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  1. jedavis

    I'm Dying to Try...

    AAACKS. But I'm actually doing something about that (namely gathering a group and planning to DM it) Also L5R.
  2. jedavis

    Tech Check

    Two linux laptops, one of which has a dead graphics card (but runs OK mostly) and the other of which has a dead motherboard (hopefully I'll get to reflow it next week...).
  3. jedavis

    Not D&D

    Definitely Traveller for me. Excellent use of random tables as inspiration, simple core mechanics with optional modular extensions of greater complexity (starship design, trade, &c), and just fun to play. I'm curious to give Legend of the Five Rings a shot, too.
  4. jedavis

    latest gaming purchase ?

    Adventurer Conqueror King System in pdf, a contribution to the ACKS Player's Companion Kickstarter, and I've got my eye on The Dungeon Alphabet.
  5. jedavis

    Designing a Random Table Generator

    One place you might want if/else is in generating say random spellbook contents. Joe Wizard is unlikely to have spent the time and dough to copy fireball into his spellbook twice. Duplicate checking pretty much requires if/else (or some kind of card-drawing simulation without replacement)...
  6. jedavis

    Great Authors that AREN'T in Appendix N.

    Cook, Glen: "The Black Company" series, et al
  7. jedavis

    The DCC RPG fills the OSR stomach, but there's still a vacant spot to fill.

    Yeah, I was going to suggest ACKS as well. ACKS character progression definitely slows down after 9th; you quit gaining hit dice and such, and the the level caps start hitting. While the race-as-class isn't perfectly what OP is after, the fact that there are multiple classes per race might help.
  8. jedavis

    RPG Desktop Backgrounds?

    At one point I found a zip of sketches by Lockwood for the 3.0 release, including a full-size version of this lovely lady in white on a black background. Sadly it's been lost in the ether... I've also used several pieces from here as desktop backgrounds over the years while running Traveller...
  9. jedavis

    Killer DMs

    Dude... if you're playing 3.x, then you've accidentally created a harder-core version of E8. You've stabilized the power level of your game in the sweet spot, and your players are digging it. Don't destroy this thing of emergent beauty! Lord knows I've played enough 3.x games that started at...
  10. jedavis

    Generic Tokens for Virtual Gametables

    I quite enjoy hunting down images and tokenizing them; I used Paint.Net in Windows, then switched to Pinta on linux. Also attached a zip of token frames of various sizes and colors.
  11. jedavis

    What's your favorite trap?

    ... amusingly, actually kind of a trap. The bots are getting smarter. Also, Yora, I recommend Ars Ludi's classic Bad Trap Syndrome. He looks at exactly the problem you cite and considers solutions. Dykstrav - I've been considering something similar to the armor+water trap that you mention...
  12. jedavis

    What's your favorite trap?

    That's some mad archmage-grade stuff there... Magic-heavy and useful for getting experimental subjects. May have to use this one.
  13. jedavis

    What's your favorite trap?

    Pretty much everything on Hack & Slash's Thursday Trick column is fantastic.
  14. jedavis

    Retroclones and Older D&D Editions

    I would like to nominate ACKS as a B/X clone + extra domain rules and a lightweight skill system.
  15. jedavis

    Doing some research about gaming, care to help?

    Question 10 was somewhat bad also... not sure where sandbox play falls along the continuum of "hack and slash" vs "deeply story-driven", as it is not necessarily either.
  16. jedavis

    Examples when you cheated, and why.

    I've been known to kinda fudge tactical movement counts in gridded combats. Because being out of position by 5 ft is just dumb when you could totally make it if you were measuring straight lines with a ruler, and we should be playing ungridded anyways :P. Nobody's called me on it yet.
  17. jedavis

    What Are Your Unique Items?

    In the campaign I'm currently playing in, we're gradually gathering a set of artifacts known as the Chromata, which are guarded by dragons of their respective color. We've only got one so far: Mavrilith, a jet black axe seemingly cast from an incredibly hard metal unknown to dwarven science...
  18. jedavis

    Lets Make Some Silly Magic Items!

    Suspenders of Disbelief - When worn, these suspenders provide the wearer with a +2 bonus to saves against illusion, and on Sense Motive checks against someone who is actually lying. However, they also have a tendency to convince the wearer that everything is an illusion, and everyone is lying...
  19. jedavis

    Looking for advice from more experienced players

    Dwarf barbarian with dwarven waraxe, breastplate, and large shield. AC17+Dex isn't bad at low levels, fast movement plus dwarf "no armor speed loss" puts you on par with the humans at 30 feet (and faster than an equivalently-armored human), your damage is great for sword-and-board at 1d10, and...
  20. jedavis

    Strategic Level Game System

    Yeah... Fields of Blood, while a neat idea, is a bit baroque. I recently picked up ACKS to hopefully scratch the same itch, and it looks really promising, but I haven't managed to get a group together yet (nevermind get up to realm-running levels).
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