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  1. M.T. Black

    Lord of the Rings Roleplaying 5E

    I finally got around to playing The Lord of the Rings 5E last night. My regular D&D group is playing the sample adventure, "The Star of the Mist". We were using the version in D&D Beyond, which has some definite problems with the implementation. The most serious is that it lacks the new skills...
  2. M.T. Black

    Chaosium Names New CEO, Mike Mearls Departs Company

    As others have noted, Asmodee still have the rights to some good RPG IP (Star Wars, Legend of the Five Rings, Arkham Horror, Genesys, and more). Assuming that's where Mearls is going, I'll be fascinated to see where he takes these games.
  3. M.T. Black

    Dragon Reflections #93

    I like it to, and it was undoubtedly the most influential article coming out of this issue. Still, I wish they hadn't given alternate pronunciations and had just nailed their colours to the mast for each one.
  4. M.T. Black

    Dragon Reflections #93

    Dragon Publishing released Dragon #93 in January 1985. It is 100 pages long and has a cover price of $3.00. This issue features world crafting, high-level druids, and a fishy ecology! The cover is by Jeff Busch and depicts the transformation of a weretiger, with a real tiger standing guard in...
  5. M.T. Black

    White Dwarf Reflections #21

    Yeah, they were certainly popular in my neck of the woods (Australia). They were seen as adult and literate in a way that a lot of fantasy was not. The tone was depressing and pace pretty slow. I read the first six books with decreasing pleasure. There were a few really epic scenes, but it was a...
  6. M.T. Black

    D&D General Festivals, Fairs, and Holy Days

    When I started writing my Iskandar setting, I did a deep dive into real medieval societies. One thing I noticed was that holy days/fairs/festivals were really common and important in those societies, and none of the D&D games I'd run or played in ever reflected that well. I wanted to change...
  7. M.T. Black

    Dragon Reflections #92

    Or... if the elves were baddies... it was in a cold, imperious, "don't bother us with your problems, mortal" sort of way. Not just plain hot-blooded murderers.
  8. M.T. Black

    Dragon Reflections #92

    Yeah, one thing I did like about the adventure is that they made an elf the baddie. That did not often happen in those days.
  9. M.T. Black

    Dragon Reflections #92

    The article that brought this home for me was "It's not easy being good" by Roger E. Moore in Dragon #51. Moore insisted that paladins would not associate with evil characters. It so happened that our lawful good paladin, Elric, was good pals with Zyx, the party's chaotic evil magic-user, and I...
  10. M.T. Black

    Dragon Reflections #92

    Dragon Publishing released Dragon #92 in December 1984. It is 100 pages long and has a cover price of $3.00. This issue features clerics, ettins, and spellbooks! The cover is called "Bridge of Sorrows," painted by Denis Beauvais, and captures a wizard, barbarian, and centaur facing off...
  11. M.T. Black

    Do Tariffs Apply To RPG Books? Maybe, Maybe Not!

    Yes. If anyone knows of an agent who has cleared an RPG book under the tariff exemption, please let me know :-)
  12. M.T. Black

    Do Tariffs Apply To RPG Books? Maybe, Maybe Not!

    I have a friend who has several tons of RPG books currently on a ship from China. Despite extensive arguing, his customs broker insists they must be classified as games, and subject to the tariff. He is weighing his options.
  13. M.T. Black

    D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

    Thanks for the list, and I will look up some of those. I notice you didn't mention TSR's "Fab Four" from the 80s - Elmore, Easley, Parkinson, Caldwell. What's your opinion of their work?
  14. M.T. Black

    D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

    I can't comment on the other, more technical, critiques you made. But the anatomy looked ok to me - in that it looks like a woman holding a sword. What is it about the anatomy that is bad?
  15. M.T. Black

    D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

    Here’s another example of the airbrush/acrylic emulation technique:
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    52d21e9a-5e87-45d3-a842-877560f40645.png

  17. M.T. Black

    D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

    Once the bots can write and draw as well as humans, it's an open question whether my publications will have much commercial value anymore. Myself and other indie creators are grappling with this now, and I know some who are planning to exit the industry before the "AI apocalypse" hits. As...
  18. M.T. Black

    D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

    I know this is a controversial topic, and that is why we have this thread - so the conversation can stay here. Folks can easily avoid this discussion if they wish. For the record, I don't use AI art in any of my commercial products, as you can easily verify. This thread is for experiments and...
  19. M.T. Black

    D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

    I've been experimenting with an airbrush/acrylic look that is a bit similar to the 80s/90s TSR art.Here's an attempt at the DMG 1E in that style:
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    0587746f-8ca5-4369-9e62-e729d02a17d1.png

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