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I assume "subversive" means they're going to try to subvert "typical" LotR-y fantasy expectations in terms of characters and/or setting, so (if the latter) something like Eberron, Dark Sun, Planescape or Spelljammer rather than FR, Greyhawk, or Dragonlance. I'm aware it has pretty much zero...

Although I can completely see this point, the original question was more whether, given that AIs are often gender-coded in fiction, whether patterns exist in how they are coded. For what it's worth some of my favourite AIs in fiction are the ones in Iain M Banks' Culture series, and I don't...

Not sure I know this one but sounds a bit like a gender-swapped "Demon Seed" (1977), which I suppose adds another to the "male-presenting AI goes rogue, has to be destroyed" category.

Actually (and I'd forgotten this myself), one of the commenters on the StackExchange thread pointed out that Mike became Michelle when talking to Wyo.

(Really hoping this stimulates an interesting discussion and not... the other kind...)

So, the Sci Fi & Fantasy stack exchange shuffles old questions to the top sometimes, and last week I saw this one (from 2013): Why are AI systems almost always feminine?. It attracted a range of answers but the consensus seemed to be that there was no clear gender bias in the genders of AIs in...

Wait, what? I think you just made my day. (edit: £150?! The new HeroQuest will see a UK release after all)

Hah - just finishing up book 3 of Broken Earth myself. What did you think? Although I may have to put it on pause for a few days - I have to read War with the Newts before a SF book club meeting on Monday...

There are some things about "default" D&D that strike me (in the UK) as quite American ideas, but I don't usually mess with them in games as (probably not coincidentally) they also make things simpler. The biggest one that springs to mind is the lack of language barriers between most human cultures.

Flight of Dragons--19 The Last Unicorn--25 The Hobbit--21 The Lord of the Rings--20 The Return of the King--18 Black Cauldron--10 Wizards--24 Princess Mononoke--25 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind--20 Spirited Away--21 Secret of Nimh--26 How to Train Your Dragon--15 Kubo and the Two...

Hasn't it always been a central Waterdeep location? As you say, it's the entrance to Undermountain so was literally the only location in Waterdeep I could have named in 2e (we ran a Dales/Moonsea campaign). Heck, it still is. Also I vaguely remember there's some significance to Durnan (the guy...

Very true (for the supplements and novels, at least - apart from the SSI games I don't recall any other PC adaptations until Baldur's Gate, and I can only think of ones from DL and FR. It's entirely possible I missed some, though). It doesn't prove the opposite either, though, and awareness of...

I don't think that's entirely accurate. IIRC they were pumping out supplements, had a series of tie in novels and a PC game by the time WoTC took over, at which point it became one of the lines they dropped. It wasn't FR but it wasn't exactly Red Steel either.

*Technically*, but the only system we played where PCs had a shorter life expectancy was Paranoia :D Actually, for a more serious contribution: for CoC 5e the progression was skill only (no hp), although you might learn new spells and get better equipment. IIRC the mechanic was: any skill you...

Interesting that nobody has mentioned Birthright yet, which I'd say had some of the richest fluff of any 2e setting but would require some rebalancing for Wizards/Magicians and war magic. I'd publish the realm-management bit as a standalone boardgame and make the setting conversion available for...

I have a related problem: I'm playing SKT almost as a sandbox (which is basically the only way to play it, I'd argue), but am using milestone levelling. They've followed all but two possible side-quests so far (currently they're haring off on a Feywild adventure between Nightstone and the...

Actually, it's a way to tell the DM they're *already in* the awkward scenario, and can choose to do something about it. The problem isn't created by giving the players a way to tell the DM about it.

Darn, someone beat me to it. I remember some years back reading a few of those "worst DMs ever" threads, and IIRC most of the ones that weren't about body odour were about ones who were obsessed with R-rated "realism", often including abusing one particular player's character. Put it another...

The original Spelljammer stuff is literally all I ever read on this, but it was 20 years ago. I'm away from books at the moment but I notice the Wikipedia page for Plane (Dungeons and Dragons) says "The 2nd edition Dungeon Master's Guide states there are several prime material planes, but...

So much this. I loved the feel of Spelljammer but never tried a campaign because of this.