The Gaming Den

As a serious note then: what would you recommend as a system for a good one-shot? Bonus points for a horror game that I can run 1x/year for a holiday. Needs to have just enough rules to have a surprise for the Keeper/DM, but enough rules/structure to allow for character creation->Intro->middle->end ...

I really appreciate the in-depth and thoughtful reply. My understanding is that the rules are going to leave a lot to be desired. As a side ntoe, aside from the railroading, I've really found Christmas in Kingsport to be a good and well-written session that I'll be running for my players in a few da...

https://xkcd.com/979/ So, I'm running a CoC Christmas game and wanted to reacquaint myself with the rules. In it, Krampus-monsters will pick up the children, stuff them into their bags, and drag them to hell (or try to anyways). I figured I would acquaint myself with the grappling rules. Oh wait! It...

In an actual campaign, my DM had the rule: "If the roll that I made changes the story in a direction that no body wants it to go in, I will reroll", which is backed up a supporting rule "if I roll it three times, it happens". Additionally, for purposes of this story, there is the...

This:
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/09/28

Whoa, that... got a little out of hand... First, let me clarify: the field or AI is alive and well, with a reasonable amount of growth, experimentation, and discovery. The subfield of cognitive modeling (making AI behave human-ish) hasn't done much other than bump along. Recursively improving system...

Juton, try to take a look at the work in ACT-R: http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/ SOAR: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/soar/home Context-Based Reasoning: https://www.aaai.org/Papers/FLAIRS/2004/Flairs04-104.pdf More information can be found here: http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/faculty/stamant/papers/RSA-SPM-FER-nectar...

Totally pimped griffon? +1 Chain shirt barding is usually crazy-awesome for monsters that are clearly intended to not wear armor. 5 AC for 1K - YES, please. After that, you Awaken it for 450gp (you can BUY +2HD (11hp), the goodies that come with that, and the ability to speak a language for so, so c...

Science/Engineering/Multimedia High School Electrical Engineering undergrad (Computer Engineering focus) Computer Engineering Masters (Intelligent Systems focus) --- Probably start PhD this December, heading for Modeling/Simulation (Intelligent Systems focus) Work for the last 4 years has been in Mo...

I'm studied in both... Also, it looks like I suck hard at this... http://drbrawner.blogspot.com I'll probably have the next 8 papers or so on the subjects of: Data Mining in Education Data Segmentation Intelligent Tutoring Systems Neural Networks Neuro-Evolution But I'm totally open to requests. On ...

All y'all ought to come and click on some links...

On a serious note, if anyone is interested in learning about Artificial Intelligence, it is my intention to give a quick-n-dirty paper review 1x/week.

In the last session, I actually had my first primary (I had a named NPC under my control in 2nd ed die) character die. I think that this probably exemplifies the 3.5 unfairness, as this encounter is from a boxed module. A shark has rammed the submarine we are travelling in, and it needs to surface. ...

Edit:Double-post

Being that none of us have heard of this crazy-awesome LA-buying off template, I'm going to say that he knew what he was doing. Also, please link. Hell, as long as we are powergaming, we might as well take Miniature, +3 LA worth of templates that give any bonus whatsoever to a casting stat, and the ...

Just for the record, Indiana Jones has always been a rogue. Druid, Spirit Shaman, and any other caster/prepper just totally doesn't fit for Indy.

Indiana Jones lives by his wits. He's a rogue.

Followup question: Can someone that is attacking with a sword parry a dagger attack in the same round? Edit: Further followup: Can someone that tries to punch you parry your punch when you hit back? Further, further, followup: You don't attack, and declare that you are attempting to parry a punch. A...

Hey all; I'm starting to DM a Call game, and I have what I feel is a rather basic rules question: How the fvck does 'parry' work? There are complicated rules for parry that include: - weapons can be used to parry hand attacks - hand attacks cannot be used to parry weapon attacks - a large gun (rifle...

When you say Ring of Blink and colossal acid flasks, I think that you really mean "high initiative roll", "Tumble-Flanking", "Smokestick-hiding", and using the cleric to cast "tracer" spells like Sound Burst and Hold Person. Due to people moving, getting deplo...

So... Your level 3 druid can cast: Basic Access to the Primal Spheres of Storm, Forest and Beast (3 1s and 3 2s, 6 spells, 6 variety) Your level 5 druid can cast: At 5th level, he gains Advanced Access (to all?) (3*3 1s, 3*3 2s, 3*3 3s, 27 total, 9 variety) A bit overpowered, depending on the spells...

What follows is the true discussion of how Planar Shepherds were created: *looking at druids* "you know what these guys need? More Awesome" "Yea, they don't get enough splat book love" "well, what you you want if you were a Druid" "I dunno, to turn into Dragons?&qu...

Yea, what gives! Your Paladin is wearing armor! What kind of mage do you think you are?!

Actually, for what it is worth, that first level in Beguiler is actually quite awesome. We modified the Spirit Shaman in our game to be a Wisdom-based sorceror who can change spells daily from the druid list. It has worked okay. Also, seriously? A freaking Entangle spell can put the whole group to s...

Honestly, when I was playing my Samurai, that TAUGHT me to divine. For the most part, Divination spells have a steep player AND DM learning curve. You rarely use them when you have to choose something like "should I prepare a Divination spell or a Spell that gives me a burrow speed for 1 round&...

Just a friendly reminder than some of the stuff is now a bit broken as written. Example: the Holy Crusader gets a [Celestial] Feat at levels 3 and 5, but no [Celestial] feats are printed.

Sorry, but I have no time to contribute. I may this coming winter for break, or this coming summer.

As usual, getting things from one place to another the fastest is not the competition. Getting things from one place to another safely , is the real battle. Frank is right, with actual frog men, merpeople, giant monsters, water elementals, and potions of water breathing, you are likely to be attacke...