CommentI’ve been playing 5e with my friends for over a year now thanks to the playtests and we’ve already houseruled a few things back in (expertise dice instead of proficiency to skills for example) but I have two major questions:
The Draconic bloodline sorceror adds damage to their relevant damage type. Say we have a red dragon sorceror who casts Wall of Fire. Do they add charisma to each tick of it , or just the damage dealt on cast. Do they also add damage for each individual hit of Scorching Ray?
Do teleportation effects like Dimension Door and Misty Step automatically break grapple? What about non-spell like abilities like the Shadow Monks shadow teleportation.
Also, what is your favorite ability from 5e. For me, it’s the Bend Luck feature for Wild Magic Sorcerors (lots of fun to make creatures fail their saves).
I believe it is the damage dealt on casting.
I’d say any teleportation breaks a grapple, unless it brings everyone grappling along for the ride.
Favorite ability: I love the rogue’s cunning action. Makes them feel tricky, like they always have something up their sleeve. from discussion AMA: Mike Mearls, Co-Designer of D&D 5, Head of D&D R&D.

Hi Mike, Bearer of the Green Dragon Mask here. When last we spoke, you said there was some cross-training and borrowing between the D&D team and the Magic team. Could you elaborate on the types of ideas or experiences they hope to share with their new teams, and what they hope to bring over from the other side?Congrats! You did the Zhentarim proud!
The big thing we’re learning from Magic is how to improve our storytelling. Two people from Magic – Richard Whitters and Adam Lee – have come over to guide our art concepting and writing, respectively.
For a long time, D&D was very much driven by a group of lone writers doing whatever they wanted. That led to some pretty interesting individual moments, but it also led to D&D stories being isolated, unconnected, and chaotic. For instance, even after the success of the Baldur’s Gate video games it wasn’t until recently that we featured that city as a key part of the RPG.
With Magic, there’s an emphasis on building compelling stories that work for card sets while also setting the stage for the larger, Magic universe. That’s exactly the direction we’re taking D&D.Comment from discussion AMA: Mike Mearls, Co-Designer of D&D 5, Head of D&D R&D.

Comment from discussion [AMA] Mike Mearls, 5th Edition D&D Lead Designer.

Comment from discussion [AMA] Mike Mearls, 5th Edition D&D Lead Designer.

CommentIs there a reason there isn’t a spell to summon fiends, like there is with elementals, fey and celestials? Will that be in the DMG?Fiends are a special case – the nature of the Abyss and the Nine Hells makes summoning them very difficult and at the cost of a sacrifice. It’s something that we leave in the DM’s hands. from discussion AMA: Mike Mearls, Co-Designer of D&D 5, Head of D&D R&D.

Comment from discussion Hey Mike! I’m an aspiring writer and game developer in NYC, aka I make absolutely no money. Jokes aside, I’ve gotten into DnD lately, and 5e was my first tabletop rpg I’ve ever played. After a few sessions I started to think about making something like a DayZ rpg, really focused on the DayZ world and some of the mods too. I know it’s a huge question, but where do I get started? What should I think about going in, what kind of mechanics are absolutely key to pin down early? How do I start this massive journey!
Thanks in advance, really loving 5e!The best way to start is to throw together some basic mechanics and try playing. For something like DayZ, think about the stuff in the game that’s important to you. If you were to tell someone the most exciting story you can imagine about playing DayZ, what are the things you talk about?
That stuff is the key to your game – make sure your mechanics support it, and let everything else fall aside from now.
From there, try running a session or two. As GM, take note of stuff you need and stuff that turns out to be bothersome and revise as needed.
If you get stuck in a rut, try this mental exercise – think about stuff that would be absolutely terrible ideas for your game. Then, think about why they’re bad ideas. That can help shed light on what your game needs or is missing.
Finally, err on the side of simplicity. It’s much easier to start simple and add what you need than wrestle with complex rules.AMA: Mike Mearls, Co-Designer of D&D 5, Head of D&D R&D.

Hey, Mike! I wanted to start off by thanking you for your excellent work on 5e. It looks like it is stacking up to be my favorite edition!
I have a very simple series of questions for you.
1) What is your favorite class to play (and in what edition)?
2) What’s your favorite example of good role playing that you’ve experienced first hand?
I love wizards and rogues.
Best example – when the dwarf in our party assassinated our patron and mentor completely out of the blue. It was totally shocking, but it pushed the political situation in town directly in the direction that the dwarf wanted. It caused huge issues for the party for the rest of the campaign, but fit perfectly with the character. One of those moments that made a real mark, and the kind of unscripted twist that makes D&D awesome.Comment from discussion AMA: Mike Mearls, Co-Designer of D&D 5, Head of D&D R&D.

Do you use any house rules in your home game, that are different than the published rules? (If so, is there a reason they aren’t the official rules?)
Couple things I do differently:
I don’t track XP. I let the PCs level up after every other session or at the end of each key adventure.
I don’t use encounter XP budgets. I use CR to eyeball relative power, but otherwise I just throw stuff into the world and let the players decide if they can fight it, need to talk to it, or need to run.
Since these are mainly not using rules, they’re not something easily made official!Comment from discussion D&D AMA with Mike Mearls and Chris Lindsay 1/15.