Recent content by Dire Bare

I don't know . . . to tease us? In the teaser trailer? Maybe.

Yes! I've gotten used to D&D not being fully implemented, but for some reason I was really disappointed in how poorly LotR was implemented. I do find the web-format book handy during game sessions though!

How much control should a DM exert over player options for games they run? Different DMs are comfortable with different degrees of control, of course. From highly restrictive to anything goes! But how do you exercise the level of control of character creation you are comfortable with? For me...

You'll have to . . . trust your players! It's a "new-school" concept, but works pretty well in most cases. :)

After you posted, I did go back and re-read the other thread. Like @bedir than, I'm just not seeing any credible reason to accuse WotC of using generative AI to write part of the adventure. Part of the problem we're facing today in the media and arts, is AI slop. The other part of the problem...

Make an accusation, then bring the receipts. Otherwise you're just fanning the flames of AI hysteria with more hot air.

The controversy about using generative AI is when it replaces artists . . . visual artists, writers, designers, etc. Outside perhaps the programming industry, using AI to help generate code is not ethically controversial, although over reliance on it can lead to poor coding. If D&D is using...

When I was really into GI Joe, I was too young for RPGs, or at least anything beyond the D&D Basic Set. When I was in middle and high school, I was too "mature" to want to play a GI Joe RPG. But now!?! That would be so much fun! Well, with a group of Gen-Xers equally nostalgic for Saturday...

The lack of metaplot is a feature . . . for some fans. Shrug. Yes, it is part of the original conceit, despite the novels, comics, and video games based on the setting . . . but that was then, WotC is free to change things up. I'm not sure the setting timeline needs to be advanced or metaplot...

For similar reasons, I'll probably never run a Transformers RPG game with my local group. Not that they'd make it a joke, but that they don't have the emotional investment into re-creating what was glorious on Saturday mornings back in the 80s . . . But maybe online, if you advertise the game...

I run an afterschool D&D club for middle-schoolers . . . it's all dragonborn and tieflings. :) The worst part . . . they don't often even get elves, dwarves, and hobbits (halflings), unless they have really cool parents who made them watch the Lord of the Rings movies . . . Anecdotal, of course.

IMO . . . It's definitely worth the $30!! The updated character options are not AMAZING . . . but they are superior to Rising from the Last War. Dragonmarks, backgrounds, and the artificer class are all an improvement over the previous rules.

What kind of circus troupe are folks going to complain about in 20 years from now? :O In my campaign, I only allow goliaths, tieflings, tabaxi, tortles, aasimar, dhampir . . . none of that new-fangled weird stuff!

This is a trope common throughout literature of all genres and all ages. Broken people are generally more interesting than folks with little to no trauma in their background. And IRL, everyone has trauma. Different kinds and to different degrees, but it allows us to empathize with the broken...

Oh good lord. Who is this for? Me. It's for me. And gamers like me. I've been curious about Traveller for years, never played it. It's unlikely I could get my play group to give it a try. But a 5E version? I don't have to invest a lot of time or brain power to learn the rules. My group just...