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My kneejerk, semi-serious answer? D&D nowadays (whether it be OSR, 3E/Pathfinder, or 4E) is about the Triumph of Brute Force and Cynicism. :)

In a passing reference in the new Star Wars novel Choices of One we find out that Palpatine expected the Ewoks to cause as many problems for the Rebels as they might for his stormtroopers. It makes sense--it was only because of Threepio that the Rebels didn't wind up like the Imperials. And...

Curiously, Dave Gross identified this as one of his favorite articles in the interview done for last month's Dragon. I have a lot of fondness for his work and his handling of the magazine (for obvious reasons :) ), but while this article was a fun read and full of inspiration on places to look...

No comment on the rest, but doesn't anyone else remember that the "traditional Christmas layoffs" are a WotC 'tradition' (more like an occasional habit) that not only predates Hasbro's acquisition of WotC, but WotC's acquisition of TSR?

I know effects-based design. Effects-based design was one of the first things I discovered when stretching beyond D&D, and many of the systems I own material for and would like to try (HERO, M&M, Tri-Stat, Savage Worlds) are effects-based systems. 4E is an effects-based system--but it's a...

Actually, it appears that BECMI appealed more to older gamers in some respects. "The players who wanted simplified rules with less structure (like those in D&D Basic) were not the beginners who hadn't yet mastered the intricacies of RPGs but rather the veteran players who had the experience and...

What's the system for campaigns meant to feel like a Final Fantasy game from the SNES, or Dragon Quest (which has remained fairly constant in feel across five systems)? :)

What if you got rid of the one thing that I think has really distorted the character creation process in 4E--the ability score modifiers to attack rolls? Score synergy becomes more an extra than an essential if it's only modifying damage rolls and rider effects. On 5E in general, I like Jack...

You know, given the unexpected response My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has received from older audiences, I have to wonder if WotC isn't giving an updated version of this serious consideration right now.

I strongly suspect 2014, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of D&D. I also think brainstorming and 'blue-sky' design work has already begun, and that Mearls' columns are part of that process, trying to get a sense for what the fans want. Similar things happened in the lead-up to 2E and 3E...

Clerics. They hardwire too many things into the game's assumptions about the world, magic, and religion.

Actually, I just noticed that they corrected that when they transplanted the sidebar into the Rules Compendium--it lists the first campaign settings as Greyhawk, Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms. Granted, there was a bit of a 'get out the vote' effort on the DL boards, which may have...

Glad to help. The pricing objections are reasonable enough, but I would note that for the core rules, at least, you do get what you pay for--two full-color, hardcover books with a total page count of nearly 800. It may be too much money, but it's hard for anyone to call it a ripoff. :)

$50 is for the genre book--the playing and campaigning advice--not the game rules. I think the only substantial update in the 6E Champions genre book, beyond bringing it from 5E to 6E rules, is the Quick Superhuman Generator, which allows you to build a starting Champions character with a few...

Yes, but as mentioned above, XP for treasure was downplayed to the point that many people never even realized it was an option until exposure to 1E or the rise of the OSR. I imagine that groups that transitioned from 1E to 2E were more likely to keep it, but those of us who started with 2E never...

It's an optional rule, but it is in the 2E DMG, at least the original version. However, since it's a blue-shaded paragraph in the standard text, instead of a distinct sidebar or subsection, it's easy to miss. (The same goes for the 'fighters get extra attacks against opponents of less than 1...

Ah, but WotC was surveying an environment dominated by 2E, which downplayed treasure as a source of XP. Thus, the B/Q figures would be about 15-20 years out of date in regard to most of the data WotC was taking into consideration.

That was a design choice--Dragonlance was always focused around the One Story (and has struggled to escape that problem, with varying results, for over a quarter-century); the Realms were intended as a broad-spectrum setting where you could have a whole bunch of different things going on at...

I don't know if it's a difference between 'fantasy-novel' and 'fantasy-world' play as much as a difference between definitions of a campaign. As I understand it, under the Gygaxian/early D&D model, campaigns often involved multiple and fissiparious groups that all adventured in the same world...

Who wrote it? That's not an idle question. I'm coming to think that what's called the "Old School" movement might be more accurately called the "Gygaxian Tradition" movement--it seems very much concerned with the Game As Gygax Intended and Played It, passed down by word of mouth and the...