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Even the fact of that hat, one of the awesomest ever conceived, aside, beholders totally belong in Athas. The reason nobody lives underground on Athas is that the underground is full of cthulhu. That's the only reasonable explanation! But yeah, given the style of DS fantasy, beholders are...

I wonder if 4E Essentials with its somewhat stripped-down power system (no dailies for Martial characters, less conditions to track, no marks, etc.) might mitigate the "playing the powers instead of playing the world" syndrome. But that was a problem I had back with 3E also: "roll to see it"...

Sure, in 3E that would be a good way to handle spell acquisition. In 4E, where most combat-related powers are integral in some way to the classes, there are "rituals" which handle traditionally non-combat applications (and which are more far-reaching in scope); rituals could be entirely the...

Isn't that what I was saying? :erm:

Good ideas here. I like the idea that the travelling priest bargains with other spirits besides his local spirit (which won't be around, presumably). This makes the Cleric class especially important because he becomes the group's primary emissary and diplomat. On the other hand, the Cleric's...

Suppose that there is no overarching pantheon as typically posited for a D&D world. Suppose instead that there are only spirit creatures of relatively limited power. I say "Shintoesque" because I don't mean to just copy and paste actual Shintoism, or my notably limited understanding thereof...

A "monster" is really a malformed creature. Malformation supposes a deviation from a base population... you cannot have a "race" of monsters because then they're not monsters. If "minotaur" is a race then the only "monstrous" minotaurs are those born without bull's heads, etc. The implication...

When I first started out I was like "Cool! He plays just like a wizard." Now it's getting to the point of "Rats! He plays just like a wizard." Fighting is when story isn't happening. Story is when fighting isn't happening. For there to be a balance, fighting has to not take so darn long.

I'm definitely excited about Essentials. I may even try to run 4E with it at some point. In the 4E game I play (1-2 games per month), I have a Fighter. He is actually getting to be a pain to manage (just hit 11th). And it takes people so long to sort through their powers and decide what to do...

"Believably"? I know, I know... but forget elfs and wizards and fire-breathing flying dragons... dungeons themselves are unbelievable. Anyway, I think the point of the dungeon is to challenge the players, not the characters. The characters can get challenged or not based upon a mathematical...

Newbish: what needs tweaking, specifically?

Gamers after my own heart! You are richly blessed. I'm curious as to what their gaming background is. I'm also a wargamer, and if I want pure tactics I can get that aplenty in a variety of more interesting (to me) venues than D&D. I want different things out of D&D.

After saying I wasn't going to get the DM's Kit, I actually bought a discounted one via an online retailer. Although the book repeats the Rules Compendium in most ways, I do like the advice sections and it does seem to be a good backup rules source for the DM. Plus it has the traps and magic...

I agree. I like Essentials but I'd like for them to give the updated monster (and trap!) building info for those of us who are primarily adopting 4E through the Essentials line.

I've been steadily collecting Essentials products after a long hiatus from WOTC stuff, but I thought this quiz was probably the most fun thing they've put out in a long time!

20/20. Booyah! EDIT: 2nd try: 20/20. BooYAH!

Question about the Hunter (Ranger) from Heroes of the F2: Do his shooty abilities like "Clever Shot" work when he throws a heavy thrown weapon like a handaxe? I would assume that a hunter might carry a handaxe as a sidearm. But I'm thrown by the fact that, as described, the shooty abilities...

The Third Imperium is a ton of fun as a setting, since it strikes a nice balance between having the Big Picture background filled out for you (to be gleaned from reading the Library Data entries and the like), and giving you plenty of room for whatever you want to do with the details (since the...

The Third Imperium is the classic Traveller setting. The First Imperium was the Vilani empire which was conquered by the fledgling Terrans (Solomani); the Second Imperium was the Terran empire that attempted unsuccessfully to maintain the system and boundaries of the first; the Third Imperium...

Oh, and Grells. Needs more Grells.