After more than two years of playtest packets and limited options, the whole breadth of the new PHB and DMG are now at our disposal, along with all the variant content and optional rules modules that the game now offers.

By my count there are more than 90 variant rules scattered through the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide, and Im going to go through every one of them in this post.

Some I will just briefly touch upon, while others I will dwell on in more detail.

Im going to list all the variants and optional rules that Id like to use in the game, and all the ones that Ive chosen to ignore and Im going to explain why.

However, this is meant to be a discussion not a monologue so if you disagree with any of the options Id like to use, or want to make a case why another variant is really the bees knees, then let me know.

Spells and abilities that mention alignment do so in name only.

For example, the paladins traditional detect evil ability has been remained Divine Sense and doesnt detect Evil, but instead detects the presence of celestials, fiends or undead creatures.

There are a tiny, tiny handful of abilities where alignment does play a role in the rules, and if these do come up in play then well have to muddle through them as best we can.

If declaring that your character is one of the nine available alignments helps to define who the character is, and make them easier to roleplay, then by all means use alignment.

If you think your characters back-story, personality traits, ideal, bond and flaw are more than adequate, then you can ignore Alignment entirely.

The general concept of Alignment of Good, Evil, Law and Chaos may be quite relevent in certain circumstances.

If youre playing in a Planescape campaign then the its quite a fundamental thing that the Outer Planes are aligned along moral and ethical lines.

Travel to Mount Celestia and you will see a plane that is the personification of Order and Goodness.

That plane affects you in different ways depending on your Alignment.

Its not hard to work out if you are playing a Good or Evil character after all.

Id prefer to do this, than insist everyone defines their character by alignment.

If it does come up in play, we can make an adjudication then as to what happens to your character.

These are all options that would have appeared in the Combat Manoeuvres section of the third or fourth edition PHB.

I like them all in principle because they feel as though they are things that any character should be able to attempt in battle.

However, some may tread on the toes of other abilities already in the rules, so I would like to get your views.

A contested roll is all that is required for the smaller character to climb onto the larger one and start clambering around him as if the larger creature is difficult terrain.

If the attacker wins the defender is disarmed and the weapon falls to the defenders feet.

The attackers roll is at disadvantage if the defender is holding a weapon in two hands.

5E Siege Weapons Dmg