Recent content by timbannock

The massive volume of prestige classes in 3E (especially in its earlier days) can provide a lot of indicators. A great many were born from 2E kits, various factions, and loads of cultural material from Greyhawk's lore.

I don't do crowdfunding anymore because of this feeling.

The playtest being released at all -- certainly in its then-current form, but really at all in any form -- is what strikes me as very strange in this story. It adds the third narrative about writers not being paid and really confuses the whole thing. If it was a revenge-release, then I guess...

Precisely this. It's a step away from the "auto-win" combos and "everything's a net positive" in D&D (outside of pass/fail checks and several other things, I know, but I mean compared to earlier editions). Each of your 3 actions in a round is a clear choice because you not only weigh action vs...

I think simple(r) rules are trending high, and metacurrencies don't seem to have as much stigma tied to them -- or at least, I believe this is the case among casual gamers, which is certainly the vast majority. I bet D&D will be happy to shed a few complexities here and there, and add more...

I have no problem using them. Hirelings don't go in the dungeon. Henchmen do, but demand an equal share and generally have at least a few slots filled with useless trinkets so they aren't pack mules for the players. They are costly and cut into your carousing money and all that, so it's not...

I have players in one group that prefer to be led around by the nose. I don't particularly like that style of play, so we naturally have friction as a part of getting together to game. Plenty of times we're able to reduce that friction more than enough for everyone to have a blast. But sometimes...

I think it's incredibly easy to write a paragraph or a page about how "[Insert world here] is about to face its gravest threat yet, in the form of [insert villain here]! Their plans are A, B, and C, and in order to stop them, the players must X, Y, and Z." And you have no idea if that's a...

Their marketing has never made sense to me, since basically 3.5 days. They have some great people, but it's like they just don't know their audience or want to really talk to that audience much, despite years and years of market research, convention appearances, and all this other stuff that...

Yeah, it should've been called an "Ender Set" as in "this will last you until the end of your time with this game." I have zero need or interest in spending money on yet-another-fantasy-TTRPG yet this boxed set calls out to me every few weeks...

Well then that's immediately of interest! Didn't realize that. And indeed should make a SD conversion relatively easier, as the monster list is a lot closer than AD&D's list.

Granted I have not seen the 5E tables, but my preference is to start from the stocking tables from B/X and AD&D. Monsters by "dungeon level" followed by monsters by biome. That said, I do like how 5E simplified the biomes overall, so you can keep it down to a more manageable number of tables...

I personally think the randomness is a feature: it takes you in directions you wouldn't otherwise go. Modifying the end results (the monsters that "don't fit") after the fact is easier IMO than having too devoted a theme and having to come up with interesting ways to spice up 6 rooms of just...

If such a thing exists, I've yet to find it.

Doing 1:1 monster swaps wherever possible in those specific modules should be a breeze, and where there aren't 1:1 monsters, there is instead (1) plenty of different monsters to offer inspiration, as well as the monster building advice for conversion that should get you most of the way there for...