Search results

There is a difference between verisimilitude and reality. Verisimilitude is only having the appearance of reality. This is an important distinction for me. I tend to think of my game worlds as a play or movie. I want the set in the background to be realistic or evocative enough to pass a casual...

Same here. :) Our group contains 3 women, 2 are wives (one mine), and one is a fiance. One of the wives (not mine) is a total gaming newb, too. It hasn't caused any problems to-date, and the group has been together over 5 years now. The three best pieces of advice here have been: a) don't...

Keep in mind that the book says to only roll when success is in doubt. For example, Rangers are supposed to be able to track well, so I don't make a PC Ranger make a SIEGE check to track an orc back to its lair, unless there is something special happening (rain or other elements, rocky terrain...

Unfun. Can't you tell? :)

What seems to be missed is that the challenge isn't the die roll (thats not a challenge; thats luck). The challenge is in avoiding the need for the die roll in the first place.

I waffled between "I'm happy with the coverage" and "Its too early". I voted "I'm happy" because, well, as much as I'd like more details, I don't think they have them to give. I'm with Celebrim on some of his points, though. Its hard for me to take the designers seriously when they say "We've...

I don't think Charles - or anyone else - has missed out on that. Meeting regularly or not, if 10% of the population uses Macs, and WotC assumes group of 5-6, then the Math is simple: around half of the groups (new or not) will likely have at least one non-Windows user. I can just imagine the...

DMing: C&C Wilderlands campaign Playing: Savage Worlds Midnight campaign

Probably true. Also probably true that next to "unfun", it is probably the most overused word in this thread. Yeesh. This was briefly an interesting discussion.

I wonder if the answer is simplistic. Raise the initial power level, drop the target power level, and make the upgrades in between far more incremental. Imagine if at each "level", you chose whether you wanted to raise your HP, raise your attack bonus, take a feat/manuever/new spell/whatever...

Good question, one that can probably only be answered by WotC market research folks. But really, do you want the game to be focused on bookkeeping and minutia? If you could achieve the same amount of "fun" but with less bookkeeping/minutia, would you still want the bookkeping? Or put another...

However, perhaps the problem that needs to be fixed in this case isn't the failed save issue, its the length of combat. For me, its not the failed challenge that is unfun, its the abysmally long combats. ;) (That is one reason we stopped playing 3x. Its something I hope is addressed in 4x.)

I've actually found (despite my older school leanings) that I like quicker advancement with smaller incremental gains at each level-up. That can seriously help shrink the difference between the lower and higher levels, and extend the "sweet spot" (or whatever the marketing speak has been). I...

Heh. I think in this short paragraph you've already made it clear you're not the target audience for 4e. Faster leveling (and more of it!) and getting "kewl new stuff" seems to be an overriding theme in 4e. :) Hmm. How to say this. For actual implementations of games, I think you can blur the...

Go DM a game of C&C or Savage Worlds, and you'll quickly find that DMing doesn't have to be that way. DMing 3x might have had to be that way, but that doesn't mean 4x has to. And if the direction the designers are going, more power to them.

The more I read about 4e, the more they seem to be going the direction of Savage Worlds. And thats not a bad thing. I'm an old school guy, and love AD&D and C&C, finding them chock full of "fun" (as its being discussed), but I have to admit that I really love Savage Worlds as well. I've been...

I'm in the same boat as the mouse on this. Also, IMO, characters should be special. They're the ones performing acts of derring do, and all that good stuff. The rules for everyone and everything else don't need to be the same as the rules for PCs. In fact, by doing so, it lessens how special...

I'm an old school guy an abhorred the idea of Action Points when I first read about them. Then I played Savage Worlds, with its sister-mechanic Bennies. In Savage Worlds you can use them to Soak damage (avoid some or all wounds from blows), to un-Shake (a wound condition similar to stunned), and...

Hmm. To be honest, I dunno. I never really paid much attention to the treasure guidelines in the DMG when we were still playing 3x. I think my players were what you'd probably call "deprived", though, comparatively. :) As a whole, a larger group will be more powerful than a smaller one of the...

I broke up a game I was DMing because too many of the characters were built too individualistically, and they simply weren't group-oriented enough (at least enough for me as a DM, and about half the other players). It can be hugely frustrating if you're one of the players (or the DM) that has to...