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Interesting, I'd never heard this particular Gygax. So much of the conversation I see positions the "roll 3d6 in a row; live and die by the results" as the most Old Skool method. Once you factor in the species modifiers, most characters using the standard array are going to have at least two...

You can totally shave off the 8 with point buy. Yes, it will cost you on the upper end of your ability scores. Remember, 10 is "average" and 8 is just slightly below average. A character with 8 intelligence would still be able to read, write and communicate, at least in a modern society where...

As I recall, other than his (very reasonable) uneasiness around magic, Conan doesn't possess any real flaws in the stories. The default assumption in D&D is something a little more rounded, especially since characters are meant to be part of a group. If you want to play a character whose only...

And it would be a reasonable choice freely made! The standard array is a great basis for a character. Good at two abilities. Above average at two abilities. Average at one ability. Below average at one ability. On the whole, you are an exceptional individual, though still with room to grow. You...

We always use standard array/point buy. Yes, it leads to more homogenous ability scores, because the point buy only allows a 7 point spread out of 15 possible rolled scores, but it simplifies power levels and lets people create characters at home, which most of us like to do. The variation comes...

Oh yes, to be clear, all of the text I quoted is words of China Mieville, but sourced from a blog post by Nnedi Okafor. Secondary source research, so to speak. Okafor has a lot of great stuff to say on the topic in her own right, but I was responding to a question about Mieville's thoughts on...

Ooh, it's an interesting question, though I don't know the answer. Because RPGs are, in some ways, a kind of fan fiction, we are all taking ideas from various works of fiction around us and looking to recreate those stories at our gaming table. The game designers respond to that demand by making...

Nnedi Okafor quotes some of Mieville's reactions to Lovecraft on her blog: ---EDITED TO ADD--- That blog post is actually a great mini-essay on appreciating the work and influence of deeply problematic authors and artists, from Norman Mailer to Griffith's Birth of a Nation. Worth the read in...

Man, for real? This thread is about a case of sexual harassment where all parties are, more or less, in agreement about the facts. Even the perpetrator has not contested them. Everybody involved seems to be in agreement that the proceedings were sexual harassment. And we got people dropping in...

The example given seems like a no-brainer ok, because it leaves so much interpretation up to the player as to what their character could have done to piss off Gross Ben. Hell, for all you know, the PC doesn't even know Gross Ben, but the player does remember laughing and enjoying a summer day as...

Matthan's advice is the best I see here. Your ad, as it stands, is very generic. To follow that up with a bunch of restrictions could definitely play as a turn-off, even for players who might otherwise fit your play-style. Having read a lot of pitches for campaigns on Roll20 and similar, I've...

Sometimes, I will google things like "slavic towns" for a list of names of historic places that might not be recognizable to my players, but still have that feel I'm going for. So you could google something like "Ancient Egyption Towns:"...

I own a number of Frog God products, and have particularly enjoyed playing and reading Matt Finch's adventures, but I won't be buying from them anymore. Glad to see stories like this covered here. The headline was very kind to Mr. Webb. "Harassment at PaizoCon 2017" could easily have read "Bill...

Well maybe you should think about restructuring your gaming schedule? A group needs at least a couple players who are going to prioritize showing up, because that's what holds the group together, but you should still work to accommodate their schedules. We're mostly pretty dedicated and only...

Broken glass people are all well and good, but if a number of people in your group are marching over broken glass every week just to play D&D, well...

Thanks for all your responses. It's helpful to know about what other people's experiences were making the transition. Chris633, I think the idea of doing mini VTT sessions in between larger in-person sessions is intriguing, especially once kids get in the mix. It's not that hard to find 2 hours...

After some lineup changes and some job changes, our gaming group is rethinking its scheduling. For the last two years or so, we have been a weekly weeknight group. Sessions generally last around 4 hours once the last person has showed up. (Roughly 8pm to midnight.) This includes time to order...

Creatures would make rather poor improvised weapons — they are actively TRYING to be bad weapons. So I like the idea of splitting damage between thrown creature and the target, or maybe doing improvised damage minus 1 die, but to both the thrown creature and the target.

Hey, I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just saying it's not automatically cheaper to shoot in a field than indoors. Especially when it needs to be a fantastic field. Or a fantastic town. Or a fantastic city. Or a fantastic castle. Season 1 of GoT apparently ran about $6 million per episode...

But then you are dependent on the weather and gennies, not to mention that there aren't a ton of fields near NY and LA, so now we're talking distant location costs and per diems for the crew. And you aren't going to set your whole fantasy tv show in the same field are you? You'll probably need a...