Search results

A straight up "rip" PDF of Grim Tales isn't going to happen-- most of the copyrights to the interior artwork have reverted to the artists. It's a pet peeve of mine that publishers buy out the copyrights. I believe-- and still do, despite it being inconvenient for me-- that artists should keep...

Not at this time. Maybe. I dunno...? Trailblazer is still seriously scratching my itch, both in terms of my design time and my play time, so it will keep me busy for a while. Another regular poster, joela, pointed me towards the "Pathfinderize d20 Modern" patronage project that Owen KC Stevens...

Let me know what you think. Unless you really don't like it, in which case, by all means, keep it on the down low.

I will get to firesnakearies in a second but want to address pawsplay first. In terms of "4e concepts," I would broadly describe my thoughts here as, "Make the game easier to play so that you can get on with the fun." There's a lot of design cues in 4e that get to the heart of that. This...

It depends on what you are looking to change with respect to your game. Many (most?) of the rules changes presented in Trailblazer you can use a la carte: iterative attack changes, combat reactions, new rest mechanic, etc. Some of the changes would require you to use considerably more content...

Don't forget the love child. I don't think magic items are to the detriment of 3e per se. Magic items are a big part of D&D and (despite having written the low-magic ruleset Grim Tales) I would not want to play D&D without magic items. That said, I do think that magic item creation feats give...

Thank you all for your support. I am eager to see what folks think of the book after they start getting delivered. We had a few QA issues with CreateSpace and sorted them out to the best of our (and their) ability-- hence the long delays! And finally I note that "trailblazer rpg" returns...

I don't think anyone is suggesting that rules for non-combat activities don't exist, only that they aren't given the same complexity (read by some as "fair treatment" or "due diligence") as the rules for combat.

The answer is not "needlepoint." D&D loses to MMOs because people aren't willing to invest the time required of a game with hundreds of pages of rules and a commitment to gathering face to face on a regular basis. It's not a mystery and it has nothing to do with content or unscratched itches...

Hot Pursuit is an Open Content success: From Spycraft to Grim Tales to Hot Pursuit.

I have also heard great things about Burning Wheel; Luke also wrote Mouse Guard (iirc). I would also put Dread in the non-combat genre, successfully so, at least in the sense that the mechanic isn't specifically tailored to tactical combat any more than any other conflict. Perhaps we'll have...

And as I noted above, compelling non-combat mechanics are where good game designers shine.

If you can make a court-room battle interesting beyond a single ho-hum check, there's apparently a huge untapped market waiting for you. Billions and billions of dollars to be made on frustrated WoW players who would rather be emulating Perry Mason than Conan.

No, it's an extremely good idea, hence the undying popularity of Dungeons and Dragons and the countless other games it has spawned in the "Kill things and take their stuff" genre. It's pure tradition that keeps these games selling, and selling, and selling. Sure. Get back to me when Blizzard...

The game has its origins in a tactical miniatures combat game, and it seems counterintuitive to make combat the central focus? Err... Okay. So where are all the games about race car driving, deep space exploration, and sewing? Do you have anything to explain the lack of interest in such...

That's a good jumping off point for me to summarize my earlier point: 1) Our first design goal is a mechanic that distributes success and failure across multiple checks. 2) The success or failure of any individual check is going to be weighted in favor of the player somewhere between 50-70%...

The journey isn't over. . . It's just beginning. Bad Axe Games peels back the outer layers of the 3.5 rules and reveals the inner workings for all to see. Within this book, you'll find the keys to decoding the d20 rules and gain new insight into the mechanics of your game. Copious design notes...

Follow the link to purchase the book directly through Amazon: Amazon.com: Trailblazer: New Horizons in 3.5 Roleplaying (9781449503604): Benjamin Durbin, Ellen Durbin, Brad Kelley, Scott Purdy, Christopher Neveu: Books

Thanks again for the XP... early yearly bump!

It could be argued that chase rules, like rules for tracking and social interaction, don't warrant complexity. Ultimately the story and the needs of the DM will drive the success or failure of such activities, and the die roll is a placebo at best. A player, playing reasonably and in character...