From the monthly archives:

May 2007

Class(ic) D&D

by Bob

Unless you’re a game designer or a math professor, today’s blog might be boring. As I’m only personally acquainted with one of these, I expect that at least Randy will post a comment on this one…
This optimized game experiment has got me thinking. The question of the day is this: how mathematically sound is the D&D rule [...]

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Optimization and CR

by Bob

So, my buddy Randy wants to run a game for all of his “power gamers.” His idea is that, using the official D&D canon, we should attempt to “break” our characters as badly as we can. We’re not looking for “loopholes” like Pun-Pun, but rather optimizing characters within the letter and spirit of the rules. [...]

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The Metagame, again

by Bob

“The target of a spell or effect is always aware that he’s rolled a saving throw, though the caster of the spell isn’t revealed.” Huh. Who knew?
I’m always amazed whenever I take the time to read the official D&D FAQ. I remember when I played Magic: The Gathering and a new set would be released. The [...]

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What to allow, and what not to

by Bob

The whole psion thing from a while back has me thinking… dangerous, I know…
I never disallowed anything in AD&D. Anything at all. Back then, we just weren’t concerned with game balance. The guys I’d been playing with had known each other for over a decade. Some characters were awesome, some were fair, some were downright [...]

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Kovalic does it again.

by Bob

I don’t know if it is because I’ve read so much of his comic, or if it is because I’ve grown more accustomed to Scott Kurtz’s PVP, or maybe because of his left-leaning political views, but John Kovalik’s Dork Tower just hasn’t done it for me in a while. That’s not to say I haven’t had the [...]

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