Recent content by Davinshe

As a player: 15th level in 3rd edition. As a DM, in 4th edition we went all the way from level 1 to 30, and that took basically the entire length of the edition. We started pretty near to when the edition released, and by the time we ended there was rumblings of 5th on the way.

Root was the first powered by the apocalypse game I played and I was really impressed by how much you can get done in a single session. The downside of the game for me was that by default the adventures are very sandboxy and so at least at conventions, they tend to derail and have player's work...

They are one of the few things that really feel bummer, and can cost a player the win with no real recourse. Guess I wouldn't disagree.

Huh... it does oddly feel extremely on brand for Shadowdark.

I'd really love to say something with the robust mathematics and easy combat design of 4e, but the things that gave 4e these qualities are the same things that made that edition despised: explicit mmo-style combat roles for both player's and monsters, a power system that meant that most attacks...

I also think having only ten levels can change how low level play is viewed. Dungeon Crawl Classics is a 10 level system (and even level 5 is considered high level), and it doesn't make you wait until high levels to get to the good stuff. Level 1 adventures can already have things like demons...

I think one of the best things you can do to give a game a 1st edition feel is remove the knowledge gaining skills. Perception, investigation, insight, arcana, religion, and nature should all go. The result is an exploration tier that consists more in a diceless back and forth between DM and...

When a single individual can pack more power than a squadron of tanks, and when such individuals are common, the potential for society to rip itself apart is pretty high. So it's entirely possible that in such a world it's just not worth congregating together in large cities. Too many people all...

I once tried to use my "rustic hospitality" feature during an adventure league game at gencon to find a safe place to hide while being pursued by guards in an adventure. Not only did the DM not allow this, they gave me that look one gives players when they are trying to get one over on you. For...

One of my most successful villains was a high-level cleric known as "father Matthis". Father Matthis was a cleric of Pelor god of light, and was in many ways a fairly typical cleric that hated the same forces of evil that the group did. So when the party's swordmage died, they went to him to...

Right -- the ethereal plane really only exists to justify certain spells mechanically, and I'm fine with it not actually being a great place to adventure. That said, it's a fine place to put something that really, really, really wants to be left alone and as a sort of dumping ground for...

yeah, since we don't have a positive energy plane anymore, quasi-elementals don't really make a ton of sense. They didn't all have particularly strong themes anyway (we really needed an ash elemental AND a dust elemental?)

I am in the "entirely reject" camp when it comes to the new backgrounds, and I doubt anything can change my mind. For me, one's backstory needs to be mostly independent from one's build. The idea that I'd have to have a lower score in my primary ability because of my backstory is anathema to...

wow, threadcromancy indeed! I'd like to think you're correct about it being a mistake, since having things take a little less than 50% additional time seems far more reasonable. But I have to point out that errata for the DMG does exist and never changed this -- likewise the rules are the same...

I hated the bastion rules preview -- and since they are keeping the concept of bastion turns, I doubt I'm going to like the ones that eventually see print. They were at once too gamey while giving the players too few ways to meaningfully interact with their base. When I think back to BECMI rules...