Recent content by Paradox

I don't optimize so much now, but back in the day, and especially/specifically with the computer games, I'd click the "re-roll" button for my stats until I had at least 2 18's, or something that was "acceptable". (I.E. No low scores.) It became a sort of mini game in itself. Imagine the...

Optimizing isn't bad. Telling other people how they should optimized thier own character, is. A friend of mine wanted me to optimize my fighter by taking some levels in ranger. (3e). I wanted just a plain fighter, but because fighters don't get anything at level 5, somehow, this is wrong...

And, some are fun to read as well. Especially something like Y2K, which wasn't trying to "predict" what WILL happen but what would happen. And many times the books "look back" at future events. (In 2017, Congress voted to repeal the Constitution..) One warning- I did try to make a vehicle from...

Yes, you can get the books without playing the system. I've never played GURPS, but I've quite a few books. (Reign of Steel, for example is a setting where the machines won the war. Think Terminator.) I do have the Egypt book and it's pretty neat. And you don't have to get them all. Just the...

I like the various settings the setting books offer. Want time travel? There's a few books for that. Want 50's B movie action? There's a book for that. Want to play in an Egyptian setting? Yep, book for that. Cliffhangers, cyberworld, space, horror.... The list is HUGE. Then there's the oddball...

It's not the videogames, it's the racist 12 year old kids who just discovered the F word and don't know what it actually means swearing at me, a player who's played videogames at least one and a half decades before thier parents even met that I can't stand.

I was also one of the judges at the Learn to Play 4e tables. (It was right after I got out of the booth- I was solicited 30 minutes before the hall closed, and heard how many people were signed up.) I agree with the play fast and loose with the rules. At our table, one character wanted to leap...

I've always said one of my favorite RPG books is Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue. It was both useful for a game, but more importantly, fun to read. Actually, now that I think of it, there are plenty of RPG books that I own more to enjoy reading rather than actually playing. Shadowrun, for...

Ah, sorry I misunderstood what was meant by "grind". If all you do is combat, that will contribute to the game feeling "grindy". It's the variety of other activities that makes things interesting. Take WoW for example. It's a fun game when you first play it and/or make a new character. I...

4e can feel less "grindy" if the DM turns to page 20 of the DMG and focuses more on one of the other "modes" of D&D. 1- Setup - I wouldn't stretch this out too far. 2 - Exploration - This is the most common way of playing D&D; DM describes scene, players describe what they want to do, DM...

That's why I said strip out the mechanics. :D Player: "I take the lead and kick in the door." DM: "The door slams open with a loud bang, and you see four humanoid creatures reach for their weapons." Which game system and/or D&D edition is that from? The answer is it can be from any/every game.

I don't think so. Hit points have always been abstract. They weren't redefined. A character with 30 starting HP currently has 10 HP. That means he needs 20 to get back to his full HP. It doesn't matter which mechanic you use- burn some charges from a wand, get healed by a cleric or use healing...

A very long time ago, I went through "D&D is the ONLY RPG" phase that many go through. I had a friend bring me to her friend's game where they were playing Arcarnum. (IIRC.) I tried it, and had a blast. I've since tried other games, but what I've figured out was that stripped down, all RPGs are...

Which I don't understand because every edition got that accusation. 2e was dumbed down from 1e, and 3e was dumbed down from 2e, so you've already got morons and idots playing. ;) I think that perception comes from the fact that the books have to explain what a roleplaying game is, since the...

I could understand the "accusation", but I could never figure out why it was a bad thing. (It's bad someone is trying to be argumentative and start flame wars.) A few decades ago, there was a kids TV sketch show called "You Can't Do That On Television." One episode had three or so sketches...