Recent content by Ilbranteloth

One of my favorite D&D related paintings of all time.

Just to be clear, I'm not telling you what role you choose to play, nor that there is a single way to roleplay, nor which style of roleplay you (or anyone else) should play. Since there are so many ways to roleplay, when discussing how we roleplay, it's important to be on the same page about...

We're not disagreeing on the definition of role playing. And no, I'm not changing the definition either. What can you do when playing a role? Make decisions and take actions. That's it. How do you determine what decisions/actions you take? By playing the role. If you are role-playing in a...

We're saying the same thing. Roleplaying is making decisions/taking actions as that character. There is no one thing to what a character would do, but there's a much smaller number of things this character would do. Bilbo isn't just a hobbit, nor is he 'special.' He is just Bilbo, and all of...

I suppose you could call those roles, but really they are components of the character you are role playing. That is, you make decisions as if you are a halfling cleric of Tymora who was born and lived in that world. If you then switch to making decisions based on things that are happening in...

While I agree that people will approach how they play an RPG or how they "inhabit" their character differently, I do think it's important to clarify something regarding your categories. Roleplaying is literally playing a role. It doesn't require acting, which is a different skill that can be...

It's the whole point, in my mind, and we caught onto that immediately back when I started in the late '70s. By then it was recognized as Role Playing Game. It's also probably the concept that informed my continued approach to DMing, "tell me what you want to do, and I'll let you know what...

It's not 'scalpers' setting the prices, it's the people bidding on them. I started mine with a $0.99 initial bid price. I will also point out that the book is still in print, it's just the limited edition cover that is selling at ridiculous prices. It's cool, but I had originally purchased them...

First, don't expect 6e any time soon. 5e is doing spectacularly well, and they really have set up the system to avoid another edition assuming this one does well (and it has). Having said that, many books from older editions still sell for premium prices, while others don't. While rarity plays a...

Just a reminder that most players aren't as focused on the mechanics or mechanical advantages as might be implied by forums such as these.

Our house rules are basically a rewrite of the 5e PHB/DMG/MM. Some changes are minor, some much more significant. Overall the ruleset is shorter than the current 5e books. Probably closer to the AD&D books, where the PHB was much shorter. The rules themselves are much less mechanically focused...

This ties into what I posted earlier as well, but there’s one thing that I want to add/clarify because I like your example of the Lego sets. The theory here is that the Lego sets (or in my example the development of the AP and mechanical focus of RPGs) decreases creativity. I don’t think they...

I think that from one perspective. Roleplaying gamers as a group often feel much less imaginative than they did back in the AD&D days. Obviously, this subjective opinion is heavily weighted to my preferences and experiences, and is particularly focused on DMs. To me the two things that have...

Don't know why it double-posted, don't see a way to delete it...

I agree. Furthermore, we really liked the approach dual classing took. Primarily from a story/narrative/role-playing perspective. First, it was switching classes. While you can do so within the context of the game regardless, this approach seemed to encourage changing from a character...