Tag Archives: D&D 3.5E

In Defense of D&D Stats in Simple Language: The Definition of Charisma

Last post I responded to some of the comments on D&D Stats in Simple Language with “we’re both right”. Things don’t translate perfectly from one edition to another, and the stats simply won’t work if they’re applied to earlier or … Continue reading

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In Defense of D&D Stats in Simple Language: What Measure is an 18?

One of the neat bits about having a blog is that I post things that generate discussion. It’s one thing to say something in a group of similarly-minded DMs and have a talk before a session starts, but it’s quite … Continue reading

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In Defense of the Indefensible

World Engineer has a post about the impending 5th Edition, and I find it hard to disagree with most of what he says. Fighting over editions is bad, there’s no need to convert people, and so on and so forth. … Continue reading

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Multi-Round Actions (Part 4, Tactical Feats)

I never felt like tactical feats really got the respect they deserve. I think the designers wanted to give characters neat tricks that meshed with their combat style while keeping them accessible enough that any character who wanted them could … Continue reading

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Multi-Round Actions (Part 2, Channeled Spells)

When I thought of “things in D&D that can take more than one round”, the first place I went was “spells”. However, that space in D&D is largely filled with “spells not designed for combat” and “sorcerers trying to use … Continue reading

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Non-Binary DCs (or, Why Players Can’t Have Nice Things, Part One of Infinity)

D&D is largely a binary system: you either succeed at something or you don’t. There are no partial successes or glancing blows, and aside from critical hits and natural ones on Reflex saves there’s nothing in the system that rewards … Continue reading

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Multi-Round Actions (Part 1, The Folly of Setup)

One of the post ideas that’s been puttering about in my head for at the last year is the conceit that D&D 4E drastically cut down on the amount of actions a player can perform. Ostensibly there are the same … Continue reading

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60-Minute Session Design

I think a person can judge their proficiency in some area by determining the relative complication of the things in that area that frustrate them. For example, I cook fairly frequently. I’m no executive chef, but I can turn ingredients … Continue reading

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Character Creation

Little-known fact: there’s nothing that gets me quite as excited as this: I’m the sort of person who watches video game rosters very closely during production. I watched every reveal trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 the day it was … Continue reading

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“Rules as Written” (or, Hate the Playa, not the Game)

I was loitering at my friendly local gaming store (patronize it with money!) lately, and a conversation sprouted about play styles. Specifically, we discussed a particular style of play formed around building powerful characters and having them do powerful things. … Continue reading

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