Search found 272 matches

by Bihlbo
Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:50 pm
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: How would a wizard make his magic the ONLY magic?
Replies: 55
Views: 6990

Does the wizard want to make divine magic impossible everywhere in the multiverse, or is something smaller in scope acceptable? The world has an inhabited moon which I would like to be untouched by his actions. So, no he doesn't want it to be done everywhere, just the world in which he lives. It's ...
by Bihlbo
Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:46 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: The occasional TPK and bad ending is good for the hobby.
Replies: 363
Views: 40013

One of this hobby's biggest paradoxes for me is rooted in the preciousness of the character. On the one hand, you want players to get really invested and involved and doing great RPing (and this requires investment, time, work, and depth), while on the other hand you want the possibility for PC deat...
by Bihlbo
Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:30 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: How would a wizard make his magic the ONLY magic?
Replies: 55
Views: 6990

How would a wizard make his magic the ONLY magic?

I'm working on a plot for an upcoming game I'm to run, and here's a portion of the main plot hook: A wizard wants to make divine magic impossible. [/i] What are some conceivable ways he might attempt to make this happen using 3.5? I would like to avoid as much deus ex machina as possible so that in ...
by Bihlbo
Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:40 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: 5e D&D is Vaporware
Replies: 618
Views: 124653

murder-suicide? wow. : ( Joseph Batten, a senior project manager at Wizards of the Coast, killed his wife Melissa with a gun on July 28th , and then turned the gun on himself. http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19754366/?pg=last Wizards of the Coast today announced the decision to di...
by Bihlbo
Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:45 pm
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Sources of excessive complexity in 3.X.
Replies: 61
Views: 7395

<r><QUOTE author="ModelCitizen"><s>[quote="ModelCitizen"]</s><QUOTE author="CapnTthePirateG"><s>[quote="CapnTthePirateG"]</s>Wasn't the 5-ft step added so melee guys could close to the closet troll without getting pounded by AoOs?<e>[/quote]</e></QUOTE> Sure, but wasn't Reach invented specifically s...
by Bihlbo
Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:57 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Evocations & How Much Damage Is Enough
Replies: 48
Views: 5525

Fundamental : What is the purpose of direct damage magic? Is the intent to build a character who can be a glass cannon? Is the intent to produce ranged damage options that further round out a group's tactical options? Or do you just want an option for when your character who doesn't sword things wa...
by Bihlbo
Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:14 pm
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Evocations & How Much Damage Is Enough
Replies: 48
Views: 5525

I like evocations for two purposes:
1. The main source of a spellcaster's attacks vs. hit points - used often and cheaply, and roughly on-par with a fighter.
2. Big damage, costly to use, reserved for when it's time to drop a foe who's already been softened up by other folks.
by Bihlbo
Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:15 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Evocations & How Much Damage Is Enough
Replies: 48
Views: 5525

HP : I agree that rolling for hp is terrible. When I run games hp gains aren't random, but in every D&D-like game I've ever played hp have been rolled (using a variety of house rules, but most commonly we have rolled in front of everyone and written down the number). Edit: One GM who's run many...
by Bihlbo
Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:52 am
Forum: It's My Own Invention...
Topic: Three-Dot Color Wheel Magic
Replies: 14
Views: 3344

You can go the D&D spells route, where the things you can do are separated into well-defined, discrete spells. This method is nicely crunchy; if you add in augmentation (such as "for every success you get beyond 1, you can pick one improvement from this list" for example), you get a l...
by Bihlbo
Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:16 am
Forum: It's My Own Invention...
Topic: Three-Dot Color Wheel Magic
Replies: 14
Views: 3344

As an arty-type this tweaks all kinds of knobs and sounds awesome. It's also super complicated, compared to the basic and mostly nonsensical schools in D&D. But I get the impression this isn't meant for D&D, since you're talking about rolling what is essentially a dice pool. For what system ...
by Bihlbo
Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:32 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: [5e] what belong in this book?
Replies: 11
Views: 1390

A word belong in this book!
We find word and it belong. You put word in book, okay?
You read book? Do word belong? Good, now you know.
NOW YOU KNOW WHAT BELONG!!!
by Bihlbo
Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:38 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: E20?
Replies: 143
Views: 45134

PhoneLobster wrote:Waiting on this game is getting increasingly annoying.
Thanks for doing it for me. I certainly wasn't going to do it.
by Bihlbo
Tue Mar 06, 2012 4:45 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Interesting alternatives to initiative order turns?
Replies: 44
Views: 9621

We've tried the option of group initiative, where every PC gets to act when it's the PCs' turn, and actions are simultaneous. The problem with it that no one wants to let someone else change their character's actions, but this is just unavoidable. Either one of the players is like me and tactically ...
by Bihlbo
Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:11 am
Forum: It's My Own Invention...
Topic: Community Focus Poll - RPG Name Testing, Round 2
Replies: 37
Views: 5744

Nemesis Age : don't like it because a) I'm assuming a nemesis from the fact that it's a game, the title doesn't need it; b) mentioning an age is totally uninteresting because it has no context Sevenspell : don't like it because a) now I feel like I have to know why there's a number in the name, and...
by Bihlbo
Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:48 am
Forum: It's My Own Invention...
Topic: Parabellum: Sins of the Children (OD&D-inspired)
Replies: 82
Views: 31783

Why are you giving dual-wielders more attacks? I read that as +1 to your attack bonus, not +1 additional attack. I'm surprised that I'm wrong, because that seems wacky. Either way, if you remove so much of the detail already, why have dual-wielding as an option at all? I mean, if there's no differe...
by Bihlbo
Tue Sep 27, 2011 4:11 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: A wizard did it! But the real question is how...
Replies: 7
Views: 1201

The question is a bit meaningless. What are the attributes of a "well done" magic system? Why are you asking him when you could instead state your own opinion on the matter? The OP is asking for opinions, after all. ...very, very narrative based. It's not magic tea party though: your atta...
by Bihlbo
Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:49 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Refluffing should not be a way of life
Replies: 27
Views: 5054

If you're talking specifically about D&D, then I think it's a matter of momentum. After all, didn't the concept of a prestige class come about from a desire to more rigidly define a character's fluffy stuff, then apply mechanics to that ? The class system assumes that you are playing what your c...
by Bihlbo
Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:34 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Monte Cook Back to Work
Replies: 403
Views: 42932

A Man In Black wrote:
Bihlbo wrote:squishy turds, fat chicks, power tools, etc.
I think you can take your overwrought analogies and shove them up your ass.
I don't know what you're complaining about. Your mom loves it when I overwrought her analogies.
by Bihlbo
Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:20 am
Forum: It's My Own Invention...
Topic: Parabellum: Sins of the Children (OD&D-inspired)
Replies: 82
Views: 31783

Re: Revised OD&D Notes (unpolished)

Chamomile wrote:
Bihlbo wrote:The RNG is not supposed to be a main character like that.
That gives me a really weird idea...
I like how your noggin thinks.
by Bihlbo
Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:36 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Monte Cook Back to Work
Replies: 403
Views: 42932

... so now they're just fumbling around like it's 1979 all over again. It's better to be fumbling around like it's 2000 all over again? You can't tell me that a game that inspires people to write documents so massive they call it a Tome just to polish its confusing, squishy turd is a solid game by ...
by Bihlbo
Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:21 am
Forum: It's My Own Invention...
Topic: Parabellum: Sins of the Children (OD&D-inspired)
Replies: 82
Views: 31783

Re: Revised OD&D Notes (unpolished)

Hit Points [/u] 1d6 per level for everything, fighters get +2 per level, wizards get +0, monsters/rogues get +1 Equipment Liquid Courage: Once per session, chug for [1d6] temporary hit points for the next combat Rolling one die is swingy. Sometimes you want swingy and swingy is good, like with a da...
by Bihlbo
Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:06 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Why Don't We Have a Thread About Stronghold Building?
Replies: 52
Views: 8554

I've been thinking about making a Dwarf Fortress-like minigame for a game I'm going to run soon. They players "get to" decide how the fortress should be made, and maybe the dwarves don't get sober and go into tantrum spirals. So, I opened up this thread hoping you guys had some ideas. Like...
by Bihlbo
Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:15 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: WoD MMO details
Replies: 47
Views: 5367

My intense loathing for vampires as a concept, godlike beings among a world of ignorable pissants, and all the gothy crap that surrounds everything in WoD will make it really hard for me to get into this game. I would seriously rather play Wizard 101 or a my little pony mmo than to involve myself in...
by Bihlbo
Thu Sep 22, 2011 6:47 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Monte Cook Back to Work
Replies: 403
Views: 42932

I'll totally agree that 3.5 was a money grab and little else. It should have been a collection of house rules used as a cohesive whole, such as the Conan, Midnight, or M&M stuff. That said, I would have used much of it, because I do prefer it. I hated that in 3e if you were playing a character w...
by Bihlbo
Tue Sep 20, 2011 3:19 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: A D&D empire, 200 years in - what makes it collapse?
Replies: 89
Views: 7475

since D&D magic, the arcane type, comes from warping the fabric of the universe, then that fabric start to unravel as it were in the area. My point was that warping the fabric of the universe is not a unique aspect of D&D's magic. That could be used to describe magic in Ars Magica, Mage, or...