Recent content by Pragmatic

It's been awhile since I've used accounting jargon, but there's a term (which of course I've forgotten :) where companies set minimum returns on investment. Something to do with "if I'm getting less than this, I should just put my money on the stock market and get a better return." WotC could...

I THINK my sig says I'm mostly a GURPS person, so I'm going with stuff I've read about in discussions with the Steve Jackson Games staffers. The problem with bringing in outsiders to write settings is, there are parts of the publishing process that can't be left to outsiders. There'd have to...

Not sure if I'm using "stone soup" correctly here. Basically, I mean "combine elements of different settings into an interesting whole"... I was reading "Champions of Valor" (a supplement from Forgotten Realms 3E on playing "exalted" characters and groups, using material from the Book of...

The three Homeland books (Drizzt's time in Menzoberranzan, his time as a half-mad predator of the Underdark, up until his journey to the surface). The first three Drizzt books (the Icewind Dale trilogy; they get annoying after that). The Cleric Canticle quintet (following an innovative priest...

I'm mostly a collector of 2E and 3/3.5E, pretty much missed 4E. But couldn't they do a partnership thing, like they did with Oriental Adventures, Ravenloft, and DragonLance in 3/3.5E? WotC prints the campaign setting, then the partner company prints all the supplements and adventures? I don't...

Note that I'm a collector, not a gamer or GM. However, I think that completely homebrew is impossible. You have to get your inspiration from somewhere, even if it's at the end of a long "stream of consciousness" (?) started by something you read 20 years ago when you were a kid. Truly...

Using different search terms, I found: Holy Swords of the (Forgotten) Realms (Dragon 243). I don't think it's quite what I was remembering, but I'm continuing to search.

A train of thought led me to remembering an article I read in Dragon once, about variant "holy avenger" swords. But for the life of me, I can't find it in my collection. I've even looked for "avenger" and "variant" in the DragonDex (the online master index of Dragon magazine). Anyone remember...

Dang. Prices on thumb drives have really dropped, haven't they? I just bought a 128GB thumb drive for $30. Thanks for the suggestion!

Yup. Not happy about it. So I'm now deciding on how to perma-save my collection, so one fire or one burglary doesn't take it away forever. :)

I agree with much of what you said about the Realms, but do enjoy using it for "data mining." I always "data mined" them as being reasonably-powered, but with exceptional Public Relations. E.g., Elminster is really just a middling mage and sage, but has claimed credit for a couple of powerful...

Dire Bare, I had my files on a computer around 2007, when Windows died. Luckily, they were also on an external hard drive... Which died when it fell six inches and jerked to a stop when its cord reached its full length. Luckily, a friend who knew Linux went onto my computer and rescued my...

Well, expletive deleted... So I have no recourse for permanent replacement... Guess I'll have to buy some storage space on Google (which will probably be around longer than most storage sites), just so I don't lose everything.

It could be. Most of my books have "TSR2800LESD"-style codes on the titles (that one is for the Alternity player's handbook), if that's any help in identifying their source.

Back in 2002-2004 (give or take a year), I replaced most of my D&D and Alternity collection with PDFs, around 300 or so, spending $2-3k. I believe I bought them through DriveThruRPG and RPG Now. Then the "cease and desist order" came from WotC. I just checked my account on DriveThruRPG (post...