Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e (2024)

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (D&D 5E) is a heroic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game published by Wizards of the Coast. Released in 2014, it is the edition that brought D&D from a niche hobby into mainstream pop culture - showing up in TV shows, podcasts, and actual-play streams, and introducing millions of new players to the hobby for the first time. 5E was designed after a massive public playtest ("D&D Next") with the explicit goal of being approachable to newcomers while still satisfying veteran players. The Basic Rules are free, and a game can start with nothing more than those rules, some friends, and a set of dice (or a digital dice roller app). In 2024 the core rules received a significant revision, now commonly referred to as Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E (2024). Both versions are fully compatible and most groups mix material freely. The system it directly evolved from is Dungeons & Dragons 4E (2008) Description In D&D 5E, players create fantasy adventurers (a half-orc barbarian, an elven wizard, a tiefling rogue) and one player takes on the role of the Dungeon Master (DM). The DM builds and describes the world, voices the non-player characters (NPCs), controls the monsters, and acts as both the lead storyteller and the rules referee. There is no board. The game is a conversation: the DM describes a scene, the players say what their characters do, and the dice decide what happens when the outcome is uncertain. A typical session runs three to four hours with a group of three to six players plus the DM. The game describes itself as resting on "Three Pillars": Combat, Exploration, and Social Interaction. A single session might include all three, from tracking a monster through the wilderness and negotiating with a shady merchant to fighting a troll at the entrance to a cave. Combat is the most mechanically detailed of the three and tends to take up the largest share of table time, though groups are free to lean as hard into roleplaying or exploration as they like. The default assumption is a high-fantasy world filled with magic, monsters, and ancient ruins. The flagship published setting is the Forgotten Realms, but Wizards of the Coast has released adventures across a range of worlds, and many DMs create their own. The game does not ship a single canon story. Every table's story is different, shaped by what the players do. 5E is designed to be approachable. The core philosophy is "rulings over rules," meaning that when something comes up that the rules do not explicitly cover, the DM is encouraged to make a quick call and keep the game moving rather than stopping to look things up. The rules reward creativity and improvisation, and the system explicitly expects that no one at the table has memorized the entire rulebook. That said, the DM carries most of the preparation work between sessions: building encounters, preparing maps, and keeping the story moving. Players can show up with nothing but their character sheet and a set of dice.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is a tactical, combat-focused tabletop roleplaying system released by Wizards of the Coast in 2008. Designed to fix the high-level math imbalances and "martial vs. caster" disparities of the 3.5E era, 4E redesigned the game's engine with a more video game adjacent approach. It is famous for its structured, grid-based combat and for standardizing class abilities into a unified system. While its dramatic departure from legacy mechanics polarized the fanbase directly paving the way for the creation of Pathfinder. 4E is widely praised today for its brilliant monster design, DM tools, and unparalleled encounter balance. The system it directly replaced is Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Edition (2003) Description In D&D 4E, players take on the roles of heroes who are combat-capable right from the start. The system relies of combat being carried out with the use of a battle grid. Positioning plays a big part of the combat experience. The exact location of the characters matters greatly. Unlike other editions where spellcasters are played in a separate mechanical way than martial classes, 4E unifies the progression system. Every class is boiled down to a specific combat "Role" and draws from their specialized toolkit of "Powers," making the game balanced and ensuring that every character has unique and impactful actions that they can perform on their turns. System Overview & Key Features The Power System Instead of traditional spell slots or basic attacks, every class has a list of At-Will, Encounter, Daily, and Utility powers, each with different power levels and frequency at which they can be performed. Fighters can execute epic daily maneuvers just as wizards cast daily spells, creating a better balance between martial classes and spellcasters. Combat Roles All classes are sorted by their class specialization role: Defenders (tanks who draw aggro and protect their allies), Strikers (high single-target damage), Leaders (healers and support), and Controllers (area-of-effect damage and debuffers). Static Defenses Saving throws were removed and replaced with four different defense values: Armor Class, Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. When a wizard casts a fireball, they roll an attack against the targets' Reflex. Instead of both sides rolling for success and for defense - the attacker is the only one to roll dice. Healing Surges A standardized resource pool representing a character's stamina. Almost all healing in the game, whether from a cleric's spell or catching your breath, requires the target to spend a Healing Surge, which reliably heals them for exactly one-quarter of their maximum hit points. Monster Roles & Minions The Dungeon Master's toolkit was revolutionized. Monsters have explicit roles (like Brute, Artillery, or Skirmisher) that cleanly dictate their behavior. 4E also introduced "Minions". Monsters that have normal stats and deal average damage, but only have exactly 1 Hit Point, allowing heroes to cleave through cinematic hordes. Skill Challenges An unique system with 4E is Skill Challenges - a "cinematic" series of actions that turn social, environmental or escape situations into more movie-like scenes. The players must achieve a certain amount (determined by the situation) of successful skill checks, before they collect enough failed skill checks. Additional links dungeonsanddragons.com - Official Dungeons & Dragons website

Daggerheart is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game published by Darrington Press, an imprint of Critical Role Productions. The game was released in 2025. Description Daggerheart is a story-docused role-playing game system, where the rules direct players to think narratively and not just mechanically. The game uses a system called Duality Dice, where players roll two twelve-sided dice. One for Hope and one for Fear. In addition to determining whether the character achieves success or fails at the action they are trying to perform, it also generates a helpful Hope resource for the player, or a challenging Fear resource for the game master (GM). Lead designer Spenser Starke explained that there is "also no initiative in Daggerheart". It functions very much like a Forged in the Dark or a Powered By The Apocalypse game, where the GM is making moves on certain dice rolls and we're passing play back and forth as a conversation. It all flows together in a way that supports the storytelling-first direction that Critical Role has really embraced over the last decade". The game features 279 supplemental cards to track player abilities and characteristics. Darrington Press also launched several digital resources, including an online custom card creator.

Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Adventure Game (commonly referred to as The Labyrinth RPG) is a whimsical, rules-light tabletop role-playing game designed by Ben Milton and Jack Caesar, and published by River Horse Games in 2020. Officially licensed and based on the 1986 cult classic musical fantasy film Labyrinth, the system is explicitly engineered to accommodate both veteran role-players and complete beginners. It trades complex simulationist mechanics for streamlined puzzle-solving, theater-of-the-mind exploration, and improvisational narrative problem-solving. Description The Labyrinth RPG drops players directly into the shifting, surreal dreamscape of Jareth the Goblin King’s maze. The overarching premise mirrors the movie: players must navigate the treacherous, puzzle-filled environment to reach the Goblin City and rescue someone or something of immense personal value before the clock strikes thirteen. The game is fundamentally non-violent; conflicts are structured around riddles, social manipulation, environmental obstacles, and trickery rather than traditional weapon combat or health point attrition. The physical book itself functions as a luxury artifact, famously incorporating a hollowed-out spine that contains a set of custom six-sided dice and ribbon bookmarks to facilitate instant play. Links riverhorse.eu - Official website

This podcast is about tabletop role-playing games around the world. In every episode, I interview RPG enthusiasts and professionals from a non-English speaking country about what games they play, what unique RPGs exist in their country, and how new people get into the hobby. Interviewees include regular gamers, club organizers, game shop owners, creators of actual play videos, RPG authors, and gaming studios.  While some places are known for their large role-playing scene and have a lot of local RPG systems, other regions of the world have smaller scenes and might not even have a single RPG in the local language. Every regular episode ends with a teaser for the next country – an excerpt from an actual play recording in that country’s language. The aim of this podcast is to broaden our horizon and find out about RPGs from all over the world. Enjoy! Links letscast.fm - Feed and show notes spotify.com - Spotify feed podcasts.apple.com - Apple Podcasts feed

A 3D VTT that won't kill your laptop/phone battery Offline enabled so you can use it as a companion app as well That's mobile native and offers seamless cross-platform play Yup, you heard me. Move a token on your phone, see it move on your GM's laptop. Roll a handful of dice on your iPad, see its results on your Steam Deck. Platform Native software: Native compiled code allows for optimizations that web based VTTs can only dream of. Touchscreen first development: Phroller was built for modern touch controls first. Use two fingers to resize/rotate images and control the camera. Better mouse, keyboard and controller support always in the works! No account required: Quick Zoom/Jackbox styled session hosting and joining. All shared assets are shared between the users directly. Offline prep: Phroller lives on your device. Images and Models saved to your collection are put into your own device storage and can be used without an internet connection! Battery life without compromise: I spent weeks optimizing for battery life to make sure the platform stops overheating even through my longest DnD sessions. Gameplay Collaborative GM-ing: Every user in a shared session could be given permissions to controls usually reserved for the GM. Ask your players to help draw a basic map, put decals on the board or even randomly place/control enemy tokens while you finalize stat blocks. You can do it at a real table, why not on a VTT? You can even share a revocable passcode with your players to give them full GM privileges! Delightful Physics: More than just delightful dice rolling, you can throw your tokens across the map too! Multi-level maps: easy to adjust level system lets you visualize and manage complex scenes featuring multiple elevations. With 3 different visualization modes depending on your needs [Side by side comparison of the three views] Customize! You can customize the style of the vtt grid, the dice trays, the UI, the dice and even fill any of them with as much custom art as you want. Built in access to several massive libraries of art and symbols to personalize every part of the platform! Smart Drag and Drop Images in Decal Mode: Become maps and stickers in Token Mode: Become paper mini/sticker tokens in Prop Mode: Become 2.5D styled paper scenery pieces 3D Models in Token Mode: Become 3D Tokens in Prop Mode: Become unmovable props PDFs: directly view them on the PDF board. With multi page pdf flipping Yes, other players in a shared session see the page flip with you Modular Tracking: Configurable widget layouts allow you to build and organize your own character/game managers the way you want. Current widgets available: Sliders and Counters: Perfect for health and resource tracking List and Tables: Great for attribute, skill, inventory and even turn order tracking! Notes: With support for tabs and images Drawings: You can doodle on the VTT too, but that’s shared with everybody. Why not also be able to doodle on your digital character manager? Also with tab support and image importing. PDFs: Quick access to the various documents you’d want to have on hand. And more!