The Gaming Den

Just a couple of points:[br][br]1) As I said earlier, I actually went to college at Arizona State University for about five years. No one wants to live on campus (the dorms are overpriced and suck massively) and the only decent affordable housing is pretty far away from campus. Thus, commuting is ro...

1163014092[/unixtime]]Well, magic items are a rather tough situation to handle in 3rd edition, mainly because almost anyone can use any item. Fighter types often don't need combat power as much as they need versatility and utility abilities. It isn't just "I need a sword that does more damage&...

1162980638[/unixtime]][br]Well, there's a difference between bad choice of tactics for one battle and a bad character. Choosing poorly in one battle and getting screwed for it generally doesn't make people upset. After all, they can just adjust their strategy next time. Figuring out your character ...

1162897062[/unixtime]][br]Well, first, it's not a nerf, it's a power boost in this case, and I'm really not sure why you'd be objecting, assuming the DM stuck with the original flavor of your class. It's one thing if he's giving your swordsman all kinds of magic spells as a buff and changing your c...

1162933854[/unixtime]] So they don't issue driver's licenses in Arizona? And if you live in a city as a student, you probably don't drive yet (even in Arizona) and if you live on a reservation, you won't have a birth certificate and you certainly won't have a place to buy an ID within a hundred mil...

Actually, it's a lot of presumption on his part. For example, who said that the person playing the fighter was expecting the party to continually resurrect his character? [br][br]The other problem is that you really can't force a player to play a certain nerfed-up class if they don't want to either....

There's nothing wrong with modifying the rules as long as the player also wants to modify the rules for his character class. If a player wants to have a class boost because they believe they need it for it to be fun to play, and the DM goes along with it, that's fine. If a player wants to play a fig...

1162654065[/unixtime]]I find that if you don't have that balance in awesome levels, you get the situation that PWW is saying just avoid. On some level the level 20 fighter guy, or 10 levels of blind arcane archer, or whatever completely suboptimal choice with what *seemed* like a cool shtick at the...

Frank has already touched on the main point. It's like saying that you have two options:[br][br]1) Have spell slots or,[br]2) Have points and infinite lower spells to alleviate spell slots, but in order to do it, here's a boatload of house rules to eliminate abuse.[br][br]Thus, my logic would be to ...

And wands do require some experience points, time to create, and if doing it on the cheap, a feat to blow on the task. If you're buying them without a feat, they're not cheap at all.[br][br]And I can tell you of a time when I had a 11th level cleric burn through his wands of CLW only for the group t...

I will agree with you that it does help with the paperwork. However, all it is doing is making the arcane spellcaster go supernova in power. It's not worth the sacrifice in order to improve in bookkeeping.[br][br]As for lower level spells, I know my character has been in campaigns at 12th level wher...

1162421942[/unixtime]]In one of the games I play in, we have a player who has a tendency to play really weird and often very weak characters (both by mechanics and by play-style).[br][br]His characters usually die within a session or two.[br][br]None of us complain about xp-leeching - several of th...

1162418950[/unixtime]]I am actually playing with a few players who think like that. [br][br]Me: "Oh, Arcane Archer, huh? Well, it's not really worth taking all ten levels of that. Why don't you blah blah blah?"[br][br]Him: "But then I wouldn't be an Arcane Archer."[br][br]Me: &q...

Well, that's why they do it. They like to play those type of characters and don't mind the new flavor. Most of the time, they don't mind a spellcaster or healing type - it's just that they prefer not playing one.[br][br]And, yes, actually I joined a new party of barbarians as a rogue - there was no ...

I'd agree, but it depends on what is meant by "playable." If playable means rule/mechanics cohesive, then D&D can be playable at high levels, or pretty much in any state. However, if playable mean intended means for players and DM to enjoy their game, then it may be unplayable dependin...

Actually, my experience is pretty much as Imban has experienced as well. If you have enough downtime, craft items is wonderful. However, the groups I've played in have made it so "we're on the go" quite a bit.[br][br]I guess my experience is that whenever I've gamed, I'm actually the one s...

Actually, I'm more inclined to go along Crissa's approach. (or what I'm thinking that it may be - I may be misunderstanding) [br][br]The approach is that instead of giving somebody a negative level, what you do is keep them at the current level (heck, let them keep their current experience points) b...

Actually, both rape and violence somewhat touch on the same theme, and it really depends on your group. (of course, more on the case of rape than violence) For example, many groups that I gamed with describe a critical hit as "a vicious strike to the midsection", "decapitation", ...

If my character is playing a trumpet as the traverse down a corridor, that's one thing. If someone is obsessing because I decided to play a fighter, sorcerer, or dragon disciple, please show me the door because that group is just playing a little too intense for my preference. Like LARPing and SCA, ...

1162250474[/unixtime]]I just think that if you're character design doesn't allow your character to take on challenges of your EL then you're doing your fellows a dis-service and I (and they) reserve the right to make fun of behind your back. [br][br]If that's a right they want, fine. It's just that...

1162152872[/unixtime]]But I have yet to meet anyonw who wants to play a fighter . I've met many people who want play the guy/gal that stabs things with their sword while holding a shield in the other hand or the mounted knight in shining armor or some other warrior archetype . That's all well and g...

1162157461[/unixtime]]PWW, maybe I won't know why they're so damn useless unless I look at their character sheet, but it's pretty self-evident that neither of the above characters does anything at all level-appropriate.[br][br]If "Creska the Wanderer" is 30th-level and wouldn't make a goo...

1162146780[/unixtime]][br]Having a seriously wrong combination of the latter can make the answer to the former "Someone useless". This makes me want to go digging for a few hilariously bad character builds and post them here. [br]But you're not going to know unless the player shares his c...

I guess it breaks down to three catagories here:[br][br]1) The person who is forced to play a certain class. Of course, this isn't appropriate and shouldn't be done.[br][br]2) The person who would like to play certain class but mechanically the class is too weak. I agree that in this situation that ...

Actually, I agree with Crissa on this one as well. If I want to take 10 levels of fighter, that's what I'm playing. Sure, I know about clerics of war, but if I wanted to be a cleric of war, I would have been a cleric. Sometimes I just want to be a spear-wielding fool instead of a guy looking upward ...