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The ship looks cool, but I'm not interested. Call me when they release a Spelljammer that size.

I just keep asking myself "why?" until I drill down to the level of detail I need. To use your example above: What legendary beast are we taming? I start with... Why is our Pyres character a scholar of Orbs? - Family tradition, changed his mind... I like that one. People often admire what...

One of my favorite aspects of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting for 3E was the short blurbs about interesting locations. Each one gave just enough detail to generate some ideas and plot hooks, but not so many as to become tedious. They also left things open ended, so you didn't feel forced...

At my table, we use RAW death saves with the following adjustment: A 20 on a death save lets you spend HD to heal up and revive. A 1 on death save is dead. Death saves are always tense.

That's how I pronounce it, also.

I think this is the type of thing to which John is referring. Let's say you like to run dungeon crawls, and you develop your homebrew setting for said crawls. Your homebrew setting ought to have aspects which contribute mechanically and/or thematically to a unique dungeon crawl experience. If...

Why do you want race to matter?

There is literally no more important consideration when designing a game.

Don't Prep Plots

I read you loud and clear. My advice then? Artus listened to Gandalf. "There are many magic rings in this world, Bilbo Baggins, and none of them should be used lightly."

Right? Anyone with sense knows that they should be anthropomorphic space rhino naval officers. ;) I don't think "seriously" is what they were going for.

Perhaps not, but I think it is poor prep. Prep the Thief, decide where she went, and leave it at that. If the players eventually decide to pursue her, then work on the obstacles on their way to the Thief. I think what's problematic is that you're making a lot of assumptions: The Thief will...

It sounds like that's your problem. If every challenge can be overcome by cone of cold, introduce more varied challenges. Cone of cold doesn't help with crossing ravines, diplomacy, sneaking, etc. Bulk up your combat encounters with lots of mooks, but don't give the players XP for whatever he...

That's entirely up to them, isn't it? I've set the scene and introduced a situation. It's not up to me to decide what they do with it, so I really can't say. I can tell you what did happen, though. I presented the scene and situation to the players. They rolled up a bard, a ranger, and a monk...

Your claim is incorrect. While it might be difficult or impossible to serve both of those priorities within the same action, it's absolutely possible to serve them both within the same episode, adventure, campaign, etc. I do it in every single game I run. Your inability to accept this is...

Get a Chessex mat and a sheet of plexi-glass to lay over the top. It solves the problem of permanent markings on your mat.

I prefer rolling at the beginning of each combat. When I say, "roll initiative," the players know it's about to get real. The pause is worth the adrenaline spike, and it gives everyone a chance to mentally transfer to combat mode.

Thank you for posting that. You rock.

My statement stands for itself. I'll leave it at that.

Let me break it down for you. The entirety of an RPG revolves around generating a shared fiction. That fiction is established in three ways: A player declares an action and/or rolls some dice, and the GM tells them some stuff they made up two days ago. A player declares an action and/or rolls...