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Are balors made of fire and darkness? Do they live in the depths of the world, waiting to be dug up by dwarven miners? Do balrogs explode when they die? Do they teleport? While balors were clearly influenced by balrogs, I disagree with the assertion that a balor is a balrog. A balor is a...

I think it would be pretty trivial re-skin D&D such that it was no longer D&D.

A small teaser; this is what the Warrior class looks like right now.

He dies. That definitely puts a damper on his heroic activities thereafter. Trying to determine who is a "protagonist" or not in RPG terms is a fun but aimless exercise. It's enough that he's "PC-like." I think giving 1st level characters a lot of hit points, as 4e does, is usually not a good...

Actually, AD&D half-elves and half-orcs are completely different than anything in Tolkien. In Tolkien, being a half-elf isn't a genetic condition, it's a combination of hereditity and the free will of men; Elrond is a "half-elf" which is basically just a regular elf with a different secret...

John Lithgow as DM Willem Dafoe Michael Cera Joan Jett Pink I figure two of 'em could play lesbian stripper ninjas, and Joan and Pink could be like a wizard and a cleric or something. Maybe Pink as a dwarf cleric with a mohawk, yeah.

The design I'm looking at right now is for Defenses to go up. So combat bonus (AC) and Resistance go up. Saving throws would be based on ability scores, which could increase, and you would have equivalents to Iron Will, Great Fortitude, and so forth, if you wanted to boost specific saves. The...

By eliminating critical hits, or reducing them, and decreasing the range of possible damage values, you can stabilize the "hits to kill" at virtually any number you want. That is basically where OD&D started, with d6s for damage. By increasing the danger of critical hits, you can increase...

I'll agree that's unconventional for 3e; I think I said so. However, it is not the hit points that are unconventional, only the numbers. 3d design conventions are a separate matter from whether hit points simulate anything. If you want a dragon to drop in a couple of qualified hits, 15 hit...

You could get by using the online reference documents for monsters, probably for a long time.

Killing a Level 6 magic-user (6d4 hit points) with one hit is in the realm of possibility for a barbarian with 18/50 strength using a longsword.

A tidbit about my game (Conquest of the Universe) *** Armor Class (AC) was the original defense mechanic. AC determined how hard you were to hit with a meaningful blow. Against more unusual hazards you might have to roll a "saving throw" of the die. Those terms have evolved over the decades...

A level 1 orc barbarian could take him out in one hit with a crit, actually, in 3e. The argument seems to be that hit points make things too tough. In every case that's true, just reduce the hit points. That is the essence of simulation, to create attributes that behave in the expected way.

It's just you. Just kidding. It's that guy over there, too. :) Who said that? How is that unconventional? DR is present in D&D 3e. Things have hit points; when they run out, they die. Hit points work well, period. They work for Star Wars, they work for Batman, they work for Conan, they...

That's an interesting question, and I can offer a partial answer. Sometimes bad design is interesting. If you are a game designer, bad design isn't "someone else's sandbox." In fact, the people who really don't belong in an edition comparison are people who are invested in one game, but not the...

So... 3e helps kids with serious illnesses?

Well, for instance, I think in-game flashbacks are generally a bad idea. I've tried them, and you are pretty much stuck with either acting it out, which is not precisely an RPG or why I game, or playing it out, which... doesn't work. It's the sort of stuff that sounds kind of cool and daring...

In the abstract, it seems like a good deal to me, but from a practical standpoint, I lean toward not liking Steve Long's approach, although he certainly does write well.

Specifically, for pointing out a particularly troubling continuity error, than supplying an explanation for why it was not a continuity error at all.

No-Prize - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I hung around until well after The Force Unleashed saw print. I was there to kvetch about cantina aliens not being statted in the Rebellion era book. I'm sure you came up with a version that was satisfying to you; if you share it, I'll be happy to...