The top 100 'Sacred Cows' of Roleplaying

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I see no problem with raise dead as long as you don't think to hard about it. For me it's just a way to keep a player playing the game without making up a new character (which could be exactly the same as the one that died) and worrying about how to integrate this new character into the game/party and figuring out what to do with the dead person's stuff.

Be that as it may, most players I've seen are happy when their characters die, since it gives them a chance to play one of the zillion other character concepts they have floating around in their devious little brains.

I've also ditched raise dead in several campaigns. Its replaced by a 7th stat, Luck (or Fate in our Al-Quadim campaign).

Its a stat like any of the others, and you die when it reaches 0. Once per session, if you have a bonus from your luck stat, you can apply twice that bonus to any die roll, even after the fact. If you have a penalty, I'll slap it on one of your rolls once per session at a critical moment. You may permanently spend a point of luck to pass a save, cause an attack to miss, or be left at 0 HP from any damage source. There are occasionally certain encounters where luck cannot be spent, and cannot impact rolls... characters have a sense of foreboding in such instances as they realize they are truly on their own.

This causes a spiral of doom of sorts as you get lower and lower luck (resulting in bigger penalties, and thus needing to spend more luck). Its lead to certain styles of play where characters really sense that they're "getting to old for this ". Many have chosen to retire at that point.

Since each luck point spent essentially means a death, it works out ROUGHLY similar to the "resurrection barn" mechanic... characters get multiple lives, but the adventure doesnt grind to a halt once someone bites it, we dont have a revolving door of new characters, etc. Since my games tend to last a good while (4 years on our al-quadim game, 3 on our ravenloft), its not like players treat spending a luck point trivially.

Plus it gives an easy system for determining quasi random events. I might call for a luck check if someone is looking for an odd item in a desk, or if theres a chance someone might be the target of a pickpocket.

 

[Odhanan]

#97 - I know everything there is to know about D&D. I read the 1st edition AD&D DMG! (this one is fairly common with people claiming their "hat of d02 know no limit").
Corollary: I just use the tables of the 3.X DMG. The text doesn't matter: I'm an experienced DM anyway.
Second Corollary: I don't need to look at the DMG's text anymore. I've read it once.

#98 - I played dozens of times D&D with [this], [this] and [that] DMs. D&D utterly sucks! (Ever thought that might be the DMs' styles and interpretations of the game you didn't like? )

#99 - D&D players can't have girlfriends or any meaningful relationship besides their keyboard.
Corollary: people having strong opinions on D&D message boards are automatically frustrated, antisocial people with no Real Life (TM).

#100 - Role-players just think in term of cliches and sacred-cows, anyway.

 

[Agent Oracle]

and with #100 out of the way, i say, lock the thread, it just degraded into people kvetching about bad GM's and rotton players.

 

[Andor]

Keep gpoing

#101 - All fantasy worlds should be exactly like a 12 year olds conception of middle ages europe, in spite of different geography, ecology, history, cosmology, races, and physics. Anyone who makes a different world is just being trendy/anime/sellout/stupid.

#102 - Guernsey

 

[Heathen72]

Yep, lock the thread, please. Job done, rats had, and people might start defending their sacred cows soon.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Lock This

#103 Alignment is broken.

#104 A good character needs a good "build" to be worth playing.

#105 The "rules" need extensive annotation, correction, and OFFICIAL interpretations from Sage, FAQ, and errata because without them MY position on any such has not been given to me yet. It is important that my conclusion agree in detail with others. It is important that THEIR conclusions agree with mine.

#106 Your character MUST NOT be "better" than mine. Ever. In any way. Starting with ability scores. For it to be otherwise is... UNFAIR to me.

#107 RPG products of all kinds, whether created yesterday or 30 years ago, should be free and big companies like WOTC are clearly illegally CONSPIRING in extraordinary and complex ways to make me pay money for them instead (that they don't deserve since profit is evil.)

#108 The core books have information for characters up to 20th level and spells up to 9th level. Thus it is manifest that any and all campaigns can and must contain that full spectrum and their in-game histories must also support this spread at all points.

#109 A famous PT boat in WWII.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

#96. Magic Missile, Fireball, and Lightning Bolt.

I don't allow these spells in my campaigns. Some players's relish the opportunity to use the other 1,001 spells that are out there. Others whine like preschoolers that it's impossible to play an arcane spellcaster without the "holy trinity of spells."

That's harsh. Do you hamstring the monsters as well? Do you screw with other class spell lists as well? Do you say to fighters "Sorry, no power attack for you! There are lots of other feats, though!"

Q. E. D.

 

[XO]

Better Smoky Homes & Fiery Gardens (City of Brass cover)

#97 - I know everything there is to know about D&D. I read the 1st edition AD&D DMG! (this one is fairly common with people claiming their "hat of d02 know no limit").
Corollary: I just use the tables of the 3.X DMG. The text doesn't matter: I'm an experienced DM anyway.
Second Corollary: I don't need to look at the DMG's text anymore. I've read it once.

The 1e DMG was SO much more interesting... Maybe not legible. Perhaps not simplified. Not politically correct. But so much more fun.... The 3.5 DMG is about as fascinating and full of flavor as baseball stats...