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Over the years I have come to realize that I firmly exist in a kind of nebulous, liminal zone of RPG fandom that could be described as the Fringe. I haven't played in about five years, and really haven't played in a long-term campaign (i.e. a year plus) in decades. My hey-day of RPG interest was...

If you're into X, then play Dragonbane. If you're into Y, then play Shadowdark. If you're into Z, then play Pathfinder. And so on. "X, Y, Z" can be any specific or gestalt of qualities you feel like assembling, and of course include as many games as you like. I'd even suggest being vague as...

By realistic, I primarily mean differentiating what D&D calls AC into its two components: dodge/parry and damage reduction. Or to put it another way, a more realistic version of D&D would have to-hit vs. an opponent's ability to dodge, parry, or otherwise evade being actually hit, and also...

We've done this sort of thread (probably many) times before, but why not again? If you could command WotC to publish any book on any (D&D-related) topic, what would it be? They can be as outlandish as you want. Feel free to offer more than one. What comes to mind for me... Nentir Vale and...

First, I asked Qwen to define the most powerful 20th level D&D character possible. I then asked: Out of 100 possible combats, how often would that character defeat a Tarrasque? By comparison, I also asked Qwen to provide a list of the 10 most dangerous monsters and how often that character...

I asked Qwen: if you use the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons and you scale it towards real-world realism of skill development, what is the highest level a fighter could reach? Final Answer If D&D 5e were scaled toward real-world realism of skill development, the highest level a fighter...

One of my favorite experiences is what science fiction fandom has dubbed the "sense of wonder" - that cognitive-emotional sensation that is sometimes generated through a big idea that is something more than "cool, that's interesting," and perhaps something less than a truly...

One of my fondest memories of yore was running myself through the 1e DMG's random generator. This was 35+ years ago, but I think I'd make a single character or small party and then just start rolling dice late into the night. I wouldn't do it often, but can remember doing it in the dark of my...

Just a bit of fun. I know there are many others, but let's go with the Big Two plus add in Pathfinder's iconic city as a darkhorse and Sharn for something a bit different. Criteria...entirely up to you. I think favorite suffices, for whatever reason, be it just reading about and exploring in...

Part 1: What is a Grognard? First, a new definition of grognard: It starts with anyone older than the target audience age of D&D. Now of course that is rather nebulous, but I would think the target audience is the big part of the bell-curve of current D&D players, which is probably something...

...and they say, "We follow you online and love your opinions on geek stuff. We will pour tons of money into a franchise of your choice, with the caveat that it has to be something that has either never been brought to screen, or only very briefly and unsuccessfully. What do you want us to do?"...

We're now ten plus years into 5th edition and I've heard various whispers of people commenting that it is starting to feel a bit out-dated, perhaps not unlike AD&D in the mid-to-late 90s, after Indie games had innovated in various ways. I could be reading this wrong, of course, or more likely it...

Underrated: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I just don't get the hate for this film. Or rather, I think much of it is based on the silly notion (especially prevalent at the time) that the One True Way to make a superhero film is the MCU formula which, in hindsight, got tedious. BvS is epic...

Been thinking about humanoids lately for some reason (how could that be?!) and was wondering: What are the general demographics of humanoid species in your campaign world? If you don't have a homebrew, feel free to speculate on a published setting or the hypothetical "archetypal D&D world" as it...

Some of you might remember the charts I used to share, that look liked this: I actually did them for every edition, though I was in the process of revising them a few years ago and got bogged down in 2E and gave up. Anyhow, I tried updating this one as a reference point for discussion, namely...

Through its long history, D&D has dabbled with various notions as to what is core, though from the beginnings of AD&D to the present--a span of about 45 years--the trio of the PHB, DMG, and MM has been central. Along the way, various tomes have vied for the spot as the "fourth core"; growing up...

My personal context is important for what follows. I am not an active player - haven't played in a game in about five years, nor do I plan on playing within the foreseeable future. I will always love D&D, follow the game, and am not closed to playing at some point, but it just isn't a priority...

As far as I can tell, so far WotC has announced four books and a box set for 2025: the Monster Manual, Dragons Anthology, two Forgotten Realms books, and the new starter set. But have they mentioned a story arc? Presumably there's something in the works, as they've published at least one story...

I don't know a huge amount about board games, and wanted to crowd-source some ideas from EN World. Basically I'm looking for board games that deal with economics and geopolitics as a whole, that I can play with my teenage students. I know Monopoly, of course, and Catan has a strong economic...

Weren't there somewhat solid rumors about WotC re-issuing a classic setting this year, to go along with the 50th anniversary? With the lead candidate being a true Forgotten Realms campaign book? And what about the new settings they were talking about a couple years ago? And while we're at it...