Search found 2699 matches

by tussock
Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:18 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Annoying Game Questions You Want Answered
Replies: 6000
Views: 1030712

Fireball wands in D&D come from original Chainmail. Had Cannons and Trebuchets, and the quick way to describe Wizards in the fantasy expansion for the game was something like 'can fire like a Cannon or Trebuchet each turn, as a Lightning Bolt or Fireball'. Fireball explodes over there because th...
by tussock
Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:48 pm
Forum: MPSIMS
Topic: Medical Questions I'd Like Answered...
Replies: 968
Views: 201994

Oh, and too late for this, but there's a lot of recommendations around endurance exercise now that probably anti-inflammatory drugs are hurting the healing process. The studies I've found are actually from taking them during events, but the recovery times there are longer, as there's more damage don...
by tussock
Mon Jul 08, 2019 9:50 am
Forum: MPSIMS
Topic: It's Personal...
Replies: 4839
Views: 672166

Cheers, Maj. Internet too. What an amazing thing. I been reading a Canadian woman write about her experiences with ADHD on twitter. @ErynnBrook She's a writer so it's packed with info, she links medical folk and lots of other people talking about their experience, gets hundreds of people sometimes t...
by tussock
Mon Jul 08, 2019 8:24 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Are the 90s the "lost age" rules-wise ?
Replies: 23
Views: 3254

Paranoia's a low-level AD&D hack, pure and simple, everything in it is playing on AD&D tropes. I mean, the 80's were hating on classes and trying anything but a d20 to hit (ironic), and some of them loved result tables just way too much, but just about everyone was still playing where you ro...
by tussock
Sat Jul 06, 2019 10:06 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Fixing racism in D&D (/rpgs in general)
Replies: 103
Views: 19098

Take something from the US. Run an underground railroad to free the Orcs and other Sacrifan slaves from the oppressive orange-cross religion that has a hate on for magic railroads (and "is not racist, but is just helping them learn to assimilate" with whips and stuff). But, like, just kil...
by tussock
Sat Jul 06, 2019 7:37 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: european fantasy cultures and how to fit them
Replies: 125
Views: 17471

People aren't seriously saying Vampires are all the same thing, are they? Because a long ass time ago, GURPS put out a book called Vampires. It details Vampire myths that are mostly from European legend but also all around the world, and there's about fifty of them and they're all extremely differen...
by tussock
Sat Jul 06, 2019 6:39 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Are the 90s the "lost age" rules-wise ?
Replies: 23
Views: 3254

Let's see if there's anything in the concept. [hr] 70's is inventing RPGs. You go from the Fantasy suppliment for Chainmail in 1969 to AD&D plus Holmes Basic in 1979. A lot of it is just figuring out how anything can even work at all, and AD&D is basically a couple thousand post-it note conc...
by tussock
Fri Jul 05, 2019 5:46 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Fixing racism in D&D (/rpgs in general)
Replies: 103
Views: 19098

I'm thinking kill on sight is more about the rest of the monster manual. Like, yes, most religious hatred now is bullshit on top of racial hatred (but also, Jews), but that in turn means the religious hatred is more racism to not put in the game. Especially if the targets are mostly Orcs and you're ...
by tussock
Thu Jul 04, 2019 1:25 pm
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Fixing racism in D&D (/rpgs in general)
Replies: 103
Views: 19098

Fixing racism in D&D (/rpgs in general)

[*]This is long. Sorry, but read the first two lists. So I was reading a thing, longer than this even, but good stuff. Got a few things to click for me about what's been in my D&D forever and ever, particularly when re-reading some of the old D&D books after. https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blo...
by tussock
Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:20 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: D&D 5e has failed
Replies: 1907
Views: 429733

https://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?6447-WotC-Looking-For-A-New-D-D-Producer Mike Mearls' is not losing his job (he's Creative Director), but they are hiring someone to be his boss (Executive Producer), while the franchise bosses ... I have no idea what any of those people do. VP of signing th...
by tussock
Tue Jul 02, 2019 12:27 pm
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: What is considered to be "modern" RPG design?
Replies: 100
Views: 18796

But then, isn't this DIY / "Rulings, not rules!" / "Each table it's own game" ethos the point of the OSR movement? Sort of. OSR is a lot of things. Most of it is re-creating a particular feel, but they also focused pretty heavily on cleaning up old rule sets and mostly shifting ...
by tussock
Tue Jul 02, 2019 5:33 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: european fantasy cultures and how to fit them
Replies: 125
Views: 17471

Reason(s) to be Imperialistic ... How do you give imperialist nations a reason to exist while still keeping the worldmap focused on various Europe knockoffs? Roman Empire, Marovingian Empire, Angevian Empire, the Hun Empire, the Mongolian Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Christendom, the Caliphate, the r...
by tussock
Mon Jul 01, 2019 5:10 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: What is considered to be "modern" RPG design?
Replies: 100
Views: 18796

Disney bought all of Fox except Fox News off Murdock, and nothing changed. It's the same fucking thing as No, it is not. Lt. Uhura was not pandering to Blacks. When they made a Lt. Uhura action figure at some point, it was not pandering to Blacks. The black girl Barbies is not pandering to Blacks. T...
by tussock
Mon Jul 01, 2019 2:33 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: european fantasy cultures and how to fit them
Replies: 125
Views: 17471

My actual position is that players won't interact with your setting at all when making characters, so your focus when worldbuilding should be exclusively on the campaign's actual story. My experience is if you just do a game arc without a proper setting for it, players totally keep fucking asking w...
by tussock
Sun Jun 30, 2019 9:57 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: What is considered to be "modern" RPG design?
Replies: 100
Views: 18796

Mord: representation is important. Stop before you say something bad, m'kay. Like, it's 2019, man, gay people existing has long been the default in popular media, Will and Grace was twenty one fucking years ago, excluding gay people from your work now is just fascism. 3e D&D was a bit shit for r...
by tussock
Sat Jun 29, 2019 10:36 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: What is considered to be "modern" RPG design?
Replies: 100
Views: 18796

Mord's post was a pretty weird grognardy thing, but I'm going to respond to bits of it anyway, just because. From a broader standpoint of "modern RPGs" rather than design specifically, what distinguishes modern products to me is the level of pandering to the consumer involved. I guess you ...
by tussock
Tue Jun 25, 2019 9:51 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: european fantasy cultures and how to fit them
Replies: 125
Views: 17471

OgreBattle, things feel European because the art has white people in chain and plate in it, riding horses and wielding strait swords with a plain cross guard that look a bit like the holy cross (that is why medieval European swords looked like that, and no one else's ever did). Like, real medieval E...
by tussock
Tue Jun 25, 2019 9:24 am
Forum: MPSIMS
Topic: Medical Questions I'd Like Answered...
Replies: 968
Views: 201994

I find I struggle to keep weight on when I do a few months proper fitness training. I usually put out like 2000 calories an hour on the bike, so 10000+ a week in training. Just no chance to get in that much extra food to maintain weight, 4-5 days worth extra for me, doesn't fit. Best wishes with the...
by tussock
Tue Jun 25, 2019 9:21 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: What is considered to be "modern" RPG design?
Replies: 100
Views: 18796

Guts, that's sort of how detailed characters aren't what they were, in the D&D line now. There is however much more detail in the Pathfinder line, which is more popular. Anyway, modern gaming is essentially selling rose coloured glasses. Getting people to think they are buying a Mentzer D&D ...
by tussock
Mon Jun 24, 2019 8:30 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: european fantasy cultures and how to fit them
Replies: 125
Views: 17471

Warhammer 40k does medieval Europe (in space) pretty well. The relics and lost arts and purges and the space-pope from whom comes all truth and the heresies against him. The "diseases" that empty whole worlds. The ludicrously over-specialised super-expensive armies that work anyway. The sp...
by tussock
Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:56 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Pathfinder/3.x D&D without strict time keeping
Replies: 21
Views: 3807

There's a 3e theory problem called the 15-minute adventuring day. Where everything resets once per day, so you buff up, do one fight, then go rest for a day and do the same to the next room tomorrow. Spell durations and many other things cease to matter, like fights are not difficult. Unless things ...
by tussock
Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:02 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: D&D 5e has failed
Replies: 1907
Views: 429733

Whales are <2% of players spending >50% of the money spent on the game, where most people spend basically nothing after net connection fees. Because the world you live in is <2% of people having >50% of the money that is spent, with most people having basically nothing to spend after food and shelte...
by tussock
Thu Jun 20, 2019 5:42 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: D&D 5e has failed
Replies: 1907
Views: 429733

Hey souron. There's people have studied what players like, and modern PC games are heavily based on the psychology of it all to maximise profits. Most people will spend real money, like actual "this is four hours of my life I took to earn this" kind of money, and buy things like a purple p...
by tussock
Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:42 am
Forum: In My Humble Opinion...
Topic: Are you really nostalgic for 3.5, or just for PHB Wizards?
Replies: 103
Views: 17677

AD&D and 2e has Poly Self, Poly Other, and what the monsters do. Poly Self gives you the movement speeds of anything out of the MM (land, swimming, flying, jumping), and that is all. Self only, 20 min/level, you can keep changing as a full round action. Same thing Druids get, though they have ex...
by tussock
Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:52 am
Forum: MPSIMS
Topic: [Non-US] News That Makes You laugh/cry/neither...
Replies: 3918
Views: 994760

In Brazilian news today, or a couple days ago at least, the current Minister of Justice, who was previously the Judge overseeing the case against the previous President, actually conspired with prosecution to bring the case that he then sat on, imprisoning Lula, and resulting in the change of govt. ...