From the monthly archives:

January 2008

It all comes down to Gygax.

by Bob

For two and a half decades, I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a PC who’s cast Bigby’s crushing Hand, or had a Heward’s Handy Haversack.  But, I’ve never really known where all of those names came from.  Until now.

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What we can learn from Everway

by Bob

Fine, I’ll fess up.
I once played a diceless role-playing game.
I know, I know.  It goes against the core of everything we believe.  But, I was young, and naive, and I thought that, somehow, if it was being run at GenCon, it must be a good game.
Honestly, it wasn’t bad.
What brings up this fond memory, you [...]

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I win I win, I wiiin

by Bob

So,
I’m one of those annoying DMs who leaves it to the players to know the rules for their characters.  There are way too many supplements for me to keep track of all of the rules updates and special abilities of every prestige class. 
Now, I know it might sound lazy, but the fact of the matter is that [...]

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Bullywugs.

by Bob

Speaking of the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon…
I remember one episode with Bullywugs.  Now, I say “I remember” as in “No, I haven’t bought the DVD yet.  I am hanging my head in shame.”  Of course, I could have bought the DVD months ago, like one of my friends did.  See, that’s an interesting story, too, [...]

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Focussing on what’s wrong with D&D

by Bob

I like the approach that is being taken with 4E, I admit it.  Two blog entries today have reinforced that.
First, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes talks briefly about advancing and templating monsters, and how WotC is trying to streamline that process from 3E.  Third Edition had its strengths, but scaling monsters quickly was not exactly one of [...]

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Thoughts on the 4E SRD and OGL

by Bob

4E SRD and OGL announcement at WotC.
This is interesting.
 We all know, if we are honest, that the 3E OGL led to the producton of a lot of useless crap.  That’s the nature of the market; in a real market, there will be some crap, and it is exactly this fact that allows the best products to rise [...]

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Back in the Saddle, Again

by Bob

Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.
 Well, the dust is indeed settling on the 4E announcements.  Wizards of the Coast has been relatively forthcoming with info since the announcement, and I have to say that I’m liking most of what I am seeing.  Sure, there was the scuttlebutt about “random virtual miniatures”, but it seems [...]

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