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Boudic(c)a's history is a great example of dubious (really, nonexistent) primary sources. We have Tacitus and Suetonius writing 30-60 years after purported events (which they did not witness), and Cassius Dio 150 (!) years later. Don't trust any of it. Did something happen? - sure. Can we know...

Fashions in history are as subject to change as any other area, and there is a temptation amongst scholars to throw out the baby with the bathwater when the next shiny thesis comes along. History deals largely with intuitive probabilities, and so my general advice would be take everything with a...

60 seconds isn't long. If I had time to think about it first, I'd grab a bag and throw in: All of my wife's jewellery from her drawer. Then I'd run downstairs and empty the spice cabinet, especially: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger. I'd grab my bag of chef’s knives. The magnifying glass and...

I think this is crucial. I think if adversaries are intelligently managed - i.e. they recognize that a caster is about to cast a spell, or reasonably suspect a caster, and ready actions accordingly - then the in-combat effectiveness of casters can be rather mitigated. Their out-of-combat...

@Yora Just a couple of quick thoughts, as you seem to be leaning toward a heavily house-ruled 3.0, and I'm wondering at what point does a retroclone become just a modified ruleset? The 3e era was awash with various attempts to find "balance" or to emphasise certain elements, and downplay or...

Really enjoyed Fringe - mostly because of Denethor John Noble - and think it deserves some love. It does wobble at the end, though. Disappointed that Deadwood isn't there. The series is pure class. Breaking Bad should be #1. Only because The Sopranos is a dubious entrant. Man, HBO have really...

I have that itch, although not as much as I previously did. I'd suggest it's primarily about grounding the GM in the world; forming a solid, predictable set of internalized principles, from which characters and events can logically unfold. As such, it's more about evoking a rather nebulous sense...

Perhaps I wasn’t communicating clearly. When devising motifs to evoke a fantastic, folkloric or mythical sense, it is natural to draw on the kind of patterns which have been established in literature, myths and folklore. These motifs do not typically accord with our modern values, because they...

This. I think that using clinical terms (however mutable and poorly defined) is probably best avoided - although that's not to say that I haven't in the past. Also - as with biological taxonomy - you have modernistic constructions impinging on a fantastic worldview, and it strikes me as...

Runequest 2nd edition. Especially Griffin Mountain.

Fair enough. Thanks for clearing that up.

Without a link or additional context this comment doesn't strike me as overly helpful, and comes across as a little dismissive.

I think that the use of scientific taxonomic nomenclature ("subspecies") in a fantasy rpg is generally thematically inappropriate.

Canadian bacon is from the loin. It is cured, pre-cooked, unsmoked and typically sliced thin (for pizza or eggs benedict). It is basically prepared the same way as ham, although ham comes from the rump or back leg. Back bacon is also from the loin: cured, uncooked and may be smoked or unsmoked...

I have very minimal experience of Companion-level D&D as a player, and nothing beyond, but while the article brings up some interesting points, I'm not sure that its concluding remarks about a bifurcated game (in terms of tone) between BECM and AD&D are warranted. Or that -CM was necessarily...

From the article: Ehh. Fonkin Hoddypeak, Beek Gwenders and Darg Blonke take issue with that assertion.

What was the question, again? Oh, yes. Nostalgia - gives me a tingly feeling Streamlined and comprehensible rules Stylish and evocative Fast to get started and fast play Dead easy for noobs Some classic modules I don't need an 18-wheeler to take the ruleset to another venue I don't get...

Stonehenge and Avebury are generally regarded as being late Neolithic structures from the mid 3rd millennium BCE - the structures don't show any evidence of being worked with metal tools. West Kennet long barrow - associated with the Avebury complex - is much older, from around 3700 BCE...

The notion of the gods needing worship - and their power being proportional to their worshippers' number (and quality) comes to D&D primarily through Leiber (Lean Times in Lankhmar and Under the Thumbs of the Gods) and Moorcock (where it's pretty ubiquitous), but the trope has a long history...

Dal Riata was founded around 500CE, some 1000 years after the Celtic Iron Age began, and flourished as a post-Roman, Christian kingdom in the 6th and 7th centuries. Post-Roman to the extent that Kintyre and Hibernia were never Roman in the first place.