Search results

An x-post from my blog Greybeards & Grognards 3: Assassins, Paladins, Image Problems, and Party Harmony! Oh My! I mentioned before that the assassin class was dumped in the 1e to 2e switch because of image problems and party harmony issues. I promised that there was an essay in there...

I remember a 2e era April issue of Dragon (#228?) that had a sort of parody of the First Quest column called Last Quest about embarrasing ways for PCs to bite it. It suggested a garlic bread golem was one. A book of bad fantasy monsters from the 80s is alluded to as the source of the garlic...

The first one didn't really work out the way that I had hoped for. I think a lot of it is sleep deprivation while writing the initial essay. I think this one is better, I hope you do too: Grey Beards & Grognards 2 Who Dies (And My Life In Gaming Editions)? By JustiN Orion Neal Taylor I am...

Okay, the EN in EN world stands for Eric Noah, right? Well, the other day I was looking through my old Dragons and I saw in article in Dragon #212 written by an Eric Noah. I forgot the title, but it was about how to learn to be a better DM by noticing how good fiction is put together. Is...

Greybeards & Grognards Installment One: Nomenclature & Manifesto ByJustiN Orion Neal Taylor This is my blog on geek culture, particularly RPGs. I decided on the title Greybeards & Grognards because many of the more well-known RPGs and their rule books have alliterative titles, like Dungeons &...

Here's the start of a class for those who want to play a ferret in basic D&D. Ferret Level Title 1 Ugly Weasel 2 Hairy Thing 3 Bitey Thing 4 Mustelid 5 Biter 6 Smelly Thing 7...

I have noticed two unusual trends among roleplayers. Some feel absolute loyalty to the edition of system X that was current at the time they started palying system X regardless of its flaws. Others display the same devotion to the current edition of system X regardless of its flaws. I have...

I'm not sure if I've been using the same world since I was in middle school with some major changes or if I've been using different worlds that are very similar and always have some of the same things. The biggest change I've made is this time there's a new country called Freeland. At some point...

Does anyone here like the 3e versions of the ruless for light and darkness spells better tahn the 2e version, particularly the lack of a continual version of darkness and not being able to use light spells to blind an oponent? I happen to like the 2e version better, but want to hear others...

I enjoyed that article on crossbreeds of the various standard races in Asgard #1, but found some cheap min-maxed combos pretty easy. Combo 1) Sun-light orcs: Orcish brawn (+4 strength) 5 points Orcish Impulsiveness (-2 wisdom) -1 point or Orcish Untrustworthiness (-2 charisma) -1point result: a...