Recent content by pemerton

From page 3: The Monster X.P. entry is computed from the Dungeon Master's Guide listings and a subjective additions has been made for the tricks and traps of any given encounter. Three listing are provided under the monster experience points. These listing are used by the DM as the situation...

I'd always thought that Hobbits were expunged from D&D by the end of the 1970s. But learned yesterday that this is not the case! REF4 The Book of Lairs II was published in 1987. On p 42 it has a medusa-based scenario. And it begins: Local shepherds tell of a strange, ancient structure nestled...

It's very different from D&D, in mechanics and in play - but In A Wicked Age does a version of this.

But if they're game-breaking, should they really be options? Well, there was a version of D&D that did this . . .

Just thinking about this: I like how Agon 2e handles this from an Odyssey/Homeric myth point of view. Not quite real-world adventuring, but a nice element of that system.

I've never used generative AI for scenario design. But this is an example of what an Agon island looks like (it's one I wrote up): As you can see if you go back to the thread I originally posted this in, it was inspired by a list of "Iron DM" ingredients. But will AI create something like this...

I'll happily pay for a map and a list of bullet points, if the map is interesting and the stuff in the bullet points compelling! I'm thinking of something like the islands in Agon 2e - these don't have maps, but each is about 3 pages, some of which is bullet-pointed lists, and each is good for...

I think once the "more intuitive" saving throw categories of 3E are adopted, it's hard to avoid the push towards further rationalisation/simulation. Eg if one category of saves is about willpower, and that is traditionally associated with WIS, and fighters are not a class known for high WIS...

@Remathilis, in their post about the climactic fight against the arch-lich, was talking about the design and the play of the game. I don't think it's any real answer to that post to just assume the status quo for the fiction and the game play. What I mean by that is that the way spells and...

Moldvay Basic. My first RPG was Classic Traveller (1977 version).

So one thing is: how is adversity introduced, as a component of the fiction? I think play tends to be more interesting if adversity is introduced as a response to failed rolls by players: this means that action declarations tend to have clear stakes, and aren't just "roll to avoid attrition"...

It depends how the RPG structures play. Rolling dice against a "random attrition table" is apt to be relatively uninteresting. But there are other ways to frame the declaration and resolution of actions in an exploration-oriented RPG.

OK? I mean, you asked and I answered.

I definitely thought of Torchbearer! Having gear break or be lost is a fairly typical failure consequence in TB2e. In our most recent session, both PCs had most of their gear stolen by nandies (carnivorous simians, from the old White Dwarf module The Halls of Tizun Thane).

There are some free downloads here. I haven't looked at them, but from the descriptions they should give you some idea as to whether or not it's of interest. TB2e can be light-hearted in the sense of non-serious or ironic. But it's not light-hearted as an actual game experience: it's fairly...