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I've only played in about dozen campaigns since 3e came out, so maybe I haven't played enough 1st level characters to become jaded. I also haven't been in a campaign that got past 11th level, so it could be said that I haven't experienced enough high-level play to know how much better it is than...

IME, 3e is far more deadly. I didn't play much 2e but played a lot of 1e, albeit with the same group for the most part. The main reason I think 3e is more deadly is that HP are about the same but damage is greater. In 1e, you needed 16 Str just to get +1 to damage (and +0 to hit). Orcs and...

I'd go with option #3. I think of Gather Information as what you learn by walking around Rome, whereas Knowledge (local) is what you learned by reading The Traveler's Guide to Rome. The success of your Knowledge (local) check basically indicates whether your Knowledge studies brought you in...

IMHO, I think "Why not Dex?" goes back to the four iconic classes sort of occupying four figurative corners, where wizards (or magic-users) and fighters were diametrically opposed, as were clerics and rogues. So, fighters typically had high Str and low Int, wizards had low Str and high Int...

If the player is literally asking the same questions over and over, the NPC is presumably providing the same answers each time. IMO, the repeated answers would not constitute a new attempt to Bluff. If the player asks new questions (not just rephrasing the old ones), especially if the questions...

No, I'm actually not advocating getting rid of anything. I'm trying to recognize what is the effect of getting rid of any particular "D&Dy" thing. Just because something is a sacred cow doesn't mean it needs to go. It just means that, if you do slaughter a sacred cow, some people will care, some...

Let's say we can divide up the elements of D&D into those things that ultimately come from other influences and those that originated with D&D. To use a biological analogy, these are "shared derived characters" that denote the uniqueness of D&D, at least in a historical sense. Of course, many...

Maybe I'm just ignorant of the difference. What I'm calling "Sword and Sorcery" is the collection of fantasy work by the usual authors cited (Tolkien, Lewis, Vance, etc.) as well as the influential mythologies, mainly of Western Europe (Greek, Norse, Arthur, biblical, etc.). It doesn't change...

Actually... Or you could go with the Hasbro-endorsed version where Charles Darrow invents it in the thirties to stick it to The (Rich) Man. Let's follow this Monopoly analogy. Monopoly is a game based on economics, giving players a chance to emulate landlords. Like D&D, it is also its own...

Rogues and the players who love them This thread is not about whether playing rogues is enjoyable. Certainly, some players enjoy playing them a lot. Nor is it about whether rogues do anything worthwhile in a party. It's easy to convince me that they do. Nor is it about whether they have a...

Except that I don't belive this is true for fighters. Their role can be performed by other classes, but you can't get all the archetypes of the "warrior hero" from the barbarian, paladin, or ranger. The fighter does not have the same issues as the rogue. The *role* of the thief was derived...

First let me reiterate that I'm not arguing that the rogue's *role* is not essential, nor that the rogue's role should simply be removed from the game. The fighter has an essential role that belongs in the game, but his role can be filled by other classes, such as barbarian or paladin. The...

Of course, barbarians and monks have alignment restrictions that play to the personality types associated with those terms. You touch on something that probably would shed a lot of light on the archetypes that established the thief class. Anyone know these sources? This actually fits very...

Certainly, you could design a fantasy RPG where you eliminate classes altogether. In this genre, though, players want to take on the roles of classic archetypes, like the strong hero with the big pointy stick, or the mysterious wizard who harnesses magical power. But I'm not suggesting...

Those are good archetypes, but couldn't you play all of them with something other than the rogue? Certainly the musketeers could be modeled as fighters. Just to be clear, I'm not arguing about what classes need to be rebalanced or changed, but what classes "belong" in D&D or fantasy RPGs in...

That would depend on the abilities, no? For instance, fighters can climb, an ability that was exclusive to thieves in 1e. Actually, examples of precisely this would be helpful. I suspect my list of archetypes is inadequate, but I couldn't think of a pre-D&D character of a stature sufficient to...

This thread was inspired by conversations with Marnak that also led to this thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=199038. In case you don't want to read the rest of my lengthy discussion, here are my basic questions. Why do rogues exist as a separate class? Do they represent a beloved...

One feat I didn't see mentioned was Brutal Throw (CA). This allows you to add your Strength instead of your Dex to the attack roll for thrown weapons. So I would think this would be attractive to a high-Strength fighter who can't "afford" a high Dex. If you're the greatsword-wielding tank, you...

How about Blindfight? Yes, they get part of the benefit from Uncanny Dodge, but it seems like a blind-fighting barbarian in a fog cloud would have a distinct advantage over his foes. I have a dwarf barbarian with Power Attack and Cleave, and I was considering Blindfight for his 6th level feat...

DMM (Persistent Spell), Extra Turning, Travel Domain = Persistent Fly. Hey, you can be the Flying Nun! You also need Extend Spell to get Persistent Spell, but Extend works well with Longstrider. At lower levels, you can prepare both Longstrider and Extended Longstrider as domain spells and...