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One solution to the problem of npc's overshadowing the PC's is to make the npc's limited. For instance, in a recent game we needed someone with tracking to help us track down a lair. None of the PC's had Track, and the only npc was an 11-year old kid. We hired the kid, sweating every minute that...

As for animating, I suspect pretty much any normal culture would consider that a desecration of the person's remains. It wasn't that long ago that using cadavers in medical schools was illegal. Imagine the outcry today if someone came up with electrical implants that would allow businesses to...

Why does a necromancer have to animate dead? Playing a necro who never uses an [Evil] spell is quite easy and can be fun to boot. A friend wanted to play a necro in one of my campaigns a couple years ago. We used some abilities from Mongoose's Necromany, Beyond the Grave but otherwise he only...

Depends. If the characters have a certain minimum amount of info on the world around them, then no problem. Using the standard scheme from the MM is an easy way to duplicate this character knowledge without burdening the players with a ton of minutia. If, however, I'm running a campaign where...

Just a nitpick - you don't *have* to use the standard D&D version of religion. Religion is one of the most central elements in human history, but most RPG's and settings treat it as a set of statistics and mechanics for character builds. Try a few of these questions: *Why do there have to be...

Interesting point, and I agree that D&D has always been like this - the high level character who can defeat whole armies singlehandedly. That's one of the things that most bothers me about D&D, so I'd prefer the system handled power progression differently - but then again, would it be D&D then...

But notice that the examples you give of effective multiclassing use classes that are, for the most part, linear (using Mokona's definition of the term). Right now, 2 Ftr-10's are pretty equal to 1 Ftr-20. There are situations where the Ftr20 would be superior, others where 2 Ftr10's would be...

Which is exactly why I wish WOTC would put out a Feat Compendium. Having one extra book for all (most) of the non-PH WOTC feats would be a huge timesaver - for me, at least. No searching through several books for the one feat I need.

Well, in the original D&D rules, a Hero (a 4th-level fighter) was assumed to be equal to 4 men-at-arms, and a SuperHero (an 8th-level fighter) was assumed to be equal to 8 men-at-arms. That, however, was a very long time ago and D&D has changed significantly since. Personally, I would much...

In my current group, everyone has been a GM at one time or another (the last holdout is GMing now). The only thing I worry about is myself - it's easy to fall into the trap of trying to help the novice GM, or cross the line from offering rules knowledge to making actual in-game rulings...

Thirded on jerky camera views. I didn't like it in Three Kings, nor in War of the Worlds, nor in a few TV shows/movies I've seen. I didn't really notice it in LoTR, but I had other problems with those movies. Another pet peeve: Playing the music so loud, I can't hear the dialogue. I can't...

Here's an edited version of my last resignation letter. Note, depending on your circumstances, you may not want to offer contact info for after your last day. I did so because I still had a very good relationship with the company and didn't want them to have to muddle through too much while...

Funny you should mention that. The author (Ian Johnston) is the guy who put together the list of creature abilities I referred to above. He'd intended to publish a product similar to BB, but Expeditious Retreat beat him to it. I was testing the material, which is when I created the modified...

[Note: I've only seen the demo of Beast Builder] One thing to consider with BB is the list of special qualities in the back. Using nothing but that list, I'll bet you can quickly modify virtually any creature in minutes. I've done the same myself using an incomplete list compiled by a friend. A...

Actually, that's not precisely correct. Read the line right above Material Component: "The subject may struggle, but the sphere cannot be physically moved either by people outside it or by the struggles of those within." (emphasis mine) "Those" can be read as plural.

Thele, I downloaded your file to forward to someone I know who is a publisher. But everytime I try to open the file, I get an Open File Security Warning dialogue box. If I select the option to Open the file, I get the following message: "Microsoft Access cannot open this file. This file is...

Just off the top of my head, I'd suggest checking out www.ospreypublishing.com. They have a series of books on just about every historical subject you can think of, including arms and armor. Here's an example of one book on the Knights Hospitaler...

Though I only got to play the system a few times, I really enjoyed the original Deadlands. The poker chips, the offbeat characters, the setting - it all meshed into some very enjoyable sessions. Then the GM wanted to do something else... :(

Ok, that makes more sense. Next question: what are the commercials about a Firefly movie? Is this a theatrical release, SciFi, or something else?

So when SciFi played a commercial advertising the "premiere" of Firefly, they just meant they're re-running the old episodes? That'll teach me to pay attention to advertising...