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I suppose Wield Skill (now made deity-specific) also would help. But that would take levels in Cleric. I'll look through Complete Adventurer as well -- although I recall seeing instruments, I didn't see one that had a perform (sing) bonus.

Any idea which one that'd be, Crothian?

Folks: I'm thinking of designing a stormsinger for a game. What is the maximum perform (sing) skill that folks can come up with? Feel free to use items, feats, and spells. So far, I haven't come up with much, other than maxxing perform, and taking the Artist feat at first level (from PGtF)...

Welp, we're moving to Bloomington, Indiana. If anyone there has a good game going, I'd appreciate an email. I'm at jatfairfield -at- yahoo -dot- com. I've got 15 years experience as a gamer and GM, and am happy to play or run. I tend to enjoy mature, intellectually challenging games most...

Midnight is a lot of good fluff. Ravenloft, as redone, is also very good. And Planescape would be my third pick. But let's be clear: Both of the first two settings share an "impenetrable darkness" rubric that is very hard to play in an actual game. Players hate constantly losing and the...

This is an old thread, and I'm sure your choices are made. However, I can't resist getting my oar in on the subject of paladin feats. There are two paths. The first is sword and board on the ground. There, I would suggest power attack, cleave, divine might, extra smiting. Really hard to go...

Wanted to check with folks to see if they were able to find a feat that would enable the character to get critical hits on undead. I found the Grave Strike spell out of Complete Adventurer pretty interesting, but that enables sneak attacks. best, Carpe

JD: Some great points -- especially point 3, which is that the designers are a smaller group than "all gamers in general," and if that's the case, why defer to one small group over another (i.e., the specific gaming group)? Overall, I think my theory still works to help us identify when we...

Thanks, I appreciate it. We all feel snarky sometimes. :D Now, let me try to respond a bit on the substance of the matter. 1. What I posted is a version of the Condorcet Jury Theorem, which is a theory worked out in the field of Public Choice. Here's the basic idea. Why do we like...

I think this is an interesting subject, but I don't respond to rude behavior. That was uncalled for, and I don't appreciate it. That you disagree with me is fine. But perhaps some courtesy? best, Carpe

I would strongly caution against making him change his character. A player's only "toy" in the world is his character; taking that away because you don't like his roleplaying is rough. Further, some people enjoy combat. Some people enjoy drawn-out political discussions. I think that you...

I offer two insights. (1) It seems to me that there are two types of houserules. First, a DM changes an existing rule that he does not like for a rule that he does. Thus, if I dislike the absurdly easy rules for sundering an object off of a player, or if I think that not being able to overrun...

It's an older program, but fractal mapper I've found very simple and adequate to my needs. JF

Dwarrow (northern dwarves) in my campaign have favored-class wizard, in honor of the twisted-body ugly magic-using and item-crafting dwarves of Norse myth. All of this to say, I recommend against eliminating class/level combinations merely because you, the DM, don't like them. Any combination...

Instead of pursuing the "powergamers are disruptive / restrictive DMs lack imagination" debate, I'll try to be constructive: If you suspect you're a bit of a powergamer, take responsibility, but don't wimp out. The following steps can help a powergamer fit in. 1. Design a strong unified...

Oryan: Even reading through the books and looking for neat stuff isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'll admit to doing the same, both as a gamemaster (a harpy with the Virtuoso class? Yowza!) and a player (a marshal 2 / Pal 5 / Fist of Raziel 10? Yowza!). I would recommend letting him do what...

The whole "powergaming vs. roleplaying" thing is a patently false dichotomy. Anyone who's played knows that players with powerful characters can engage in excellent roleplay, and people with weak characters can be downright terrible roleplayers. best, Carpe

This is always hard to answer. Because I just left a campaign in which I was not permitted to control my character because of "powergaming" concerns, let me give you an alternative perspective. I am usually a DM, so I share your concerns. But it is frustrating when a DM's vision of what is...

Use Monkey Grip. That should solve it. best, Carpe

If your goal is to kill off Faerun's rampant DMPCs, why not just kill them off? Seriously, how many get heavy play? They don't even have to die from the same cause. If you want a system-wide cause, again, it seems to me you have better ways to kill DMPCs than ending the world. (By the way...