The Gaming Den

How likely is it that no one will want to play a drone or queen? I bet that if there was a novel written by the average RPG-derived novel author for this culture it would center on a fertile queen/drone that does not want to be a queen/drone and wants to adventure instead, and struggles to live thei...

And almost as soon as the swiss got their peasant army going they started to export them as mercenaries. They still had a lot of internal conflicts and raiding, but most of the possible trouble coming from armed and trained peasants was channeled away, leaving the upper class (the "ancient regi...

Or get the enemies some bows as well.

I've got no problem with melee monsters being dead meat on open ground against archers.

Also known as "I can't be bothered to put cover on the map, so archers are overpowered".

I like to add small stuff, more flavor than anything else, on a fumble. So, a PC might miss not because he stumbled, but because contrary to expectations, the NPC fighting him slid and fell. Or the weapon might get stuck in a tree or wall, requiring a strength check (free action, not challenging) to...

No.

Yes, I just checked - I think I must have remembered something from the previews. Of course there's the "Soul must be willing to return" clause, and the "gods can intervene", so a GM could say the rust monster doesn't want to return after the Xth time it was killed. That of cours...

I thought only people with a destiny could be raised, everyone else was dead.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/251571-squee-rust-monster-revealed.html#post4690948 Looks like the rust monster is now among the most efficient "convert magical items" option. Someone in the thread also mentioned that you can use them to double your magic with some rin...

You don't need to be able to build a car to tell that it doesn't work anymore.

That's worse than I imagined. They made different powers with the same name for every "different" cyclops?

/shakeheadindisbelief

How nice, I don't have to look up stuff in books anymore - now I just have to read the entire description of every power of a monster everytime?

That's not exactly an advantage for people who can learn core rules.

I don't get the big deal about EBD. In law, it's a general rule that special laws supercede the general laws if they collide (of course, there's also the general rule that newer laws supercede the older laws, which can contradict the other rule). What exactly makes 4E so special that people laud the...

In the revised edition I felt the iconics were neglected a bit - I remember level 10 characters that left all the "iconic pilots" in the dust when it came to flying. I thought they could use a bit more optimisation, not less.

Treat the adventure as one fight/encounter, and build it accordingly. The characters have the chance to use tactics and strategy to make the fight easier (bypass some guards, divide and conquer, block off other guards, con the enemy, foster divisions in the ranks, etc.), if they fail they face the e...

So what you suggest is that it can be left, because the in-game negatives are balanced by out-of-game positives? Yes. Ultimately, in-game negatives only count if the player considers their effect as a negative, and not something he (unlike his character) wants to have. If say a player likes it when...

Indeed. And if the GM does use this "flaw" it means more screen time for the character, probably an entire adventure or arc centered on him.

Having family may be a weakness for the character, but it is usually a clear advantage for the player.

That reminds me of an old argument on EN World about whether or not D&D without character death was still D&D.

I was always partial to the Kingdom of Kalamar approach, where divine right is exactly that - kings, and nobility in general, get support from the gods to keep their place.

I don't have a problem with PCs and monsters not using the same rules - my rant here is directed (partially) at novel characters (those portrayed as PCs in the novel) who break the rules for PCs. Like when it's hard-written in the rules that armor and magic do not work together, and the novel center...

If the story needs to ignore the setting to work, then it's the wrong story for the setting.

Instead of a compelling novel written about a young knight's struggle against a bandit lord, later revealed to be his half-brother, with the knight growing up and maturing, and facing the choices between honor, love, and family loyality, we're getting the young knight that's revealed to be the last...

Frank's post about Steven Kenson reminded me of a pet peeve of mine: The way some RPGs are riddled with "exceptional fluff", the results of stupid novelists. As soon as a RPG setting gets its own novels the novelists will wreck it. Instead of working within the system they - often unimagin...

Judging from the words on the flags, those are not american. At least I don't know an american keyboard that even has the letter "ü" on it.

Only Marvel Universe I really liked was the M2 (With all the kids of the classic heroes). It was just silly in a good way.