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I am a palladium hater. I have been for a considerable length of time, ever since I realized that these games are clunky and just plain poorly put together. I remember, once, buying the Rifts core RPG, skimming through it multiple times, and concluding that I didn't have the complete game. I...

Well, in reality, you wouldn't see too many torches in hallways and the like - you'd probably carry a candle or something with you. Hell, the churches made candles simply because they could be longer-burning. So, your movies and novels are kind of less accurate than your gaming supplies -...

We, as fantasy-obsessed nerds with no real lives to speak of (*cough*) don't often give our real world enough props. Sure, we talk about how awesome it is that our 2nd level wizard took down all those orcs with a sleep spell, but do we ever talk about just how cool it is that we can buy...

Also, just thinking out loud here, could you maybe remechanic your character, but keep the fluff? For example, say you were a shaman in 4th Ed, and don't like how the class works. Could you remake your character as a warlord (or cleric, or artificer, or whatever) and explain the change away in...

I have two players who are known to do this, and who did it twice each in my 4e game that ended last month. They just hit a point where they want to make new characters, and then will show up at the session and say "hey, here's my new Fighter! Can we write him into the plot?" To counteract...

Didn't realize until this thread that I've played a few different games in the last year. 4e, 3e, BECMI, and Savage Worlds. Also, the 4e Gamma World, and an upcoming Pathfinder/E6 game. Wow. Not on that list, by the way, is the wonderful d6 system, which is a lot of fun. Also, why isn't...

I'm curious about the old TSR Alternity System. I don't really know anything about it, other than that it supposedly played fairly quickly, had the 2e game mentality (and rules that worked to support that game type), and was supposed to be fairly broad in what it could support. If anyone who...

I used it once, in 2e. I was around 12 at the time, and was running a mini campaign for my dad and my little brother. There may have been a third player, but I'm not sure, now. Anyways, the PCs were wandering the lands when they heard signs of a battle, and saw the Tarassque fighting a band...

side note Lanefan PM for ya. :) /side note

Sorry, I disagree. If there is something that makes a player uncomfortable, even if it isn't a true "phobia", the GM should avoid that subject matter. There is no rule that says there has to be spiders in D&D - you can run a perfectly fine game without them. Saying that the player should...

This bugged me too, and was something I seriously considered changing when we had a BECMI mini-campaign about six months ago. And then I re-read the BECMI rules. If it's not in 1e, I highly recommend adopting this rule: F/R Traps does NOT trigger the trap on a failed roll! A lot of GMs have...

Sons of Kyuss can't really be used in my games, at least as named. This is because I'm a huge fan of the band Kyuss (named after the monster!) and most of my players either are fans too, or know about my band love. I'd be too tempted to throw in song titles during the encounter. "Curse you...

Way back when I ran 2e, one of the main house rules we had in effect was shortening the combat round; sometimes, we shortened it to 30 seconds, although I think most of the time, it was at around 15 seconds long. Since we switched to 3e (and later, 4e, and now, switching back to 3e), we've...

Earthdawn. Not only is it a great read, with a great setting, but there are a few different edtions and books are relatively easy to pick up. And the system's mechanics are generally pretty good, with the exception of a few wonky powers.

Best, most succint advice ever. I need to be a fly on the wall at one of your games, ha.

For my Players, it was the Balhannoth, from the 4e monster manual. It had an alter reality ability that made it very creepy, and its natural powers made it highly resistant to the group's established combat techniques. Rust Monsters are an obvious feared monster, although I don't think they're...

Well, it depends. Unless I spend hours and hours describing the setting of Dark Sun to you, you might not realize just how much defiling is hated by the populace - until you cast a spell in the town square, and get chased out of town. Likewise, if my campaign has a noble warrior sergeant-type...

Holy. I can't believe how much work has gone into this. I have to admit, I'm kind of proud to see that what began as a spur of the moment post has such momentum and is getting surprisingly close to coming to fruition. Keep up the good work, everyone! And remember to browse through Gary's...

Okay. So even in videogames that describe themselves as "sandboxy", there is usually a period of railroading for the first little bit, wherein the player learns the ropes. This is a situation where player choice is minimal, and the few choices that have a resolution that will affect future...

It's all good. I was kind of just laughing about it. :) Exactly. And unfortunately, 4e's combats are long, even the small ones. So, having to throw basic "mean nothings" at the group just so they're depleted enough to fight the BBEG of the dungeon is kind of rough. I can give a good...