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Sometimes. If the monster is hard to describe, is something that has changed significantly from a prior edition, or the picture will freak someone out (hello arachnophobes). Everyone has seen pictures of goblins and orcs, so we don't worry about it. Showing the Glabrezu to the new player...

With the Wayfarer's Guide out and the Eberron AL set to start (in earnest), this week, I'm tempted to switch settings and ease back on my adventure prep time. But.... I've never even read through the AL adventures. I'd heard, at one point, they weren't real good for playing in a normal campaign...

Eh, it wasn't the side conversation aspect that bothered me. It was the "you aren't permitted to hear" implication.

Haha, yeah. I read other rules systems and listen to podcasts (theory and mechanics, I've never understood the appeal of actual play) for a variety of games. I don't even bother, anymore. My players just roll with it when I say, "Give me a Notice check." "You mean Perception?" "Sure, that'll...

It depends. As a baseline, I voted for "equal to lowest level PC". That includes the departed because it only takes one time of having a player get his character shivved in order to catch up to the leader before I say, "Let's not do that again." You never come out ahead from dying. The most...

This is how we did our first campaign of Vampire, way back when. I was the only one with the book and it took a bit of cajoling to get the rest of the group to buy into something besides D&D. We actually did a short-run game in the spring before heading home for the summer (college). It went...

The important piece is that there is a line. Where that line gets drawn may vary by group, but there's a line. Part of the GM's job is to challenge the players and their characters. I'm talking about a combination of GMs who intentionally create encounters they don't think the PCs can survive...

GMPC. If you're GMing, you get NPCs. If you're rotating GMing responsibilities, have your character sit out while you're GMing. No good ever comes out of mixing those roles. It will kill your game as fast as any of the other options, but is often glossed over. So, I'll call it out as a bad...

I think this probably nails it. I used to use Greyhawk as "neutral ground" for one shots and the like. If you told me you were running a Greyhawk game, would most of my assumptions be applicable? If you can sum up all the meaningful changes in a paragraph or so, it's probably personalization...

Screw that, then. The only choice they have is in not doing stupid things. :) I went with "poor/stupid" decisions. I'd like to say that I always follow the rules and allow characters to die due to bad rolls. The truth is, though, that I take pity on players who just have a ridiculously bad...

So, what is intended by "as a result of PLAYER choice"? Is that the same as "characters only die when the player says it's OK"?

It is if you read it with the same sort of shocked emphasis, mentally: "Why the heck would you say that??!!??"

It is if you read it with the same sort of shocked emphasis, mentally: "Why the heck would you say that??!!??"

You have options: 1) The intelligence score is like IQ and only represents one swath of intelligence. This means whatever mechanical bonus you get from the stat, including spell DC, saves, etc. 2) Rely on the game infrastructure to help you. Call for frequent Intelligence (Investigation) or...

Yeah. I'm not sure my answers were what they were hoping, either. I was disappointed that there wasn't a way to say, "I value really deep stories, but I explicitly don't want a pervasive default setting." It felt like any time I answered "I like deep campaign lore", it could (and would) be...

Yeah. I'm not sure my answers were what they were hoping, either. I was disappointed that there wasn't a way to say, "I value really deep stories, but I explicitly don't want a pervasive default setting." It felt like any time I answered "I like deep campaign lore", it could (and would) be...

No. The questions could certainly be interpreted as a nod in that direction, and it crossed my mind. I think 5E is still going really well, though. My guess is that they're doing a pulse check to see how far down the path they want to go with things like the Eberron or Ravnica and whether it's...

No. The questions could certainly be interpreted as a nod in that direction, and it crossed my mind. I think 5E is still going really well, though. My guess is that they're doing a pulse check to see how far down the path they want to go with things like the Eberron or Ravnica and whether it's...

I would say this is where I stand, as well. I'd rather have Eberron-level stasis than the original WoD metaplot. After 15 years, I could see advancing the Eberron timeline a bit, but then I think of how Greyhawk Wars and From the Ashes split that fan base and think it's probably best left alone...

Really, you can just use real-world equivalents: * Suel = Northern European * Oeridian = Mediteranian (including Middle Eastern and North African) * Flan = Sub-Saharan Aftrican * Baklunish = East Asian There's probably an element of "not politically correct" to that. Just keep in mind that this...