Search results

I've speculated that D&D is the success that it is because its current mechanics better support the kind of heroic gameplay that has predominated since the mid 1980s while being more streamlined than other modern versions of D&D. TSR-era D&D had streamlined mechanics (well, aside from THAC0 or...

So... I live in Canada but I want these stamps. I better go see if I can order them anyway.

Just wanted to chime in saying there's some really good stuff in this thread!

This discussion has me thinking about two video games I've played that have a bit of an "older school" vibe to them: Darkest Dungeon I'm playing a lot of this at the moment. For those unfamiliar with it, it's a tactical dungeon-crawler with intricate 2D-positional combat, a dungeon-exploration...

Tiamat has two rounds left.

I don't really perceive @pemerton's original post privileging any particular style of playing a roleplaying game. Indeed, it mostly seems (to me at any rate) to assert the rather non-controversial point that what distinguishes tabletop RPGs from other kinds of game (most notably board games or...

The work progresses. While I'm working on the equipment rules, I've been poring over 4e books and the new PF2e remaster books for inspiration. By happenstance, I noticed PF2e has equipment entries for assistive devices (wheelchairs, crutches, etc.). That's inspiration! I've added some such...

It seems to me that part of the premise in the OP involves imputing the generation of fiction to the die roll where it does not exist. E.g. in D&D, an attack roll actually generates only so much fiction: (1) natural 1 or total < AC means the attack misses (2) total >= AC means the attack hits...

I could see it for retro-clone games versus 5e-likes such as Shadowdark - the mechanics are not broadly compatible. But I don't think converting adventures is especially difficult, and I suspect that there's not enough money on the table to make it worth it converting anything else, unlike...

Apropos of long combats, we just had one that went on for ten hours and two-and-a-half game sessions. I wouldn't say anyone's turns took especially long, since we're in lower paragon (and I suspect that we're not especially optimised for interrupts outside of our battlemind) but there were a lot...

I've been playing it weekly for quite a while now. Been enjoying myself. I do find the power blocks visually tiring to read when you're looking at dozens of them in a two-page spread, although I do like how they emphasize ease of use. Same thing with the streamlined areas of effect.

The work progresses. I'm currently systemically revising the rules of gameplay. The Tome of Rules is basically going to be divided into four parts: Rules of Play - The actual rules for playing the game. If I get the layout correct, these will run from most basic/foundational to most...

Upon reflection, I'm wondering if a specific term is really needed. If, say, a list of some or all "Jacquays" items appeared in the DMG, would there be a specific term of art? I wouldn't think so. In fact, the DMG has a list of ways to complexify a dungeon on page 102 that includes at least...

@Reynard Unquestionably yes you do, if you want the spell to preserve the broader scope of effects of the 5e spell. It's all well and good if "Reynard's teleport" doesn't affect objects, doesn't require the destination be known to the caster, or has a binary pass/fail "you get where you...

Apropos of overlong spell descriptions, teleport starts at the bottom quarter of the left-side column on page 281, takes up the entire right-side column on the next page, and then leaves two orphan lines of text atop page 282! Surely there could have been an editing pass to get the spell's...

I see what you did there.

I suspect the closest you can get to an "objective" answer is an amount of math that neither falls short of whatever amount you believe to be the minimum required for your system nor exceeds of the maximum your intended player base is prepared to tolerate during their leisure time activities.

Yeah, I can't blame the person who coined the term and codified its meaning for feeling like he has enough "ownership" of it (as it were) to use a derivative of his own name when renaming the term. That stated, I'm inclined to agree that a verb that isn't based on someone's name at all is a...

Granting that language is always an evolving thing, there is pretty obviously a difference between "war" and "battle" as the terms are usually used today, such that the two are fundamentally not alike. It's not clear to me what you expect to gain from using words in a manner that does not...