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The title of the thread assumes that AD&D1 was 'designed'. I'm not so sure I can buy into that, as AD&D1 is more of a conglomeration of mismatched and occasionally contradictory game mechanics than a cohesive design. If AD&D was a car, I'm pretty sure it would be that car Homer made in the...

At its core, 4e is a small unit wargame. Ask anyone in the RPGA about making or breaking a table and they'll tell you all about class/role balance and say not a word about having a straight man, a comedy relief guy, a wingman, a FNG, star-crossed lovers, tragic hero or any archetype that a...

Carcassone tiles?

Kobolds ate my baby? mass market? really?

I'd probably go with Hero 5 (revised). I'm not entirely sold on 6, but I'm thinking of giving it a look-see.

The union of the sets 'Casual Gamer', 'Mass Market' and 'tabletop RPG products' yields an empty set. Oh wait, there it is: Dallas, The Television Role-Playing Game, 1980, SPI

Wrong. Or rather, who cares about static bonus when the weapon and maneuver bonus overshadows it? Wizard = 19.5 Barbarian (only one with a mere 20 in primary stat BTW) 25.5 Sorcerer = 24.5 Warlock = 26.5 A goliath Barbarian equipped with a brutal weapon tops out at 27 or higher, depending on...

Often, so-called RPGs aren't, either. You can go through a session of 4e without a shred of role playing. It's perfectly suited to be a small-unit tactical combat boardgame, if you want it to be. Been there, done that.

Three words: Night Elf MOHAWK! Computer games have seriously encroached upon the heartland of RPGs to the point that RPG have diminished to the point of running rinkydink bingo parlors and casinos to keep themselves solvent. Don't get me wrong, the clever and efficient companies are going...

And do you know what else Fantasy Football and Poker have in common? They are both competitive pastimes. Every hand, every week, you either win or lose and you have a definitive measurement of how well or how poorly you did. You either gain or lose chips, you pick up or lose position within...

A skill challenge that involves everyone? Outrun the bear. You don't have to outrun the fastest PC. You have to outrun the slowest PC. Let the party's lowest skill roll define the overall success. Allow someone with a superior roll to take 5 ranks to bump a laggard's roll by 2. Before the...

I have been in one gaming group where a couple gamed and didn't let their relationship dominate in-game relationships or attitudes. I have been in many other gaming groups where a couple gamed and let their relationship affect the in-game RP, almost exclusively resulting in bad endings. YMMV

And get ambushed because of them, duh.

In one of our games, we are up against an organization that is led by drow. As a result, my vote for worst racial 'power' ever is normal vision. Every damn fight is us getting ambushed because our humans can't see in low light conditions.

They're all gone. If someone has a method for tracking or scrying for them, they're all wrapped in spider silk and hanging from a cliff ledge somewhere nearby...

I'm not sure that many of the PCs actions can be defined as simple mistakes. However, I am convinced that the PC has made a habit of intentionally burning bridges, and for that he deserves to suffer. Eventually.

what he said.

In a setting of assumed awesomeness, it's the occasional bumbler that becomes memorable. Imagine a game about martial artists. They're all strong, they're all fast, they're all tough - it's almost impossible to differentiate them using those criteria. But there's that one guy with no sense of...

ah. and this? Heavy blade duelist training what book is this from?

I'm no expert at 4e, but I'm having trouble figuring out how you came by these numbers. Are there magic items involved?