The Gaming Den

What's to stop the denizens of one Hellish planetoid from creating a telescope that can glimpse the details of an alien atmosphere, or at least determine that there is, in fact, an atmosphere with clouds or what-not around that ball in the sky? I'm honestly asking, because I don't know what kind of ...

Responding to this dickery: That is not even remotely clear from what you said, and also a stupid idea. Yeah that thing you said, it could mean that, but that definitely isn't the only or even most likely meaning of what you said. Really? Cause I'm thinking you're the only person who screwed up his ...

PSA: He posted the same thread on RPG.net . Not sure what he intends to get out of it. Even RPG.net told him it was probably just a personal preference, not a problem with the hobby. Edit: That being said, I think the problem might be how RPG products are generally presented as reference tools, not ...

Or even just "What are the two biggest areas in which 5e succeeds where 4e did not?" But as Ferret points out, he doesn't have to answer any of the questions posed if he doesn't want to, no moderation necessary. AMAs are filled with orphaned questions, either too off-topic or too similar t...

My homebrew system posits that magic items are shells of varying quality that can form bonds with their wielder, drawing out their inner power and hardening themselves with it. If someone picks up a magic item they're not thus attuned to, it loses that benefit. The wielder of a magic item can pick u...

People jumping onto the bandwagon of terrorism being a joke threat now when the argument is pretty much over and pretending they're irreverent revolutionaries pushing the envelope is just annoying . QFT. No one in the rising gaming demographic is seriously concerned about terrorism. The paranoia yo...

Silva's right. If you're adding +1 to the DC every ammo roll, then you're already doing all the bookkeeping of just counting ammo, so you should just do that and not take the extra time to roll on top of it.

Sure, he does a good job at defining his terms I don't even think he does this. He jumps right to defining what a role-playing game is without defining role-playing. And that's why he misses the big point on why balanced rules matter. His definition of role-playing is apparently story-telling, but ...

Ammo rolls are nice from a strictly gameplay perspective, but they're a seriously dissociated mechanic. The first time someone loads up their revolver and discovers that it's empty after taking a single shot things get weird. I suppose you could include a passage about it also including things like...

Just give it a certain number of free shots with no chance of running out. Like 1 or 2. Then you start rolling every round. It's not as convenient as just rolling every round, but it avoids the worst of the disassociation without reverting to too much bookkeeping.

Edit: ninja'd

@Dean: At least 1 reddit commenter said he came here and read at least part of this thread, so there are exceptions.

If you're here researching Zak, please consider what just happened: In response to me saying he has a big ego that he can't stand to have bruised, he posted angry insults at me on his blog, laced with superficially good-sounding things like "People who evade questions destroy all rational debat...

Wow. Just wow. Link de-linked. Tussock called it. Learned my lesson.

No, no, on his blog, he's going through the monster manual and editing the monsters. His take on the Aboleth (Edit: no longer a link because no one should be luring him back here) as a lovecraftian intruder from another interpretation of reality is pretty good.

Yeah, I actually like what he's doing with the 5e monster manual. His creativity is not something I criticize. Just, like, everything else.

So apparently Zak hates being reminded all this happened. Someone posted a magazine article about fawning over him on reddit, and someone asked why people didn't like him . So I told them why I didn't like him, and now the following appears at the top of the post beginning this thread, with a simila...

Yes, if you can't break it with a break check, then you have to attack the door to break it over a few rounds (or maybe in one round) instead of using a break check. There is one mechanic, HP in which damage last round increases your chances of breaking it this round. There is another mechanic, bre...

If the process is just comparing two static numbers, then there is no second try. It's not that you can't break down the door in six seconds, it's that you just can't break down that door, period. How much do you actually gain from having the raging berserker sometimes break in the strong oak door a...

We were talking about building a interactive how-to-play thingamajig to help show people how to play. Now you are talking about marketing D&D with tv shows. Yes, we were talking about interactive how-to-play thingamajigs, and then you brought up your conclusion that there just aren't that many ...

Already been done. They had interactive tools for 3rd edition (and probably other editions as well). Single player walk-throughs, examples of combat, everything, all done before. Nothing original about using interactive tools. Nothing original about explaining what an RPG is. So, therefore, that's ...

Yeah but MTG is a different type game, so it's not really fair to compare them. Plus a lot of things that you mentioned have been tried. The issue has more to do with what David Rozansky said in the comments then what the angry DM said... tl/dr: WotC was great at selling RPGs before being bought ou...

Just resolve it with an Athletics check the same way you would use Tumble to move through enemies or into difficult terrain, i.e. as part of the move action instead of the standard action. So the Barbarian moves 10 feet to the door, makes an Athletics check to break down the door, and then continues...

If bonuses off any kind exist, you need to have discipline about their types and stacking. That's not something you can get around by making bonuses smaller. In fact, experience with 4e and 5e shows the reverse is true. If the only things in the game are +2 bonuses, people will lose their shit over...

I'd say that making level one more interesting is dependent on making engaging mechanics that are "character agnostic" ones you get access to by being a small to medium sized humanoid. People go on rants here alot about how having thumbs levers, and pulleys doesn't matter at high levels, ...

Not that 5e isn't terrible, but as far as it being a failure, Amazon disagrees. Two 5e books are in the top 30 of the best sellers list, and one of those is still a pre-order. That may not last, and none of us expect it to, but the truth is we can't objectively state that 5e is a financial failure ...