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Is there a qualitative difference between spells which influence behaviour (charm, feeblemind, dominate, fear etc.) and skills which provoke an emotional and behavioural response from a PC? Besides convention/tradition, and “it’s magic,” that is. It seems like a pretty arbitrary distinction to me.

My mother was concerned that I spent every waking hour either playing D&D or preparing to play it - which, in her defense, was pretty much true; this was more about it detracting from my academic performance, though. She was (and still is, bless her) super liberal, and never attempted to curb or...

At the risk of being very dark, I think history is full of examples of previously moral people becoming monsters when confronted with the right combination of stressors, and they would have similarly asserted an inability to be monsters - until those stressors were applied. The lines between...

I think this is pretty central to a good RP experience for me, regardless of the system used - the notion of uncertainty with regard to how a character might react in a given situation - although I'm not necessarily advocating that the dice be used as the (only) means by which that uncertainty...

I don't think there are any things in my subjective mental state which I can assert as fact. I have encountered situations which - although superficially similar to prior experiences - have evoked quite different emotional reactions in me, and prompted quite different responses. Most of my...

I think this makes a bold assertion about the ontology of consciousness which cannot be taken as given, and makes a shaky foundation for your argument. I think, in the real world, the most that any of us can do is say "If I'm confronted with situation X, I'd like to think that my response would...

If you use words to mean things which they do not conventionally mean, then you will find communication with other humans to be challenging. None of what you write is comprehensible to a rational thinker.

I think that this is an interesting question, but not one which is necessarily very easy to answer as I think there are lots of equally plausible solutions. I would begin by examining the phenomena which humans encounter which can be said to be truly universal. These would include Birth Death...

Sure, that's fine. But then it's not really about "being that lucky all the time," and that probably isn't a useful way to frame it. It seems to be more about the extent to which a player's choices can or should override the dice. I feel this ground has been trod aforetimes.

I get what you're saying. I guess I'm just struggling to see the difference - in terms of verisimilitude or plausibility - between a character who is "lucky all the time" and a character who routinely survives fireballs, multiple crossbow bolts, falling off of 100-ft cliffs etc. because he has...

Awesome movie. Eggers continues to knock it out of the park - very hard with this one, as the subject matter is so well trod. Skarsgard was terrifying as Orlok. I'd be surprised if he didn't have PTSD after that role. That said, none of Eggers' other movies can reach the heights of The Witch...

I consider myself pretty cynical, but even I wouldn't go that far. Not least because ascribing motivation to another's actions is impossible without invoking our own subjective perspective. Do I believe that action which does not benefit us - or promise to benefit us - in some way (direct...

Very late to this thread, and apologies as I don't have the time to read 600+ posts. For my part, if it's a long-running campaign, I prefer character deaths to occur whenever the player deems it appropriate. Otherwise, the character is defeated - which will carry a range of other agreed...

I like this a lot. But it does leave open the role of the True Neutral with regard to NG and NE. Where Law and Chaos are removed as driving forces, what is the motivating ideology which sees a balance between Good and Evil as desirable? Are NG and NE equally expedient perspectives in...

I think it's easy to reconcile wrt. Law vs Chaos. I think that this is a hard circle to square when you're talking about metaphysical moral forces, i.e. actually "Good" vs actually "Evil." I think if you rather entertain ideas of "sacred" and "profane" or "holy" and "unholy" it becomes much...

Elves Orcs Dwarves Hobbits Halflings I won't celebrate gnomes or goblins as I rather like them.

The Rao which can be spoken is not the constant Rao.

Is this a beatnik thing? Anyway, I think the Greyhawk deities are great. I appreciate that: 1) There was a real effort to tie different groups of deities to different human ethnic groups, rather than have some kind of "universal pantheon." 2) They are - largely - original, and Gygax didn't try...

102. The Temple of Tejobih The reliquary of the demilich Idyam in Shûth 103. Andhakarah The chthonic goddess of darkness, who incarnated as Eadric's mother. A great bhiti. 104. The Submission of Carasch The demon acknowledges the authority of the Ahma 105. The Perfection of Shomei...