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Poll isn't multiple choice, so I couldn't vote both Always and Never. Standard Point Buy, maximum 15, and then 5d4 in order; take the higher result for each individual score.

That's it and that's why I call it "the Dark Sun priest book". I love Dark Sun and I'm also keenly interested in models of the divine (and/or just Priest list spellcasters) that don't rely on the standard D&D depiction of Da Gawdz.

I should probably go back through and repopulate my wish list. I want Thri-Kreen of Athas and the Dark Sun priests book. I want the three Radiant Triangle books for Spelljammer. All the Planescape boxed sets. There isn't much I want that I don't already have, and most of what I can't have...

Lawful Evil. Those mandibles weren't rusted from disuse, they're corroded on purpose.

Oh, I am 110% in favor of including fantasy racism with my fantasy races. Things like the AD&D racial preference chart, or early Shadowrun's random NPC racism generator table are great worldbuilding... as long as they're sensible, and consistent, and the setting doesn't bend itself over...

There are at least a few rock-solid fantasy RPGs that don't have "fantasy races" at all, where all of the PCs are either human or variations on humanity. I'm not even advocating for that, so much as reminding people that it's possible and viable to have a fantasy game/setting that doesn't have...

I'm sorry, then. I was answering the much more specific question of "what makes racial Charisma penalties based on ugliness bad?" Personally speaking... I don't have a strong opinion on racial ability score modifiers. On the one hand, I think they make sense from a narrative perspective; on the...

Are you really going to sit there and claim there's no logical connection between racial ability score modifications (based on appearance) and the objective measurement of ability scores in the game?

Honestly... I mean, really take a moment and think about this... if everyone has a custom lineage and a character's actual physical ancestry isn't allowed to matter on a mechanical level at all... why do we even need to have ancestries at all? Just give humans darkvision and everyone a bonus...

"Ugly" is subjective. STR is STR and your maximum load doesn't change based on who's asking.

What I mean is, if you open your book to the stat blocks of the named NPCs, they were clearly not generated using the same rules PCs are expected to use-- their ability scores are ridiculous, and if your character needs to have a couple of 6s in something to be "believable" and "interesting"...

Something to remember about NPCs and ability scores is that... there's a commonality between AD&D and WotC D&D about the fact that named NPCs simply aren't running on the same rules as player characters and player characters aren't supposed to be anywhere near as powerful as the authors'...

That's the problem in a nutshell-- designers have been confused about the difference between intrinsic Charisma and how people of other "races" feel about you, which is how you end up with a lot of the nonsense baked into it. Orcs should have a high Charisma-- think intimidation and saving...

Thri-Kreen/Xixchil, for sure, but I was pleased to see a lot of my old favorites represented.

I've got the other "standards", as well. Aside from the elves and orcs, all of the playable species are known as the "mortal races". Dwarves are pretty traditional. Five feet tall, four feet wide, they like to brawl and drink beer and build stuff. They're covered in blue-black fur, they have...

My Shroompunk setting doesn't use "traditional" fantasy races at all-- out of the PHB races, only Humans are present, though Humans have subraces you might recognize: Tiefling, Aasimar, Ifrit, Oread, Fetchling, and so on... In the Galactic Empire of Sagas of the Cosmic Rangers, "elf" refers to...

Player's Option: Skills & Powers reduced this cost from one whole slot to 1 CP, with most one slot NWPs costing 3-4 CP.

I'll confess, I have imploded some games by trying to run 2e with too many optional rules too quickly with players who were too green. Can be done, but I needed to put a lot more time and effort into it, well in advance, than I did.

I am not certain whether 2e really offered more and better tools for altering the rules to fit a setting, or merely if the setting designers were more willing-- allowed-- to use them, but AD&D 2e campaign settings modified the rules to support the themes and tones of the settings while D&D 5e...

After a few levels, the Monk runs faster, jumps higher, and punches-- literally punches-- harder than any other class. They can dodge and deflect all kinds of physical attacks, pick up all sorts of weird little resistances, and channel their innate magical non-spell energy into a grab-bag of...