http://www.enworld.org/forum Discussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:18:18 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.enworld.org/forum http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268285-3-5e-players-d-d-4th-edition-gm.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:13:51 GMT I have what is probably a terrible idea.

Is it feasible to have a GM working out of 4th Edition stats and Players using 3.5 stats?

I know this is a crazy idea to many of you. But I'm pretty sure it can work. I'm pretty loose with stats, and have a good ability to just "make it work" on the fly.

Of course, the big shift is flipping DCs to saving throws and making the ad hoc rulings on how (Save Ends) monster powers work.

Ideally I'd be pitting 14th level PCs against High Heroic, Low Paragon opponents, as they have the right "feel" for what I'm doing. ]]> General RPG Discussion Charwoman Gene http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268285-3-5e-players-d-d-4th-edition-gm.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268277-grey-region-toronto-dead.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:11:41 GMT A shout out to other Toronto gamers -- what happened to the Grey Region Comics & Gaming shop on Yonge downtown?

It's not like I didn't see it coming from way down the Parkway... but there wasn't even any notice on the front window saying that it's moved somewhere.

Anybody have any inside scoop on this FLGS? ]]> General RPG Discussion Random Axe http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268277-grey-region-toronto-dead.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268275-back-day.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:54:36 GMT So I'm moving soon, so I've been packing stuff, and I came across a folder full of blank Basic D&D Character sheets... They're photocopies from the back of the Cyclopedia.

It made me think. Now at most I print maybe two or three character sheets, but most of the time character sheets are printed as needed. (Almost everyone I game with has a computer/printer.)

Back then I had to photocopy a bunch, because it wasn't like I had a photocopier in my bedroom...

I was lucky though, my parents were teachers, so every so often they'd take the book with the sheet I needed to work, and copy me like 100 character sheets. (Double sided too cause my parents were awesome like that!)

:P

They did the same thing with hex paper for me when I started playing GURPS... To this day I still have a manila folder filled with Hex Paper. ]]> General RPG Discussion Scribble http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268275-back-day.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268272-so-how-do-you-recognize-those-high-level-npcs-anyway.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:13:08 GMT Another question I had about the use of NPC's, is how do the players recognize high level NPCs in your experience?

In my own campaign, I've had NPCs that looked like they could take out a demi-god with one hand tied behind their back that were nothing more than well described in terms of how grim/scarred/used their equipment looked. I've also had NPC's deliberately bluff characters to their true power level.

So what are the 'tale tell signs' of a high powered NPC? ]]> General RPG Discussion JoeGKushner http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268272-so-how-do-you-recognize-those-high-level-npcs-anyway.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268265-fiddly-bits-power-cards-imagination.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:42:37 GMT DISCLAIMER: I'm going to do my best to keep this edition neutral and I urge everyone else to do the same.

Does anyone else find systems with highly defined powers and options to limit creativity? It could be that it's just the people I game with, but that's why I'm here to ask if anyone else sees the same thing.

When I play 4e, my fellow gamers make good (often brilliant) use of their powers and make excellent tactical decisions. But it never even occurs to them to do anything else. When I wanted to temporarily blind a creature with my cloak -- the classic "throw a cloak over it's head to distract it for a few seconds" -- my fellow gamers looked at me as if I had sprouted a new head!

It's *not* the system's fault -- The DMG even has notes on players trying things not covered by their powers, advising DMs on how to handle these actions and making suggestions as to how to adjudicate them. After all, no system will EVER cover every single thing a player can come up with.

But simply by strictly defining their powers, it seems like the game put blinders on (at least some) gamers -- they don't think beyond that list. If they don't have a card for it, the action simply doesn't occur to them.

---------------------------------------------

It's by no means limited to 4e -- it's just a recent example -- but it seems like the more a system defines options, the less players try to think of anything ELSE.

A player might try to use the environment against a foe, but typically only if the DM highlights an area (pit traps, environmental hazards, that kind of thing). When's the last time a player threw sand in someone's eyes? Or carried flour in case of invisible foes? Used chalk to mark a maze? Researched a unique spell for a specific circumstance? (Just to name a few classics.)

I've slowly moved more and more towards "freeform" and "rules lite" systems. (In quotes because no two gamers ever completely agree on those terms... :)) I was doing this long before 4e was even announced, so it's not a new phenomenon for me.

Is this a factor of the group / gamers I play with? Or does anyone else find that the better-defined a character's powers, the less the players are willing to experiment outside of those boundaries? ]]> General RPG Discussion wolff96 http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268265-fiddly-bits-power-cards-imagination.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268264-real-life-adventure-hooks.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:33:42 GMT I came across this wile digging through photos with my family this week past. Anyone else come across a real life adventure hook lately? -------- Vernicus I came across this wile digging through photos with my family this week past.

Anyone else come across a real life adventure hook lately?

--------

Vernicus ]]> General RPG Discussion vernicus http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268264-real-life-adventure-hooks.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268260-dragon-381-class-acts-invoker-adherents-kalandurren.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:56:17 GMT Today's Dragon article is about invokers who channel the power of the deceased god of justice, Amoth, Lord of Kalandurren. The article contains a new channel divinity feat, four new invoker powers (two attack and two utility), and a new invoker PP. Its a cool idea and given some of the paragraphs in the introduction, I hope its an idea that WotC pursues with the other dead gods:

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Class Acts: Invoker) ]]> General RPG Discussion Shroomy http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268260-dragon-381-class-acts-invoker-adherents-kalandurren.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268257-world-advanced-d-b.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:20:25 GMT So I was browsing the Drum and Bass section of ZUNE, and I came across an album by Dieselboy... It was called The Dungeonmaster's Guide.

The first song slowly gets going with a reading from one of the DMGs, by what sounds like Peter Cullen. Only instead of ending with This is the world of Advanced D&D, it ends with- This is the world of Advanced D&B...

Random. ]]> General RPG Discussion Scribble http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268257-world-advanced-d-b.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268247-draconomicon-2-dragons-worshipping-gods.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:23:59 GMT Pfaw! I scoff at that idea, Richard Baker and Ari Marmell! No dragon worships any other being, only perhaps fearing or honoring greater individuals of its own kind. But worship? Never. Pfaw! I scoff at that idea, Richard Baker and Ari Marmell! No dragon worships any other being, only perhaps fearing or honoring greater individuals of its own kind. But worship? Never. ]]> General RPG Discussion Mercurius http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268247-draconomicon-2-dragons-worshipping-gods.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268245-i-get-play-earthdawn.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:59:48 GMT I've been on an earthdawn kick lately. I haven't played the game since the first edition was new, way back in.... 1994. Actually, I think we first played the game in '96 or so. And we played all of one session, before deciding that "D&D is better".

But now that I'm older, and wiser, I see the beauty of this awesome system, and can't wait to give it a spin!

I'm planning on running a fairly rail-roady adventure, that ends in a non-linear "dungeon crawl" (ie, Kaer exploration). I want the adventure to showcase all of the cool things about Earthdawn, which is why I'm posting this thread.

What are the "key" points of Earthdawn? If you were going to run a four-session (ish) adventure about Earthdawy, what would it entail?

So far, I've got -

1) Travel across a portion of Barsaive
2) Kaer exploration
3) Encounter a Horror
4) Cross paths with Ork Scorchers ]]> General RPG Discussion Wik http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268245-i-get-play-earthdawn.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268244-mixed-signals-campaign-trail.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:55:25 GMT On the track of stolen children taken at night we came across several reports that kept describing the assailant(s) as various variants of the Boogeyman. After an oracle told us that the next children to be taken would be the two girls of a certain consul we decided to spend the night under... On the track of stolen children taken at night we came across several reports that kept describing the assailant(s) as various variants of the Boogeyman.

After an oracle told us that the next children to be taken would be the two girls of a certain consul we decided to spend the night under their massively massive bed.

We woke shortly after the middle of the night to the screams of the two girls after having fallen asleep mysteriously.

The girls were gone, the closet door open, and within the closet two eyes stared back at us.

So we ran through without a third thought. The first had been the rogues eloquent: "Go for the eyes!". The second simply: "Charge!"

Which worked out pretty good.

Except that we might have done a bit more research on what was actually causing the whole trouble.

It wasn't the closet door that we ran through. The closet was on the other side of the room. It was a portal.

Those weren't eyes. They were nostrils.

And the Boogeyman?

A shadow dragon.

Or, as the rogue said later with his advanced 20/25 hindsight: "the solar who resurrected us was sarcastic enough to have been a bouncer in hell in a previous aeon". ]]> General RPG Discussion jonesy http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268244-mixed-signals-campaign-trail.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268241-quick-question.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:22:04 GMT What was the name of the AD&D 2nd Ed. book about building castles.

It had a blue soft cover.

I want to say Castle Builders Guidebook, but it's not coming up in google at all.

Thanks ]]> General RPG Discussion kmdietri http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268241-quick-question.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268240-d-d-relationship-issue.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:45:26 GMT I'm a DM that is currently running a 3.5/homebrew campaign with four players. I've got a player who is heavily religious(christian). Let's call him Jake. This usually isn't a problem, as he normally keeps his values away from the table and, in fact, uses D&D to express thoughts and actions he wouldn't normally have/perform in real life. The problem is simply this:

He wants to bring his girlfriend(call her Jane) into the campaign. This wouldn't be a problem (I'm rather vigilant about making sure my players know that outside feelings do not belong at the table), except that Jake is rather obsessed with her, to the point that he would drastically change both his personality and play-style at the table if she were present (he already has some issues with keeping personal feelings away from the table and I have talked to him about it).

Jane is heavily religious also, you see, and she is the type of person who would NOT keep her religion and the game separate(to the point of asking if God is an available deity). This being established, she has conditions like "keeping the game PG," essentially meaning that she doesn't want us to curse or mention sex. I don't necessarily run a lewd or vulgar campaign; but am I really supposed to stop the battle-weary NPC dwarf from explaining that "Those damned drow killed my party!"? Should I really try to censor the lecherous half-elf PC from making a comment about a barmaid's cleavage?

I understand that the easiest way to fix this is just to say "No." But, as I stated, Jake is obsessed with Jane and would, most likely, take offense if I explained myself. I don't want to lose one of my players, but I don't want to lose what I've built in my campaign. I have an ambiance that both my players and I enjoy.

I've got a dilemma, and would enjoy any sort of help anyone can offer.
Thank you in advance. ]]> General RPG Discussion DM-Frost http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268240-d-d-relationship-issue.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268238-dragon-381-class-acts-paladin.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:37:21 GMT This article deals with paladins of the Raven Queen and offers up a nice spread of powers (mainly focused on cold and necrotic damage), a couple of feats, and a new magic item. Its a nice article, though at this point, I'm starting to suffer from some Raven Queen fatigue. I can have this idea that given the RQ's darker edge, she's being used as surrogate for the introduction of powers that could be better used to support the evil and chaotic evil deities.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (The Paladin) ]]> General RPG Discussion Shroomy http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268238-dragon-381-class-acts-paladin.html http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268237-do-you-always-put-your-stat-bumps-your-two-highest-stats.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:31:14 GMT One thing that we all assume when we are discussing math and to hit rates is the assumption that people are always putting their two stat bumps in their two highest stats. Is this the case? Are you playing a character who has put stat bumps in other stats? One thing that we all assume when we are discussing math and to hit rates is the assumption that people are always putting their two stat bumps in their two highest stats.

Is this the case?

Are you playing a character who has put stat bumps in other stats? ]]> General RPG Discussion Stalker0 http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/268237-do-you-always-put-your-stat-bumps-your-two-highest-stats.html