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How in the world is Howardian style magic supposed to take place on the skirmish level? Even the most powerful sorcerers of the Hyborian Age take a great deal of time to cast their spells and mostly use them on the army or nationwide scale. Their combat abilities, so to speak, tend to stem...

Do you think Thrawn, Vetinari and Shu are not suited to being PCs? A Strategist class based as closely on them as the Wizard or Ranger have traditionally been on any of their source material would be perfectly playable. We already know that precision-based damage is in (via the Rogue - also a...

I would partially agree with this, even though I initially called the martial power source synonymous with "not using magic." A gadgeteer's power source is not "martial," it's "technology." And "technology" is a varied (and awesome) enough power source that it deserves its own book and four...

I'll probably be either in the middle of or nearing the conclusion of a SWSE-based Ivalice campaign around the time 4e releases. It's unlikely I'll either convert or jump campaigns, so I expect to be a player in 4e before I get the chance to run it. As such, I'll probably be playing an...

I can get behind this. And it makes me VERY, VERY happy. If I wanted to play an arcane, overly restrictive roleplaying game that was outmoded even when it came out, I'd play AD&D. If I wanted to play a really good roleplaying game that captured the flair and excitement of the source material...

Actually, the characters I would most think of as "controllers" in fantasy media are ALL what 4e D&D would call users of the "martial power source," since that seems to boil down to the "non-magical power source:" Strategists. Shu, Mathiu and Leon Silverburg, Havelocke Vetinari, Grand Admiral...

The overwhelming impression I get from every single one of these playtest reports is that movement and positioning have become central aspects of the gameplay. Perhaps even THE central aspects. Rogues as a class require positioning and have abilities related to positioning, warlocks can move...

I think the refrain of "OMG settings killed 2e!!111" is very much overblown. See the Mongoose example below. Over-support of settings may have hurt 2e - but so did terrible business decisions at every level, little to no understanding of or interest in what amounted to an increasingly small...

There are about 55,000 members of EN World. At first blush, that sounds really impressive! After all, 55,000 is more than almost any non-D&D RPG book sells! (White Wolf sells more of its major releases, and Mongoose may, but I'd be really surprised if anyone else does.) However, this number...

With dwarves, if there's no alcohol, there must have been a problem quite a while ago... ;)

I tailor my encounters, but I don't think I mean that in the same way you do. Note that the 'recommended' CR includes both encounters four CRs LOWER than the PCs and four CRs HIGHER than the PCs - and that a CR=Average Party Level encounter is not supposed to be terribly challenging. It's...

Very easy. At any given time, there are between 15-20 roleplayers in my extended group and half again as many who only regularly play board or card games. There are, just within the group, 2-4 RPG campaigns running each week. With that said, at times when I DIDN'T have a large pool of local...

POTENTIALLY save or die, although this is mitigated by a couple of factors - one, it's unlikely, and two, True20, unlike the current edition of D&D, has a strong narrative mechanic in the form of Conviction. The latter is more important, but is, IMO, separate from the damage mechanics - games...

With the exception of removing the "Leader" role (in the context of 'healer'), I doubt you'd see much, if any, change. The tank/"Defender" would be focused on soaking and/or dodging damage rather than ablating it, and the "Striker" and "Controller" would be largely the same. The biggest...

The same way a DM is to say no to elves or dwarves or halflings? Tieflings, ironically, are the first non-human core race I can actually see allowing outside of Spelljammer. Especially with the 'ancient empire' fluff that's apparently their default, they, unlike the Tolkienesque races, fit...

I assume this speculation stems from the fact you CAN turn Move and Standard Actions into Swift Actions in Star Wars Saga Edition.

What are the costs associated with releasing the fantasy version? If it basically won't cost you any more - if, say, you already have art lined up, it uses a standardized layout and the work is complete - then why not release both? Best-case scenario, you get people hooked on the concept and...

I can't say it's changed my posting habits much; if anything, I probably post more due to ramping up my own releases and the heightened debates about regular D&D issues.

In my case, it's because of extremely fond memories of Final Fantasy Tactics characters teleporting or even flying behind enemies because it would halve their target's defenses. :D For a Tactics/RPG, I like the purely gamist conceit of granting bonuses to players who exploit tactical movement...

Facing is one of those Gamist vs. Simulationist things. Whether you're a genre Simulationist or a 'reality' Simulationist, facing makes no sense; you want to convey fluid and chaotic melee (realisitc) or cinematic movement and action (most genres), and facing doesn't belong. From a Gamist...