Recent content by GhostBear

Hello all, Against his better judgement, one of my friends has decided to create his own gaming system from the ground up. As part of the process I recommended that he read through a bunch of different systems and see what works well and what doesn't. But then I had an idea: Instead of just...

Howdy folks, I'm going to be running a Werewolf: The Apocalypse game for a friend of mine. He wanted the setting to be in the Appalachian wilderness, playing as a Bone Gnawer "up in them thar hills." Since this is his first game, I'd like to keep things pretty simple and stick to well known...

13th Age recommends that instead of rolling damage (many dice can be used for damage sometimes), you just take the average result and apply it. Save the rolling for dramatically appropriate times when you don't mind the delay.

13th Age recommends that instead of rolling damage (many dice can be used for damage sometimes), you just take the average result and apply it. Save the rolling for dramatically appropriate times when you don't mind the delay.

As others have said, 13th Age doesn't have the name recognition or market penetration to do much thunder stealing. I'm in on the 13th Age pre-order, and I've had a chance to play around with it a bit. There's a LOT to love. I don't see my group moving to it entirely, but we are definitely...

A kobold mafia boss that has the entire city under his cute little thumb. Also, I second Thunderfoot's MALT initiative.

You may wish to give 13th Age a look. It has the standard 6 stats. XP doesn't exist, and it allows for partial levelling up. It doesn't use THAC0. Ability linked saves - and EVERY stat is important with the (very simple) implementation. I like how they handled skills as well. There are no...

I like sandboxy style gaming as well, but it does depend on your players. That aside... I prefer lower-fantasy worlds; E6/E8, with perhaps a few (and a very few) stronger individuals. Fantasy games get ridiculous when every little hamlet has a druid that can call lightning, a wizard that can...

What is this, the ultimate edition war? EVERY edition sucks? Har har. (o: Anyway, many of the points are spot on, but I think you overlooked the single most glaring issue that all editions of D&D share: Relying on the d20. That thing is a minotaur in a china shop. The probability curve of the...

In a pinch, I like to use Tiled. It is about as simple as they come - you provide images that contain tiles, then Tiled gives you a grid. Stick your tiles onto the grid, voila! Supports layers if you need them. The end result is generally not the most gorgeous thing in the world (but it does...

This is the way the I prefer to handle it. I'm currently playing in a game where one of the other players has a severe fetish for apostrophes. He named his character "Elh'ha'a'roun'a Ash'ta'muth" or something similarly silly that nobody can ever remember. We just call him "Ehl", or occasionally...

I think this is a problem with the game system (or player perception). A save modifier of +0 shouldn't be considered such a severe hindrance. +0 should be considered the norm, anything above should be (and is even called) a bonus. Something extra. Oh no, I have *gasp* normal saving throws? What...

This is the reason my guys are extremely judicious about content from splat books. Splat books (especially when combined with unrestricted multiclassing) are the two biggest enemies of game balance.

This reminds me of one more thing, though it only applies if your party has horses (mules, donkeys, etc.) Hooves are flexible. Not very flexible, but flexible enough. As horses (donkeys, mules, etc.) walk across snow, the snow will ball up under their feet. Horses that do not have shoes on are...

Snow blindness is a big problem. All this nice snow, sure is pretty, especially when it's acting like a big mirror. Now you're getting light directly from the sun into your eyes AND off of the ground. Navigation can be a problem (seeing clearly into the distance is a challenge) and there could...