Search results

Those things would make playing a guitar difficult, and that's one of the kinds of dexterity I normally associate with arcane spell failure. And yes, I know there's an open can of worms here. Caveat: I've assumed that we're talking 3.X. If you're designing for a clone and I missed the...

"This is a great new role-playing game where we play students and workers in a modern industrial society!"

I don't really care for "pick" or "build". The right approach is to develop a character in the course of play. Designing a pulp adventure game that allows for that, of course, is easier said than done.

I recommend that the bonus to AC be a Shield bonus, representing the fact that the gauntlets are strong enough to block incoming blows - they're basically as good as a buckler or light shield. You should also think about assigning them arcane failure and an armor check penalty.

I just want to mark that phrase for now. There are alternatives. One would hope that the characters attempt to flee when they're over their heads. It doesn't often occur to players to surrender, but a lot of enemies should demand it. If the party refuses, the death continues. If they...

That's not an instance of the position you were attacking. Please try harder. In the future, just write, "I know you are, but what am I?" ;) Everyone affecting a scandalized tone and saying, "Oh, I don't mean anything bad by that," can look back on a long history of people making the same...

You say "modify", I say, "expand upon". :) Agree completely.

Without quibbling, assuming that it's 1982 and the ref is playing straight out of the module and refusing to let the players break out of G1-3 - it's still not New School. By the conventions of the Old School, that ref is green or a jerk. He is wrong to try to force the players to carry on...

Are you kidding? I was going to take you on for treating the players like the cast of your production, but now they're being demoted to scenery?! I wrote the rest of the reply before seeing this on the proof-read. Clearly we have wildly different notions of how to run an RPG, and can probably...

Just think, for a moment, about all the optimizers you know. If you don't have any optimizer friends, this may be difficult. How many of them tend to self-describe as "power-gamers"? If they do use the term to self-describe, is it OK for them to say, but not for you to say? That's the funny...

When you first put up "tensions" and "intrigue", I had it in mind that perhaps this was an idea for a game in which the characters muddling is integral to potential disaster. But in a "default timeline that runs out 2-3 years", the players don't own the event. You've scripted something (and...

Let's go back to what Starfox wrote: Suppose the GM has a two-year plot to end the world in the works. But the introduction to the game doesn't mention this, it encourages the players to make characters deeply rooted in the detailed game world. Well, they do - making a gardener, a dancer, and a...

By putting into the game world, from the outset, that a potentially world-destroying event is in the post, the ref is engaged in telling his story, not running the game. I think what seems so wrong about the gardener, dancer, and stargazer case (GDS-case) is that the ref has determined their...

"You gosh-darn kids better start mapping the dungeon and get yourselves a caller, or there's gonna be some saving throws versus death magic! And while you're at it, get your fighters into some sensible armor!"

Power gamer is a pejorative term for optimizer. The two have the same relationship as prima donna and roleplayer. If you only ever use the pejorative to refer to a group, you're not just judgmental, you're prejudiced. There are optimizers who calmly go through the numbers, run their character...

For me, the center of the "school argument" is over what the guy behind the screen is doing. Rather than introduce the positions myself, let's take a quote from the 4e DMG: "When you start a campaign, you should have some idea of its end and how the characters will get there. Fundamentally...

I am glad that our exchange of RPG-snobbery has been successfully concluded. :) Seriously, "adventurer" is the default character type. Sneering that some characters are there for "roleplaying purposes" rather than looting (*) is not an argument against this being the default. Nor is it an...

A more thoughtful response deserves a more thoughtful response. I don't mean to say that all characters just want the shinies for the sake of putting in their money bin. But a basic assumption of the game is that all characters are seeking treasure (for reasons peculiar to them). It's quite...

Seeing as the exploration is part of the roleplaying, I don't buy the distinction. But perhaps you just play a dice-rolling game with occasional "cut-scene" conversations? If so, I hope you're enjoying it.

I know, the responses were very kind and helpful. But it's D&D - isn't everyone meant to be saying, "I want to make a character who goes on adventures looking for treasure, and can handle themselves in a fight"? (If that's the edition critique going on, then I applaud the subtlety of the...