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Actually, a typical MMORPG is about 60 bucks for the game plus about $150/year, with some fraction of the latter paid up front. Three books for D&D is about $90, so I would disagree that investment of money is substantially greater for tabletop. And most of the MMORPGers that I know would play...

Regarding the staying power of D&D, it's actually somewhat remarkable that D&D was first on the market and has continued to dominate it. Ultima Online created a lucrative new industry but eventually gave way to others like DAoC and WoW. There are numerous other examples in other industries...

What about making it an opposed roll, modified by Charisma and HD? The skeletons and zombies will be affected relatively easily, but the undead with personality will be tougher. And each undead would have a chance to succeed (which I guess means more rolling). If the cleric beats the opposed...

Black Moria, your perspective is very interesting, at the very least because it runs counter to the standard interpretation of the RPG "generation gap": Old School = story-driven, heavy roleplaying; New School = rules-driven, heavy combat, tactics and character power. Monte Cook had an...

This subject assumes that the only view of mistletoe is that of its biological effect. In a fantasy campaign, it's not a problem to return to a fanatstic view of Nature, rather than deal with a strictly biological view. "The Golden Bough" was, according to the author James Fraser, mistletoe, and...

With touch attacks, you've already negated all of your opponent's armor/shield bonuses, so now try negating his Dex and dodge bonuses: Grease Glitterdust Invisibility Blindness Hold Person Greater Invisibility Glitterdust is especially nice, given its level and area of effect, but of course...

--Axe

Huh. Now what I thought was an oversight actually appears to make sense...I think. So, a grimlock's blindsight (and, in fact, its blindness alone) negates the effects of invisibility, but it is still blind, so it takes -2 to AC, loses its Dex bonus, takes a -4 penalty to a bunch of skills...

Sentence two The second sentence is what really causes the confusion here. Without it, interpreting Uncanny Dodge as applying broadly would be stretching the RAW. But, just as the first sentence implies the restricted conditions to which UD applies, the second sentence looks like it's...

I will put in another vote for Web and Glitterdust. These spells more than any other seem to result in post-encounter comments like, "Wow, that Web/Glitterdust completely changed how that went." Area effect and battlefield control are two strengths of arcane casters. For fourth level, I'd...

I agree with Produce Flame and Goodberry as nice spells, and they are particularly good for the Extend Spell feat. The number of attacks you get with Produce Flame is determined by the duration, so you can double your available flame attacks by extending it (using a 2nd level slot). Since...

I recall seeing something clarifying how the different effects of Color Spray stacked, and my understanding was that the various effects were concurrent and did not take effect sequentially. For the life of me, I can't find anything on this to confirm or deny it. Can anyone help me out? --Axe

What's wrong with the 3.5 version? Shortspear is one-handed and throwable, spear is two-handed and throwable, longspear is two-handed with reach. The only question is whether the spear should be one or two-handed (though you can still throw it, presumably with one hand). I suppose all those...

I disagree. My take is that favored classes and XP penalties exist to channel multi-classing in a way that leads to something resembling the restrictions of 1e and 2e. Multiclassed dwarves will be fighter/X, elves wizard/X. Presumably humans got a reversal of fortune compared with earlier...

Then you could throw it with a full round action as an improvised ranged weapon! ;) --Axe

I seem to recall that 1e UA barbarians did have stealth and the equivalent of spot/listen (difficult to surprise), although some of these abilities applied only when they were in their homeland. --Axe

Average damage for 3d6 is 10.5. If you get to sneak attack 50% of the time (which I think is generous), the average damage is 5.25 per hit. That's +1.25 per attack, at -3 to hit. That doesn't necessarily sound better to me, especially if sneak attack opportunities are limited. The saves are...

Can you be more specific? A straight fighter gets enough feats that he can pick up Power Attack and other enhancements for a greatsword, so he can at least switch into an able melee role. What multitude of situations is he unprepared for, how is he greatly restricted, and especially how is a...

I'm curous as to why Holy is considered better than, say, Flaming plus Shock; both have a +2 cost. Each has its downside: non-evil enemies for Holy; energy resistance for the others. By the way, I'd also favor the straight fighter route, especially over rogue levels. There are too many undead...

I have a not quite vivid recollection of an advice piece from some WotC source regarding fighting creatures with 10' reach. It specifically suggested readying an attack with a 5 foot step triggered when the creature moved within 10', so that you would avoid attacks of opportunity. Anyone recall...