Search results

Feature, not bug.

Not knowing anything about the Realms, I have to ask whether some of that is introduced in ToA or not. If it is, and there are no details, then that's not great. If you're invoking minutiae that was a footnote in some 2E or 3E secondary source book, then I think that's a bit of an unfair ask...

Dunno. I’ve heard lots of claims that it is. i can’t judge it on utility for running FR. What I can say, though, is that I’ve absolutely despised the Realms since 2E (it was only a mild disdain in 1E) and have had a “no money towards Realms material” policy since that time. I was sorely tempted...

I think this is why, in part, my group ended up gravitating toward Mage and, to a lesser extent, Changeling. In Mage, you're still more or less human and, even though you have some lofty ambitions, you still have normal human drives. Some Friday nights, you just want to go to the pub, play pool...

There are so many issues with D&D combat (and the system, in general) that you can't fix them all. It's a large-grain system and you either accept that or wallow in pain.

Oh, wow. I'd forgotten about the caller. Not sure whether that was part of the core rules or something in a Dragon. Pretty sure that's where some groups ended up having a heavy-handed PC "leader".

Wow. There is nothing -- not one thing -- appealing about that trailer. In fact, everything about it makes me want to stay away.

The are so many factors that could make this work or fail, IMO. The most obvious is the actual quality of development, including the engine. The D&D system is turn-based. If you're playing a party, I don't see how you can really get away from that. For a single-character game, though, I could...

I can mostly see where you get that breakdown, but that's not how I read it, originally. It's been a really, really long time, so I'm reaching into the back of my brain, but I interpreted it more "Mediterranean" (Oeridian), "Germanic/Nordic/Celtic" (Suloise), "Far Eastern" (Baklunish), and...

Actually, I did miss that line. I had to go look up the Touv, since I only used the gold-and-red box, written by Gygax, and they weren't part of that. This is where the fan base splinters, too: I don't really consider anything not written by Gygax as canon to GH. In the red-and-gold box, the...

There is a balance to be struck. Archetypes exist for a reason and can be powerful. The trick is to be diverse enough that it feels open, without losing out on the strength in “playing to type”. Not every icon needs to be subversive.

I don’t get this take. I actually really liked the Greyhawk take on the ethnicities. It included most of the breadth of real humanity without either just taking real world stereotypes as-is or just switching the name tags. Do I want those to carry into other settings? No, but I don’t want the...

Yeah... I've heard they added that. Also disappointing, IMO. D&D is a toolbox with a variety of settings, not a unified setting, in itself. Trying to say "everything connects" is a stupid mistake, IMO. It's not hard to house rule a crossover, but forcing "Star Trek and Star Wars are in the same...

It looks fine, power-wise. Theme-wise, it should have been a sorcerer, not wizard. Yes, there's a whole conversation about whether psionics should be its own system or not, but that's somewhat beside the point when trying to decide which existing class to use for psionics -- as this article is...

Nice review, over all, but I have one nit to pick: This is, honestly, a WTF point, from me. I don't see how Eberron is related to the Realms, at all. I'd actually say something more like, "If you like the D&D game but want something other than the Forgotten Realms, especially if you want cooler...

Kinda. I've had times, over the years, when a play brought in a character that just never clicked with the group. Most of the time, the player realizes this and either tweaks the character or switches again. A few times, though, they insisted on continuing to bring that character to the table...

I agree... kinda. My issue isn't with players having narrative control abilities, it's with it being class-based. Either everyone gets meta toys or no one does. My 5E game's inspiration has evolved to something more like Savage Worlds bennies and it works really, really well. But, it does so...

Nope. I absolutely hate the notion and have gone out of my way to make trying to do so confusing, in my home brew world. I have a nation with an elite military group called "rangers", that are actually well known for their arcane knowledge -- they started as explorers and, effectively...

Yeah. I don't mind Lovecraft as an option for psionics, but it sure seems like they're welded together inside Mearls' head. I don't like that. I, personally, have always hated Lovecraft in D&D (personal preference, not knocking anyone), but I love psionics. I just never saw the two as having a...

Kinda. The system will always, always color the way the setting manifests. That's to be expected and no one should really lose sleep over it. But, and I suspect this is more your point, one thing that WotC brought to the table was the idea that the game should have a flagship setting. Not just...