Search results

I don't want this to sound personal, as I've never met Mr. Seifter and he seems like a great person and a careful designer, but the math focus of much of his commentary makes me uncomfortable. Before becoming a designer for Paizo, Mr. Seifter was very active on the message boards, and much of...

Hmm. As someone who has been playing a lot more 5e than PF lately, this should be right up my alley. It does sound like a reaction to 5e's success and potential player loss. Many of the folks I know who stayed with PF did so because of the micromanagement aspects of the system. They might...

What will make the D&D movie "good" or not will be the same thing that makes any movie good: interesting characters, a compelling plot, internal consistency, and narrative flow. At best, D&D (or FR) is a setting for the films. The fact that the studio and Hasbro are already talking about how...

I'm a bit confused by your comment. How is classic Pathfinder not "like a board game," at least when it comes to combat? It is darn near impossible to play TotM, most of the Combat Feats require precise positioning or movement (on a grid) to work to their highest potential, and the game is...

L Eh, I think I have presented as much "data" as you have. It's kind of hard to point to things that didn't happen (i.e., all of the stories that don't get told because of IP laws). Though I think the attempt to license NOLF is an excellent example of something not being made due to IP...

And yet, creativity more often is stifled by draconian IP protections. Part of the reasons for the remakes comes from the difficulty of establishing a new, "non-infringing" idea. Note that the word "droid" is trademarked (as far as science fiction is concerned). You can't write about Space...

The dirty little secret about all regulations is that they exist to protect established franchises at the expense of future franchises. Why do you think, upon investigation, energy companies both lobby for and donate money to the campaigns of politicians who promote taxes and levies on fossil...

Ehhh, how big of a hit was Unchained? Many folks I know saw that as a PF 1.5, a bridge to a new edition. And after an initial burst of interest, most folks I know were pretty blasé about the result. The big seller for that will now probably be that you have to have it if you want to play a...

The likelihood of someone switching to Pathfinder simply because of the ancillary materials is about the same as US national broadcast stations deciding that 16 football (American) games per year is too few, and so they will drop all football broadcasts and switch to broadcasting rugby...

I'm just a little amused that a number of changes to martial characters that some folks feel are necessary to make them more viable are characterized as "crazy ideas" by the lead designer.:p

No, 5e rejects the idea that the DM can't be trusted. I saw the distrust issue pop up a lot during the transition to previous editions ( including some folks worried about 5th). The argument made to me was that a game with lots of specific rules "prevented" a bad DM from ruining the game. I...

It is only because of self-delusion if anyone thinks this isn't the case already. The DM sets the encounter, picks the monsters, adjudicates the events in combat, and chooses the tactics of the enemy. He DOES determine when the players win. The idea that the players can "take" the win from...

Well, it depends on why you play the game. Are you playing to tell stories, or to make them? I could start working a 1000-piece puzzle with only 10 pieces left to put in. I could start every possession in a football (American) game on the opponent's 10 yard line. I could start my crossword...

I hardly ever modify up, but will occasionally modify down. I usually don't like to up the hit points or powers of a monster mid-stream, because it can feel like you are pulling the rug out from under your players. If a monster is too puny, I will make a mental note and add some twist to the...

You know, I'm trying to think of a way to marry romance/relationships and game mechanics and I just can't make those ideas fit together. It almost defeats the purpose of a roleplaying game to me. Hear me out... When I think of game mechanics and romance, immediately I think of video games...

So my OPINION is wrong, eh? Good to know. And right back at you. Nothing that you described was a fatality based on bad luck. It was the very possible outcome of a battle against powerful opponents. The risk you take, without playing it safe. The idea that 2 lightning bolts are inevitable...

I hadn't read through Medusa too carefully, so the fail-by-5 was news to me. So your efforts were successful! ;)

With one or two exceptions, this is not the normal mechanics of 5e, especially when compared to 1e or 2e. I stand by my statement. And, to KarinsDad, if it's not one roll, then it isn't "blind luck", it's poor choices. At some point over the three or four rounds it takes to get those crappy...

Because, past 2nd level or so, that's pretty much not possible in 5th edition. At all. There's no save-or-die like in 1st or 2nd edition, and the number of hit points pretty much excludes the one-hit-kill. What you are talking about is almost completely a feature of earlier editions. To die...

Amusingly enough, as someone who is part Cherokee, I hardly ever see any cultural "appropriation" of Native American culture. By far, others appropriate my Western culture, it's history, and it's values (as any non-Westerner playing D&D is doing... Playing a parody of medieval Europe). Heck...