The Gaming Den

I don’t know ... weird artifacts that do things a player could construct by using the spells and rules as written is just the way D&D plays. I think moments like this are when old-style adventure design highlights the fact that players and the MC are playing two different games. PCs are setting ...

The Evil Dead movies are a more modern example of Sword & Pistol, so are most zombie apocalypse comic and TV series.

Well, if “essentially” AD&D is the goal, take a look at this exceptional pet project by Chris Perkins. https://www.google.com/amp/s/scruffygrognard.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/add-3rd-edition/amp/ It’s a clone of a clone (Castles & Crusades) that hues as closely as possible to AD&D. This c...

Well, if “essentially” AD&D is the goal, take a look at this exceptional pet project by Chris Perkins.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/scruffygro ... ition/amp/

It’s a clone of a clone (Castles & Crusades) that hues as closely as possible to AD&D.

That quote did not originate from me.

re: Varnhold Vanishing: I don't recall ever having a choice of what to do with the soul jars containing the citizens of Varnhold in the video game. But also, in regards to your criticism of unrest gained for doing awful things ... Even if the party has the means to perform the sale of soul jars pers...

You can have as many turtles all the way down as you’re willing to write rules for. When I was reading Torchbearer and Burning Wheel, I was enamored by the idea of rock-paper-scissors on multiple scales. I found this article which, if I remember correctly, attempts to boil down unit deployments on t...

So, just a few things on the Video Game version, which does actually clean some of this up. Nyrissa actually shows up very early on in the module and has a more active role throughout the game. Most of the stag lord's lieutenants do not have their backstory explained to you except the fallen paladi...

I’ve got hundreds of hours into this game and have enjoyed quite a bit of it. They’re about to release a board game that, based on the videos, seems like a interesting translation: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin-the-board-game One of the most interesting con...

@Libertad - Thank you for writing this review. I enjoyed reading it. I found Skerples' work several weeks ago and liked it for many reason as well.

Is there art from old stuff that's Public Domain now? Interior Art by Jonathan Newell - bearded-devil.com Logan Stahl - lil-tachyon.tumblr.com Luka Rejec - lukarejec.com Additional public domain art from the British Library Collection, Oldbookillstrations.com, Project Gutenberg, the Public Domain R...

Is there art from old stuff that's Public Domain now? Interior Art by Jonathan Newell ? bearded-devil.com Logan Stahl ? lil-tachyon.tumblr.com Luka Rejec ? lukarejec.com Additional public domain art from the British Library Collection, Oldbookillstrations.com, Project Gutenberg, the Public Domain R...

angelfromanotherpin wrote:You might benefit from one of the etymological maps by Omnimap.

This is great!

Question, how “earthy” are you measuring a setting? REH’s Conan is set on Earth. His Dark Materials is on Earth as well, a setting that is begging for an RPG.

Loads of Lamentation of the Flame Princess adventures seem to take place on Earth.

Thaluikhain wrote: I seem to recall someone reviewing a Cthullu game set in the real world using D&D rules here, but can't remember the title. I could be getting the game system wrong, though.

Cthulhu Dark Ages

It feels like you could run all day by googling movie quotes and extrapolating how to apply that as an ability. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." - Free resist to compulsion. "You're gonna need a bigger boat." - Your encumbrance capacity is increased. "I'm going to ma...

Would this work? you have the ability to produce ersatz tools that allow you a skill attempt at a minor penalty, when you otherwise don’t have proper equipment. Could be a spell too, with reduced efficacy. Like, knowing “Somebody else’s problem,” which technically doesn’t make you invisible but ver...

throw-anything the ability to hit objects, shut doors, push buttons, cut chandelier cables with any object in hand.

We just talking spells? intercept once per scene/session/spotlight counter/combat, a fighter can intercept an attack after it has hit and ally and damage is rolled. riposte and at a higher level, the fighter can retaliate. revenge or a fighter can respond with ferocity rolling damage with the weapon...

WHFR has combat fumble tables where you can injure yourself. At least, 1st edition did. Not sure about the new versions. So, if you can maul yourself with your own attack. Spell miscasts could be thematically appropriate. WFRP has lots of other thematically appropriate reasons why magic can backfire...

The counter point is that people play fighters to kill things with axes, but there is never been a single argument to suggest fighters should miss or do suboptimal damage with their attacks. Maybe there just needs to be less spells with guaranteed effects and a spell casters casting check is just a ...

I feel like miscast mechanics only work if a spell’s effect is guaranteed. Otherwise, it just seems like additional dice rolls for success. An OSR I’ve recently been exposed to has a single 6-sided spellcasting mechanic that caps success at 5 in 6. Failure consumes spell-casting resources, at minimu...

My local use to carry the Zocchi Dice, but have refused to do so for many years because of the poor quality. I think you could only find these second hand at this point.

I’m still catching up ... what I was trying to do with the simple rules I posted yesterday was propose a framework for players to have agency in doing a social interaction and then flip the rules to the GM’s perspective and show how those same rules can set up encounters and fair TNs for players to ...

My super-simple social heartbreaker. I'm only going to describe meaningful interactions that are important to a scenario. Random or inconsequential bullshit that happens during a game is absolutely not worth my time. Characters have 3 attributes: Body, Mind, Soul Body: physical actions Mind: mental ...