Unpopular opinions go here

[overgeeked]

It's called romanticism, and it's what makes fantasy great. Fantasy does not exist in the realm of the rational, but the emotional.

That is also why "hard" magic systems never quite satisfy. They are missing the point.

I cannot stand fantasy with hard magic systems. Give me soft magic all day every day.

 

[Reynard]

I cannot stand fantasy with hard magic systems. Give me soft magic all day every day.

D&D is the ultimate hard magic system. Save for a couple exceptions, you always know exactly what the results of a spell are going to be. Hardly "magical" IMO.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I cannot stand fantasy with hard magic systems. Give me soft magic all day every day.

You know, you can always fix those spell systems ....

 

[overgeeked]

D&D is the ultimate hard magic system. Save for a couple exceptions, you always know exactly what the results of a spell are going to be. Hardly "magical" IMO.

Exactly. Which is why I prefer the randomness of WFRP and DCC RPG. Or better yet, freeform magic.

 

[MGibster]

Convention GMs should be paid for their work since it is the games being run that draw the players to the con.

That's a tough one. For smaller fan run conventions, I can't imagine this would be economically feasible. I've only been involved in one convention, and quite frankly it was the Magic players who were subsidizing the rooms used for RPGs. At what few conventions I've gone to, the role playing games were sideshows compared to the main events. i.e. It wasn't drawing a whole lot of people.

 

[MGibster]

You know, you can always fix those spell systems ....

I had almost forgotten that Enzyte Bob was a thing. How can I best express my appreciation for your reminder while remaining within the good graces of the moderators?

 

[Reynard]

That's a tough one. For smaller fan run conventions, I can't imagine this would be economically feasible. I've only been involved in one convention, and quite frankly it was the Magic players who were subsidizing the rooms used for RPGs. At what few conventions I've gone to, the role playing games were sideshows compared to the main events. i.e. It wasn't drawing a whole lot of people.

Sure but some conventions are actual businesses whose profits are made primarily on volunteer labor -- including GMs but also general help. Providing things like comped badges and housing vouchers is a start, but even those are rare.

 

[Lanefan]

If alignment was presented as factions to begin with, we would have to argue about something marginally less pointless than what alignment character X is.

My character X is Lawful Neutral, thank you very much.

And I say that in all seriousness - X has been going for a long time and has, somehow, become my number one character by various metrics.

But I should note, she is in no way associated with the "new Twitter" and has had the name for over 20 years. Hmmm...can a fictional character sue a real company?

 

[Lanefan]

Gnomes are great;

No.

the world could stand to have a lot more whimsy in it

Very much yes!

As could the core game. The whimsical elements sometimes seen in the BX/1e era seem to have fallen by the wayside, other than a few obscure 3PP pieces.

 

[Lanefan]

Huh, weird. I'll be honest with you in that I did not see any Witcher influence until you mentioned it. To me, the herbal remedy is more like Strider's use of athelas than anything else.

There's a whole bunch of open design space in the game for magical herbs, and obviously Rangers (and to a lesser extent Druids) would be the best at finding and-or using these. The idea was kind of waved at once in an ancient Dragon article, and then left to wither.

Only speaking of myself here, but when I think of a ranger, what pops into my head first and foremost is Robin Hood. That's the feel that I look for more than anything else, the canny woodsman who can use a bow, sword, and staff, is lightly armored or unarmored, and is accustomed to always being outnumbered.

My two go-to examples of Rangers are Aragorn (as Strider) and Robin Hood.

That said, I don't always see them as lightly-armoured. I've always liked the "heavy Ranger" concept that 1e allowed.