The Gaming Den

Regardless of whether it's good or not, Pathfinder 2 is going to sell well enough for them to stay in business. It's a given that it'll look pretty, and when you're standing in a games store thinking about buying it, solid game design is hard to recognize and good art isn't. Then there's the massive...

Races are 100% setting material. Which races your game has should be determined solely by the setting. My preference is for D&D to not have a built-in setting, and to treat races as an optional rule you can use if your setting demands it. Every character starts with a feat and X hit points, unle...

As the DM, why do you want the level and class combination to tell you something reliable about the character? If you're playing a campaign with the same boys and girls over multiple consecutive sessions, you have more information than level and class can tell you, and the labels aren't helping you ...

Was it really necessary for me to clarify that I meant role-playing games? Do I also need to specify the pen-and-paper version so you don't think Legend of Zelda is an appropriate answer? Come on.

Why not just play Exalted?

Shrieking Banshee wrote: Again, like people with even the most minor modicum of care about rules felt disappointed by them. Combat was stupidly swingy.

I haven't personally played any game in which combat was anything but swingy. Are there games with non-swingy combat? Does that exist?

By straight up better he means "is worthless garbage that no one would take if they could take something good, and is therefore better if you are an idiot DM who gets mad when your players do anything good." It will be 100% a list of nerfs, and all the nerfs will be ones that don't even n...

I stand by my assertion made at the end of my PHB review - there is literally nothing salvageable from that book. I think that's some angry hyperbole, or maybe you don't understand what "salvage" means. For instance, some of the spells are straight up improvements over their 3.5 versions....

I ran a 5e game set in the world of Skyrim, the video game. Different races, a mostly faithful alchemy system, and some house rules for other things (just ignore the tool system except for "crafting stations" where it makes sense). Aside from the deity differences, mostly the classes staye...

My attempt at time sink ranking... General unpreparedness for your turn Rules referencing Option paralysis Action resolution (rolling, counting, mathing) I agree with these. From my experience the most important one is the first. If everyone spent the time between turns making sure they are ready t...

Where did you get the name Hchirkamk? Does it have any meaning or history?

Game 5 This week our fugitive heroes returned to Falkreath from Bloated Man's Grotto. Upon speaking with Runil, the priest of Arkay, they learned that what they experienced in the grotto was likely the influence of Hircine, Daedric Lord of the Hunt. The group spoke to Sinding in his cell under the ...

Game 4 The fugitive heroes stood atop the makeshift fortress. They had just killed the bandits who made it, saving the lives of the refugees of Helgen. The fort lie a smouldering pile of charcoal as the group made their way west, toward the Jarl's longhouse in Falkreath. Tales were told of an ancie...

(Italicized parenthetical comments are me, the GM, talking to you, to give you insight that the players don't have. Otherwise this is what I sent the players by way of synopsis.) Game 3 Ambush! From a bush an arrow flew. Our heroes were beset by desperate bandits as they approached the road that co...

If able, I'd be really interested in reading [the khajiit's] backstory in Khajit voice (feel proud in I can do a Khajit impression). I'll ask him if he's okay with his work being on the Internet. I'll expand on your translations to show what I was aiming for, and thanks for taking the time. That's ...

For the next game The village to which they are heading is Pinewatch. In the video game it's a good-sized cabin with a hidden entrance to a large bandit lair filling caves and an old Nord cairn. The leader is named Strongarm. What I've done is create a faction of Strongarm bandits that are very act...

Game 2 In our most recent episode, our heroes discovered the hidden back entrance to Graywater Grotto (actual location in video game is SW of Helgen). Inside they found a bear couple, peacefully dozing. The he-bear was still reeling from news that his brother died, and needed her in a time like thi...

Game 1 The prisoners, tied together and heading for the chopping block, saw their chance to escape when the huge, black dragon attacked Helgen. They had to choose: Follow general Tullius, the Thalmor, and the Imperial soldiers, hoping to earn their pardons by helping them to safety? Follow the Falk...

I'm running a 5th edition D&D game set in Skyrim, during the time of the events that happen in the game Skyrim. I'm calling the game 5kyrim, which makes me feel like a douche but laugh at the same time. I am going to use this thread to post information about the game. If this is something that i...

Conan got mentioned. I'd really love to try the new game being developed. I love that setting, and I just can't get enough of swords and sorcery. The system probably sucks though. I desperately want to play a tome game, run by someone who knows it really well. My grasp on 3.5 monsters and challenges...

Third, next time you're confused: ask, don't just assume something and run off to your locker room and post it. It creates unnecessary confusion. Fourth, don't use homophobic insults to describe trying to put stats on the monsters. Fifth, I didn't do anything "wrong" so either you fucked ...

I think the Book of Prowess is one of the coolest skill revisions I've seen. I like it, I think it's beautiful. Like a white elephant. See, I'm thinking about using this at my table, but my players are coming from Pathfinder, where the skills are pretty simple. This book make skills really complicat...

I edited the description to make it more clear. Imagine Cortez among the Aztecs, only his ships were burned and Spain said "To Hell with you, we didn't want you there in the first place." Then half his army goes off with the natives who were allied with Cortez to kill the Aztecs, leaving C...

Testament has quite a few you could use.

I'm planning on running a game with this premise: Long ago the Empire sent scouts to your world, but the Portals(TM) were destroyed when the Empire fell, leaving your ancestors stranded. On a hostile world where everything was out to kill you, some of the original scouting party wanted to isolate th...