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Tag Archives: D&D
A sliding scale of stabbing
Tabletop RPG idea of the day: a system for resolving attacks in combat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything exactly like it. Background: One standard for making an attack is the attacker rolling dice to overcome a static defense … Continue reading
NYT bump for D&D
So this happened in the New York Times. One thought: I’m obviously a fan of D&D, and I agree that the whole subculture surrounding it is immensely good for fostering and encouraging creativity. It’s nice to see one of your … Continue reading
Fiddling with XP, part 3: Apologia and Addendum
Last time, I outlined a rough proposal for an alternate XP system for a class-and-level RPG. This included how the DM determines awards and how the players can work to adjust their individual awards, and then how those numbers might … Continue reading
Fiddling with XP, part 2: Something old, something new
Previously I rambled for a while about XP systems, and how my ideal would be granular and world-associated – i.e. the way it works makes sense from an in-world perspective as well as a meta, mechanical one. Assuming a D&D-style … Continue reading
Fiddling with XP, Part 1: The Past and Present
Improvement over time is such an integral part of role-playing games (in general) that it has become the de facto indicator for RPGness in computer games. And there are plenty of different systems. I’m partial to one in which using … Continue reading
More Musings on Skill Points and Economies Thereof
When I think about pen-and-paper RPG design, I invariably come around to skill systems and skill points. One thing that strikes me as odd about D&D is the almost complete disconnect between the systems for combat and the systems for … Continue reading
Posted in Nonfiction, Rules
Tagged brainstorming, D&D, gaming, history, rules, skill point economy, skills
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Tweaking “Turning”
Background One of the classic powers of clerics in D&D is “turning undead.” You present a holy symbol, the light of your patron deity shines through, and mummies shamble away or zombies are blasted into dust. The root of this, … Continue reading
Posted in Rules, World-Building
Tagged contests of will, D&D, RPG, rules, turning, vampires, wizards
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Ten Other Fighter Archetypes, Plus One
Another D&D-related post, and a brief one on account of how I’m now a grad student with classes to teach as well as attend and a hundred pages of reading each week. Over at The Dragon’s Flagon, Eric Treasure (if … Continue reading
Why call it “ten questions and a bonus” instead of “eleven questions”? Is our number of fingers really that important? Also, to be honest, I’d switch #s 10 and 11.
So I recently ran across a list of questions for DMs to answer about their RPG settings and/or house rules. By “ran across” I mean “read here;” please note also the link to his source. I kind of feel like … Continue reading
A Forging of Beasts
Heylo! I’m so pleased with the results of the last look at the Forge that I thought I’d have another go at it, this time in one of the specific fields (BeastForge). Skip down below if you just can’t wait. … Continue reading
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