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Unfortunately for you D&D isn't really that game and I don't really think it ever has been. Despite attack rolls and skill checks sharing the same dice mechanic they have totally different difficulty scales. There's special numbers a creature has that are only used in combat situations and then...

This is it exactly. My example was completely contrived but events could have taken a totally different turn had the dice rolled differently (I did roll to see how things would go). The impaler in my example might have been able to turn things around had he parried the crippler's attack or the...

From last night's Encounters game with my Hunter. Our Fighter with his Defender Aura activated had positioned himself so all of the enemies were clustered around him. He was taking a pounding but his position allowed the rest of us to make our attacks with impunity. One of the dwarf vengeance...

You can still download that issue of Dungeon from Paizo. The Spelljammer section is pretty good and a good 3E resource.

GURPS can take a bit of work getting into because it's not a particular setting of themed game but instead a toolkit for running games. So you've got a ton if options but not all of them are germane to all games you might want to play. The Magery advantage might not be accessible in your gritty...

To expand on my previous GURPS example without just telling you to learn the GURPS combat rules. Two melee fighters are squared off. Both have broadswords and a chain mail hauberk which protects the torso and groin. One has a thrusting broadsword which does impaling damage rather than thrust...

GURPS combat tends to be over quickly but has a great deal of tactical depth. It's often over quickly because attacks do a lot of damage relative to characters' total hit points. To make things even deadlier characters face penalties when they take significant amounts of damage. In GURPS HP is a...

I'll expand on this a bit and to explain in a little more detail GURPS resolution mechanics for those unfamiliar. In GURPS skill checks are rolled against your intrinsic skill level rather than some sort of external difficulty. In D&D you roll against a DC provided by the DM, adding your skill...

For a space opera game I made some V-shaped classes that seemed to work well. I like the idea of a generic "class" but the idea of one tied to only a single ability score never made much sense to me. It seemed to me they had an idea for a couple of single ability classes and felt they had to...

For the most part I think Spycraft is a much better put together game than d20 Modern and has a lot of the features I would add to it. In Spycraft armor provides a minimal bonus to defense and instead it's protection is in the form of DR. The concept of armor making it more difficult to do...

I think the idea of needing to actually build out NPCs is a bit silly. Ability scores are scaled such that a 10 is considered to be a "normal person". So the average commoner can be said to have straight 10s for ability scores. They have whatever skill training their position might suggest they...

I actually like the BECMI model of level separation. Though maybe today we could call it HEPAEP, Heroic, Paragon, Epic. In my experience the fact that the Player's Handbooks covered levels 1-30 was confusing to new players. I've been asked several times "how do I pick this level 20 power". For a...

The problem with Rifts' attack/parry mechanics isn't that they exist but that characters can end up with multiple attacks every round. In GURPS or D6 where you've got a similar mechanic an individual round isn't too complicated because multiple attacks are the exception rather than the rule. If...

I think you may need to re-read my comments on the matter, we're in agreement about the failings of the Palladium system.

I figure this question is germane to the discussion so I'll post it here instead of starting a new thread. If I have a STR/DEX slayer the "Heroic Slayer" ability gives a bonus DEX modifier to weapon attacks, is this in addition to their STR bonus for MBAs and DEX bonus for MRAs? I was thinking...

I think this is one of the better points made in the thread (no offense to anyone else). A player that is new to pen and paper RPGs in 2011 likely has way more experience with RPGs than their 1981 counterpart. It's unlikely that they haven't played some CRPG or CCG before picking up a D&D book...

These aspects of the game are a major problem for a lot of people and therefore a real problem for Palladium. I'd love to get a Rifts game going but the rules are a huge barrier of entry. People that know the rules would rather play something else because they're a PITA in the best of times and...

I've always run "magic marts" as a guilded craftsmen. If you wanted arcane magic items you had to buy them from a mage's college (or representative) and it was made to order for you in a chapter house by some journeyman crafter. Even the reagents needed to build them would be hoarded or...

KS also has a slew of house rules he uses when he plays at conventions at the like. The cognitive dissonance within Palladium is astounding. I have a ton of Rifts books and at one point used to play fairly regularly. I fully agree that the rules are a complete hinderance to the game. Wik is...

One of my biggest character pet peeves is the "slutty rogue" often played by the nerdiest guy in the room. The assumption being that the character can saunter up to any NPC and seduce or charm needed information/action out of them at all times (with no rolls involved). They expect their...