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That's not even close to any working definition of the word "game", much less "role-playing game". It encompasses, at best, a fraction of the experience. There are, in fact, games that have no recognizable, predictable patterns. And several role-playing games eschew such elements to one degree...

I was going to reply that people who play gridless would just handwave speeds anyway, but that's putting it even better.

About that 2nd point you make : The 1st edition AD&D player's handbook grants the title of "Veteran" to 1st level fighters. Their class description in that book is rather anemic (all of the class descriptions are), but they do make it clear that "[...] Fighters are the strongest characters in a...

Actually, psionics rules were included in the 1st Edition AD&D player's handbook, and dragonborn are a 3rd (3.5) edition creation. And I really hope they put both of those races in the core PHB (even the muddled and kinda all over the place tieflings from the pre-4E era).

Ooooh marking's back it seems! Awesome. Ability check DCs (formally skill checks) are still broken to the point of being unusable, though.

The new season of D&D Encounters starting august 17 will use the Murder in Baldur's Gate adventure. The "weekend launch kit" will contain an introductory adventure, but for the rest of the season, groups will have to purchase the actual adventure to play. More details here ...

Yousay it's magical. You draw the line at that point, I draw it elsewhere (at a less restrictive place that opens up more design space for creative players). Two things : 1) If HPs are not an abstraction of a few elements, how do you model psionic damage, the chilling touch of the undead...

Why shouldn't they be? I've always held, for exemple that counting the arrows your character shoot so he/she can run out is silly when a spellcaster can't run out of spell components. So, if my concept is "this guy has gear that allows this effect", and that effect is already present in another...

You're probably right about that. I made the assumption from a strict "left-to-right" reading of the rules, but it's very possible that there was a bit of back-and-forth going on with regards to HPs and healing. Thanks for pointing it out.

Hit points are part of the greater combat abstraction present in D&D : an attack roll isn't a single swing of the sword for exemple. HPs are an abstraction of relative combat-readiness. In a sense, they represent nothing concrete; you can "die" from mentally inflicted damage that is wholly...

Problem is, those already exist : they're called spellcasters from 3rd edition D&D (and, to a certain degree, previous D&D editions, and D&DNext).

Why can't we? Seriously. What if I want to make an archer-type fighter with a quiver full of trick arrows (like one filled with alchemical fire that bursts into a ball of flame when it hits)? What if my fighter character, traumatized by his own constant brushes with death became fascinated with...

Let's look at Sanity : what does it measure? A character's mental stability and capacity to withstand psychological trauma? Let's say that's our working definition of it. Why is it not a resource, then? Like HP. See something you can't rationalize? Roll Intelligence save (to use D&DNext...

I don't think the problem of the definition of ability scores can be solved by adding ability scores. The way I see it, we already have a problem with the fact that the scores themselves and the bonus they award are different; it's archaic, and a pointless barrier to entry, in my opinion. It's...

I wouldn't say "given up" so much as "completely misrepresented the problems inherent to the non-caster/caster dichotomy." I read that part, and think : Want to restore the only measure of your combat effectiveness, fighter-man? Well you better find yourself a nice, cozy inn if you want to...

I figure that's a given considering that the ways PCs' hitpoints scale and monsters' hitpoints scale seem to be different. Heck, I hope they leave it as "NPCs, adversaries, and monsters recover hitpoints at a pace set by the DMs." That way I won't be troubled and be kept up all night having to...

I'll add to this that it's a common problem for most D&D groups out there : frame something as "magical"? Cool! You can do this, no roll needed outside of maybe a saving throw or perhaps an attack roll. Give the ability to create the same result to a "non-magical" character? Watch as the number...

I half expected something about secret reptilian overlords and illuminati conspiracies being tucked in at the end of his sentence.

Nooooope. Missed the point, yet again. The thesis is not: Sex = bad. The thesis is: sexiness in inappropriate situations = not a net positive for the game. Let's try this: you go to the doctor's to get a nagging injury looked at. You are seated, your pants are rolled-up to reveal your purple...

An old-timey D&D supplement (Eldritch Sorcery, I think) had a naked lady chained to an altar on the cover. What's your point? That the pose and clothes of the female character on the cover of the 4e PHB looks silly? Damn right! Now, add something to this conversation that isn't pointless...