The Gaming Den

So, I've been looking at Memorial University since it offers Geology and has various mining and oil-related courses. Of course, it's apparent I need to take a refresher in math in order to pass the entrance exam (much less coursework). A big plus is that the cost for housing and tuition, etc comes ...

I may be a shitty GM (although I maintain it's more likely I have shitty players) but this happens significantly more often than one in 50 times at my table. The death of one or more PCs short of TPK is even more common. I run tough games, that's part of it, the rest is that my players suck at bein...

Ok yes, the time frame is important. The book I'm reading now has a couple that meet at blade point and immediately draw a connection due to respect for each other's skill but they don't rut on the battlefield once its over; in fact not until much later. I can recall yet not cite (which obviously is...

There is precedence in source material regarding violent confrontation leading to diplomatization, whether is be political or romantic. Warriors falling in love due to their respect for each others martial skills is a fairly common meme in fantasy. A show of arms to convince a king to side with you ...

Meanwhile... another RPG that YOU can write! That pile of wtf collected $618, with three idiots pitching in $100 each. Are people getting more intelligent? Looks like the answer is no. $15000 (out of $33000) for statting mythical characters straight from the encyclopedia (softcover, bw interior art...

Well from my experience, the reason that crunch books sell more is that players want copies of the crunch to work on their characters while fluff books are something you can buy once in the group and pass it around. I do read the fluff in settings books (which of course is why you buy setting books)...

Now I truly believe that most men think women are crazy (and assume vice versa) on some issues and that being aware of that fact is of benefit to people. I'm sure my son will think I'm crazy sometimes and will probably suggest he follow the same advice concerning me. I think this is more that peopl...

I'm guessing regular reality chats with the boy will be in order and telling him what my daddy told me "Son, your mother has lots of crazy ideas and will want you to do a bunch of crazy shit; most of the time its just not worth the fight compared to the amount of effort required to placate her...

I've just had a child with my Vietnamese wife which is going to make religion a tad bit interesting. I'm a lapsed Athiest (doesn't subscribe to any religion but participates -- really goes through the motions -- in the occasional religious ceremony to placate loved ones) and my wife sort of follows ...

A 3.0 game and my first time really playing a caster (cleric). I had introduced him to replace the other cleric whose player had left so he was 15th or something (It had been a long campaign) when we were fighting a BBEG vampire. I realized that I could have killed him at any point with one spell bu...

Earthdawn's setting was the main flaw. They really should have gone more generic since they had a better core system. Its been close to a decade since I read the 1st Ed. of Earthdawn but I don't recall much that could be ported into your own setting without much explanation rules wise. The biggest ...

So, I'm working on this idea. I have a basic PC party and the BBEG and ideal casting figured out: Tiefling True Fiend3/Paladin5/Celestial Beacon4: Delphine Cheneac (Dren, from Splice) - The Hero/Leader Wow that pretty much tells us that you've got some pretty messed up sexual cravings that you've p...

1) BAMF fbmf, you were totally wrong and Dance of Dragons did come out on whatever day. Remember that? 2) I just wanted to bring that up, but this thread will mostly be for me to point to Ron Paul's polling numbers in a few months and laugh at GX. I didn't until you brought it up, but I cheerfully ...

And then once you graduate from college you find that the only jobs that will take you are absolute bottom-level retail grunt work, and that people you know who didn't bother going to college have had enough time to work their way up 'bank manager', 'head cable guy', or 'courier who makes a disconc...

TMNT was the most playable of the Palladium games I played 20-15 years ago. Its not balanced in any stretch but it is sufficiently balanced that no one is going to feel too small in the pants. The "after the bomb" books were all pretty ace, except for the original "after the bomb"...

I still don't understand why all durational buffs in all video games are not set to either on giving their benefit and decreasing your maximum magicka slightly, or off, not doing anything. Why the fuck have they not figured out that recasting the same thing whenever it wears out is the most boring ...

Hey all One of my teaching colleagues has disappeared (literally, which is not that uncommon in this part of the world) and his intro to micro-economics classes has fallen onto my lap. While I get the concepts enough to explain them, I'm not an expert at teaching it and all the supplemental resource...

I'm looking at getting a new campaign up and running and I'm wondering, other than Tomes, what house rules you use and why you like them. One I like is PCs roll most of the dice. Instead of saves and attacks from the monsters, I get PCs to roll their DC and AC as a bonus +d20 against a fixed save an...

ARGHGHGHGH! What was half the party in 1e/2e games? FIGHTERS! It wasn't mechanically all that advantageous, a lot of people just enjoy that shit. Like I do. For reals. Look, I can sympathize by feeling overwhelmed by a character that has too many options both in the character creation and combat ph...

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Malawi, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore (though I don't consider it a country but rather a festering boil on the face of SE Asia), Cambodia, Vietnam. Canada where I was born and the US but they're ba...

First of all we all know not all CRs are created equal and what 4 CR1 creatures that really are a suitable encounter at 4th might actually be a bitch at 1st even by itself. And besides, dude, it's a fucking level 1 character, who gives a shit? It's not like you're killing some guy that someone inves...

For DoW having a bonus and a penalty is annoying because requires 2 things to track of instead of one. I'd go with bonus and maybe add it to DCs to replicate the penalty to saves the loser would have had. Double the bonus if you feel a +2 isnt enough. My other concern is it being will saves it means...

Right so you one shot every player you can as soon as the opportunity comes up? D&D, at least in the 3.X iteration that we discuss here, is sufficiently rocket taggy that you can almost always kill people in one round using run of the mill CR appropriate encounters. As the DM has much more infor...

@sworldslinger: No he's not you fucking useless spaz. He is saying that the DM has a greater responsibility because.. he has taken on a greater responsibility by setting up the setting, adventure and taking on the lion share of the characters. He has full knowledge and control of everything that hap...

Instead of trying to eliminate character death, you may just want to offer the PC outlets of doing something. For instance, give the PC party some retainers or hirelings. If you die, you get to run some other PC's cohort. That's enough motivation that most people don't want to drop, but it still le...