jonathanjacobs's page

I think the real problem with the number of monsters is that (a) "90% of everything is crap" and (b) adding new races to an existing game is awkward. It has little to do with the relative quality of various monster books.

Perhaps, but there's also something often overlooked -- just because it is in the rules doesn't mean it is in the campaign. One of the things I hate the most about the new 4E (even though I still prefer the ruleset in general) is that the designers present an anything goes viewpoint; instead of a "anything is _possible_" viewpoint. I mean... there are what, 13 races now? blech...

Hey all... I've been subscribed to this thread via RSS for what I think is a few months now. I just wanted to throw out that the original article on JM's Grognardia blog ("Gygaxian Naturalism") was included in the recently published Open Game Table: Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs. If you haven't heard of it, check out the review of the anthology on WIRED. At the very least, please Digg / Stumble / Reddit the review to show your support. Thanks!

Well, that's it for shameless plugs. Now back to your regularly schedule broadcasting...

I just wanted to point out a series that is ongoing over at The Core Mechanic blog titled, "The Skill Challenges of War". The series is written by myself and two guest authors from the blogs Mad Brew Labs and At-Will. If you are looking for some interesting skill challenges for your 4E games that are set in a war-time campaign setting, come check it out!

peace and happy holidays to everyone!

Notice that the inspiration behind the shirt was a nomination. I think the person(s) who made said nomination should get a free t-shirt.

James M's blog post about Gygaxian Naturalism was actually nominated to be part of the Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs by me - and since I'm the one who made the T-shirt; suffice to say that I already have one. =D

The T-shirt is part of a fund raising effort we are having to help support the costs of producing the Anthology. I'm not a publisher and since this book is being developed as part of a RPG community effort that I'm leading - lets just say our operating budget is on the red side of zero. So, the first "big ticket" item is to produce enough copies of the book so that all the contributing authors, volunteers, and artists (about 70 people) can receive free copies of the Anthology once it is published.

Anyway, James' post brought some attention to the project, which I'm grateful for. If you are interested in finding out more - then please head over to my blog at the URL below.

http://thecoremechanic.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-heart-gygaxian-naturalism-rpg .html

Best regards, Jonathan

The 2008 Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs project, organized by OPEN GAME TABLE and The Core Mechanic, continues making steady progress. As of today, I have received over 200 reviews already from a very dedicated group of Anthology Reviewers. The very first draft of the book's framework is also done and discussions about artwork and style have started in earnest. Which brings me to the topic of this post: ARTISTS. The Anthology would not be complete without a showcase of illustrations and other graphics produced by blog authors and readers. Thus, starting today, we will be looking for a few interested artists. Specifically, we are looking for

1. Full-color, front and back cover illustrations,
2. Interior black and white illustrations and graphics:
1. full-page illustrations, and
2. a series of smaller spot graphics and illustrations
3. banner, border, and page number design

Now, first and foremost allow me to say that we cannot pay for these illustrations. The Anthology is a completely volunteer project and any money gained from sales of the book will be used to provide free copies to contributing authors, artists, and volunteers. We understand that professional artists may be looking for a fee for their work; and we wish we could pay for top quality art from these artists, but there are simply no funds available at this time. Thus, Anthology Artists will be given the same benefits as the contributing authors, which are: as funds become available, they will each receive a free copy of the book and be permitted to purchase additional copies at wholesale prices. Artists will be credited by name and will also be permitted to submit a brief bio along with an URL to their own website.

If you are interested in volunteering as an Anthology Artist, then please click the link below to sign up and get more information. Thank you!

http://thecoremechanic.blogspot.com/2008/12/call-for-artists-rpg-blog-antho logy.html

You could win up to a free copy of the upcoming 2008 Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs simply by filling out a short survey or by nominating any blog post written by your favorite RPG blogger! If you do both, you could win two copies of the Anthology!

The 2008 Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs aims to bridge the gap between RPG bloggers and the gaming community at large. For more information about this ambitious project, please visit The Core Mechanic for updates or head over to Open Game Table and get involved. If you are new to RPG blogging, the RPG Bloggers Network is the best place to get started.

Nominations for the best in RPG blogging will be accepted until December 1st, 2008. Click here to nominate your favorite blogger now!

You could win up to a free copy of the upcoming 2008 Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs simply by filling out a short survey or by nominating any blog post written by your favorite RPG blogger! If you do both, you could win two copies of the Anthology!

The 2008 Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs aims to bridge the gap between RPG bloggers and the gaming community at large. For more information about this ambitious project, please visit The Core Mechanic for updates or head over to Open Game Table and get involved. If you are new to RPG blogging, the RPG Bloggers Network is the best place to get started.

Nominations for the best in RPG blogging will be accepted until December 1st, 2008. Click here to nominate your favorite blogger now!

... and the players never knew the difference. I find this to be true about the classes as well, as I made a "Monk" out of a ranger and simply renamed everything and said it was kicks and punches instead of sword blows and you would never know the class was a ranger. This to me kind of bothered me, that it's so easy to strip the car and steal it's stereo and you could still drive it....

BBBBut... but... but.. isn't that one of the strengths of any good ruleset? Not that i'm a 4E cheerleader, but the ability to easily shemp or recast any monster, NPC, power, item, person, place or thing REGARDLESS of the underlying ruleset is an immensely powerful tool that, IMHO, MANY DMs often overlook. IMHO...

If OD&D == Rules that have no internal consistency; then I'm glad things have moved on. Fortunately, I think there was a method to the OD&D madness (rulesets) - albeit a collection of misunderstood methods...

OH.. and I forgot to link something else - I've been collecting articles about Gygaxian Naturalism in one of my Google Notebooks

The Core Mechanic's D&D Notebook

There's about nine articles, all written by different RPG bloggers, about Gygaxian Naturalism listed there. As well as this thread. Enjoy!

Hey all, just wanted to say "hello!" (first post here). After J.M. wrote his piece about Gygaxian Naturalism, it sparked something with me as well - I posted two follow up articles about it over at The Core Mechanic on 10/3 and 10/5. Some of you may think this is a shameless plug - it is not - I am only posting it becuase I figured it was germane for the conversation. Here are the titles/links

Extending Gygaxian Naturalism I (or Directed Graph Theory for Monster Ecology)

and

Extending Gygaxian Naturalism II

There's also a number of comments in those posts by other excellent RPG bloggers.

For those of you who read the articles, some may think I've really "gone down the rabbit hole" - regardless, I hope that you enjoy them becuase ... well.. didn't we all follow Alice a long time ago?