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Based on the text for spell-like abilities I'd say that we're supposed to use the duration for the spell but with the warlock's own caster level. Of particular note is the first line: "Usually, a spell-like ability works just like the spell of that name. A few spell-like abilities are unique...

If this is a player asking the questions, I'd probably point you to asking your DM. If this is a DM asking about how to rule on this, I'd say take a look at whether it could make your campaign more interesting. How far along this do you want to go with questions like the morality of it and the...

Keep in mind that "splitting hairs" or otherwise dissecting and analyzing a subject of interest to what might seem to some an unreasonable degree has indeed resulted in learning new things. Hair itself has various markers showing a person's health, among other things. Some animals even have...

I perceive "ability to fail" as "the dice tell me I fail" usually. That's something somewhat out of the DM's control. The social contract is usually that the DM won't do the numbers such that rolling a 20 would still result in failure. The players must always either have the opportunity to...

I'm a bit here and there. If I have a reasonable idea of what the setting is and how the DM handles things beforehand then I explore a bit more. I recently played a cajun pirate shifter druid, for example, although not as well as I would have liked because getting that accent and personality...

Some would say that if the mechanics or use of them aren't entertaining then the game design has failed. It's also possible to express personalities and such through mechanics. And everyone, do keep in mind that giving out the numbers doesn't show the whole story. Arguably one of the...

If there is no DC or save listed with the item then there is none for it. There is also no attack roll listed. Given its price, I'd actually kind of hope it's an automatic effect.

There aren't rules for the specific interaction of Rope Trick and other extradimensional spaces beyond merely being "hazardous" as far as I know, but I believe the usual line of thinking is that since the Bag of Holding has those lines talking about its interaction with a Portable Hole, that's...

Different games might fare better with different approaches like that. In terms of 3.5, I've noticed there are definitely some standard magic items that are heavily implied to be assumed and thus become "regular" gear, but there are also a few more circumstantial items that fit the bill for...

The timing of AoOs is such that they occur, or at least use the statistics of stuff including position, before what provoked the AoO. For example, if you tripped an opponent and it got up, you couldn't make a trip attack as part of the AoO because the creature is still technically prone and...

That "sequence of events" isn't anywhere near as meaningful as actual story and campaign event sequences that the DM could or could not have planned out. However, there might be some play where the magic sword might be revealed to be magical if the players haven't used Detect Magic on it. I'd...

And thus we have even more context for the big question. pemerton, how exactly are you using "distribute"? Would you care to change your wording on that or elucidate further? While I agree with your meaning that there's definitely a difference between player-driven information and GM-driven...

You might want to look at http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1281.0 and http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=342.0 to compare ideas and stats for small and tiny creatures.

You're getting hung up on the words and not the person's intent and meaning behind them. Yes, the person might be altering the meaning of the word from what you know it as in the given context. And? At that point it's probably better to say "This is the meaning I know the word to have. Are...

You're not thinking about it the same way so of course you're going to think it's like a different language, plus you might be a bit locked into one way of thinking to see it from another perspective. What @pemerton means is the difference between player-driven obtaining of information and...

4e might lower the ceiling with a "Good DM" because the DM uses a different style than works best for 4e? But I would assume you're talking about GMs who are playing the way the specific game works best with.

Depending on the players that might not go over well. There are those who will get paranoid at the possibility of getting jumped like that and if the game isn't set up to be okay with that paranoia/horror or whatever kind of stuff then it could very well detract from a player's enjoyment of the...

I'd call that a familiar use personally. *ba dum TSH*

I'm not so sure I like the idea of a DM stating straight up "this is my game" mostly because if it was truly just "his" game then he'd be the only player. Games are definitely a shared experience when the creator sits down to share his creation with the players. I'd prefer someone be able to...

Bolded for emphasis. In @pemerton 's post he clearly defines that he prefers to play a game where players face appropriate challenges, which would then mean that even though the chamberlain might have his own stats, said stats are created based on what the players can do (or likely will be...