Recent content by Retreater

The same players keep coming, week after week. We often play the same system. The majority of my campaigns that never finish end due to TPKs. Or "enough of the party is killed" - where it just doesn't make sense to continue after 50% or more of the characters die in a way that means the game...

I haven't read or run the originals from the 80s, but I remember reading that the last two books are very different from what came out before.

Well, I'm not interested in another Ravenloft sourcebook. I think the original point of Ravenloft that has gotten lost on modern design is that you were supposed to be regular characters subjected to horrible situations. Van Richten's Guide and everything else has made the PCs the monsters...

Oh yes. There were cards in the 4E era. For Gamma World there were random packs of Omega Tech and Alpha Mutations. It was recommended that GMs and Players each make their own decks so you could draw from a player deck or GM deck as appropriate. (This is all fresh in my mind because I ran Gamma...

Yeah. I guess there are just some iconic ones in other systems that get more use because powers/spells are more limited? In the core game, social enemies are way underbaked. HP and thresholds are too low, their powers too weak. As they are, it would be better just to wing the encounters. Also...

The encounter economy is the main issue. Most powers require no resources to use. In D&D, characters give up spell slots. Much like the 4e skill challenges, they feel very artificial. And unlike their 4e counterparts, they are balanced too much on the "easy side" - which makes it difficult to...

Well, just convert 2E's AC to the positive scale and THAC0 to an attack bonus, and I think you're well on your way to a better designed C&C.

Five month check-in. Running my Motherboard campaign biweekly (Tier 2, but we they chose to restart with new characters) and a weekly Witherwild game (end of Tier 3). We like the epic feel of battles. The initiative system feels very organic. The powers are great. Some of the monsters are just...

This was my beef that I couldn't get over with Shadowdark. It's using old school ability generation with the modern modifier chart and DC system. In the old era, I don't think it was possible to have a +4 or -4 in an ability modifier. With Shadowdark, it just basically copies stuff from...

Yeah. And then the Castle Keeper needs to remember what everyone's primary and secondary attributes are, because that changes everyone's Target Numbers. And then you also have to add the monster's level to the Target Numbers. And the players may or may not get to add their level to their rolls...

Castles & Crusades SIEGE Engine. Just a regular d20+bonus vs a DC standard D20 system would work better, IMO.

I suppose nothing stops you as a GM telling a player "You've got a 3 Strength, so you cannot attempt to lift that gate." Shadowdark just doesn't have specific rules about much.

My main issue when 3e first came out was that it was my first "crunchy" TTRPG. I didn't understand the concept of exact rules. Counting movement squares, having precise skill check mechanics, Encounter Levels, gold per level for magic items, etc. All that was a very difficult concept. It took a...

What I miss about the 3.5 era is the adventures and generally good 3rd party content. (Yes, I know there was a lot of junk. But there were good review sources to check.) Green Ronin, Goodman, Necromancer, Malhavoc, Paizo ... there's no one out there making 5e stuff today like those legends in...

So, "The Ossuary" just dropped $1500. That was a pretty sizable chunk of its backers. Wonder what happened?