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Nixing the Constitution penalty would probably work. But if you insist upon keeping it, adding a Wisdom bonus seems to fit well given their keen senses. Alternatively, a Charisma bonus could work too.

The thing I find interesting about what people are saying so far is that many non-mainstream games (as in not D20, Steve Jackson Games, or White Wolf games) do or encourage exactly the sorts of things that everyone would like. A lot of them (like mine) are even free. In any case, one of the...

dwarves and elves I'm not currently running a campaign, but I have some revisions I'm making to the core races if I ever get around to running something. It's sort of difficult to explain them with a couple of sentences. I don't focus on culture; that can change depending on the setting...

I think that the stats should be a bit more intuitive and more well-distributed. Now, I won't try to shoehorn everything to make it fit, but there are things out there that could be reasonably placed more evenly across the attributes. For instance, the base saves. Linking the Fortitude save...

I would avoid basing fighter combat styles soley on BAB. That, I think, would let other classes encroach too closely on the fighter, who needs something a bit more distinctive anyway. I believe using fighter levels is best, although having style mastery be based on really long feat chains...

Rather than basing styles solely off of the tools a fighter uses, how about generalizing the tactics? In other words, instead of designing combat styles related to specific weapon, shield, and armor combinations, why not go for the general "philosophy" of fighting? Even limiting the choice of...

I agree with the previous posters who said that players who want standard D&D will try to play that no matter what setting you use. However, if the players do want something different, a great way to help them invest in the setting is to give them a little leeway in making up some of it. Give...

Fealak: I would heartily recommend getting ahold of Volume 10 of the History of Middle-earth series, as well as The Complete Guide to Middle-earth. It puts a lot of the information you need to determine racial traits into a more digestible form, thus making it easier to judge which abilities...

tweaks and expansions I'd like to give DMs as much to work with as possible, so I'd avoid invoking Rule 0 on this concept. However, I'd change the barbarian's requisites to: Weapon Focus (a weapon that the barbarian is proficient in) and one of the following: Intimidate 2+ ranks, Persuasive...

A facial feature such as a mole (beauty mark) similar to Cindy Crawford's. It's common enough to seem natural but uncommon enough to be noticeable. In other words, she can still blend in if need be, but it's a bit harder than it would be. Green eyes. If it's more Shanghai Knights than real...

great idea! You know, I actually hadn't thought of that! It would solve a quandary I've often had with the classes often not having enough skill points to branch out beyond the "necessary" skills (exceptions are bard and rogue; ranger to a lesser extent). The things listed for each class are...

What if, instead of having XP penalties for multiclass characters, there were instead skill and/or feat prerequisites to enter another class? For instance, to multiclass into fighter, you'd need some sort of armor proficiency and/or martial weapon proficiency. Or to multiclass into wizard...

my working definition of fantasy A definition of fantasy that I find particularly functional is the one this guy uses: "a world in which the exotic, the ancient, the far-away and legendary is still solid and immanent, a fact of life." However, I replace "world" with "piece" or "work" to...

I like to envision orcs more like Disney's gargoyles as opposed to animalistic humanoids with a vague resemblance to certain racial stereotypes that have yet (sadly) to go the way of the dodo.

I tend to imagine Earth-like worlds, although geography and cultures change quite a bit. I often imagine them to be similar in composition to Earth (same basic air and gravitation, similar weather patterns, biomes, etc.) though a bit more malleable according to the wills and natures of its...

Mmmmm, that might have something to do with it. ;) Not to mention, RPGs frequently don't provide an avenue of escapism from many of the pressures women have to deal with daily, such as issues relating to body image, gender roles, and relationships with men. Of course, this is likely more an...

That makes sense, and it's a shame that Leadership can only be picked up by characters of 6th level or higher. It makes the whole idea of someone with wealth and connections leaving their lives of comfort and prestige for the harsh, dangerous life of an adventurer less likely. It's not a huge...

I don't think being willing to fight for someone is the only indicator of a high Charisma. People followed Arthur into battle because he was a great warrior as well as a highly charismatic individual. People took Merlin's advice because he was a sage as well as a highly charismatic individual.

I don't think we need to assume the opposite extreme to challenge a particular preconception or trend. I believe it goes without saying that veering into the "everything is completely the opposite of what it looks like" would be a juvenile approach to the dilemma. What I was proposing (but...

That's two out of...how many?