Recent content by brianm

Very interesting article. One other thing (apologies if I'm jumping ahead to a future article topic) I'd heavily recommend is ending on a point of discovery or decision. In either case, you give the players something to chew on until the next session, which allows them to plan what they want...

At the risk of derailing the conversation, wouldn't it be best to start with making sure your game hits the basics that everyone enjoys? Or do we assume that most RPGs already cover that terrain through their basic mechanics well enough?

I heartily recommend the Vlad Taltos novels of Steven Brust to you. - Brian

It's an artifact of the system. The other option would be to constantly increase the minimum damage the PCs do every round, to the point where having "only" 20 hit points means every time the fighter hits you, you die. Of course, if you do that, what's a boss monster for heroic becomes a...

Nope! Minions exist only relative to their opponents. In the same way that +1 swords don't exist for epic level PCs, epic level minions don't exist for heroic level characters. - Brian

I think the answer is, wait for the SRD. However, at the very least, you may have to stop offering 3.5 PDFs if you want to publish 4.0 PDFs. Assuming we understand what's being said here. Which, as has been pointed out many times, we might not. And WotC doesn't change things again. - Brian

Eh, I'm not convinced. They could have not published a comprehensive SRD that could almost double for a PHB, require new 4e-compatible material work only if you have an official 4e PHB, and still let people straddle the 3e/4e fence. That doesn't sound like a bad thought at all. The challenge...

Which is why this doesn't make a lick of sense to me. The big problems everyone grinched about with the OGL were that it created direct competition for D&D's core books and flooded the market with poor product. By basically forcing Paizo, Green Ronin, Sinister Adventures, Adamant, etc. to...

Lots of good advice here. I've run a number of successful in-game romances. My players were the sort who demanded such things, however. So YMMV. Keeping that in mind, here's another piece of advice: let the player pick their romantic interest. It's all well and good to throw someone in...