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  1. Helpful NPC Thom

    All Characters Should be Good at Talking to NPCs

    I believe that most social encounters should be handled by roleplay, but that is not the system we're discussing, so that point is moot. 5e has social mechanics, albeit barebones social mechanics, and more thorough mechanics for social encounters are useful for both players and GMs alike...
  2. Helpful NPC Thom

    All Characters Should be Good at Talking to NPCs

    No, I don't think that characters should be equally effective in all scenes. Rather, I think all characters should be able to contribute meaningfully. This is especially important in scenes or encounters that take up a good portion of game time; no character should spend the duration of combat...
  3. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D 5E (2014) [Hit Points] What method do you use to determine HP after level 1?

    Personally, I like rolling for HP, but only in an old school sense. More often than not, I give everyone average HP because it reduces problems on both side of the equation: massive HP bloat (of which 5e has enough already) or underwhelming HP numbers (which feels "unfair" to players).
  4. Helpful NPC Thom

    D&D General Story Now, Skilled Play, and Elephants

    I think that the best option for this is creating rules additions that guide play. Moldvay B/X is astounding in this regard with how it lays out the procedural elements of D&D. It creates strong gameplay enhanced by clear and concise rules. Now, the rules for dungeon exploration are not...
  5. Helpful NPC Thom

    All Characters Should be Good at Talking to NPCs

    I believe characters should be able to help each other in a similar vein to how you've described the Modiphus system. This need not require specific mechanics, but instead can simply be treated as an application of the existing Help mechanic. I likewise believe in expanding the social system...
  6. Helpful NPC Thom

    All Characters Should be Good at Talking to NPCs

    I'll take ya one further: every single RPG character should be able to contribute meaningfully to every aspect of the game. In the terms of D&D and the "three pillars," that means that every character should be able to provide something when talking with NPCs, when exploring in the dungeon or...
  7. Helpful NPC Thom

    Worlds of Design: To Move or Not to a New Edition?

    Switching to a new edition depends entirely on the changes in the new edition. For instance, when Savage Worlds released their newest edition, Adventure Edition, my group and I readily embraced the changes. The system is largely backwards compatible with the old rules set, the changes to the...
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