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AD&D was the original new fangled powercreep.

Don’t look at the cover art. I have two with the Trampier art (which I happen to prefer). Both say “6th printing” on the title page. Yet there are (minor) textual differences. Heck, even by the Acaeum’s count they should both be “seventh”. But, yeah, as I understand it the new cover doesn’t...

In general, I agree with these statements. Of course, I have my own nitpicks to add to those already presented. (^_^) 1e had concessions towards helping players get the PC they wanted. (Which mainly came down to being able to arrange your ability scores to taste.) Simply because Gygax had to...

One of the guys in my group—the one that ran our 4e sessions—said he felt 4e was closer to BECM. He’s not really an edition-warrior, but if he were forced to take such a side, I think he’d sign up with the 3e army. (After the 4e sessions, he said he is definitely not moving his primary campaign...

My players smoked some killer bees so they could carefully remove the treasure the hive had been placed to guard. It was hilarious when they later met the rightful owners of that treasure and felt Lawfully compelled to return it. (With no coercion from me, BTW. I almost never enforce...

Winning initiative indicates having just a bit of an edge. Both sides charge. They meet in the middle, but the side with initiative gets to resolve their attacks first. On the other hand, initiative can get trumped by the situation. e.g. Nim and Rod encounter each other at 30 feet. Nim has a...

This brings up a different issue. I prefer to run combat in a more continuous rather than discrete manner. e.g. If both sides charge, they meet in the middle rather than the side with initiative covering the whole distance while the other side is frozen until their “turn”. Yeah, but that’s not...

And this is exactly what frustrates me. I can’t figure out how to explain that you can do more, not just describe it differently. That the simple mechanics of the classic D&D system is sufficient to apply tactics.

I think despite doing their best, the books did a poor job of explaining the game. When I left all forms of D&D behind, I thought I fully understood the game. How surprised I was many years later when I started hanging out at DF and other places online and found new understanding of the old...

It just seems to me that making them understand that they can do more would be better than giving them 4e.

At best, I get to play 1½ sessions per week. In recent times we’ve played Marvel Superheroes, D&D4e, a homebrew system, TriStat dX, Toon, classic Traveller, classic D&D, D&D3e, Lord of the Rings, and more. (And nobody seemed particularly impressed by 4e so far.) So, the idea of subscribing to a...

Something I thought was odd about 3e. The unified mechanic and skill system tended to encourage moving everything more towards challenge the PC. Except combat. By lowering the level of abstraction, it encouraged moving combat more towards challenge the player. You know, I used to criticize...

Interesting. From a (my) strictly customer point-of-view, Mongoose is a step up from TLG. (Slightly better quality control and much better time-to-market.) But not a huge one. In any case, LA published by Mongoose is—I think—better than LA published by nobody.

Here’s the thing, though: When people try playing without the clear lines—as long as they don’t have too much immaturity in the group—they are often surprised to find that they really didn’t need them.

One of a couple of phrases from the Grimm Studios podcast that stuck with me today: The PC is a vehicle for the player. I can’t move at 70mph; but in my car, I can. My car can’t negotiate a maze-like parking lot; but my car with me behind the wheel can. I don’t care if it is old school, new...

It’s funny. Back then, I was heavily into science. The sci-fi I did enjoy was the stuff that was more grounded in science. So, a future with bullets and slow FTL was more attractive to me. Sure, I liked Star Wars, but it was always fantasy in drag to me. No need for a sci-fi RPG if I want to...

What I most wanted to see? Gygax’s notes as he used them. More or less. In the vein of Arneson’s First Fantasy Campaign. I think there would be much to learn from seeing some of how one of the original Dungeon Masters actually worked rather than what he thought was best to publish. That was the...

I know people who collect RPG stuff like crazy but don’t get to play very much. I know people who play in multiple campaigns per week but buy maybe one book a year. I know people who buy whatever new book is out but use it with whatever system their group is currently interested in. I think...

Yeah, but AoOs don’t really do a very good job of it. And they only do it at all for pole-arms with reach, which brings us back to the secondary attack modes thing. The feats do better, but... IIRC, these aren’t in the core rules. Having to spend a feat on a feat from a supplement doesn’t...