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I think they would have liked to do that, but there simply wasn't time to. At some point they had to stop designing and release the game. Even the Sorcerer class felt a bit rushed at the end, remember how it and the Warlock were published without public playtest.

Qawasha thought for a moment and answered Rodrigo, "I think they are what you would call Goblins where you are from." Weed squeaked and thumped his chest in a particular pattern and then made a clicking noise. Qawasha added, "Though they may only superficially resemble the Goblins you know."

I need tglassy Pyrus and gargoyleking Torbin to go so I can roll the round over. While the rest of you are waiting feel free to do a little free-action talking to Imani, if you like.

Exactly. I also avoid using the grid, and I have no problem either.

Anuire 4 Baldur’s Gate 20 Blackmoor 20 Calimport 20 City of Brass 21 City State of the Invincible Overlord 24 Fallcrest 16 Free City of Greyhawk 25 Glantri City 20 Huzuz 22

Mord, Zander, Udit, SnorLoska & Sesto vs The Dracolich Simulacrum Mord sent his eldritch blasts at the Dracolich Simulacrum, striking its skull but doing little visible damage. The creature turned and was scratched by his floating knives. It bent down and made as if to breathe its noxious cloud, but the poison didn't appear. Shaking in frustration, the creature turned toward SnorLoska, looking...

I'm still reading this thread but will call this out, you don't have the time to read through the points that you created, really, if they were good enough for us to all read and remember and comment on, maybe you should have taken the time to remember them. That is just lazy and for the many people that have commented on your points or quoted them you owe them more than that. I think you and...

This is very good to hear. About half of the reason I continue to buy D&D books relates to keeping up to date on two metaplots: the Blood War and everything Illithids do. And we're getting more daemons/yugoloths, so even more of that itch is being scratched.

I knew you guys went around in circles, but this is ridiculous.

Anuire 4 Baldur’s Gate 20 Blackmoor 20 Calimport 20 City of Brass 21 City State of the Invincible Overlord 24 Fallcrest 16 Free City of Greyhawk 24 Glantri City 20 Huzuz 22

Scale armor. The scales don't *have* to be made of metal... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_armour#/media/File:Coat_of_Pangolin_scales.JPG

Acme Weapon Co.

Rodrigo looked at the waterfall - it was quite the sight. "You say the word Batri.... I'm not familiar with it... who are they - or perhaps, what are they?"

Since I don't hate him and I have only two options, I had to vote best thing ever,

Your poll doesn't allow picking more than one choice...Epic Fail..... I choose.... Write a letter and complain to the company Rant-and-rave on a 3rd party web forum Tweet an angry tweet! Make a YouTube video yelling at Mike Mearls and demand Gibberlings! Make a homebrew 5e equivalent Browse the DMs Guild for one.

To clarify: I misquoted the volume on Rock to Mud/Mud to Rock. The volume is 2" cube per level, not 2" per level cube. I recalled though that, when asked, the Sage said that it really ment 2 1" cubes per level. I had, at the time, no idea how what was written could be read that way. Still don't. To the Man in the Funny Hat: I included the exact cut and paste from the black cover...

Anuire 4 Baldur’s Gate 20 Blackmoor 20 Calimport 20 City of Brass 21 City State of the Invincible Overlord 23 Fallcrest 16 Free City of Greyhawk 24 Glantri City 20 Huzuz 22

41 for me. Started in '77 with Holmes, I was 10. Had my best friend's older brother find a game in Kansas and brought back with him called D&D. The next year the Players handbook for "Advanced" came out. So basic to advanced ok. The I realized it was a completely different game. But I liked it. Don't remember much about my earliest characters, they were mostly disposable. My first character...

Love Drizzt. Him and his novels are the reason D&D has had such a rejuvenation in the last few years.....(Troll)

When you're talking about character generation, some of it is decided by the player outside of the game, and some of it is decided on behalf of the PC within the game. For example, the PC doesn't have any say in which race they were born as or where they grew up, so those decisions are made purely by the player. Which sort of weapon and armor to use, or which feat (or spells) to learn, are things...

Oh hey, you're still here and dissecting my posts, did you miss this?; Are you actually arguing that using kickers in a game with some degree of GM-worldbuilding is impossible? It isn't clear. I don't see any sort of definition of GM-worldbuilding in the OP, but I remember now that you are using some very atypical and specific definitions. IIRC by "Gm-worldbuilding", you aren't...

Only in response to a series of posters keep asserting that either (i) it is impossible or (ii) it is no different from a GM-worldbulding-heavy approach. (Some even assert both, which seems oddly contradictory.)

"That username is already in use or does not meet the administrator's standards. If you are Alexander Kalinowski and you have forgotten your password, click here."

My house rules are: Adding allegiance (race, tribe, religion, country, faction..) to the alignment, and sometimes opposite are allowed, for example a chaotic character with allegiance law could be a sheriff who breaks the rules to defend the order. Powers with key alignment can hurt enemies with same alignment but different allegiance, for example drow cleric vs orc shaman. Chaotic...

It's not solely preference, in the sense that railroad isn't a synonym for bad game or game I didn't enjoy. But preferences feed into judgements about railroading. I've bolded your central claim. It's not accurate. I didn't refer to such elements. These are a common part of framing. I referred to the GM using secretly-established setting elements to determine the outcome of a declared...

I've said for years that the reason 4E didn't "Feel" like D&D to some people (not just haters, though many probably became haters) is that (using 3fold terminology) older D&D was sorta gamist, 3rd was sorta simulationist, and 4E was gamist/Nar. For someone who saw the rules as a definition of the world (using common sense to ignore corner cases), the concept that the same monster could use 3...

I'm not sure how much this will help you, because the first element is a little bit late for you. Early in my campaign my players tried to help the Family (and another faction unique to my campaign) take out Lorcan Kell. Because this was very much 'extra-judicial' the characters themselves could not be involved so we generated a group of hitmen and I moved the 'no-win, massacre' scenario...

InSPECTREs, a Ghostbusters-meets-reality-TV-inspired indie game. Uses dice pools and players good roles, means that THEY get to say what happens and then the game master has to work with that. There is also a mechanic where you set aside a chair that acts like a reality-TV confessional booth where a player can sit in it and assign characteristics to another player's character. The other player...

Alas, you should have read the thread.

I'm not sure how else to put this. If the check succeeds, you make up stuff related to the goal. If the players are making up details for the results of their own rolls, you are not needed as DM. If they are not, they are declaring actions in order to get you to make up stuff.

I began playing with my older brothers after mom made them let me play. Call it punishment for doing naughty things to Barbie. Our game was AD&D with Dragon magazine content and Bard Games content. After a few years we switched to Shadowrun. After A levels during SR3 we tried 3 and 3.5 through the Neverwinter Night games. I missed most of 4e, uni required too much time. Now the game I run is very...

First played, I think, in '83 or '84. Played heavily through Junior High and first few years of high school, then moved on to Warhammer, and we also tried lots of other systems: Stair Frontiers, Gamma World, Paranoia, Boot Hill, Star Wars, and various friends home-brew games. Stopped playing when I went to college. Never played DnD 2nd, 3rd, or 4th edition. Started playing again when 5th...

The first, second or even 5th time someone gets it wrong, it might be accidental or a misunderstanding, even with the explanations or corrections by people that actually play the style. The 10th, 15th and 20th+ times it happens after having it explained/corrected can be nothing other than deliberate. I have no doubts on motive at that point.

Going back to the original topic, one thing I didn't notice anyone mention was the inclusion of "saving throw as duration determiner" effects- i.e. "At the end of each of your turns, repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on yourself on a success" effects, or as 4e more eloquently put it, "(save ends)." I really like the way 5e mixes the older version of saves-as-avoidance with...

I imagine we're going to get more Obyriths besides the Sibirex, since, going by the pages we've seen in the previews already, we're very likely to get lots of devils and demons. I'll repost something I said in the "Mordenkainen's starting to show up in the wild" thread concerning the pages and why we'll see lots of fiends in it: "Moloch is in the "D" section (for "Devil" obviously, and the "D"...

Wouldn't such a character give the party a reason to take prisoners rather than hobo murdering all they came across? One might expect that more knowledgeable beings would offer to surrender before combat to ensure a very pleasant confinement. Alternatively someone might charm a being such as a troll to avoid potential injury during those moments of happy bliss. Perhaps this is how half trolls are...

I think that this can be good advice even for those wanting to run a broaldy European fantasy game. A lot of examples could be given - eg of the relationship of a broadly mediaeval European culture to technology transfers from other parts of the world - but one is about values. Classic D&D, for instance, places no weight at all upon honour or fidelity to externally-imposed obligations...

I'm going to be so happy when I get this book. The Sibriex gives 5e an Obyrith presence (and the Obyrith element of Abyssal history was easily the best part of the first Fiendish Codex), getting some demon lords and archdevils put in one central place is always nice, I'll always take any new Gith stuff I can get, and the Cadaver Collector is my favorite construct. This might be my favorite...

If your Druid wants AC some badly, play as a TORTLE. Base AC is 17 and when you add a shield it brings it to 19. Go a Coastal Land Druid, cast Mitror image and Shillelegh and Hey Presto, a Viable Melee Druid

A statement about what a railroad is is not a preference. And we are all very well versed that you are rather fixated on your own idea of how a game should be run that it is detrimental because, as you just demonstrated, you cannot differentiate between a personal preference and an absolute statement on what makes a game.

My first thought is... what if you try to drain undead? But I imagine just saying 'it doesn't work' dodges the whole problem. But here's some other things to think about: What if you replace every use of the words "Sexual Ki" with "Life Ki"? Some of the fluff might change slightly, but not much -- I'd even suggest keeping words like 'amorous' and 'kiss' and 'succubus'. Would it still be a...

Completely leaving aside my personal feelings for 4E--positive, negative, and/or otherwise--I think this is untrue for at least one major reason. I don't think 5E would have been quite the phenomenon it was if it hadn't had 4E to, in the eyes of many, "recover from." (To say nothing of the fact that it wouldn't include many of the innovations that it's borrowed from 4E.) Just as...

Yeah, I know they were allies of the Sibirex in the fight vs. Moloch - does anybody know if they were summoned creatures? If so, probably demons. Still, unusual name tags for demons...

It does indicate that you have a highly idiosyncratic definition of railroad. If your definition of a railroad includes the fact that there's an element in the setting that exists independent of the players having their PCs actually interact with it, I'm not sure I can trust your ability to communicate this and other concepts in a manner where there's any form of mutual understanding.

Romance of the Perilous Land Ghost: Ghosts are the incorporeal remnants of the dead a restless spirit whose work on earth is not yet done. Vampire: Vampires are the living corpses of those who had committed a cardinal sin.

I don't know it to be dishonest - I'm sincerely asserting it. This is all true, but has no bearing on my remark to Lanefan. Equally true. And if you want to find a secret door you can't do it wihout a Search (or other appropriate) check. But again, that has no bearing on my remark to Lanefan. The discussion between Lanefan and me is not about whether or not a Perception check is...

I think the feeding habits will run you into trouble, in the long run, with being something someone can reasonably play say, out in an adventure in the wilderness. Other players may not be interested in engaging in sexual, no matter how PG, action with another player, and short of humanoid NPCs around, you're likely to see your character starve to death in a couple days.

I don't know how much cross-subsidy there is across business units within WotC. If I was managing a firm, and Division A was successful while Division B had failed, I would be hesitant to allow Division A to cross-subsidise Division B on the strength of a promise that Division B will get it right next time! But that's at best a very abstract description of the situation at WotC.

Yeeks!

The DM is every god, every patron, every NPC, so really: about as much effort as you want and as much effort as they enjoy. Few players enjoy additional "oversight" from the DM, so unless you've got your player to write up a specific contract or code or list of tasks, I'd mostly play it hands-off unless the player does something grossly out of line with what a powerful celestial (and therefore...

Thanks. As I said, one of the players maintained it so that the players could keep track of what was going on (the black squares signal matters that have been resolved). It also helped me keep track of what was going on! Leaving aside the issue of whether or not one prefers a world-buidling, GM-narration type approach, or a scene-framing, "go where the action is" type approach, I think it's...

I just spent way too long nostalgically re-reading large chunks of this story hour. Those were the days!

I have added the Great Wyrm metallic dragons. In the process I revised the ancient and wyrm metallic dragons and did some minor updates to the chromatic dragons. Up Next: Bahamut and the Dragon Hall of Fame!

That's terribly inaccurate and dishonest, and you know it. Reasonably speaking certain problems have certain solutions. If you need to burn something you cannot freeze it. If you need to de-ice something you cannot make a move silently check. If you want to try to kill the orc, you cannot do so with a heal check. Railroads may exist where there is one, or few solutions to a problem. ...

The Wretches I think were little demons, but I guess they could be creatures of the Shadowfell, I don't know.

Some kind of glitch with the movement speeds and senses of races not changing correctly, even when overridden (#VALUE)

I generally tell players when I DM that their backstory WILL be coming up in play, and then ask them just how often, how much, and in what ways they'd like to see that happen. If the character's past is in the past, or they're not interested in being a full-time agent of whatever groups or factions they may belong to, I'm cool with limiting it to the occasional reference to those elements. For...

I tried to keep it as PG as possible out of respect for Morrus and I think I suceeded. Its mostly based on Bo the lead Character of Lost Girl, a Fae Succubi, a serial killer/rapist with a heart of gold (its a really a weird show, but its on Showcase, Sci Fi Channel, and Netflix so I didn't think it would be too crude or valgur to base a monk subclass on her powers.

I think MtG might also be a factor in their ability to make 5e.

I have read LotR enought times (either in whole, or dipping in and out of bits of it) that I think I have to count as a major fan. This doesn't stop me broadly agreeing with you about setting. As a player I want to have LotR-ish moments (eg the only PC I am currently playing in a game is a knight of a holy order who wants to redeem his family and recover their occupied homeland). But I don't...

On reflection, he's the "new guy" in town and part of me feels like I haven't given him a chance, and by not giving him a prolonged chance, I'm sending a message to the newest player (albeit 2 years with me a longer with another of our gamers) that we don't give second chances. Then the practical side of me lines up all the players who didn't work out in the past after given a chance, and they...

Yes. The most classic example in the history of RPGing would be "I try and kill the orc." There is also a classic term to describe a game in which the players have to work out the GM-authored solution: it's called a railroad!