With the impending release of the PHB2, and the general notion of what will be included, it occurred to me that even with these classes there seem to be some fairly reasonable character concepts that just don’t seem to mesh well with D&D. This article will identify those concepts, identify where I perceive the shortcoming in bringing the concept to fruition, and take a stab at how to solve this problem.
Inq. of the Week: PHB2 Classes?
Our previous Inquisition focused on a topic near and dear to many RPG players, and can even make or break a person’s whole opinion of a system depending on how it works, systems for magic. I have to say that I’m not surprised to see my personal favorite system, Free Form Magic, come in first place with 27% of the votes.
The Rule of C4
The trigger happy attitude displayed by many characters and parties in D&D is notorious, prone to looting everyone/thing within groping range; a typical group of adventurers in a fantasy tabletop setting isn’t exactly known for leaving places intact when they blow into town. This player/party attitude is brought to the forefront when explosives enter play, but the other thing it does for many players is opens up their tactical and strategic ability. This is why I believe the Rule of C4 should not be quickly or idly dismissed as more of the “Michael Bay” syndrome that many fear happening to their precious D&D campaigns.
‘The Magic Bullet for Publication’ by Wolfgang Baur
Kobold Quarterly was kind enough to offer up a chapter from The Kobold Guide to Game Design Volume II: How to Pitch, Playtest, and Publish by Wolfgang Baur, presented by Open Design. I was given the choice between two chapters and decided to leave it to the best decision maker, and rolled a d20. Suprisingly it came up a 20, and so I went with the “high” option which I’m very happy with, titled “The Magic Bullet for Publication”.
When Horror Meets Awesome: CthulhuTech
One thing that I never really expected to see released as an official product is the melding of the Cthulhu mythos with a futuristic-anime style setting, which is exactly what CthulhuTech presents.
A Comparison of Content
You’ve all heard the argument, and indeed many of you have probably even said it a couple of times, that “4th Edition has less content in the core books than previous editions of D&D.” But I’ve wondered if this was accurate. My instinct and a hunch were telling me one answer, but I set out to find out the truth!
Paying the Buy-In
When starting a new campaign (or even just planning a one-shot), it’s tough to get people into a new game. Thus, the game usually ends up being D&D. Now, there’s nothing wrong with it being D&D, but with so many RPGs out there, I enjoy a bit of variety when I can get it.
Why is it so tough? Because the “buy-in” total for the game is too high.
4th Edition Encounter Planner
Earlier this week I was talking to Asmor and idly mentioned to him how I was trying to make an Encounter Planner for 4th Edition that used the DMG encounter templates. I was hoping to have something where I input a level, choose a difficulty, and it outputs a list of the monsters that will […]
How a Wiki can Excite Players
You can find all kinds of advice on how to use a wiki to help out your roleplaying campaign, but there is one aspect I discovered during the last game I played in which I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned by anyone. Sure wiki can be great for keeping track of loot, NPC’s, and plot […]
Pain of Campaigning VII: The Finale (Part I: What You Want the Adventure to be)
Well, if you’re reading this with a finale on the horizon, first, let me say: Congratulations! I can honestly say that amongst the best DMs I know that the prospect of actually having a campaign reaching a conclusion, rather than dying out, is no greater than 50%… and that’s a generous estimate. Personally, my latest […]
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