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  1. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) Ability Score Increases (I've changed my mind.)

    Tasha's is playtesting for a "D&D 5e Revised."
  2. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) Ability Score Increases (I've changed my mind.)

    I'm a fan of racial ability score adjustments, but I believe race should be a driving force behind your character's abilities. I firmly believe an elf should feel completely different from a dwarf, but I'd be happy to ditch ability score adjustments to make this happen. Ultimately, +2 here or...
  3. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D General All Dead Generations: "Classic Vs. The Aesthetic"

    Easiest method is to (a) play a different system, and/or (b) create modules that support this "something else" playstyle. Using the second option to introduce setting-specific elements and variant rules that serve the genre you desire to cultivate can provide a play experience more aligned with...
  4. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) New Drow cultures coming in Starlight Enclave, the Lorendrow and the Aevendrow

    Hmm, can't say I'm a fan of the changes. The "ackshually, drow were good all along, and they were corrupted into evil drow by that nasty Lolth" is really, uh, not hitting for me. I'm a fan of dark eldar in Warhammer 40k, though, and I like matriarchal spider-worshipers who worship an evil...
  5. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) Ability Score Increases (I've changed my mind.)

    That +2 doesn't actually matter that much. +2 Dexterity is very useful, and picking a race just for that most optimal bonuses is incredibly lame.
  6. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) Why Don't We Simplify 5e?

    I'd love a 5e that more closely resembled Basic Moldvay. Race-as-class is dope.
  7. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D General In defence of Grognardism

    I agree with this section, but I take issue with this part: The mechanical workings of earlier editions force the game to be more lethal than newer editions. Certainly, a GM might softball encounters in old school D&D, but there's only so much he can do against a game built around encountering...
  8. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D General In defence of Grognardism

    There are certain arguments in OSR/grognard circles that are bizarre and disconnected from reality, one of those being "the games weren't more lethal" (in the same way that some people will insist that 4e combat was deadlier than 3e combat). It's simply not true. A character in old school D&D...
  9. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D General In defence of Grognardism

    Grognardism is good for the same reason that historical preservation societies are good. 3d6 down the line, if you please.
  10. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) On rulings, rules, and Twitter, or: How Sage Advice Changed

    With regard to combat in D&D and murderhoboism: Combat is rules-intensive with the most defined input/output and a definite win/lose state. Input: To-hit roll vs. AC. Output: Deplete opponent's hit points. Win/Lose: Determined by whomever reaches 0 HP first. Everything else is dependent on...
  11. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) On rulings, rules, and Twitter, or: How Sage Advice Changed

    Certainly have. Star Wars: Saga Edition is still Star Wars D&D despite the systemic changes. It moved away from D&D, but the basic gameplay was the same. To translate: he's saying the GM controls the RPG world, the players interact with it, and the GM adjudicates these interactions based on...
  12. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) On rulings, rules, and Twitter, or: How Sage Advice Changed

    I will agree with this. My go-to game is Savage Worlds. It's a flexible, genre-neutral system that encourages pulp action adventure. It can do fantasy, science fiction, gothic horror, and spaghetti westerns. It does them all very well...but it only does them in shades of Savage Worlds. Every...
  13. Helpful NPC Thom

    TSR Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR

    What's our boy Dancey up to these days, anyway?
  14. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) On rulings, rules, and Twitter, or: How Sage Advice Changed

    It's a little difficult to have these high-level design discussions with people who only play traditional RPGs, especially those whose primary game is D&D.
  15. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) Can 5e Be Mythic?

    Yes, but not without a lot of work from the GM's side. Mythic stories generally don't involve resting to recover hit points, Strength checks to scale walls, or close calls with a random encounter. Assuming the PCs are so competent as to succeed most of the time and describing the PCs' actions...
  16. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) On rulings, rules, and Twitter, or: How Sage Advice Changed

    Exactly. The system--along with Inspiration--are clearly tacked-on and underdeveloped in an attempt to create more narrative- or story-oriented gameplay. They should either be excised or expanded. As they stand, they crowd the character sheet.
  17. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) On rulings, rules, and Twitter, or: How Sage Advice Changed

    Page-flipping over exact rules is a gameplay nightmare. Every instance in which the participants half the game to consult the rulebook leeches tension and engagement. It is valuable to have an understanding of the rules, and a proper adjudication of the game requires the GM to recall them well...
  18. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D General Experience Points & Leveling: A Brief Primer on XP in the 1e DMG, and Why It Still Matters

    Modern trends in game design have realized that what you reward with XP is what you get more of. If you reward XP for treasure gained, you'll get players who strip every monster for loot and filch the paintings off the walls. If you give them XP for killing monsters, they murder everything...
  19. Helpful NPC Thom

    Help Wanted - Fans of Combat Mechanics

    I'm going to echo the critiques espoused thus far: your text is lengthy and rife with jargon. It is exceedingly unfriendly to anyone trying to learn the system. Compare it to a very simplistic description of mechanics: I'd be even inclined to Strunk and White this down further. Contrast that...
  20. Helpful NPC Thom

    Kickstarter [Chaosium] Call of Cthulhu 40th Anniversary Classic Kickstarter is Live!

    If this is all reprints of the older edition, is there anything I should be interested in if I like 7e and have all the materials from that Kickstarter?
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