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The concept of Blue Mages is that they learn the skills of the monsters they fight. In the earliest incarnations of this ability, this meant either getting hit by a learnable attack or merely watching the attack be performed. Later versions of the concept introduced the idea of learning a...

It is probably somewhat irrational, but the six ability scores are something I'd consider to be absolutely essential to the identity of D&D, along with classes, levels, and d20-based attack rolls. It simply would not be the same game without them, and there are not many elements of D&D I would...

I have to say that what Monte Cook is writing about in this article worries me quite a bit. It is talking about bringing back old elements for nothing more than nostalgia's sake. It is history for history's sake. This isn't a good plan for making a game at all. What is more, for people like me...

There are a lot of things that can be done to improve 4e with a 5e... I like the idea of pooling powers more by role rather than by class, though I'm not sure it is the best solution to my problems with the rules. It would work better for spellcasters than more weapon-oriented classes, I...

If 4e was what Pathfinder is now, I would have been very angry. By the end of 3e, I was mostly interested in a lot of the new concepts that were being throw around in the later books, rather than the original game material. I liked the Warlock. I loved the Tome of Battle. I enjoyed the revised...

This is certainly my sentiment. They'll never create a perfect version of D&D, but there is so much more room to create a better version of D&D. 3E was good, 4E was better, but neither are good enough. Honestly, I'm pretty much in the camp that is waiting for a superior 5E (or, if need be, 6E)...

I suppose so. I can't really agree with that sentiment, though. 4E and 3E have their differences, but they are still awfully similar in a lot of fundamental ways. This reminds me of the oldest version of football I've ever seen, from a stereotypical "young freshman becomes the football hero of...

I have to admit BryonD, I have very little idea of what you are trying to say in your post, or how it is meant to reply to what I was saying... Sorry.

I don't want to see a definitive edition of D&D. If such a thing had to exist, I'd at least hope it would not emerge for a long time. D&D is still a very, very young game. It has a long way to go before it is ready for someone to say "this version of D&D is good enough to last". As far as I'm...

I like this direction of thought. To be honest, I never really have been totally happy with the skill system as it has appeared in either 3e or 4e. The idea of skills being flexible additions to a baseline of abilities sits with me a lot better than things like skill ranks and such. Honestly...

I never played too much of the original game, but I've been playing the sequel obsessively for a few days now. Dragon Age certainly has an interesting setting. It has a few hopelessly generic elements, like the army of Darkspawn, but it has several other things that are more refreshing and fun...

I'm a little unsure whether this discussion is talking about the typical fantasy races of elves and dwarves, or the idea of fantasy races in general. A little specificity would be nice, especially for terms like "the fantasy races". It makes it a bit hard for me to figure out what to put in the...

To help your argument even more, FTL communication in Ender's Game is even more a product of plot device more than physics. Combining sub-light travel speeds with FTL communication should result in almost accidental violations of causality as messages get transmitted backwards and forwards...

Well, I guess the issue is just my personal preference for sci-fi settings that don't go for the "include everything" approach. Which is a bit incompatible with your ideas... As for some more broad suggestions... I guess my issue is that it is fairly arbitrary on your part to put many "cyber"...

I can't say that I agree with either the tech level system in general or these tech levels in particular, so that may color my advice, but here are my general suggestions. Cyber Age: The classic style of four meter tall mechs, such as the Lost Planet Vital Suit, the Code Geass Knightmare Frame...

A good way to handle this is to stop thinking about the BBEG for a moment and start thinking about the subordinates who are protecting him. If they are disloyal or ambitious, then perhaps they will let him die, save their own hides, and rise up as the new BBEGs in his place (of course, it...

It's kind of hard to think of nine good celestial bodies, but let's see... With a set of five gods for the five major planets (the main five that are easily visible from Earth are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, which are all strongly associated with the deities they are named after)...

I guess my question is "why do they need to be treated differently?" Why do guns need to be different in order to justify including them? Why can't they just be one more weapon choice, no different than the choice between a shortsword and a rapier? Honestly, I have absolutely no interest in...

I know you are not talking about D&D here, but these same comments have been used time and time again to talk about potential D&D gun mechanics, so I thought I may as well comment on them. Honestly, I don't understand how having guns be "re-skinned bows" is actually a problem, especially for...

The Guy Fawkes gunpowder plot involved putting at least 36 barrels of gunpowder into a cellar directly beneath the Parliament building. That is both a lot of gunpowder and a pretty optimal location for utterly destroying a building's foundation. That is a pretty different scenario than the "roll...