A round of 5e combat takes 6 in-game seconds; ten rounds make a minute. Outside combat, short rests take an hour; long rests, 8 hours. Chunking time into hours is useful for wilderness exploration and urban activities. For longer trips, days are best. Beyond that, narrative beats set the pace.
Roleplaying is inhabiting a fictional world through a character, taking charge of their actions and expressing their personhood through action. D&D roleplay is a mix of freeform storytelling and mechanical gameplay (aka “rollplay”). Even freeform roleplay doesn’t necessarily equal acting.
D&D Madness isn’t about accurately portraying mental illness. It’s about a fantastical shattering of the mind by the uncanny, weird, or magical. This manifests as short or long-term Madness effects or more-or-less permanent character flaws. There are even variant rules concerning a Sanity Score.
D&D 5e allows you to make a powerful combatant with no arms or armor, and it doesn’t have to be a monk. Fighter and barbarian are terrific options, too, if built right. It takes multiple good ability scores to manage it, though, more so than most builds.
A spellsword is more magically adept than a half-caster, better at melee than most full casters, and not as hardy as a martial character. They move quickly to make the most of good positioning, switching between weapons (often magically enhanced) and spellcasting as needed. A striker, not a tank.
Cursed items are objects of power that negatively affect the user against their will. Sometimes a cursed item provides a tempting benefit along with the negative effect, or it influences the user’s mind to make them unwilling to part with it. Sometimes, the curse doesn’t bother the user at all or can be used to their benefit.
When building a town, you need to have these things in order: Social, Political, Economic, Religious, and Military. Once you have those in order, your town will fill itself out. Let’s take a look.
The action economy measures how many acts creatures or groups can do in a round of combat. In a 5e round—six in-game seconds—a creature can do: one action, one bonus action, one reaction, one free object interaction (like unsheathing a blade), move up to their speed.
The horror genre covers a broad spectrum of scenarios. What unites them are the feelings of mounting dread and powerlessness. Though D&D 5e is ultimately about acquiring power and beating the odds, you can still achieve a riveting horror experience through narrative and careful tweaking.
n 5e, grappling lets you keep an opponent from moving, forcefully move them, or even make them an easier target. You can drag them out of cover, make sure the rogue can Sneak Attack (depending on turn order), keep them Prone to give your allies advantage, and combo with Feats for extra nastiness.