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Gish?! Gish has been around since Fiend Folio (at least) and referred to a specific type of Githyanki. The term was so successful in capturing (and relating) a concept, that it spread out through the gaming community. I was rolling up "Gishes" (hoping for the perfect combination) in my AD&D days...

Hello all, This is my first post regarding Pathfinder (so please forgive me if this question has been previously asked or run into the ground), but with all the discussion surrounding D&DNext - people are digging in to their "favorite edition" positions, and one of those isn't a D&D product...

I don't quite agree with all of Morrus' premises, but I do with the overall claim (that 5e text should be informative & descriptive - "Flunch" or "Cruff" if you will). One thing that hasn't been talked about much in the threads Morrus discusses is the difference between the "power" text and the...

The story reminds me of this meme: Parenting: You're doing it right.

Discourse relates to a concept represented and constructed through language use, the acts accompanied by such usage, and their interpretation. So, the language used in describing a spell in D&D is part of the discourse of D&D, but so are the ways in which the language is formatted, the intention...

If the goal of 5e, or D&Dnext, is to capture the "essence" of D&D (which for me, doesn't exist in the game, but rather in its representation), then I believe this is the approach they are going to have to take with spells. I'm not arguing that 4e is wrong, it is just different, different enough...

That's why I believe it is a matter of discourse and not simply language. The immersiveness of Rolemaster, I would argue, is a product of the correspondence between the discourse of the game and the orientation of the player - which of course, like so many things in RPGs, is subjective.

I'm looking at the examples you provided and I've copied one of them below. I've colored the "fluff" yellow and the "crunch" red. I've left out the really "technical info" (e.g. casting time, duration, etc) - they read like this: 3e sleep A sleep spell causes a magical slumber to come upon 4...

I'm gong to go out on a heretic limb and say that, in my opinion, "Gygaxian prose" is really just poor writing. Do we need engaging text? Yes. Do we need the 1e Phb, Dmg, and Mm? No. And this is from an "old schooler" currently playing 1e AD&D (and a published author).

What Monte did say was "My decision is one based on differences of opinion with the company." The question here then is a difference of opinion on what? Many people are assuming that it was a difference of opinion on game mechanics, etc. Personally, I think that's a stretch. He further went to...

I feel equally as optimistic about 5e now as I did prior to Monte's departure. Was I surprised? Sure. Am I dismayed? No. :)

I have very little knowledge concerning game design, but with the emphasis on ability scores driving skills, I'm wondering why 5e might not utilize the approach to skill/ability checks from 1e. For example, if a character with an 18 DEX had to make a Dex check in 1e, the player simply rolled a...

I've posted about this in another thread called "an open letter to WOTC about surveys" or something like that (sorry to have time to post the link), so I won't rehash that content here, but the polls - or at least a majority of the polls done by WOTC, have serious problems with reliability and...

doublepost.

I find it funny that much of the critique leveled at the validity of WOTC polls is expressed in assertions and assumptions that have no factual basis. Poor polling and speculative commentary: It's a validity-free-infinite-loop!

Monte did mention that the problem was with the "company" and not with the designers or any one individual. He made no mention of a disagreement with a game mechanic or anything like that. I'm partial to believe that this is a business issue rather than a design issue. As far as the "healing...

I like the streamlined play of 1st edition, but then I realized it was streamlined because we ignored (or modified) many of the more detailed aspects of the rules (e.g. Morale, initiative, etc...). For example, we do initiative pretty much as written until we have more than 2 opposing groups...

I don't get the same feeling simply because each of the designers on the team have played the earlier editions of the game (either growing up with D&D or in their personal time as adults, and as Mearls mentioned as part of their job when trying to determine "what is" D&D). I'm partial to the...

The recent announcement that Monte Cook has left the design and development team for D&DNext is surprising and disappointing, but I think we need to keep a sense of perspective. Monte and the rest of the team are professionals and I believe they are going to do what is best for their careers and...

Bu a cleric did burn a troll in an earlier update on a playtest, and it had a very "flamestrike" feel to it. So that's reassuring!