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Depending on how you wanted the Paladin to develop, they could acquire other spells as talents. Off the top of my head, "Turn Undead" and "Shield of Faith" are both good contenders. On the other hand, a Priest can use longswords, wear armor, and carry shields, so I'm not sure why exactly you...

Just to add to this, in Shadowdark, "Turn Undead" is just a spell for Priests, as is "Smite" (Level 2). Turn Undead is a Priest class feature that doesn't count against their "Spells Known." There's no reason why a Shadowdark-compatible Paladin couldn't just have Smite ("Smite") and Lay on...

Okay, I don't know if this is too "out there," but I was having a conversation with one of my RPG-nerd buddies after sword class last night, and we started talking about how different games handle different things. As we started talking about creating systems to handle the different types of...

Very reasonable question. It was occasioned by me taking a look at the pitch for the Shadowdark RPG, Five Torches Deep, Dungeon Crawl Classics, or any of a number of other OSR games. It seems that some of the presumption is that there’s fun to be gained from tracking torches, rations, pints of...

One of the things I find myself frequently going back to these days is the oft-quoted that “A session of D&D is 30 minutes of fun stretched out to fill 3 hours.” And while I don’t entirely agree with the ratio, the simple fact is that both D&D and all other tabletop RPGs definitely have slow...

The simple fact is that heroes on fiction usually only die when it’s dramatically appropriate. What do I mean by that? As pointed out, Conan is sturdy enough to survive crucifixion. He doesn’t get mowed down by common soldiers. But the threat of death is real. His allies? They die...

I definitely think the D&D power gradient is nuts, and one of my biggest pet peeves is that it has more levels of dead than the world of the The Princess Bride which, I like to remind people, was a comedy. I think a pretty flat health curve is smart. I'm also unclear on whether magic swords...

Savage Worlds (which I think has been mentioned a few times) does not use levels. You simply gain "advances" which you can use to gain an edge, boost skills, or increase an attribute, once per "Rank." You can use advances to buy off hindrances, but it's rather costly and not really advised. Rank...

I really like some of these, but I also have questions. I mostly like the flat power gradient idea, but I (personally) would like to see characters go from novices (like the Hobbits in LotR, say) to becoming like Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli; Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser; or Conan. I like the idea of...

One of the things I like most about Savage Worlds system is that most of the dice get a lot of respect, although the d12 probably gets used the second least. And, alas, the d20 mostly gets left out.

I think this is actually one of the most divided topics when it comes to RPGs. I think it's absolutely essential that, to enjoy the game, I don't have total control over the outcome. Sure, as a GM, I have the ability to fudge things, but people generally play games in order to be surprised...

I think the fact that we call them "hit points" lends to this confusion. If they were called "luck points," "fatigue points," or something similar, people might be more willing to accept losing them on a miss. It also dovetails with D&D's "armor makes you harder to hit" mechanic in such a way...

Interesting. What was it you especially liked about 4e?

So, I voted "moderate," but it depends heavily on your definition. What I really like are well-codified rules for situations that should be well-codified, along with a great deal of abstraction. What do I mean by that? It's probably best if I give an example. And, just for grins, I'll go with...

So, I know that this is going to produce wildly divergent answers, but I'm sure everyone has thought about what their perfect RPG looks like. And I'm sure that everyone's answers are a little bit different. But with all the new games arising from the OGL kerfuffle, I thought I'd throw up a...

I had the Moldvay Basic Set, the Moldvay Expert Set, and a Red Box Basic Set. My Moldvay Basic Set came with pale blue dice that you had to fill in with a crayon. I believe I still have all of them, although they're kinda scattered around the house. My Expert set came with a mix of brown and...

For evocative names, there's a couple. Not all the "&" names are good, but some are. Giving credit where credit is due, the most successful RPG of all time tops it. Whether or not you like its current owner, Gygax & co. hit the ball out of the park with the name. For me, there's only a few...

Unfortunately, my gaming group kinda dissolved, so I haven’t played anything in a few years. I have since gotten burned out on 5e because I keep bumping up against D&D tropes when I do my world design. I kinda hate how integral magic is to every class. I hate how boring it tend to be to play a...

I think my issue with the D&D spell list is that it's both exactly the same and weirdly specific. Working with Savage Worlds and its "trappings" system, I began to realize that a good chunk of D&D spells are just flavorful effects for doing the exact same thing. If that's all it is, we don't...

Everybody has a different sweet spot for this. In my ideal world, we'd wipe out the difference between arcane, primal, and divine and just have "magic." Spells would be cast with a "Spellcasting" skill (or skills). And any Spell-like abilities that a character had that was more reliable would be...