Recent content by Shiroiken

Before 4E, NPCs were built exactly like PCs. This made making NPCs a pita, especially when you needed an NPC class to do it, but it allowed the players to have a general sense of how they worked (very few "gotcha" abilities). Breaking them away in 4E made them a lot easier to build and run, but...

Of course! You just stop the story short...

Mazes themselves are pretty boring, both from the DM and player perspective. I'd consider making a skill challenge for it, depending on your overall goal. Ask the players what they'd like to do to get through the maze, then figure out what ability checks would appropriate. Allow everyone to pick...

He's the "Unlooked For" for a reason. Beory 21 Boccob 23 - archmage of the gods Celestian 23 Ehlonna 15 Erythnul 15 Fharlanghn 15 Heironeous 22 Hextor 17 Kord 18 Incabulos 21 Istus 18 Obad-Hai 21 Olidammara 21 Pelor 23 Pholtus 12 Ralishaz 8 - no one's looking for you! St. Cuthbert 26 Trithereon...

Trying to end my first 1E, I was working on an epic finale to my 1E campaign that had gone well beyond reason (average level was 33). I was running various filler while working on it, but I accidentally left my notebook after a session. A few days later, one of my players asks me about Daemons...

Becoming the default setting is pretty much how it dies. While I'm not a fan of post-Gygax Greyhawk, WotC doomed it completely by making it the default setting in 3E.

Beory 25 Boccob 24 Celestian 22 Ehlonna 18 Erythnul 18 Fharlanghn 16 Heironeous 20 Hextor 20 Kord 15 Incabulos 21 Istus 20 Iuz 9 Nerull 17 Obad-Hai 20 Olidammara 21 Pelor 21 Pholtus 16 Ralishaz 16 St. Cuthbert 25 Tharizdun 6 Trithereon 22 Ulaa 14 Wee Jas 10

Of actual mechanical crunch, I'd want: 1 major racial ability, 2-3 moderate racial abilities, and 2-3 ribbon abilities. The major racial ability would be the big thing that stands them out from everyone else, making them distinct from the others and defining why people likely play them. The...

There's a huge flaw with this though: attack with what? If I critically miss you with a crossbow or scorching ray, how do you hit me back with only the melee weapon in your hand? If you need a ranged attack, how long do you have to get it out to use it (and possibly with disadvantage if my...

I guess that depends on how you want to look at it. I was looking at it within the Flanaess, since this is really the only part of the setting that matters much. I have technically added Aquaria on Western Oerik and Kara Tur beyond the Sea of Dust, but they haven't seen play (nor are they likely...

Back in 1E, before the THAC0 days of 2E, there was a combat matrix. Well, a set of charts, really, but they called it a matrix (IIRC). A 20 wasn't always an automatic hit, as the chart would go: 19, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 21, 22... If you needed the 21 or more, it meant that you had to have some...

You've trapped yourself into an "all or nothing mentality," which I'll discuss later. Hmmm.... I seem to recall a Blackmoor supplement too. Wasn't that a campaign setting? :p How so? It's not hard to just look for noted references. Gygax, Kuntz, and others have talked about their experiences...

I've considered this, but discarded it for multiple reasons. First, you create a mini-death spiral, in that getting a critical miss means you're increasing the chance of getting another one. Second, this can be manipulated by players to not make any sense. In my idea, the "next hit" doesn't have...

I think the only real advantage would be the ease of typing 2PP over homebrew/house-rule. I might start doing it just to confuse people ;)

I agree, and the trick is balance. "Fumble" always brings up bad memories, because almost universally critical fumbles are disastrous, albeit sometimes hilarious. The punishment is usually harsher than the benefit of the equal chance critical, which is why they always feel so bad. It's got to be...