Search results

My group rotates between three DMs. The real difficulty of late is that we're all in our 40s and our familial/work obligations sometimes interfere with being able to regularly schedule games. If there is a GM shortage, then folks need to step up. The starter sets aren't bad, and there's a...

In my lore, True Dragons are essentially all the same, but their outer form reflects their inner nature. Red dragons aren't all prideful because they're born that way, but rather they become a red dragon because arrogance is their defining personality trait. A red dragon who chooses to follow a...

That's actually why I prefer weird over, say, something like horror. Horror tends to be pretty consistently "bad weird". Whereas weird has a lot more variety to offer. "Good weird", "bad weird", and (IMO especially) "just plain weird". Weird is a tone, kind of like horror. In horror, you...

IMO, nonsensical is often conflated for weirdness, but they're not really the same. Weirdness may not function according to the principles you're used to, but it should have its own internally consistent principles. They can oftentimes be reasoned out through sufficient observation. Whereas...

I don't think the only two options are to either limit exposure or do something extreme. IMO, the best option for a high weirdness scenario is to maintain the weirdness. Obviously, there will be variance in the level of weirdness. I'm just saying your options aren't simply rare weirdness or...

I too like weird, with areas that are especially weird, though I would rate it at around a 7, personally. (To me a 4 or 5 would be standard D&D weirdness.) In my last session, the PCs (a flumph soul knife, a candy dragon barbarian, a vampiric far realm sorcerer, a tentacle horror monk, a cat...

I never suggested otherwise. My response focused specifically on 5e, because that's what interests me the most at present. It's not like there's any likelihood of going back to earlier editions and fixing martials there, but with the revision I hold out at least a sliver of hope that...

I haven't run it, but based on my read through I liked what I saw. They did quite a bit of tinkering with 5e. The core is still there, but it's significantly modified. It's intended by default to model the kinds of stories in SG-1. So, for example, the default is that combat is non-lethal...

Apologies for two responses, but I had a few more thoughts on this. Even if you compare the level 1 vs the level 20 barbarian, is it really Kratos levels of power? Lifting 210 more lbs? Jumping 4 more feet? Having a +13 Athletics vs a +7? (This is almost double, so I'll grant that this is...

Okay, but make the same comparison between level 1 and level 19 barbarian, and you see the same issues. Subclasses and races don't count if we're talking things that all martials should get. Those things need to be baked into the base classes.

I would argue that it isn't what high level martials get to do. Let's compare the same fighter at different levels. Let's assume this fighter rolled an 18 and therefore starts with 20 STR (if you'd rather, we could instead assume a 6th level fighter that used the array and put their ASIs into...

TBH, I feel like that's mostly on the DM. The players might treat the world like a cardboard veneer, despite the DM presenting a dynamic living world. But it can still be a living world without the players. In that case, it only lives in one mind (the DMs), but it's still alive.

I mean, maybe, but it's kind of the DMs job not to drop the ball like that, right? If the DM does, the world is no longer a vibrant living place. It's a bunch of cardboard veneers that are a barely there facimile of a living world.

I agree that challenge involves a risk of failure. That said, failure comes in many forms. Take the following example. A merchant has some McGuffin that the party needs. He wants a sum that is more or less the total wealth of the party. Unless the party does something foolish, acquiring the...

To me, that doesn't read as competitive/antagonistic at all. They were literally discussing this stuff in front of the DM, essentially giving him a heads up as to what their plans were. If they wanted an unfair advantage, they could have just as easily planned elsewhere and dropped it on him in...

We definitely have different group dynamics. :) I would say there's a difference between a competitive sports game between competing teams, and a friendly sports match between friends. In a friendly match, you might still be competitive, but you shouldn't be willing to do anything just to win...

For those of you who say that your players don't care about story consequences, why have a story at all? I realize that the story in these games is emergent, but that's still a story. It would be far less work to run the game as a series of skirmishes or old-school dungeon delve sans over world...

If I were to add them in right now, they'd hate it. Most of us didn't use things like level drain back when they were in the rules. Which is why I would never do that to them, even if I personally liked level drain. In my group, we're perfectly adept at challenging the table, including high...

So your poll specifically listed level draining under challenge? Or did it just say challenge? Because there's a BIG difference. You're establishing a false dichotomy. You can still lose without level drain being involved. I mean, come on. You're telling me that all of you who like...