Recent content by Lanefan

Call 'em by their character names if they're otherwise strangers, say at a con game or something, as odds are that's the only context in which we'll ever interact.

The sense of loss around those black and white silent films is that nobody thought to preserve and archive them at the time. Nowadays, having collectively learned from experiences like that, I'd like to think we know better. Archive everything.

WotC's dual roles as a) the rights-holders to the material and b) custodians of the game does, IMO, give them an obligation to archive these things in some form; if for no other reason than in the long run the copyright will expire and they will become public domain. Something becoming public...

Given that "Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster" is just long words for "Cthulhu", you're welcome to play a Cleric to it but be advised that every other adventuring character you meet - including the other PCs - will almost certainly try to kill you on sight... :)

Thanks for that. :)

My experience is more with people trying to use the game to push a religious agenda. Even though I by and large agree with said agenda, I still don't want it in the game.

Ast a con game or similar, other than the DM I don't need to know anyone's real name. As long as I know their characters' names, I'll just use those. :)

That's outside the game. Agreed, and that's bad.

If nobody eats the food you cooked then the whole exercise amounts to a waste of ingredients (which is one area where the cooking analogy fails; if nobody now plays the game you prepped you can always keep it and haul it out some other time).

No-one's forcing people (I hope!) to play the game you prepped either, but in either case if nobody eats the food or plays the game then the prep time you spent is, in hindsight, largely rendered pointless. At least with game prep you can stow it away and haul it out a month, a year, or however...

Just 'cause some of us ain't got a horse in the race doesn't mean we can't speculate from the sidelines. And who knows - maybe just maybe they'll make a 6e I'm willing to run and-or play, though I'm not holding my breath on that.

A year or two back I predicted 6e playtest announcement in 2029 for release at GenCon 2031. Still sticking by that. If I'm wrong, I'll wear it. Thus far nothing has convinced me so, however.

You selectively ignored the second part of that sentence, which was "...with their real-life issues and agendas"; and people bringing such things with them to the game is indeed bad for the game.

As seems to have been the case with many, I met Lou Zocchi a few times at GenCon and had my ear talked off in the most pleasant of ways. I bought my City State of the Invincible Overlord from him on one of those occasions; and he was kind enough to introduce me to a couple of other big names...

Dice grumbles: I find dice trays annoying as hell because of all the space they take up on the board. Dice towers are even worse. Just roll on the board, dammit. Hate those fancy-art dice that can't be read from farther away than six inches. Don't waste your money on them. Ditto for dice...