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I prefer a close relationship between the amount of time a combat is supposed to represent in-game, and the amount of time it takes to resolve mechanically. One of the major immersion-breaking moments in 3rd edition is realizing that a combat which is supposed to be only a few minutes long from...

I'd love to see the D&D Rules Cyclopedia still in print. It remains the most complete (and IMHO most fun) version of D&D ever released. I know retro-clones exist, but I'd still wish that we had the ability to buy "classic" D&D under that name. And I'd like to see it released "as is", without any...

I like a ratio of 1 wizard to every 5,000 non-wizards. Not only should the ability to use magic be rare, I see no reason why the average Wizard should want to share his knowledge easily. If he takes an apprentice, it's because the apprentice is essentially an unpaid servant. As for Wizards...

Once you make the mental connection of Thieves' Guild = Organized Crime, it becomes obvious that the the Thieves Guild would control most fantasy cities. In the real world, there are many examples of places where the line between government and organized crime is purely academic. Also, remember...

If I'm remembering correctly, Gygax did. And he basically said it was Castles & Crusades. Hence Gygax finally releasing Castle Grey... I mean Castle Zagyg, for the Castles & Crusades rules. Of course, we are just talking about a game. I'll play any edition of D&D, although I'll only DM Classic...

The weakness of shields in every edition of D&D has always bugged me. Shields were incredibly useful in combat pre-gunpowder. Warriors in many cultures preferred not to wear armor at all, or very light armor, and rely on the defensive ability of a shield. To simulate the power of the shield, I...

Except that it isn't. There is a total disconnect between the way modern Westerners view clergy and the way the actual medieval Catholic Church functioned. The upper levels of the clergy were almost always of noble blood, which mean they often had feudal, military obligations. Part of the reason...

You might want to do a search for Roman Insulae, the shockingly modern-looking, 3-5 story apartment buildings that made up most of ancient Rome. Any good library should have books on ancient architecture or art that would have insulae floor plans. Generally there were shops on the ground...

Definitely Fall. Not only I have I started all my Campaigns during the Fall season of the game world, I've actually begun them in the Fall of the real-world. Probably it goes back to starting games at the beginning of the school year. There may also be a Led Zeppelin influence by way of "Ramble...

Sounds a lot like the Norse practice of carving runes and rubbing blood into them for magical effects.

Thanks! If only I had the time, and was independently wealthy....

I actually agree with you as far as having separate nations/areas for each set of tropes. My point was only that a game setting should allow players to create characters like the ones in popular entertainment, and that the setting doesn't need to be an accurate representation of real-world Asian...

Not if you ask a Frenchman or a Brit. Besides, it's not too hard to tell players that "This area is like a big Kung Fu movie", or "This country is like a Samurai film." The point is that the setting should allow the players to create the kind of characters they expect to be able to create...

YES! I want a glorious mish-mash, not some fragile work of art that's more fun to read than play, and which falls apart if the DM doesn't know every intricacy of the setting. A player should be able to sit at the table and already know a few things about the setting by the DM just telling them...

I expect an Oriental setting to replicate the reality of Chinese Kung Fu and Japanese Samurai films, and I don't expect or want authenticity. I do expect to see the stock characters and settings of those genres, with a sprinkling of contemporary Asian pop culture for good measure. I want...

To me, nothing says "Elven" like Art Nouveau.

Here are some architectural ideas I used in my old 3rd Edition Campaign Dwarven Architecture: Dwarves dwell principally underground, although every Dwarven city will have a few aboveground towers that serve as the headquarters of the various Companies that control Dwarven life. These...

I do both my writing and mapping about 50% on the computer, and about 50% by hand. Campaign information and adventure keys I write on the computer. My session notes and outlines are hand written on old-fashioned composition paper in an 3-ring binder. Basically, anything that's meant to be...

Perhaps its not so much that D&D needs to grow up, so much as remember that it's an adult. 1st Edition AD&D was an adult's game. Succubi and mermaids were naked, your character could get intestinal parasites, and if you went into a city you would encounter slovenly trulls and expensive doxies...

I liked the d20 idea in theory, but hated how 3.x edition was implemented. I was 100% with cleaning up and modernizing the D&D ruleset. I wasn't so hot on the clunky, slow combats that needed miniatures to adjudicate properly; the statblocks from hell; taking an hour and a half to make a...