Tag Archives: Pathfinder

House Rule: Alternate Fear Mechanics

It’s time to fulfill a promise I made more than a year ago: Concept: Alternate fear mechanics Tested in: The Worldwound campaign What it is: Fear is, appropriately, the scariest affliction in 3E and Pathfinder. Being shaken isn’t so bad, … Continue reading

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House Rule: Guns

Concept: Alternate gun mechanics Tested in: Various Eight Arms campaigns What it is: D&D assumes a standard medieval fantasy setting, and Pathfinder assumes a medieval fantasy setting that likes to pretend it isn’t standard. The Eight Arms world time-advanced that … Continue reading

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House Rule: Mitigated Save-or-Dies

For November I had a series of short posts about weird mechanics I’ve used or played in games. Before I posted anything I asked my players about any mechanics they thought would a good fit for one of those posts, … Continue reading

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Faith: A Love Letter to Automatic Bonus Progression

I love D&D’s vast array of magical items. When I started gaming, this was the section of the Dungeon Master’s Guide in which I spent the most time, using different items to come up with character or adventure ideas. I … Continue reading

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Faith: Signature Spells

No, I’m not done talking about Faith just because it’s on break. My explicit goal going into Faith was to make it feel like an anime. This means arcs needed a certain pacing, enemies needed a certain charisma, battles needed … Continue reading

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Guest Characters

Concept: Guest characters Tested in: The One Piece campaign, The Eight Arms and the Contract of Barl, the Worldwound campaign What it is: In D&D, players build characters and control them through adventures. That’s the elevator pitch and core concept … Continue reading

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When Anton Met Pepper

Players love messing with NPCs. That’s kind of their thing, perhaps even more than petty crime and distributing loot. Whether the DM presents a haughty nobleman or a vicious warlord or even a curmudgeonly shopkeeper, the players feel it’s their … Continue reading

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Apparatus of Kwalish

Every player can recall a moment when they latched onto something in a book, never to let it go. In fact, each player probably has several. Something about a class or a race or a spell tickled their brain and … Continue reading

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Faith: Signature Items (Angeline)

I had a rule of thumb for the capstone abilities: if a player read the ability I was trying to give them and their only response was “are you high?”, I did it right. Each capstone is ludicrously powerful, able … Continue reading

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Faith: Signature Items (Sarai)

I ran the first draft of these items by each player, but I didn’t mail the entire group. I wanted everybody’s item design to take place in a relative vacuum. Each player knew the early levels I posted in March, … Continue reading

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