Author Archives: MssngrDeath

Perform (dungeon master)

So what is DMing with Charisma? There are three skills in D&D that represent the ability to make money in a non-adventuring role (and it’s telling that all of them were in my last post, which means that 4th Edition … Continue reading

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Secondary Skills

I have plenty of complaints about the skill system in 4th, but the thing I missed the most is the skills that fell by the wayside. I understand rolling skills like Listen, Spot, and Search into Perception, and I don’t … Continue reading

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The Seven Party Roles (Examples)

So what does it mean to have roles that aren’t defined by the system? In 4th Edition, a fighter is a defender. Though you can build one with striking or controlling, it’s a rare fighter that doesn’t function at all … Continue reading

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The Seven Party Roles (Definitions)

Since Delve Night is moving from D&D 4th Edition to Pathfinder, I think it’s about time to dig up this thing I wrote years ago, possibly back before Unearthed Arcana, the fourth core rulebook, was even released. Before 4th Edition … Continue reading

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Disparate Character Abilities

One of the campaigns in which I’m playing has managed to step into a problem I’ve seen a lot since it was first brought to my attention years ago. A friend of mine was playing a character who couldn’t take … Continue reading

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Campaign Writeup: The Nine Emblems

The Nine Emblems was the first campaign I ran, a million years ago in early 2004. Like most of my early campaigns, it was timed to wrap up by the end of the semester, and it must have been shortly … Continue reading

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A Rant on Dragons

Dragons irritate me. Maybe it’s because they’re popular with designers. After all, they’re in the name of the system, and I can think of five first-party books off the top of my head all about dragons and how players can … Continue reading

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A Rant on Racial Prerequisites

I’ve been asked why I don’t like racial prerequisites (or, as I like to call them, racist prerequisites), and I don’t think I have a clear, logical answer, certainly not the kind that will sway everybody to my viewpoint. The … Continue reading

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Doing the Impossible

There’s a point in No More Heroes 2 when the main character walks into a(n American) football stadium and is immediately surrounded by two-dozen identical cheerleaders, all introducing a football star that the main character has been send to fight. … Continue reading

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D&D Stats in Simple Language

I’ve heard a lot of interpretations of ability scores. The most common of these is “Charisma correlates strongly to good looks”, which is incorrect and tends to irritate players of low-Charisma characters, but anytime there’s something the stats don’t cover … Continue reading

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