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  1. Paul Farquhar

    Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands - First Impressions

    No, I’m suggesting that the module did not tell you how you should play it, and people interpreted it in different ways. Gygax certainly did not assume PCs were good and heroic though - that was quite foreign to his games. Given his interest in medieval history, he should certainly have known...
  2. Paul Farquhar

    Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands - First Impressions

    You are assuming the PCs want to kill the orcs because they are good. In fact, there is no particular reason why the PCs should care that the orcs are killing people unless there is some way they can profit by it. In Beyond the Black River, whist Conan helps the imperialist colonisers in the...
  3. Paul Farquhar

    Spoilers Alien: Earth Spoiler Thread

    The series justifies that by pointing out that the Maginot crew are cheap and expendable, and the hybrids are kids, with the lack of sense that goes with that.
  4. Paul Farquhar

    D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Infinite Staircase?

    Plenty of real world see pods explode. Just not usually fruit, and not usually doing that much damage. The puzzle needs to have some sort hazard for walking on the ground. But Hickman did tend to be quite jokey (also see Ravenloft), and Pharaoh is a parody of Mummy movies. If you want want to...
  5. Paul Farquhar

    Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands - First Impressions

    My memory of those days, it was usually the PCs. Which fits with the Conan inspiration - thief, murderer and rapist as he was (This module was heavily influenced by the Conan story Beyond the Black River). As I’ve said before, in those pre-internet days, people didn’t realise that everyone was...
  6. Paul Farquhar

    D&D General 5.5 PHB Species Options

    My players like halflings and warforged. And we have had a couple of gnomes. But I don't think my players are choosing based on power or popularity. BG3 gnomes are pretty ugly, so that is probably a factor. But you definitely want Speak with Animals in BG3.
  7. Paul Farquhar

    Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands - First Impressions

    This adventure was for Basic rules. It's didn't have good and evil, only Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic (and there was no recommendation as to what side the PCs should pick). No paladins either for that matter. I've come across several accounts of players who sided with the humanoids and helped...
  8. Paul Farquhar

    Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands - First Impressions

    I'm sure they weren't. Most of my players weren't, and they have children of their own now! But nostalgia is even stronger in people who weren't around to remember how bad the reality was. Also see: the War.
  9. Paul Farquhar

    D&D General 5.5 PHB Species Options

    Most of them don’t scale well at high level though.
  10. Paul Farquhar

    D&D General 5.5 PHB Species Options

    There is a difference between being mechanically strong and being interesting. The wisdom save advantage is only really good if you also have proficiency, which limits you to cleric, druid, wizard, paladin, warlock and monk to get the most from it. And the spells are only useful in that they...
  11. Paul Farquhar

    D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Infinite Staircase?

    As written, the fruit explode irrespective of if they fall in the water or not. This room is already extremely trivial in 5e, if anything I would look to make it harder, not easier.
  12. Paul Farquhar

    D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Infinite Staircase?

    If it’s like a coconut the fruit will be clustered around the trunk, and thus fall in the centre of the tree’s space.
  13. Paul Farquhar

    D&D General [rant]The conservatism of D&D fans is exhausting.

    They were graded Inadequate.
  14. Paul Farquhar

    D&D General [rant]The conservatism of D&D fans is exhausting.

    Probably not, but it’s done with teachers all the time so 🤷‍♂️ .
  15. Paul Farquhar

    Spoilers Alien: Earth Spoiler Thread

    I think they were using Midge as a personal name, not a species name. A long long time ago there were children’s stories and a TV series about Mary, Mungo and Midge. Mary was a human child, Mungo was a dog and Midge was a mouse.
  16. Paul Farquhar

    D&D 5E (2024) The 4 Classes I Would Not Play 1-20 In 5.5

    Since you are creating content without assuming a rogue will be in the party, you aren’t going to put high DC skill checks on a critical path. Maybe you miss some loot or can’t avoid the odd fight, but overall, it doesn’t matter because it can’t matter. NB, I’ve never liked thieves/rogues in...
  17. Paul Farquhar

    D&D 5E (2024) The 4 Classes I Would Not Play 1-20 In 5.5

    If there are six PC they can cover all the important proficiencies even if they only have four each. Rogue extra proficiencies are only useful in a small party.
  18. Paul Farquhar

    Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands - First Impressions

    Even if you didn’t own that, it boils down to “do you want to introduce new players to the game?” If you don’t, there isn’t much reason to buy this. I’m buying it because I have grandchildren.
  19. Paul Farquhar

    D&D General Why do we color-code Dragons?

    Yeah, comes from 3rd edition. Maybe the introduction of dragonborn caused mainline D&D to forget it?
  20. Paul Farquhar

    D&D General Why do we color-code Dragons?

    I've come across that in several adventures, going back as far as third edition. No special abilities, but colour and markings indicate tribe or draconic affiliation.
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