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Another great example of this from Lost is the character Ben. He always lies, and people even know that, but he's just so damn good at it that he can get them to do what he wants. But when he tries to tell the truth in earnest, he's such a weasel that people tend not to believe him.

I've never been able to enjoy storyless games--I don't like the idea of simply being one of a bunch of dudes, just doing going around doing a bunch of stuff (either in a dungeon, or a more expansive sandbox). I've always wanted to be a protagonist, one of the main characters, whose actions are...

Maybe I've just had too many antagonist GMs, or GMs inclined to say no, but my experiences with closed rulesets have been nothing but frustration, where I find myself unable to play the character I envision except as it meshes with the sort of character the GM seems to think I should be playing...

I really, really hope the sorcerer doesn't win. After the ranger, its the closest thing to a "point and go boom" class, and I've never liked classes that a.) play simplistically and b.)rely primarily on huge DPR to recommend them, and Sorcs do both. Well, except for Chaos Sorcs, which I love...

How do you handle it when characters who are untrained in intimidate threaten someone they could clearly destroy into doing what they want? For example, Johnny the Wizard is 8th level, with 8 charisma and no intimidate training. Statistically, he's a nebbishy geek who isn't even slightly...

Lots of good advice in this thread, but I think this probably hits home the most. Ted has sort of been mailing it in, especially in the last few weeks, which I've been interpreting that as him not really wanting to DM--just feeling like he kinda has to because no one else will. But while there...

I have a group of about 8 people that I play D&D with. That is, not that we all play at the same time (which would be hectic), but rather that I have about a half dozen friends and acquaintances who I know live in the area and play D&D, and so pretty much every time I play the players and DM are...

In contrast to all of the complaints about railroading, I've found that while a poorly run railroad is bad, it is at least playable, which cannot be said for a poorly run sandbox. That is, if a DM does not have a lot of experience in effectively running a sandbox, especially when it comes to...

We use index cards cut up into 1"x1" squares and marked with pictures of our characters' faces we printed off, and for enemies we use the same index card squares (except for creatures of non-medium size), but with color coded stickers and numbers, so our dm can keep track of which monster is...

Sure to an extent. It can't hurt, and certainly you don't want it to be glaring enough to detract noticeably from the work, but I also don't see much value in unduly obsessing over split infinitives or the occasional missed comma. No editor is going to decide whether or not to take on a project...

My understanding was not that this was about getting a job in the gaming industry, but about getting a single work published, either by contest or some other means of submission. I agree, when looking for a job in a competitive field, small errors can have a big impact. But when publishing a...

I'm an editor of commercial fiction and nonfiction, which is admittedly a little different from editing gaming materials, but the two worlds are close enough that I feel I can fairly comfortably clear up a common misconception here: Editors really don't care that much about grammar. Seriously...

A pure sandbox, that is, one in which there is a setting but no story beyond what springs directly from player initiative in interacting with the setting, is pretty much my nightmare game, and I'd never play one. I want there to be a beginning, middle and end, rather than just a bunch of stuff...

The best way to come up with a plot that works is this: At character creation, have each of your players explain to you what motivates their character in the longterm e.g. getting revenge on the villain who killed their father, freeing their homeland from the control of some dark lord, becoming...

A common trick I'll use when trying to make an NPC or monster seem especially magical, is to take elements of the story or encounter that I was planning to use anyway and refluff them to be a result of that NPCs magic. For instance, say I have a fight planned with an elite wizard, plus a few...

He uses his powers when the story need him to in order to make for a good story, not when he needs to in order to be as effective as he logically could/should be. Superman almost never operates at anywhere near full capacity--and the fanwanked justifications like "he holds back a lot most of the...

I use it all the time. 4e practically mandates it if you want monsters do have cool powers that aren't directly related to combat. I give Liches and Dragons powers all the time that are "just magic".

Encounter powers aren't narrative-driven?? In my opinion, encounter powers are one of the most narrative-driven aspect of the game, because they correspond so well to so much of the sort of fiction and pop culture that I use to inspire my stories (not necessarily directly in terms of setting...

I would buy this so hard.

Chalk me up as another NYC player looking for a group playing 4e--I can do weekends and most weekday evenings, and can easily get to manhattan, queens and brooklyn. I'm an experienced d&d player with about a year of real 4e experience under my belt, I'm friendly and a non-wierdo, and I'm willing...