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While I didn't much like his most recent series (The Elder Gods, I think it was called), I was a rather large fan of the Elenium/Tamuli and the Belgariad/Mallorean. He done good with Althalus too; Althalus and Emmy was one of the few moderately believable romances I've ever read about. He was good at taking stereotypes and making them his own in such a way as made for some truly wonderful stories. He will definitely be missed.
Cool. Is it anything like how I described the one in Huddersfield?
There's also Patriot Games, which has two branches that I know of; one in Huddersfield, the other in Sheffield. I've never been to the one in Sheffield, but it's probably safe to assume they're fairly similar. The one in Huddersfield offers hosting for various games (role playing through cards and into wargaming), they sell various types of games and in the case of role playing rulebooks, they encourage you to have a good read before you buy. They also sell soft drinks, and have no issue with customers eating in the shop so long as they don't make a mess. I spent far too much of my time at university in that shop instead of doing my assignments and probably spent more money on Fanta while I was there than on gaming paraphernalia...
The problem, in my opinion, isn't so much the age at which people are allowed to drink as how they're introduced to it. I drank more responsibly at seventeen years old than most people in their mid twenties do here in the UK. Why? Because my Granddad made a habit of letting me have a small glass of his whisky when he opened it for a nightcap. He introduced me to the concept of drinking small amounts for the pleasure of the taste. Most people here seem to drink foul tasting shots and alcopops simply because such drinks make them drunk quicker; considering a good night out to be one which they can't actually remember. Changing the drinking age in either direction won't help (though lowering it won't hurt; half of the attraction to alcohol for the underage is the fact that they're not allowed to have it). The only way to change things is for parents to teach their kids to drink responsibly once they reach their mid-teens; any later and chances are it'll already be too late. Edit: Oh, and it's 17 to drive here in the UK.
Funnily enough, I personally don't like D&D that much in any incarnation as far as role playing goes (though I'll agree that it does dungeon crawls brilliantly). It's mostly because the classes are too separate - in 3.5, single class Fighters, for example, can never be much good at moving around stealthily because their maximum is half their level +1 as opposed to their level +3; same with any kind of speech that doesn't involve threatening to pound someone's face in with a mallet or treating injuries. This makes no sense to me, quite frankly. A class should determine the skills you're already trained in, not the skills you can train with in the future. Bear in mind that the following is from the Beta, and I'm not sure what will be included in the full game: Skills work differently in Pathfinder; you can only put one rank per level into a skill and it costs the same regardless of whether the skill is a class skill or not. Class skills then get a +3 bonus, meaning that while a single class Fighter will never be as good at moving stealthily as a rogue of the same level and dexterity (and indeed shouldn't be), he can be almost as good at it. The skills have also been streamlined; rarely used skills have been absorbed into other ones, spot, listen and search have been merged into perception while hide and move silently have been merged into stealth. The grappling rules are clearer and, in my opinion, considerably better, and the new feats add some rather interesting options. Races have all been adjusted as well; they all get extra weapon proficiencies (humans just pick a Martial weapon, while the rest gain proficiencies based on culture), gain an extra ability bonus (humans pick an ability and add +2) and choose a favoured class (most choose from one of two, for example elves may choose between Wizard and Ranger; humans and half elves may pick any class) at character creation. Most classes are a little more robust, as Rangers now have a d10 hit die, bards, rogues and clerics a d8, and wizards and sorcerers a d6. They all have extra features, such as bonus feats for specific wizard specialities and cleric domains, and sources of power for sorcerers that provide various abilities. Fighters, for example, gain bonuses against fear effects, and learn to use weapons and armour considerably more effectively than other classes. All told, this is one of only two d20 systems I'd use for anything other than a dungeon crawl.
I think it goes with the alignment. Selfishness, self-centeredness, and jealousy ARE whiny behaviors by terminology. Your players are just playing their parts. Only if played badly. Just because I think of myself before others doesn't mean that I can't: a. Think long term. This includes helping other people because it'll help me later or because I'm getting paid. b. Keep my gob shut and not whine so much. c. Make friends of different alignments. If I happen to like a character, their death will affect me, thus it's best I avoid letting them die. d. Decide to fight for the good guys because I find it entertaining. |
