Search results

  1. M.L. Martin

    D&D 5E (2014) Another Critical Hits 5E Report

    For most of the 'old school' group, the exploration is the point and the caution is smart game play. 'Action', if by that you mean combat, is generally to be avoided in favor of cunning plans and easier ways to get to the treasure. 'Story' is a non-element. At least, that's how I understand it...
  2. M.L. Martin

    Any love for Fuzion?

    I've read the DBZ book (my local library had a copy), and I wasn't terribly impressed, especially since it uses the most stripped-down version of the rules. If you're a DBZ fan, it's probably a worthwhile purchase, but if you're only after the system, you can find it free (and legal!) here...
  3. M.L. Martin

    Where is Christopher Perkins in all this?

    Yes, but Miranda was signed on just before the buyout. Kim Mohan goes back to before AD&D, if memory serves. Though I don't believe either of them has been there continuously since their first hirings--I know Mohan left for a while from the mid-80s to early 90s, and I think Miranda's been...
  4. M.L. Martin

    Any love for Fuzion?

    A large part of the negative reaction was the sense of 'bait and switch'--HERO Games had been working on HERO 5E, it was expected to be coming out at about the same time, and so when Champions: New Millennium came out, it felt like something other than what HERO fans had been expecting. There...
  5. M.L. Martin

    What would 2e have been if the designers implemented their desired changes?

    To answer the original question: Castles & Crusades (ascending AC and saves linked to attributes were two things they wanted to do but either couldn't do for backwards compatibility or couldn't work out how to do) with a little less 1E/Gygaxian feel, a bit more polish, maybe not quite so unified...
  6. M.L. Martin

    Let's read the entire run

    I haven't read it since the initial release, but I have to agree. It's not like Lord Toede, which is off-center but feels like DL (given that Jeff Grubb was part of the original team, that's no surprise). Siege . . . is just . . . odd. Not necessarily bad, but odd. But then, that may be...
  7. M.L. Martin

    ...

    In fairness, that got leaked long before the Trolls wanted to announce it. On the main topic, I hope to see a strong family resemblance, but D&DN will probably not be quite so 1E in its aesthetic and philosophy. The CKG's ramblings on the importance of equipment left me cold, for example, and...
  8. M.L. Martin

    D&D 5E (2014) Should classes retain traditional alignment restrictions in 5E?

    I want to be able to limit the paladin to Good, Lawful, or Lawful/Good alignment as an option--there are certain genres and game types where the 'shining knight' archetype fits better than the martial/divine champion of 'pick a god, any god'. I don't need it as the baseline, but I'd like it to...
  9. M.L. Martin

    Was Thac0 really that bad?

    I think it was in issue #264 (October 1999).
  10. M.L. Martin

    Is anybody else seeing C&C here?

    I've been seeing C&C echoes in it for a few weeks, actually, once the announcement was made and it became more obvious that last year's L&L columns were brainstorming for it. The possibility of a C&C-style baseline with more options and access to all of WotC's IP and resources sounds very good...
  11. M.L. Martin

    D&D 5E (2014) What happens if 5E fails to unite the base?

    Well, not only is the environment different, but the state of information is different as well--a few playtesters took the announcement as meaning (at least for a while) that the NDA was lifted, so we were getting a lot of hints in those early days. The information flow is much more controlled...
  12. M.L. Martin

    'Right Out of the Box', 'Some Assembly Required' and 'Do It Yourself'

    Monte Cook started his career at Iron Crown Enterprises (publishers of the HERO System from the mid-80s to late 90s) and did some Champions work. The resemblances have been noted, and the 'creeping HEROization' of D&D was a phrase thrown around for a little while during 3E's midpoint. I'd...
  13. M.L. Martin

    Old Appearances in Dragon's Forum!

    I try to forget my contribution to Forum. ;) :blush: (#193, May 1993). I was 13, working out some issues with my local gaming group, and not entirely fair or accurate in doing so. I prefer to look back on my published articles. :)
  14. M.L. Martin

    DDXP Begins Today!

    Combat, Exploration, and Role-Playing--the three key pillars that cover about 90% of the game experience, and that they want to really get right and make sure all classes can participate in to some extent. (The other 10% is probably niche modules like crafting, mass combat, dominion...
  15. M.L. Martin

    DDXP Begins Today!

    WotC reversed that earlier this week. But it's about 15 minutes to launch and I don't see any signs of live streaming. Maybe we'll get a podcast recording later.
  16. M.L. Martin

    Castles & Crusades question

    I own the Digest Version of the CKG, and assuming they use the same method, it's the exact same text and layout scaled down to the digest-sized pages. It's not unreadable, but it can be a bit of a strain. The eBook versions for Kindle and Nook are only $10, so if you have one of those, that...
  17. M.L. Martin

    D&D XP News Blackout -- DEBUNKED

    Bear in mind that we don't have any real idea as to the parameters of the NDA yet. It may simply be to give WotC a few days to get their own information and spin out there and slow down the flood on the Internet, or to prevent full character sheets or the whole module from being reposted.
  18. M.L. Martin

    D&D XP News Blackout -- DEBUNKED

    That post is two weeks old. WotC tweeted yesterday that the seminars would not in fact require NDAs.
  19. M.L. Martin

    D&D 5E (2014) What happens if 5E fails to unite the base?

    I'm not entirely sure about that--some of the comments that have been made about 4E can be read that way, and WotC has never managed to launch a new edition without tearing down its immediate predecessor. (Although with a sample size of 2, it's tough to extrapolate. :) ) You, at least, can...
  20. M.L. Martin

    Was Thac0 really that bad?

    True, it didn't start with 2E--but 2E is when a) it became the standard instead of a shortcut/alternative to using the combat matrices, and b) TSR would have had the first real opportunity to change to the ascending AC approach or something different.
Top