Recent content by riprock

Several folks have claimed that here. Other folks have claimed otherwise on the Wizards boards and rpg.net. Still other folks have taken a middle position on the wording of the d20 rules, namely, "We think the average reader would understand the intended meaning, but we agree the wording is...

Yes, well, as said above, this is not a science forum, but I think Miller was drawing more on science facts than science fiction to get his "antigravity" and "reactionless" drives. Obituary from http://www.imperial.ac.uk/publications/reporterarchive/0055/feat03.htm This isn't the time or...

Well, the issue is not really suitable for scientific proof, but I must dig in my heels and vehemently disagree. I would say that Marc Miller's style is entirely different. It's influenced by American military conventions such as the ASVAB, its math can be crude at times, but I can't say it's...

Hello, I'm Riprock, and I spend about 90% of my bandwidth explaining how to break Mage: the Ascension. (This may be evidence that I have more spare time than I should.) I'm the guy you're looking for, who talks about how to break other games. If anyone is interested, I'll also explain the...

Melee powermongering also could get foiled with spells that attacked the mind. In my experience, AD&D characters never got to be powerful without the DM's consent and a group of varied specialists. There were always too many niches for one character to handle. Either you needed followers of...

All right, that proves that the average players are not going to be able to hack the rules to produce Pun-Pun because almost every DM will disallow it. I call that category "Players breaking the design." However, I've known quite a few DMs who have killed their campaigns because they assumed...

First off, Pun-Pun is just darn humorous to me for a good half an hour. I envision that most despised of opponents, the kobold, as an ubergod and I just have to hold my sides and giggle. But after the giggling passes, I feel *relief*. I've seen a lot of D&D games with very bad DM judgement...

I don't think high levels are a problem if the players continue to encounter challenges. I think monsters with class levels are a great idea. Likewise monsters with templates are a great idea. Both of those can extend the challenge level. Eventually, you can take missions among the gods...

When D&D 3.0 came out, I really liked it. When it started getting bogged down with extra material, I liked it less. However, I thought rule-intensive games could be good -- because I assumed that everyone would always have a high commitment to consistency in rule systems. Now, just today, I...

I like the sara teasdale quote in your sig. I actually approve of WoW, in a way. I loved 3.0. I loved the core rules. I hoped it would stay cool. IMHO, it fell apart due to bloat. And 3.5 made it worse. I think what's going to happen is that WoW is going to deliver all the thrills of 3.5...

I think Gygax is one of those rare, lucky souls who can break the conventional way of doing things and get it right. Such folks were often captains of industry during the Industrial Revolution. They were just extremely self-confident, to the point where they seemed highly adversarial. Some...

Very true. There's a bit of a culture gap: I grew up with programmable calculators. I had to be logical, even if my premises were downright bizarre. So I tend to push logic to extremes that are untenable except when dealing with computers. That's a pretty good summary. That style works...

I think a simpler system, like D6 Fantasy, might serve you better. If D6 is too cinematic, you might try GURPS. But I think trying to squeeze D&D into the Storyteller system would be very difficult.

Sorry about the excessive length. I really should have tackled the notion of why gamers love addictive games first. Robin Laws' theory of Skinnerian design is a second issue. Power-gaming is fun! I just try not to get so deeply into it that I take it too far. That's good to know. I was...

And as for having a PC's soul devoured by Orcus, if Orcus is just, it is no grievous thing, but if Orcus takes no care of the world, why should the PC care to live in world devoid of divine providence?