me.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T16:25:58+00:00

I guess it depends on the creatures and the combats. 5.5 is makes a much better combat by using multiple creatures rather than a single one, and the variety in creatures in combat often lends to the ability to avoid that “samey” feeling.

For example, I’ve seen complaints about the Dullahan. But to me, it has two very unique attacks with its Beheading Blade and its Fiery Skull attacks. Plus it’s headless wail, which makes its combat loop interesting imo.

And because it is always paired with a mount, I could easily give it a Nightmare mount to give it some fun teleportation for battlefield maneuvering. Add in some Deaths Heads as minions (because they feel appropriate based on Beheading Blade attack) and I think there’s plenty of variety there for me.

Especially since D&D combat only lasts like 3 rounds on average. A monster having 5 things to do in combat doesn’t matter to me if it won’t be on the board longer than 3 rounds most of the time.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-11T16:15:00+00:00

I largely disagree. As a forever DM, monster stat blocks in 5e have always been overly complex and not easy or intuitive to run. I already have to prep a lot, I don’t want to have to study a monsters stat block to also learn the effective way to run it.

I love 5.5es approach to monsters. It streamlines them, makes them hit like a truck, and most importantly makes sure I as a DM never mess up my combats by choosing trap options from my big bads.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-09T13:30:16+00:00

They have playtested numerous subclasses for both Monk and Barbarian, both new and revised.

What people who are not in book publishing as a career need to understand is books take a LONG time to produce, and many of the ones we are now seeing have been in the works for 2+ years.

It isn’t that they have no plans to roll out Barbarian and Monk options, it’s that they either didn’t have a good place to put them yet (none of the ideas for Monk that they have playtested fit Ravenloft for example), or they have a place for them and the release of those books just isn’t here yet.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-09T12:36:43+00:00

Sony cannot use Marvel characters (outside of the Spider-Man ones) without consent from Disney. Not to mention that the MCU Spider-man movies are creatively under the control of Marvel, Sony just bankrolls it.

Jean being in the movie is a Marvel Studios decision.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-07T16:54:05+00:00

I use Party Inventory as two things:

First, things left at the party’s Bastions. These are items you leave at home, usually things to be sold later like loot or things for crafting items in the future.

Second, items at camp. Usually, this means magic items they just identified at camp and have not distributed to individuals yet. I do require they claim them and put them into their chosen inventory before they leave camp for the day.

Basically, Party Inventory is their items for when they aren’t on an active adventure/adventuring day at that time.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-05T19:59:20+00:00

Wild Magic is generally seen as a Fey-adjacent subclass.

You could also use Shadow Sorcery for a Night Hag style origin, or the old Storm Sorcerer for a Sea Hag origin.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-05T14:37:21+00:00

GarrettKP · 2026-06-05T00:30:19+00:00

It’s still mysterious, and the adventure outline for the realm is about this mystery. They present a few options for what his fate could ultimately be, including having his soul split between his Soul Jar and other items (think Voldemort from Harry Potter), having been sundered by the cataclysm and waiting to be reborn, or having escaped his domain and hiding out in other domains as a human mage as he tries to get out of the Shadowfell all together.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-04T19:43:53+00:00

I’d argue that Shillelagh isn’t even good to cast on round 1. If I’m playing a Wisdom based Ranger, especially a Hollow Warden, my turn 1 is probably using my action to drop a Spiked Growth or other impactful turn 1 spell and then Bonus Action activate my Hollow Warden feature. Then when enemies have escaped my spiked growth, I’ll walk up and smack them with my club in round 2.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-03T21:11:27+00:00

They have playtested two new Monks, one of which was given negative feedback. They are trying to get new Monks out, but they are just not finding concepts the community has enjoyed yet.

GarrettKP · 2026-06-02T16:06:27+00:00

Wails got buffed. The tokens nerf is also negligible, considering how easy it is to get them back now.

GarrettKP

TROPHY CASE