houstonderek's page

I switched away from a 3x based game, the problem just about disappeared.

I always give three options.

-elite stat array
-4d6 drop lowest arranged in the order rolled
-15 point buy (no points given for buy downs)

There are a few who prefer rolled stats. Certain people tend to be afraid of rolling poorly and stay away from rolls. But in the end everyone has fun. Rolled in order is like opening a surprise gift sometimes you get a brand new game console other times you get socks. But if getting socks doesn't send you into a RAGE of "why can't I be the best" and you can have fun with the poor rolls as much as you can with the awesome ones then this IS the best method for you.

Rolling 4d6, drop the lowest, any order, averages out to a 20 pt. buy much of the time. Only a fool would take option 1. or 3. if they understood that. ;-)

Are we so entitled in 2016 that it's an imposition to just ask the publisher if something is ok?

Seriously, if you're trying to publish and make money, the onus is on you to figure out what's allowed, and ask questions before you do something. WotC is being nice and letting people play in their sandbox. If their mistakes are too much to handle, make up your own game rules and publish them.

I have to say, some folks are being pretty dismisive of Gygax. Let's never forget that he, more than any one person *period* is the reason we have the game(s) we all play and love today. Although there certainly were other people that helped Gary shape D&D, he was the main, driving creative force that made the game, not to mention the company he founded to publish the game, the success it was and continues to be through its' many successors.

I just think Gygax deserves a bit more respect that he's getting in this thread

I'm not dissing, for the record. I'm not a fan of the game not being a game first either. I like the dice to matter, I can't stand DMs fudging, all sorts of things. If a character of mine dies, I don't get upset, I see an opportunity to try out a different concept.

I still love reading my 1e DMG, the dude had a weird way of writing that was oddly compelling.

Gygax is like any other man. A mixture of virtues and flaws.

And without him and Dave, RPGs don't become a fad, and video games would look a lot different. D&D heavily influenced the video game industry, a lot of the original programmers were big time role players.

You can be dismissive, that's fine, but pretending everything would be the same, and your hobby would exist, without him is just myopic dissing to dis, frankly.

I see a lot of "why doesn't it do things like 3x" comments.

It isn't 3x. Pathfinder is for people that like 3x.

houstonderek wrote:

Garrett Guillotte wrote:

That they'll actually finish the 5E SRD?

If you're hoping for a 3x type SRD, don't hold your breath. They're not making that mistake twice, I'm sure. The SRD is more for 3pp than letting cheapskates have most of the game for free.

No, not even that. There's a list of things they refer to in the SRD, like magic item attunement rules, random property tables, and spells, that make parts of what they released unusable for players and publishers alike.

They expect you to actually own the books. Again, it's by design, it isn't meant to be a comprehensive rules database, it's an indication of what you're allowed to play with as a third party publisher.

They don't care if it's useful for players, that's what the books are for. They sell stuff, they're a business, not a gamer charity.

One of the things I've enjoyed but been surprised about, is how its not an issue being a girl in a RPG gaming group. Most times I'm the only girl in the group but no-one has batted an eyelid.

I know RPG playing is very much seen as a geeky guy thing but I think more women are giving it a go.

Quick survey... who here has a girl in their group... and is she treated with the respect she unquestionably deserves!! ;))

The only girls I play with are my daughters. The other female players I play with are women.

Gygax liked games, not community theater. He was an old school war gamer, and D&D, as Arneson taught it to him, was wargaming with one person instead of a mini representing a squad or something.

When non-wargamers started getting into the hobby when the fad was at its height, they focused on the "roleplaying" part over the "game" part. No senseless deaths, arcing stories, etc.

Eh, it was a rant from an old guy not liking change, nothing really to discuss. The game evolved, the dice don't mean as much to a lot of groups. Play how you like, no one is coming to confiscate your books.

Get the core three, then use them to translate almost fifty years of delicious D&D goodness into 5e. It's actually relatively easy, regardless of edition, the biggest thing is gauging challenges across editions. ;-)

Joana wrote:

This older post reports that tabletop RPGs as a category (i.e., 5e & Pathfinder combined) were down 12% in his store in 2015.

To be expected. The successful launch of 5E was bound to produce a spike for that year which would be seen as a dip the following year.

A reflection on my own sample bias: I don't actually know anyone who still plays Magic or other card games with any regularity. I know of lots who do but it just seems to me like TTRPGs should be bigger than they are. Irontruth convinced me they almost never were big.

1E AD&D was a fad, and RPGs enjoyed some relevance in the Eighties, but their biggest impact was on video games. TTRPG is a nice niche market for a few people to make a decent living on, but it is, commercially, very small potatoes in the entertainment field, outside of inspiration for other media.

DiTerlizzi is one of the few gamer types I kept on FB. He and Easley are my two favorite artists that worked on D&D.

houstonderek wrote:

I think the secret door in the goblin stronghold in RotRL's first installment really brought home my problems with 3x games. My character tracked the goblin boss to the secret door, KNEW there was a secret door, and I rolled a three or something to "find" the secret door.

In AD&D, I would have just started describing everything I did until I found the latch. In 3x, I rolled a three, and there was nothing to be said after that.

Except, maybe, "I take 20"?

But there are cases where that is an issue. If you had a negative Perception (or Search) modifier and the DC to find it was >= 20, you would have been stopped there. Of course, not finding the way to open the door is different from not knowing there's a door there. That's why there's hardness and hit points for walls.

I rolled first. And failed. Didn't know you could take 20 after a failed roll, or I was so in my feelings I forgot. ;-)

I think the secret door in the goblin stronghold in RotRL's first installment really brought home my problems with 3x games. My character tracked the goblin boss to the secret door, KNEW there was a secret door, and I rolled a three or something to "find" the secret door.

In AD&D, I would have just started describing everything I did until I found the latch. In 3x, I rolled a three, and there was nothing to be said after that.

Needless to say, I prefer games where logic and deliberation trump a stupid die roll.

Yep, and now it's "I rolled a 33!".

Aww, Grimtooth! :)

My Flying Buffalo and Judge's Guild stuff was the hardest material loss when I went on "vacation" and lost everything I had. Oh, and The Free City of Haven. I loved the Thieve's World stuff.

I've never played ToH or even read it or flipped through it.

So I know nothing about it. I've only heard it is death trap after death trap after death trap. So what I've heard might not even be accurate.

But if you do use 5th Ed., removing short rests will hinder some classes more than others. For example warlocks might only be potent for a single encounter and not be able to contribute much thereafter. Fighters and monks would have to "nova" a lot less often than designed.

Like I said, it's the oldest school of the old school modules. The entire thing is based on how carefully the players can navigate the tomb. Reckless power gamers die quickly, since there is almost nothing to overpower. People who just like to roll dice and not think about much die quickly, it's a thinking person's adventure. People who stock up on ten foot poles, spikes and hammers, and all of the old school goodies, go slow and steady, and never rush into stuff eventually have their souls sucked by the demi-lich at the end, since, invariably, they almost never have the right spells memorized.

If you run ToH straight, short rests, etc, will mean nothing. Most of the traps and stuff just kill you if you're not cautious. The hard part of running it in 5e is that the game, while it gives a nod to AD&D, isn't AD&D. They still have DCs, and a host of mechanical things that a die roll and not your brain will resolve.

Seriously, the only way to run it and get the full feel is to actually run it in AD&D. Everything from 3.0 on, even 5e, is written with modern sensibilities in mind, especially character mortality. AD&D (and OD&D) were written for a war gamers, and they didn't mind death as much. AD&D 2e and beyond were written for a completely different audience, with completely different expectations from the game.

I guess a kind of bad analogy would be trying to recreate the Roman chariot races, but with APCs. The drivers are way more protected from mistakes made in navigating. ;-)

SmiloDan wrote:

To be honest, the ToH always sounded like an unmitigated grind of DM capriciousness and spite to me

Since a lot of it is not even "save or die," but just "die," that is a fairly accurate assessment.

It was specifically created FOR Gygax's players, you know, guys that came up through the wargaming ranks and played a game with story elements. They didn't care if their characters died, they cares that their brains could outsmart Gygax's brains. The guy that played Robilar just threw his orc army at the thing until he got to the end.

It was a different time. D&D was just a game back then, death was expected at one point or another, and a lot of the best moments (for people not emotionally invested in an imaginary avatar represented by a piece of paper) were goofy, silly deaths. FBG sold a crapload of all of the Grimtooth books for a reason, after all.

Don't project modern sensibilities onto Gygax's AD&D. The players back then were a different breed until non-wargamers started to get into the hobby bigtime.

houstonderek wrote:

Boomerang Nebula wrote:

Has anyone attempted to convert the 1e Tomb of Horrors to 5e?

If so can they please provide any tips?

I am thinking of replacing the no save death traps with something less lethal. And perhaps adding more monsters.

Why would you do that? The entire point of the module was to be nearly unbeatable. We used to use how people described their ToH experience to judge whether they were munchkins or worthy of our table.

Fair point, I do want to preserve the feel of the original module as much as possible.

I have a couple of players at my table that were not even born when that module was first published and are not used to that style of game. They know of the module by reputation only. Mostly we play Pathfinder APs, so that is what they are used to. Any advice on how to handle my situation?

We did pregens, never used it in a campaign. It's the most old school of old school modules, I'd use it as a "history of the game" moment and use AD&D rules or download OSRIC, and play it straight.

I'd go that far, seeing as it was pretty much stated flat out by Paizo staff at the time. ;-)

Has anyone attempted to convert the 1e Tomb of Horrors to 5e?

If so can they please provide any tips?

I am thinking of replacing the no save death traps with something less lethal. And perhaps adding more monsters.

Why would you do that? The entire point of the module was to be nearly unbeatable. We used to use how people described their ToH experience to judge whether they were munchkins or worthy of our table.

houstonderek wrote:

Funny, what this describes is Pathfinder to a T. Paizo even hired new people to design for their 3.5 clone. Seems to me, judging from most gamers I know, people buy all sorts of recycled stuff.

I just can't see the same amount of gamers buying the same product again imo. Not without any of the flaws fixed. Espcially with 5E that did try to fix flaws. If a gamer dislikes caster/martial disparity, dislikes how long combats take at higher levels. The new core does nothing to fix that why would they switch.

A unchanged rehash I think is going to be a hard sell. I'm not saying it won't sell. But given that Paizo gives it away for free. All you need is one person buying a core rulebook. The rest of a gaming group take from the free SRD.

Again, everyone bought Pathfinder, which did nothing to fix any of 3x's problems. People spent a billion dollars to see a Star Wars movie that was basically the same movie from '77 with some better graphics and slightly different plot. I think you underestimate the current generation's love affair with recycled material.

We shall see. I think he is better than most people think. He had two very good season with the Eagles, I think they are going to regret firing him especially based upon who they hired to replace him. I don't think Petersen is the answer there.

He had two ok seasons, mostly with the former guy's players (a guy that needed to go, things get stale, but is currently finding success on a team that had less than he left Chip with when he arrived), then nose-dived once he got rid of a bunch of those players in favor of his hand picked replacements.

The NFL is about talent and coaching. If you have a Belichick, some talent deficiencies can be masked or overcome by scheming, if you have a loaded roster, coaching deficiencies can be masked (Bill Callahan taking over Gruden's Raiders comes to mind). Chip's scheme was successful with the incredibly talented team Reid left him, it wasn't so great after he ran most of those guys off.

Time will tell, but Chip has to drop the "smartest guy in the room" nonsense and figure out that his cute little college schemes mean nothing when EVERYONE is fast, strong, and the cream of the crop. It's easy coaching in college, only about 2% of the players you face are possible pro material, it's hard when just about every player suiting up on Sunday is the cream of the crop.

Plus, he just stepped into a division with three of the better defensive units in the league, to take over an offense that has nothing in the cupboard. Good luck there. ;-)

Edit: re, the middle part. Lurie isn't a snap judgement guy, and he had a ton of success with Reid running the show. If anything, he was a little TOO patient with Reid toward the end, considering the amount of talent on the team. Chip has to have some serious personality and judgement deficiencies for Lurie to pull the plug before three seasons were in the books. There must have been some smoke to Jackson's, McCoy's, and (to a much lesser extent) Maclin's fire, as to how Chip carried himself and treated people (I doubt he's "racist", but I get the impression he is an arrogant p***k), and how he evaluated players.

Chip came in believing the hype surrounding his "genius". The NFL doesn't tend to treat coaches like that well.

I have a strange feeling in my gut that pdfs are coming. They basically have no reason whatsoever not to, at this point

They're waiting for hardcover sales to slow down. You can't sell a PDF for $50, and the FLGS can't stock them. Hasbro is about physical products on shelves, after all.

And, seriously, if you think that Kirth's impartial referee style of GMing takes anything away from his ability to make a setting you can immerse yourself into, or roleplay memorable NPCs, or any of the other things you mention, I'm here to tell you you're far from correct.

Aviona, Aramni, etc, were living, breathing places with tons of intrigue, amazingly fleshed out and compelling NPCs (particularly d'Ansac, he was a hoot, and Monk, who made the PLAYER behind Cadogan seethe with anger and a tinge of fear).

And, before anyone says 'but Paizo!", it would have been really crappy of them to close off much more than Golarion specific content, since their game only exists because of the 3.x OGL.

I believe they learned from their mistake with the 3.x OGL. The SRD is for people that would like to publish material for 5e, not for cheapskates that want to play the game without paying up.

People complained there wasn't an OGL for 5e, now they're complaining that too much was left out. What a sense of entitlement people have these days.

Lorathorn wrote:

No, you still can't use protected properties like Dungeons and Dragons, D&D, beholders, etc etc.

You can if you use their Dungeon Master's Guild though, but that's another thing entirely.

There's no feat listed in the PI, hence my question as if one could name an existing feat without describing the mechanics. Same if you'd creat a class archetype that would use Battle Master Maneuvers.

Actually, you can describe mechanics all day long, it's the name you can't use. ;-)

Yeah it is. It will be interesting to see what happens with it.

I expect some of the better selling 3pp settings might get a run, and someone might convince WotC to let them do 3pp versions of some of the more popular 2e settings they're not planning on doing anything with, like maybe Dragonlance or Dark Sun, perhaps.

"Men never grow up. Their toys just get more expensive"

Yep, the core books used to be $12, $12, and $15 when I started playing. Now they're $50 a pop. ;-)

houstonderek wrote:

Dude, when we met, you seemed pretty trim to me. *headscratch*

Yeah, but everyone in my family has crazy cholesterol (regardless of diet), gets heart attacks, and dies young. I have to be especially careful.

Ah, gotcha. Half the men on the paternal side have bypass scars. I feel ya there.

*munches on his salad some more*

houstonderek wrote:

Did you ETS or something? ;-)

Like 2 and 1/2 years ago man try to keep up.

I didn't have internet access until the tail end of 2013, I was occupied "ETSing" from a different Federal program. ;-)

Dude, when we met, you seemed pretty trim to me. *headscratch*

Heck, I only gained 10 pounds or so and I feel like molasses. Not working out probably amplified that however.

Did you ETS or something? ;-)

Not to mention that tract is pretty well drawn... Her smirk when she told her friend that she had used the mind bondage spell on her father to get her more D&D stuff has NEVER been matched.

I always wanted to meet the DM mom lady. Yum. ;-)

By the time The Dragon existed, Gary had already put pen to paper. It was always a TSR publication focused primarily on Gygax penned games.

The Metamorphosis Alpha stuff in issue #1 was pretty weird/cool.

But, you're right, the style existed before Gygax took Arneson's ball and ran with it. All of the "old school" guys that taught us about gaming in '79 were long time war gamers, and a lot of old school conventions came out of that table top scene. They liked games, played RPGs like they were war games (Chainmail and OD&D were just rules for war gaming in a fantasy setting with a mini representing one person rather than a unit, after all).

"New School" started when non-war gamers got into the hobby, but it didn't really explode, probably, until the early '90s and the OWoD material became popular and more story, and less game, driven. Just an observation, ymmv, etc.

The people at Jack Chick probably did more to make D&D a huge fad in the '80s than anyone, to be honest. ;+)

That would be sad, he and I had a "moment nt" *puffpuff* back in the day ;-)

Dom Dorringer wrote:

That is arguably getting closer to the same level of versatility that a cleric of wizard can possess however. And that is everyone's complaint about Fighter, isn't it? That Fighters have 1 option; Kill

and that's their job. Just like a Cleric's job is to Heal.

Not since 1e, not really. The 3x cleric was one of the scariest characters I've ever had the pleasure to inflict on a poor, unsuspecting GM. ;-)

eh, I'm done. Wife needs the laptop, and this will be too annoying using the phone. ;-)

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