Search found 394 matches
- Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:00 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Hilarious 4e Anti-Immersion
- Replies: 63
- Views: 10902
Yeah, that really really sucks. How're you supposed to kidnap the bad guy and terrify the information out of him when? Oh, I forgot, you're not. Even if you somehow manage to flange getting one of the mind-flayer's Ogre minions tied up so you can learn the layout of the underground lair, he'll die f...
- Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:55 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Level 1 weaklings are bad?
- Replies: 42
- Views: 4140
but it's hard when you realise that in a few levels' time the damage the melee types are dishing out will hardly matter and the most effective tactic will be getting them to stand in front of me and soak up pain while I kill everyone with my mind. The damage will still matter, it just gets harder a...
- Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:28 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Level 1 weaklings are bad?
- Replies: 42
- Views: 4140
I admit, I'm sort of enjoying watching the martial characters strut their stuff. The Shifter Barbarian doing her thing is a sight to behold with me dropping an Enlarge Person on her in the first round and putting the bad guys on their arses with a Sculpted Grease in the second round so she can get s...
- Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:06 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Level 1 weaklings are bad?
- Replies: 42
- Views: 4140
I love 1st and 2nd level play. Everyone can pull off all the bullshit combat maneuvers and really think outside the box because the numbers haven't had time to diverge enough to push you off the RNG. Wizards run around with small numbers of mass death spells, and a Fighter can move and swing his gl...
- Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:41 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Teleportation Spell Question
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1492
Yeah, seconded. I can understand the desire to house-rule Wish out of play and keep it a plot-only device. It's the lazy way of dealing with the spell, but certainly faster than a comprehensive list of what it can and can't do... But critical fumbles on a 1? Every time? Asshole. Get yourself some of...
- Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:18 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: FFT-style tiered class/prestige class advancement?
- Replies: 57
- Views: 6504
I kind of like the idea of giving characters the ability to announce their minor abilities by using them . That is, during an adventure you get to pick a minor ability - but you actually pick it during the adventure when it would be useful. Like any other retroactive training sequence from any adve...
- Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:13 am
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: My concerns about the horror genre.
- Replies: 76
- Views: 8392
...because doing dangerous shit for no particular prospect of reward is pretty much the defining characteristic of a hero. Groundless risk = suicidal, because you're risking your life for no fucking reason. No, making your fictional character seem to be a 'hero' is not a reason. This is both atypic...
- Fri Apr 17, 2009 10:13 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: My concerns about the horror genre.
- Replies: 76
- Views: 8392
Wow, this has got weird. If you're playing the kind of game where the good guys wouldn't do good things if they didn't know they were getting paid, then the good guys are not good guys. If they just won't do good *dangerous* things without getting paid, then they may still be goodish guys but they'r...
- Fri Apr 17, 2009 10:05 am
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: My concerns about the horror genre.
- Replies: 76
- Views: 8392
- Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:54 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: My concerns about the horror genre.
- Replies: 76
- Views: 8392
- Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:58 am
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: In Gods We Trust(?)
- Replies: 172
- Views: 13901
- Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:01 am
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Anatomy of Failed Design: D&D 2nd edition.
- Replies: 106
- Views: 41155
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:55 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Anatomy of Failed Design: D&D 2nd edition.
- Replies: 106
- Views: 41155
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:51 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Anatomy of Failed Design: Magic Items
- Replies: 34
- Views: 13552
In the unlikely event that anyone cares, I have had some thoughts on this very topic. The below is an e-mail I sent to some friends over a year ago. I haven't done any significant editing so bits of it might seem irrelevant or just plain odd, but the overall gist was highly pertinent. Oh yeah, and I...
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:50 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Thymos' System
- Replies: 20
- Views: 1422
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:46 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: What were the improvements from 1st to 2nd Edition?
- Replies: 142
- Views: 21945
I came into the hobby too late to catch anything more than the tail-end of 1st Edition. By the time I arrived on the scene, all the people I was playing with - who were a few years older than me - were basically using a massive set of their own house rules to make some sense of the massive set of ho...
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:38 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Anatomy of Failed Design: Skill Challenges
- Replies: 267
- Views: 63762
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:22 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Anatomy of Failed Design: Skill Challenges
- Replies: 267
- Views: 63762
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:36 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Why does the Lady of Pain render gamers short in the pants?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 8284
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:34 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Anatomy of a Failed Design: Role Protection.
- Replies: 378
- Views: 49366
- Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:44 am
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: In Gods We Trust(?)
- Replies: 172
- Views: 13901
- Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:08 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Arguments in favor of 4th Edition
- Replies: 458
- Views: 42368
Rules, in general, stretch disbelief. A 3e fighter can jump off a 100 foot cliff, take a handful of d6's in damage, stand up, go on a four hour hike, then hack apart goblins for a while. 4e has its own brand of silliness in several areas. Oh yes, yes it does, and whilst I'm aware I'm now jumping in...
- Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:09 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Anatomy of Failed Design: Skill Challenges
- Replies: 267
- Views: 63762
I didn't think there was much wrong with the 3.5 skill system at heart, and Aid Another was far from a stupid thing to do at low levels for exactly the reasons already described. Where it fell down was in the descriptions of what some of the specific skills could do, and in providing so many differe...
- Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:58 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: How to include Dominate/Hold Person/etc and have balance?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 4793
With nonlethal damage, however, it's viable to have it make sense. No, you can't charm someone to death. You can wear down their mind. Beating someone wears down their body, why shouldn't performing acts that basically amount to holding someone in a mental chokehold wear down down their mind? Might...
- Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:36 pm
- Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
- Topic: Arguments in favor of 4th Edition
- Replies: 458
- Views: 42368