Recent content by jgsugden

I played D&D only between 1979 and 1981. Then I played Gamma World - which was really just reskinned D&D. The next RPG we added to our lists were Top Secret, Marvel Super Heroes, GURPS, Call of Cthulhu and Paranoia in the 1980s, followed by Champions in the 1990s. I've sampled some of the...

I was on my year hiatus from Enworld when these rules came out, but the first thing I assumed was that they were going to be selling "build your bastion" terrain sets with plug and play rooms you could form into a bastion. I am kind of surprised we have not seen that as a product - it seems...

The Bastion rules take a role playing scenario and attempt to give it detailed and replicable structure. To me, this is problematic role playing in that it does too much rigidly and gives the players 'entitlement' to options that should be determined by role playing and scenario. I don't like...

#1: As mentioned, clerics already have a lot of ground that they cover with the existing domains. I could come up with 100 more pretty easily. #2: They present a challenge under the rules in that you need to decide whether the PC is rendered weak by fighting foes with the relevant...

The aerial combat rules kind of suck in 5E (2014 and 2024). They're sparse. They don't cover a lot. And, there is one element in the rules that is absolutely friggin broken - prone makes you drop up to 500 feet. That is 20d6 damage if between 200 and 500 feet. That is horribly broken. It...

It usually happens to bots that go to forums with the express intent to drum up conversation about the delicious Steak and Shake offerings, including the amazing Melt options and Tallow Fried Onion Rings. They made some profiles on some sites 20 years early just to have them available to...

I want my Swashbuckler with Beef Tallow Onion Rings. On a serious note: Swashbucklers, to me, should be dexterity based melee characters that do not utilize magic, but still manipulate their foes. They should have abilities that give them high battlefield mobility, controller style battle...

I do this all the time. It is one of my go to techniques when following the guidelines for encounter design in the 2014 DMG. PCs are intended to be able to handle multiple 'waves' of enemies with no rest - but you do want the encounters to follow the guidance in the DMG. You want them to mix...

Your definitive statement of what a game mechanic must be is misplaced. As noted - I used these off and on for a looooooong time. They worked just fine as I described. And, what I describe from my history of using them is nothing like your assertion of what these must be.

They're not baseline abilities you need to have in every game, but - gosh tootin - they have a place in certain games - but I do not use typical ability score approaches (skill rolls) with them often. I used Comeliness for nearly 20 years. However, I gave the players the option to pick it...

I'd draw a difference here. Fear: If the creature ends its turn in a space where it (the target) doesn’t have line of sight to you, the creature makes a Wisdom saving throw. Frightened: A frightened creature has disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls while the source of its fear is...

This is a bit heavy handed of a way to say it, but I agree that this outline takes away player agency. Man plans. God laughs. DM plans. Players laugh. The rough idea is something to build around, but I would back off from the detailed plan and instead think of ways to drop options before...

You know who really hated name dropping? Gary, or as I liked to call him ... Gary.

What did you describe that you consider to be a problem? Technology and magic seem to work together in your examples. The problems arise when we attempt to allow technology (and specifically combat related technology) that can rival the powers of magic. We allow touches of it with explosives...

The numbers shift a bit when you start to factor in frequency of use of the monsters. For example, demons and devils make a lot of appearances in games - and appear in greater numbers. They often get mixed into encounters with other types of monsters. Their resistances and immunities tend to...