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Check out the portfolio of nSpace. A long list of handheld ports and licensed shovelware, including some Olsen twins games. Hopefully they have a good game in them, but I suspect they were chosen based on their ability to quickly deliver finished products.

Numenera is extremely simple. It uses the same dice-roll to resolve all challenges. Damage is static. There are are few stats. I don't think this is indicative of Monte's feelings toward complexity, though. Numenera is an example of putting setting before mechanics. The simplicity plays into the...

In most settings, gods are remote. Only Paladins and Priests may ask for direct intervention. Mechanically this backed up by the system, since asking for prayers or guidance are either class features or divine spells. Considering that, I would not let any player make a prayer check for a miracle.

Maybe WoTC is creating an ecosystem (the core rules) that anyone can access for free. They figure they'll then make money off of adventures, mercsndise, and possibly the OGL. This lowers the barrier of entry for new players and dodges the rule bloat that plagued past editions.

The Reaper Bones line are fairly nice and inexpensive. The selection isn't great yet, but you should be able to find one of each race. Plus they're ready to paint, and since they're cheap, it doesn't matter if you flub it. You can also sometimes find Warhammer sets on sale. This is how I got a...

This is kind of like when people tell Nintendo to publish games for Xbox.

They just released 5 books since August. There is a huge, 300+ adventure slated for March. They're planning on giving out new material, for free, on the web. I don't see how this can be called a "light" release schedule. In all likelihood the team wanted to gauge the response to the core books...

It looks like there wasn't enough content for the handbook, so they decided to bundle some if it into the adventure and give the rest away for free. My wallet thanks them.

I was at Barnes and Nobles last weekend, looking for the MM (which was supposedly on sale). The only D&D books on display were a handful of old 3rd and 4th edition books. All the 5e books were hidden behind the counter with the MTG products. Are 5e books a target for shoplifting?

I agree (unfortunately) that D&D won't get rid of the core attributes. Not only are they iconic, but it goes against the 5e ethos of simpler is better. I think what would be more acceotable is reassigning features from attributes. For example: -Finesse weapons don't add Dex to damage, only...

Is this a "lawful good" kind of game or are you up for some morally ambiguous missions? 14. Putting down a peasant uprising for a lord 15. Stamping out a religious splinter group for the local church 16. Lord Y wants to you to impersonate soldiers of lord X and attack a merchant caravan 17...

The naming issues were matters of translation, not legality. Simply put, up through the PS1 era, translation was supbar and changed many names for no reason. Later remakes restored the original names to be truer to the source. Besides, given D&D's own history, I don't think they would be...

As someone who likes both 4e and 5e, let me give you a few tips about making 5e work for you. 1) Start at level 3. A conscious decision was made during the playtest to strip down 1st and 2nd level characters. While 4e classes play like the archetype right out of the box, many 5e classes have...

I will be highly surprised if there is a new class. They've already said the current subclass + background system provides ample options for expansion without adding new classes.

I was at a B&N shortly before Christmas. There were Pathfinder boxed sets in the board game section and a 5e endcap near the...Prima video game guides. Otherwise there were no PnP or tabletop RPGs.

I would usually agree, but that shelf at the local BAM hasn't changed in years. I get the feeling it's neglected.

This isn't surprising. BAM only pays attention to merchandizing few things: Big Bang Theory paraphernalia, WWII histories, books by Fox News broadcasters, and tween book series. Everything else sits, unsold, until the end of time (or the store closes - have you seen how much cheaper Amazon is?).

I would do this one of two ways: 1) Populated world recently devastated by (insert catastrophe). Think a post-apocalypse in a fantasy setting. Use Fallout as a guide. The trappings of civilization still exist (perhaps in various states of disrepair). You could go for desolation (Fallout) or...

In literature and myth, cursed items are often created to bring the prideful down a peg. Alternately they may be corrupted when someone uses an item for evil. And of course a recurring theme is when mortals create items out of hubris. See the Silmarils in The Silmarillion.

If you just hate min-maxing, that is easy enough to weed out. Are they taking two levels of Warlock or Fighter, or two levels of Life Cleric? I haven't seen any obviously min-max combinations that don't involve dipping. Meanwhile an actual investment in MC for a character concept may often leave...