-
Recent Posts
Tags
Recent Comments
- Isaac on Removing Ability Scores
- Arnie Rogers on D&D Stats in Simple Language
- Daniel j. Squire on D&D Stats in Simple Language
- stan on D&D Stats in Simple Language
- 793 on D&D Stats in Simple Language
Meta
Tag Archives: D&D 3E
Skill Challenges (or, They Wasted a Perfectly Good Mechanic)
One thing I was excited about in 4th Edition was skill challenges. I think they’re a great idea. I think they’re such a great idea that I can’t help but notice that every DM in every campaign I’ve seen has … Continue reading
Pacing (Part 1, Overview)
Imagine a football game* where every play ends in a touchdown. For the first few plays, it’s pretty exciting. Returning a kick for a touchdown is the thing of sports highlight reels, as are fifty-yard passes and expert runs. But … Continue reading
The Three-Character Rule (well, Suggestion)
When I first heard the idea that most players only play three characters, I think I had the same reaction as everybody else, which was basically “That’s dumb, and you’re dumb”. I kind of resented the idea that players are … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged D&D 3.5E, D&D 3E, D&D 4E
Comments Off on The Three-Character Rule (well, Suggestion)
Dealing with Character Death
The death of a character is rarely a happy event. Sometimes it’s a well-deserved comeuppance for terrible play (he said, glaring knowingly at the mirror-man sorcerer), but usually it’s a series of unplanned circumstances that leave the player and the … Continue reading
When a Player Misses a Session
Meteors. Zombie swarms. Conventions for Japanese cartoons. Jesus. There are probably a thousand things that can prevent a player from attending the session, and I’ve heard two-hundred thirty-eight of them. So when something explodes and a player can’t attend a … Continue reading
Designing for Parties Missing a Role (3rd Edition)
I’ve talked a few times about designing sessions for balanced parties and how hard it is. But some parties don’t have the luxury of being balanced. Sometimes, nobody wants to fill a certain role, or there just aren’t enough people … Continue reading
CRs, and Why They Mean So Little
Last night in our 3.5E campaign, we fought an entomber, from Libris Mortis, the Book of Bad Latin (also undead). The entomber’s primary mechanic is, shock of shocks, entombing. Every time it connects with an attack, the target has to … Continue reading
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
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
Posted in Campaigns, Gaming Systems
Tagged Campaign Reports, D&D 3.5E, D&D 3E
Comments Off on Campaign Writeup: The Nine Emblems
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