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* SPOILERS * I'm thinking of running this down the line, but I can't make up my mind how I want to fit it in. The Tomb seems great for a Kill Things and Take Their Stuff campaign, and my players would be sufficiently motivated by greed to go along with that. However, I might want to make it...

It seems to me like some people have a rather narrow sense of what "role-playing" is, as in more acting/theatre equates to more role-playing. To me the theatrical approach is just one way of doing things, and is no more or less "role-playing" than a third person descriptive approach. Either can...

I agree about the granularity issue, but at least for me it only takes a small stretching of the core social rules to accomodate my needs. I find that a typical exchange of any importance contains a number of lies, threats, and/or offers, and I would roll a separate Bluff, Intimidate, or...

Six deaths. I have eight players, with the highest level character just reaching eight. Three players have lost two characters each to death. Another player abondoned a character for role-playing reasons. That character is still alive as an NPC, but will probably die the next time the PC's meet...

I'll go with this, plus add the observation that by far it most often coincides with some sort of player stupidity.

In game, I think killing PC's has to rank right near the top for me, honestly. I wouldn't ever admit that to my players though. I like tactical combat, so from the DM's side killing a PC is usually the pinnacle of that. It's been a while now... this past week was so, so close. One character was...

I prefer a "less is more" type of approach for these things, so I do not have separate racial pantheons. Humans and dwarves would worship the same god of the forge. They might represent him a bit differently, use different nicknames, or have some dogmatic differences, but the cleric domains...

I have seen a very effective Bard in play with a group of 8-9 PCs. At that group size the Bard is a tremendous force multiplier, and probably most responsible for the group's overall effectiveness. Needless to say, Inspire Courage adds up to quite a few extra hits and extra damage with that many...

It is definitely tempting to include both a Paladin and a Bard - from third level on the group is rarely going to have serious problems with fear or charm effects. Monsters that rely on those effects like Harpies and Vargouille are total pushovers for such a group. I think from fourth level on...

I appreciate all the information, very interesting. Don't most of the Arthurian legends depict something closer to 2nd to 6th century Britain though? That's more what I had in mind. I'm curious if that makes much of a difference - I've always had the impression that the world of those legends...

Just to be clear, we're getting into very setting specific territory here, so I'm talking more about why conservationist druids don't work in my world more than any general issue with the archetype. Anyways, let's look at one of the the examples given before - creating the Sahara desert with...

I don't doubt the possibility for this to occur, but I think the perception would be different. People would be much more likely to think something like "the gods are punishing us for our hubris" than to think "nature is fragile and precious, we must work to protect it from humanity". Not that I...

I haven't really gotten around to addressing the role of Druids in my own campaign world yet, but it is something that's been bugging me. The problem I have is the "tree hugging hippy conservationist" archetype doesn't really make sense to me in a world where civilization is just a tiny blip in...

This is pretty much what I do as well. When the time comes to determine things like the effects of a Unholy Blight spell in my campaign, most free-willed creatures, including the PC's, will grade out to neutral. I do quietly keep track of the PC's behavior though, just in case any happen to act...

You need the metamagic feat - Heighten Spell, from the Player's Handbook.

Hmmm... the aggro effect is worth considering. I'll give that one some thought. I don't want to unfairly pick on those PC's just for boring me, though. I actually think MM is mechanically speaking, much duller than a sword swing or fired arrow. The big reason for this to me is the combination...

He doesn't have to "unlearn" anything. A crafter can set the power of a magic item (i.e. caster level) anywhere from the minimum required for the spell up to a maximum of his own caster level.

I use this calculator to get ballpark figures for how gear affects CR. It assumes that gear accounts for about 1/3 of an NPC's CR. The formula it uses is: Challenge Rating (with equipment) = ((2 x Base CR) + Gear Level)/3

I'd be interested in seeing good rules for this too. I have a couple of quick ideas though: It should be possible to improvise a limited list of simple CR 1 through about CR 3 traps for free with a high enough Craft or Survival check. The time frame for this will depend on the task (obviously...

I think you nailed it there ForceUser, though I do see Shocking Grasp from time to time delivered via a familiar. Next time I'll probably go with the Arcane Bolt spell someone posted above as a replacement for MM.