With what we have seen of backgrounds and themes the more I read about these design goals, the more I wonder if D&D would just be better served as a point buy-like system in the vein of Dresden Files, Exalted, Shadowrun, etc, where you accrue XP and spend it on things or increase existing things. Plenty […]
I spent yesterday reading through the playtest documents for D&D Next, and will post my initial impressions sometime this weekend. For now though I am trying to play catch up with some previous blog entries, starting with this one (for the record, the earliest magic item I can recall nabbing was a two-handed sword +1, +2 […]
Between playing an unhealthy amount of Diablo 3, spending the weekends out of the house, and a more recent article on hit points and healing surges, I had almost forgotten about paladins. I am glad to see that paladins will follow codes that reflect on their deity. Having a singular code regardless of god was kind […]
“Characters get four things–skills or traits.” This model kind of reminds me of a combination of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons and Exalted, in that skills grant a flat bonus to a variety of related things, but you can opt to nab other things if you want. A workshop was specifically mentioned, but I could also see […]
As I said in a previous blog post, sometimes a fight is just not worth the effort of stopping the game to draw out a tactical map. I cannot imagine the amount of time I have spend drawing maps and juggling Dungeon Tiles, whether it was for a hunting party of kobolds in the forest […]
I guess according to Twitter it was supposed to be the wizard’s turn to show off her design goals, but the rogue *ahem* stole the spotlight. Ultimately the design goals can be condensed into two key points: rogues do not fight fair, and they are skilled. So, very, very skilled. The first part I have no problem […]
A previous blog post on background and themes made it pretty clear that backgrounds and themes are just going to be respective packages of skills and feats, though other information drops hinted–or could at least be interpreted–that they might confer other benefits as well. This post states that themes and backgrounds “also give a character […]
My first thought of reading this blog post is, “Huh…I really should rerun finish Age of Worms!” I got my 3rd Edition group up to Shadows of the Spire (I think that is what ti is called), and it just feels like a darned shame to just leave them stranded in the jungle. The horrible, worm-infested […]
I find Rob’s proposal and reasons for adding race frequency to the game very…odd, to say the least, especially with 5th Edition’s purported goal of unifying all the editions. Tagging races as common, uncommon, rare, or whatever does nothing to inform the DM how these might fit into her campaign. It just sets a bar. […]
It’s good to see that the vast majority are in favor to at least some form of limited self-healing. Personally I had grown tired of relying on the casters to keep the game going last edition, and 4th Edition made it easier–I would daresay possible–to manage without a healer at all, or at least without having […]
Points of Light 