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:p So true! That's what I'm saying - if everybody's gonna fudge, just make the rule: automatic stat array: 18, 18, 18, 16, 15, 13. It's quicker, more honest, and you get the same results anyway.

I've noticed this phenomenon in two groups I joined from on-line ads (one I stayed with, the other I didn't). The DMs instructed the players to roll for stats using the standard method. When I rolled each time, my highest stat was 15-16 and my lowest stat was 8-9. Then I noticed that some...

One reason alignment doesn't work is that most beings should probably be classified as neutral. The D&D alignment system is not a particularly mature or deep way of thinking. The Law/Chaos alignment axis seems almost deliberately undefined. There are lots of other things that can affect...

I favor a basic advancement rate of 250 XP per year for common NPCs from maximum starting age of their class. This means that most middle-aged adults will be level 3-4. PCs quickly outpace the advancement of older people in the community, and are more powerful because of their higher stats and...

I agree with the point that D&D does not do a good job simulating essentially any fantasy setting. I understand. It's its own genre - I just wish it weren't advertised as a generic system! My beefs with the D&D game as composed, per se, are: 1. Random hit points - HP end up measuring...

WotC translates their products into multiple languages. Does anybody know who coordinates their translations work?

MAD was how the designers of 3.0 translated the minimum ability scores of earlier edition character classes. If you'll remember, Paladins, Monks, and Rangers had the highest and most stringent minimum ability requirements in First and Second edition AD&D. In Third Edition these three classes...

Eldritch Knight AND Spellsword: So, why did we need both? I also dislike prestige classes in general. (They are great marketing gimmicks, of course.) I find the whole "10 level" thing to be unelegant, considering that most PrCs can be taken at 6th level. What happens after level 15...

I think one reason that PvP crops up so much is the basic design of D&D game play. The game assumes, and frankly requires, a group of diverse characters to play. The problem is that melee types, arcane spellcasters, skills monkeys, and divine spellcasters all have diverse backgrounds, too...

I know it's unorthodox, but I've got all these Basic D&D products I've collected throughout the years and never used! This thread is a longshot, but I'm looking for players for an OD&D game set in Mystara using the Rules Cyclopedia. The OD&D product line has a mystique I just can't shake off...

To anyone interested in the this topic I would suggest reading The Annals of the Black Company by Glen Cook. The Black Company is a brigade of mercenaries that get hired to fight for a sorceress dictator who is trying to expand her empire and crush all rebellion therein (at least that's what...

There is a rules variant that can speed up searching, esp. for traps. Search is a move equivalent action. It is a visual action that can be used at a range of 10 feet. The effects of this are that characters can move at half speed and still make Search checks as they move through...

This is the best explanation I've seen as to why there are monks in this game. The rules of the D&D game reflect D&D's implied setting, which is Greyhawk. Monk characters often appeared in 1E modules, such as the Village of Hommlet; they are an integral part of the setting. I think the monk...

Ruleslawyer, haven't we had this discussion before, sometime in the distant past? Quote "You're failing to recognize the difference between being "epic" for purposes of qualifying for epic feats and being "epic" for purposes of kicking off EAB and epic save bonus progression. SavS, being...

Sorry, my pet peeve "Originally e-mailed by Andy Collins on November 4, 2003: I don't know why the FAQ disagrees with the ELH. (It also seems to disagree with the epic rules presented in version 3.5 of the DMG.) Personally, I'd stick with the actual rules rather than the FAQ, but that call is...

Like Acid Crash said, D&D does D&D very well. Even though it's marketed as a generic fantasy game, D&D couldn't be farther from it. It has its own conventions and its own implied setting.

This is kind of an aside to the actual conversation here, but Richard Burlew (author of the Order of the Stick) has posted a revised alter self/polymorph/shapechange chain here: http://www.giantitp.com/Func0012.html His analysis of the issues that arise from the use of these spells seems to...

I think 10 + CR is a much better mechanic than 10 + HD. CR is more closely related to rarity than HD are. When I DM I use 10 + CR. And if the PC gets it, then he gets most of the relevant information about the monster.

We used 35-point buy in the campaign in which we used point buy. Compared to the "rolled" stats of other groups I have played with in my area, 35-point buy characters are underpowered. I have found the "standard" array for 35-point buy characters to be 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10. I really...

As many people have alluded to, the current take on races in D&D makes more sense for a science fiction game in which all the races come from different planets than a fantasy game in which all the races share one continent. As JDJarvis points out, it's hard to believe that the races live...