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I use a similar house-rule system, whereby every spell cast must succeed on a check in order to be cast successfully, and rolling a 1 on the check results in being stunned and damaged by the magical feedback.

Parts that stood out to me: Higher level characters get more options, but not exponentially more powerful to the point that 1/2 to 3/4's of the monster manual becomes obsolete/trivial for them to deal with. Built-in support for mass combat and other higher level styles of play like castle...

In 1st edition there were many items like this. For example in the Keep on the Borderlands there are bowls in the Temple of Cyric that turn you into a worshipper of Cyric, and a large tapestry that forces you to chant hymns to Cyric. I thought that my players would dislike things that take...

One option that nobody has mentioned is to just make the game so challenging that players absolutely must make the mechanically optimal choices in character creation, and play those characters to the hilt in game, in order to survive. I realize this style of play probably doesn't appeal to most...

This is actually a great point. An interesting parallel is how teddy bears and other stuffed animals have evolved in their aesthetics over the years. They gradually developed larger foreheads, larger eyes, larger heads in proportion to body size, shorter limbs, and so on. Why? To the kids it...

I read it not that the most important quality for girls was beauty, but rather that a lack of beauty in the standard Lego line was girls' biggest problem with lego. Which is understandable really, it's all hard edges and simple primary colors and the little lego figures are not exactly the...

In my homebrew system I have a system that I believe adheres somewhat to the design questions of the OP. There are only 3 classes: fighters, clerics, and mages. But PCs are free to multiclass in any way they like. And within each class, there are a number of options they can choose from. For...

Thanks S'mon, I'll check em out!

My group just finished the Keep on the Borderlands, and are now wanting to move on to a city-based campaign. They are 3rd and 4th level, for reference, but probably slightly above average power for that level because of their treasure (they suffered many deaths but were able to recover the...

Ok, but what if the PCs are given command of a unit, or the whole army, or have input on the initial disposition and tactics of the army? What if you want the PCs' decision to enter the melee or remain on the hilltop in charge of the battle to be potentially meaningful? Perhaps the PCs enjoy...

Here's what I did in a similar situation; the PCs also knew they were targeted for assassination. First off, I let it simmer for a session and a half, with a few mundane encounters between their warning and the actual assassination attempt. One of the mundane encounters was set up by the...

Some of these are so awesome lol

123. riddle/trivia/storytelling night at the pub 124. The lord's son steals a ring 125. A group of teenage bullies hassles a younger boy 126. missionaries attempt to give religious pamphlets to the PCs

I don't really have any moral lines that cannot ever be crossed under any circumstances ever; I try to have a pretty open mind about that stuff even if other people might be offended or disgusted. But that said, a friend's girlfriend asked if she could play a character with a bazooka in our...

When planning the day's adventures, ask yourself this question: What awesome things are the PCs going to have the chance to do today? Keep adding awesomeness until there's no way the players can avoid having an awesome time.

The key distinction is 'in battle' vs 'out of battle' narrative control. In previous editions players had way more out of battle narrative control in that they had much greater ability to determine which fights they fought and under what conditions. Of course players had some abilities they...

Giving players more narrative control of battles is a new wrinkle to 4e, but to be fair high level players had a huge narrative control of out-of-battle stuff in 3e thanks to teleport and scrying spells. DMs really had to be creative to come up with ways to keep dungeons and adventures relevant...

My homebrew assassin class has a similar ability; Improved Chi Blink allows him to immediately blink to any location up to 15 feet away as an immediate reaction to being attacked, and attack immediately after the blink. So if he's attacked in melee combat, instead of getting hit he can teleport...

This last is a great point. A lot of players, myself included when I play, get enjoyment out of devising effective tactics and figuring out how to defeat enemies in combat using the least amount of resources possible. In order for this play-style to be meaningful, it absolutely must rely upon...

I've read the article before, I liked it, it had some good ideas. I don't know that it's necessarily accurate to define 'old school gaming' so monolithically, there were as many different ways to enjoy the game then as there are now. But either way, fun is fun, and if you really feel that your...