Search results

I'm not a fan of psionics for the simple reason that the term damages my suspension of disbelief. The thing that the term "psionics" describes is magic. But by labeling one particular type of magic with a sci-fi term, D&D becomes less generically coherent. The actual powers of psionics I have...

The decision to make the hierarchical society a property of faerie required a heap of debate and thought. But I can totally see where you are coming from. My personal decision to exclude these guys from the faerie category came from the fact that most cultures believing in fairies did not have...

Sold! Reason #3 it shall be!

There are lots of ways to be smart. Geometric logic is one way. Many of the best GMs I know, including me, are not especially bright in that particular way. If you want realism, there are way easier ways to give the game that feel. Try killing cumulative hit points, bringing hit locations for...

Whether it entails getting rid of AoOs or not, I think what I want out of a 4E combat system is one that can run either narratively or with miniatures. While a lot of people get a charge out of miniatures gaming, I don't. In part, the reason for this is that I do not have a highly developed...

The hunt looks hierarchical to me. If it weren't hierarchical, the Horned King wouldn't be such a consistent element. This is why I said "Judean" and not "Jewish." I am quite confident that Jews living in the Germano-Celtic world would believe in fairies much as they understood various other...

Actually, daemon was more typically assigned to non-corporeal beings, the Greek equivalent of Judean angels. As far as I know, this is not how these creatures were usually referred to. Daemon also connotes intermediation; daemons were usually not their own society but messengers who...

Agreed. Persian fey, primarily, are peris, the creatures we get the name "fairy" from. No reason not to go with pretty conventional fey here. Many things we now associate with elves and fairies were, like the institution of univesity, imported from the Muslim world during the Scholastic Renaissance.

For me, railroading always has a negative connotation. People who have been railroaded feel like they have been railroaded. I would offer the following necessary conditions for railroading: 1) PCs proceeding through a predetermined series of events in a predetermined order 2) PC choices negated...

I was involved in a similar project in a campaign I put together about two years ago. Here's what I got: Persia: The peris and their various kin. Japan: The fox people and the tengu. Irish: The Tuath de Danaan. Germanic: Elfs. Iroquoian: Little Turtle People. Algonkian (SE): Children of...

Str 12 Dex 6 Con 12 Int 16 Wis 8 Cha 14 (-6 on checks vs. people of the opposite sex) I guess I'd be an expert with the class skills of Know (Nobility & Royalty) (I follow both politics and the celebrity press), Know (History), Know (Religion) (my academic fields), Craft (Cooking), Sense...

I'm not very good at finding venues for pickup games. Any suggestions?

On the basis that you're exactly the same age as me and I can't be bothered doing anymore research, welcome aboard!

I don't really know you from around the boards. Tell me a little about yourself so I can be prepared.

Very rarely, backtracking is justified. But very rarely. Cases for backtracking: 1. A bunch of rules errors caused the death 2. A new disruptive player joins and wrecks the campaign in his first game 3. I thought there was a third reason but now I can't think of one.

Socially, no. When my gut tells me someone doesn't belong in the game and they get in anyway, either because I'm not the GM or it becomes a social necessity to include them due to a dynamic amongst my friends, it never works out. I've had to experiment with gaming with strangers here. It's...

I'm up for the dinner but not the game. Maybe CircvsMaximvs might be a good place to also promote this.

Done!

Being part of the fantasy genre is a necessary condition for being part of a good D&D game, not a sufficient condition.

I wish I'd said that.