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    Eminence grise

    I don't know, but when you look at it "live", the painting has a certain magic to it: the longer you look, the more animals you start to see lurking in the trees and in the shadows. Every time I visit the MFA, I find something new in that painting!
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    Eminence grise

    Funny -- this is my father's favorite painting at the MFA. I remember him telling me the story behind it when I was a kid. I make a point of viewing it whenever I'm there. This painting by Savery is the one that evokes D&D for me. It's a dark forest with a sort of "adventuring party" (a...
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    Have you become disillusioned with 3rd edition?

    Still happy with D&D 3.5e, don't have any interest in using another system right now. I think this is an exciting time to be a d20 gamer, with lots of new products showing that there's still life left in d20, both in terms of new game worlds and re-interpretations of the system itself. I'm not...
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    Describing a Culture

    Here are the headings I used to describe the cultures featured in Northern Crown: Overview: What would a player interested in playing a PC from this culture have to know? This is a one or two paragraph summary. Attitude: What's the typical hero's response to life in the literature or mythology...
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    Best d20 Seafaring reference?

    Har, drop anchor and get yer hooks on Corsair: The Definitive d20 Guide to Ships -- it has the best balance between realism and playability.
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    What's the secret behind D&D's ability to sustain long term play?

    One of the reasons D&D sustains long-term play is that 1st-level PCs are not fully-realised characters in the literary sense, but rather take shape during gameplay in an organic fashion. Simply put, they become more interesting and complex the more you play them. Most low-level, high-concept...
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    Let's Write a Bad Module

    Thanks! I'm home this week recovering from pericarditis and my baby girl was throwing up all night (now sleeping comfortably). This thread has been a real tonic for me; I've been laughing (painfully) all afternoon. And now, back to the task at hand: Encounter 21 Enter the Dragon Characters...
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    Let's Write a Bad Module

    Encounter 19 Concession Stand After defeating the dorm giants in Encounter 16 and passing through the door that provides egress from the cavernous chamber, the PCs will find a 10' passageway impregnated with the smell of some kind of tasty food. On a roll of 1-2 on a d6, sizzling noises and a...
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    Let's Write a Bad Module

    Encounter 17 Elevatory Chamber This area is accessible only for characters who have found the key in the brain of the giant lobster in Encounter 14. Upon placing the key in the lock and turning the key clockwise as seen from above (see "Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey" in Alarums and Excursions...
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    Let's Write a Bad Module

    11. North of the badgers' room is a corridor connected to the badger's room by the door in the north wall of the badger's room which is also the door at the southern end of the corridor. If PCs stop to listen to this door, the door will not say anything but will feel it is among friends. The...
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    TSR Example from the worst TSR adventure module(s) ever published

    Yep, that sure is one discriminating river. Can I add another option? On a roll of 7, the river removes the party's underwear and reassigns it randomly.
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    TSR Example from the worst TSR adventure module(s) ever published

    Yes, someone miles away, in another module, suddenly loses their heavy mace.
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    Need Tips on Swashbuckling Campaigns!

    Because wearing armor is incompatible with puffy shirts, the PCs in a swashbuckling campaign are going to need some armor boosts or some way of dodging/parrying blows more easily than in a standard d20 System game. Fatigue/exhaustion might play at least as large a role as actual loss of hit...
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    TSR Example from the worst TSR adventure module(s) ever published

    So a former thief can't figure out that his customers are being robbed on a regular basis by a bunch of wererats who just happen to be guests at his inn whenever a robbery occurs? What's his INT?
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    D&D Magic -- how would you fix it?

    I wouldn't change the current system -- it's one of those hoary old game elements that feels cozy and familiar to me. However, if I were designing a d20 magic system from the ground up, I would not set absolute limits on the number of spells you can cast per day, just a fatigue check/mana...
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    Northern Crown?

    Natural philosophers can create some pretty flashy effects, too, including lightning bolt, wall of ice, and stinking cloud. And druids might have to go, too. Witches you might be able to leave in, since their magic tends to be less flashy. I guess it all depends on whether your players would...
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    Northern Crown?

    Not at all. The flavor of the book is Restoration, not Regency. Think Charles II, not George IV.
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    World/Campaign building - How do you go about it?

    I use backward design. I start by thinking about what sort of characters, adventures, and mood I want the campaign to have. What do I want the player experience to be? Then I think, what sort of setting will guarantee those elements and encourage that player experience? For example: what kind of...
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    Northern Crown?

    In the original campaign that served as the basis for Northern Crown, my generic D&D campaign served as Faerie for the Northern Crown campaign. So when the Northern Crown PC's found a fairy gate between the worlds, they were able to have more traditional D&D adventures in a pseudo-medieval world...
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    Attracting new people to gaming -- ideas and strategies

    Wow, stereotyping your own core audience -- way to go, WotC. They should have gone ahead and bought a D&D product placement in "The 40-year Old Virgin" (I've heard that Steve Carrell's character paints minis; is that true?).
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