So that's why you like it

[Dannyalcatraz]

Gnomes.

I really don't get it. Is there some gnome fiction out there I haven't seen? Something that gives them character and personality? Because as far as I can tell they're small people who talk to voles.

Is it just the joy of being different?

I like gnomes as depicted in myth and legend. In D&D, much of what they were got lopped off and sewn onto other races, but at least in earlier editions, you could approximate some of that mystique they had, especially with their facility with illusion and their bond with small animals.

What don't I get? Some DM's almost pathological dislike of anything beyond a certain very tightly defined set of rules.

My game group is pretty impressive- most of the players have been gaming for 10+ years, and have experience on both sides of the screen. However, while a couple of us like a wide-open game, most of the guys in the group seem to prefer running a Core only game. Not Core + Completes (though we scored a recent convert to that)- just the Core 3 books. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but over time, the creativity well starts to dry up a bit.

(Does that sound a bit too much like a couple married for 30+ years or what? A would be swinger?)

 

[Set]

What I don't get, though, is the love for Drizzt Do'Urden. Can someone explain their love of him for me?

We had a mini-game for character creation in one game called 'I am Drizzt, you can too!'

Each person had to pick a character using the formula;

Trendy 'popular' flavor-of-the-month race - Drow, Tiefling, Dragonborn, Gnoll, Kobold, Golarion Goblin, Warforged, whatever, so long as it was something more exotic/cool than a dwarf, elf, halfling or (shudder) human.

Unusual race / class combo - Halfling Paladin? Dwarven Wizard? Gnoll Druid? Go for it. Make it like a Drow Ranger, something that wouldn't be legal in 1st or 2nd edition, but make it *work.*

Non-traditional weapons - not just a 'dark elf with an arabian scimitar,' oh no, something funky like a Spiked Chain, or a Halfling Ranger who uses only alchemical missile weapons, or a dual spiked shield wielding character, or someone who attacks with his spiked guantlets and armor spikes, or someone who (don't ask me how) makes effective use of a whip or bladed scarf or bolas or fighting-cloak!

Some sort of companion creature - figurine of wondrous power is done, so something like an exotic familiar (an unseelie fey housecat that could enlarge itself to small size using shadow magic was one option), or funky animal companion choice (gnoll druid with hyaenadon, lizardfolk druid with a dire monitor lizard, etc), or a dwarven craftsmage with an effigy, permanant animated object or clockwork horror type critter as improved familiar, or Pathfinder Animal Domain Cleric, who had tattoos all over her body of various animals she called her 'animal soul selves' and could choose to 'let one of them out' via a Summon Monster effect that lasted all day long.

That's the appeal to Drizzt, from what I see. Rob Salvatore wrote a character that just broke all sorts of rules and conventions. Drow weren't good. They weren't Rangers. They didn't use scimitars. They were rarely much over four feet tall. Drow males didn't rebel against the matriarchy. They certainly didn't have Ranger levels, but Fighter and Rogue and Assassin abilities 'for free' (as Drizzt did in early write-ups in Hall of Heroes). They couldn't wear Bracers of the Blinding Strike *on their ankles.* He just threw out the rules, and the conventions, and made a character that turned into the Wolverine of AD&D. Sometimes that's fun.

Sometimes you just want to play a Xixchil, or a Half-Ogre-Magi or a Gnomish Giant Space Werehamster, or maybe even something whacky.

 

[MortalPlague]

Encumbrance?

I don't enforce encumbrance very often in my games. In fact, when I'm not behind the screen, I just total my starting equipment and rarely touch weight beyond the first session. It seems impossibly tedious to catalog the weight of every single item picked up during the course of a game.

That said, what I enjoy about it is the logistical problems presented. I really like encumbrance on a large scale. The adventurers just stumbled into a treasure vault filled with coins; how are they going to bring their fabulous wealth back to town? They can't possibly carry it all, right? They need to make a sled, or find a cart, or get their wizard to do something creative with a creation spell. Tenser's Floating Disc just won't carry all this lucre...

Material Components?

Again, with material components, I enjoy the flavor more than their actual use. I think it's an interesting image for a wizard to be crumbling some black chalk into dust, or throwing powder to the wind as they cast a spell. I'm not big on the 'eating the legs of an insect' or 'collecting bat guano' aspect of material components, but overall the right idea is there.

Also, there's the potential for rare materials to be the object of a quest, or an important story item. The kingdom may strictly regulate eye of newt, allowing it only to royal wizards, or the party wizard may initiate a quest to secure the heart of a black dragon. It also provides a way to offer certain very-limited use uber spells that require extremely rare and difficult reagents.

You can also take the concept to the next level; perhaps better quality ingredients make for a better spell (added effects, better damage dice, etc).


I'm going to pose a risky one here...

I don't see the appeal of Forgotten Realms... It's so chock-full of civilization there's nowhere to adventure! And there are so many ridiculously powerful NPCs wandering around...

 

[Erik Mona]

As for the appeal of Githyanki, don't overlook the fact that they were, by far, among the very top tier of the first edition Fiend Folio, which was largely filled with absolutely stupid monsters and was, in general, a source of ridicule. The githyanki had great illustrations, were on the cover (where they looked awesome), and they had cool swords capable of severing silver cords.

Very, very cool (comparitively speaking).

Also, they look sort of like humans, so they can be sexualized somewhat in art and it's easier for human readers to empathize with them. This is also key to the appeal of drow.

--Erik

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I dislike Drizzt for one reason: I beat R. Salvatore to the punch by years with a PC of mine (Darkethorne, a male drow Rgr/Druid/MU 2WF outcast), and to this day, people who don't know call him a Drizzt clone. Also pre-Drizzt characters in that campaign were Darkethorne's younger brother (Ftr/Ass 2WF) and a female F/MU/Th (2WF with all kinds of speed magic).

And for the record, I never read ANY of the D&D books, either. I didn't know of Drizzle's existence until someone badmouthed Darkethorne.

 

[MortalPlague]

The Gith, for me, are an odd fit. I really like them for their alien flavor... they're appropriately strange creatures from another plane that fit my vision of what extraplanar creatures should look like. They're humanoid, but decidedly different from humans and demihumans, and they embody the alien feel other planes ought to have.

Psionics are not one of the draws for me, but I feel that if psionics should exist in a fantasy realm it should be in this sense; an alien force belonging to an alien race from a different realm. For that reason, I don't mind psionics as part of the Gith heritage.

 

[Rechan]

I don't see the appeal of Forgotten Realms... It's so chock-full of civilization there's nowhere to adventure! And there are so many ridiculously powerful NPCs wandering around...

I'm going to go with a risky suggestion, and point you to this thread which asks "What's so special about FR?"

In general, I want to avoid "To answer your question, I refer you to another thread..." but, it just seemed like a perfect opportunity.

But to sum up, as far as I can tell:

FR is really, really old. It was one of the first box sets or something like that. So, Nostalgia/familiarity.

FR is high magic. Magic magic magic. Epic magic. Magic geegaws and whatsits. For someone who likes magic out the whazoo, it's there.

Novels. Let me tell you, there are people who have read every single FR novel and FR gaming book, so these guys can tell you the history of any location spanning multiple ages. This level of lore and depth of history is attractive to some players.

 

[Rechan]

Also, they look sort of like humans, so they can be sexualized somewhat in art

Hate to zoom in on just this, but that instantly made me think of Twi'liks and other "Alien chicks with different hued skins". Mmm.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I dislike Drizzt for one reason: I beat R. Salvatore to the punch by years with a PC of mine (Darkethorne, a male drow Rgr/Druid/MU 2WF outcast), and to this day, people who don't know call him a Drizzt clone. Also pre-Drizzt characters in that campaign were Darkethorne's younger brother (Ftr/Ass 2WF) and a female F/MU/Th (2WF with all kinds of speed magic).

And for the record, I never read ANY of the D&D books, either. I didn't know of Drizzle's existence until someone badmouthed Darkethorne.

I have to remember this and say stuff like
"Oh no, not another Darkethorne clone" when I see Drow Rangers...

 

[ExploderWizard]

Okay, I do have one burning question on my mind:

Why do people like critical misses? I don't mean "critical miss" as in "doesn't hit," I mean "you drop your weapon" or "you slice off your own arm."

I'm not a fan of limb severing silliness but I do enjoy using an exceptionally bad miss table in games where there are critical hits. It kind of balances the scale when there is as much dread of rolling a 1 as there is excitement in rolling a 20. I do believe the scale of payoff/ penalty to crtical hits and misses should be in proportion to one another. If the best result of a critical hit is maximum regular damage then a fumble result should never produce anything nastier than that.

Whats the appeal of critical hits in an abstract combat system where "damage" from a hit might represent energy expended by the defender rather than an actual hit?