Recent content by Chiaroscuro23

Anybody?

Hi all, My wife (also a gamer) and I recently moved from Wisconsin to Allentown, Pennsylvania for work. We'd like to meet some people, and do some gaming. Drop me a line if you're in the area and at all interested!

I always get a kick out of businesses with names like "NPC Software Consulting." It's like they've acknowledged that they're not the main characters in the game of life.

There are three in town, two of which I go to periodically (the third is smaller and I mostly only go there because it's downtown so I can stop by during lunch.) Madison is very lucky to have so many great games stores!

In a lot of ways it's like D&D 3e: a much better iteration of an old favorite that some grognards bash online for changing. As compared to D&D, it has a disadvantage in putting all the complexity right up front: creating an SR PC is more like creating a 15th level PC than creating a 1st level...

I wouldn't read anything into it. There have been PHBs and Spell Compendiums in my local HPBs in recent months, and I don't think the PHB has suddenly gotten less popular among D&D players.

Well, the list is pretty intimidating, but we can check here (if we're unreasonably motivated) http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=publisherlist for publishers to see what all they do. Eden, I should note, also does an RPG-related magazine and RPG-related fiction. Don't know if that...

Is that other name Erik Mona? I'll bet it is. You know... I've never seen them in the same room together...

I don't know that I'd say "disproves," though it does add more data. Certainly "all the entries in the MM" is different than "in one particular campaign" in an important way. In any event, however, the two kinds of spells being situationally superior is really secondary to the issue of breaking...

I'll try to explain: the conflict web is a set up where the DM establishes multiple factions that oppose each other and want the PCs to do something about it. It isn't a plot as such, because the GM doesn't know what'll happen. He just starts the ball rolling and improvises in response to the PC...

I'm not sure that this is actually true. Many RPG companies only make RPGs, or make them as their primary business. I think. White Wolf have published one or two card games, but their house is built on RPGs. Eden does only RPGs. Mongoose, Paizo, probably a lot more. Outside of the d20 world I'd...

One way to go plotless and not wander aimlessly is to make sure the PCs start off with strong motivation. One technique I'm experimenting with right now is Flag Framing and Conflict Web, though this works best in games where players explore a social environment rather than a physical...

Ha! Yeah, I can see it. SJG's stakeholder report the other year said Munchkin was their biggest product. And it's got to be the case with FFG, too, since their only RPG books are supplements for Midnight, I think. Likewise WotC puts out Star Wars minis rather than Star Wars RPG content (Though...

Part of the problem with RPGs is that customer demand is so low--it takes forever to play a game and want a new one. Assuming you don't just start another campaign of the same RPG. As noted, video games don't have this problem. There seem to be two primary ways to deal with this issue and...

Is there a good alternative available for folks who just want background fluff but not the system? I mean, chances are there's a "World of Serenity" coffee table book released for collectors and TV show fans, and if there is, it might be both cheaper and more filled with what you want if you...