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  1. Professor Murder

    Is Losing your Turn The Worst That Can Happen

    So, no, as a one off, losing a turn isnt near as bad as character death. What hurts is that many lose your turn effects are ongoing ones. Each round you check to see if the Hold Person effect ends for example. So I can see how for some, the quick band-aid torn off of "You are dead" means you can...
  2. Professor Murder

    Dungeons & Dragons Teases New Campaign Settings

    In essence, expanding on the Bastion rules, with some sort of political frameworks and systems.
  3. Professor Murder

    Dungeons & Dragons Teases New Campaign Settings

    Kinda "What if Exalted, but DnD". Could have potential, but I think the system would buckle under the demand of trying to do high end flashy fantasy.
  4. Professor Murder

    Dungeons & Dragons Teases New Campaign Settings

    And to again beat my personal drum for a Birthright pitch, make a Birthright setting that is wholly focused on "High Level Play." Like, character generation is lvl 10+. Having it just be another generic western fantasy setting where people play sovereigns isn't going to be enough.
  5. Professor Murder

    Dungeons & Dragons Teases New Campaign Settings

    So the issue with a new setting is threading the needle of having it be different enough to be distinct but broad enough to have enough appeal to sell. Smaller publishers don't have to sell thousands upon thousands of copies to consider an effort worth trying. I would love something out of left...
  6. Professor Murder

    New Unearthed Arcana Released, With 8 New Forgotten Realms-Themed Subclasses

    Fond, vague memories of the Spellfire novel makes me have a soft spot for this one for sure. Hoping it gets a bit more of a tweak or two.
  7. Professor Murder

    ENnies To Ban Generative AI From 2025

    A pedantic argument. It's easy enough to recognize that those in favor of AI material generation are eager to muddy the waters of the term.
  8. Professor Murder

    ENnies To Ban Generative AI From 2025

    Zero. AI generated content is corrosive to human culture and achievement.
  9. Professor Murder

    ENnies To Ban Generative AI From 2025

    Good. No organization that gives awards based on achievement should permit AI use.
  10. Professor Murder

    What’s good about Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed? (and what’s not)

    I'm a fan of 7th. I like the degrees of success/difficulty used. Advantage/disadvantage. Pushing rolls. All good. But the real winner for me is the wealth of solid setting books across time and geography. Western. Dark Ages. A slew of stuff in the traditional 1920s-30s. Weimar Berlin. Gaslight...
  11. Professor Murder

    D&D 5E (2024) Monster Manual 2025 Stat Block Compilation

    Minor gripes being the order of the day... The Minotaur Skeleton description describes them using great axes. Statbock just gives them a slam. I think this was the case with the 2014 ed also. But just irks me irrationally.
  12. Professor Murder

    Call of Cthulhu Gets New King in Yellow Adventure in 1980s Japan

    Curious to hear more. The formatting of the title makes me feel like there will be more in the series.
  13. Professor Murder

    “Monstrous” NPCs

    For me, the only way this would work is if non-pc species don't have intellect. It is limiting, but creativity can be born out of limitations.
  14. Professor Murder

    So Much Art From the 2025 Monster Manual

    That is a touch disappointing in some respects, but it is what it is. Will reserve judgement to seeing some stats. I stand by my appreciation for the design visually.
  15. Professor Murder

    So Much Art From the 2025 Monster Manual

    Gotta say, I quite like the succubi/incubi design. Sexy/sensual without being titillating. A hard task I am sure.
  16. Professor Murder

    Monster Catalogue vs. Monster Creation Rules (vs. Why Not Both?)

    Look, often the most basic of thumbnail math of a challenge is simple. How often will the PCs hit/effect the challenge? 50% of the time? Less or More? How many successful actions will it take to overcome the challenge? Multiply then divide by the number of PCs. Thats how many rounds very roughly...
  17. Professor Murder

    Monster Catalogue vs. Monster Creation Rules (vs. Why Not Both?)

    GM skills dont manifest from the head of Zeus unbidden. They need to be nurtured by the game itself. Poor game design is design that assumes GMs will intuit how to make things work instead of showing them how they can work. But a GM agnostic skill can be signaling to players that PCs are in...
  18. Professor Murder

    Monster Catalogue vs. Monster Creation Rules (vs. Why Not Both?)

    Possibly. Or by finding non-combat solutions to overcome an obstacle. Or it can be simply tabling dealing with a threat until the group has a better shot at winning.
  19. Professor Murder

    Monster Catalogue vs. Monster Creation Rules (vs. Why Not Both?)

    Calibration is still a needed element even in games that allow for unwinnable scenarios, else how can the players recognize the scenario is unwinnable prior to the tpk?
  20. Professor Murder

    Monster Catalogue vs. Monster Creation Rules (vs. Why Not Both?)

    Expanding out a bit, what matters more is clear encounter design guidelines with examples. Give a sense of scale. How hard will a given challenge be for a give caliber of PCs?
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