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You're also assuming that the entire party needs to sneak; there's a reason the thief or ranger was often sent to scout ahead, come back, and report. As for fleeing, yes, it's a risk... but sometimes it's enough to draw some of the monsters after you, take a stand and kill a few, then run away...

What I got from that post was that ehren was saying "It's easy to kill characters; just put in random deathtraps" rather than "1e is full of random deathtraps."

What makes the classics "classic" is that they are outlines. Keep on the Borderlands is great because it is a starter campaign setting, not just a dungeon. You have a town, with a small keep, and an area to adventure in. Further, all of these settings, with the exception of ToH, are dynamic...

IMO, the real problem with polymorph in 3e was the fact that it failed to stick with the 1st and 2nd edition limits. You didn't get a troll's or ogre's hit dice in 1st edition. You didn't get all the "special attacks", you didn't get their AC, etc. You got to look like the creature, move like...

And I would point out to Ryan Dancey that melee combat between multiple participants on both sides is more like football than like basketball, with the distinction that neither side is deliberately allowing themselves to be grappled, and in both games it is possible that someone can 'blindside'...

Quasqueton, as far as I can tell on a quick perusal of the DMG, the rule about "no Dex and no shield" is an extrapolation from the last sentence of the first paragraph under Suprise on page 61: "However, during the surprise segment or segments, the surprised party is unable to react in any way...

We used the initiative rules as written, with speed factor modifiers used to break ties and to see whether you could attack that evil cleric and interrupt his Flamestrike/Blade Barrier spell. We also used segment by segment movement. Linear distance travelled in one round remained the same, of...

First, when Yrag is surprised, he cannot use his shield or dexterity bonus to AC. Second, when flanked (which means the opponents are behind him, or behind him on his left or right sides), Yrag can't defend himself as effectively. IIRC, the defender can't use his shield if the attacker is on...

There's also the attack adjustment vs. ac type that could be used here. According to Gary, this is something he should have made an optional rule. Of course, if you do use it, you find out that the hobgoblins have a -3 on the attack. Still, even with this penalty, the hobgoblins hit AC -4 on a...

The game designers don't need to take it into account, thanks to (in 3e) Scribe Scroll. If you can scribe scrolls, then you have the potential of always having those limited use, specialized, or utility spells available. The only problem with Scribe Scroll is the ridiculous XP cost...

If your party isn't doing the smart thing and pulling back instead of charging ahead when they're nearly out of resources, then it sucks to be in your campaign. It's even worse if the DM is out to get you, in which case it doesn't matter what you do, the DM just wants to see characters dead...

The reason I prefer Greyhawk to Forgotten Realms is that the Forgotten Realms always felt like someone dropped pieces of whatever caught their fancy into the Realms, without any thought or care as to how it would fit in the overall setting. It's a pastiche, 30 different settings all stuck...

Of course, I just remembered something... we are discussing Pratchett, in a way. His magic system was originally based on D&D, but he's added things over the years (Dungeon Dimensions, Them, Sourcery, different levels of magic available in small regions, etc).

At-will cantrips is one thing. The impression I'm getting is that in 4e all Wizards will really be Warlocks with a few memorized spells on top. The resource management game is fun for me. It adds tension and forces strategic use of spells, not just tactical use of spells. It also gives a real...

That's a very Terry Pratchett sort of approach to magic. Yes, there's other ways of balancing magic than depowering it, but we're not talking GURPS and we're not talking Discworld and we're not talking Shadowrun here. We're talking D&D, and a design philosophy behind 4e which says "the...

The real reason behind the "Vancian" magic system is because Magic-Users were artillery, and later on, air superiority, and at the end of their progression, they were also the nuclear arsenal. If you didn't limit the amount of ammunition they had, they'd quickly dominate the game. If you...

The implication in Forgotten Realms is that, apart from the racial deities (Corellon, Gruumsh, Clangeddin, etc) and the refugees from Earth (Tyr, Auril (finnish mythos?), Amon-Ra, etc.), EVERY god was actually a mortal who ascended. Because, you see, the Forgotten Realms is supposed to be very...

"Unostentatious?" Perhaps "unadorned" or better yet, even "simple" would work better. :D

Zagyg's Spell Component Pouch; several different versions, but the most potent let you draw from it 7 times a day to get all the material components for a spell. I don't know if this made it into 3e or not. Lest you think this is a trivial thing, back when this item was created, it cost you a...

My own ruling would be that there's nothing to attach to for a mindblade, since it's basically a psionic construct that only exists temporarily. Therefore augment crystals don't work. Sorry, soulknife, you'll have to get yourself a *real* magical weapon to use a weapon augment crystal.