Author Archives: Law

Save or Die

A million years ago in my post on Law #0, I mentioned before that I don’t like save-or-die effects. In case you’re on dial-up and can only load one page per hour (thanks for picking this one, by the way), … Continue reading

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On “The Genius of D&D”

For reference, I did not miss that Monte Cook thinks how you were born (race) is more important than what effort you’ve put into life (ability scores). This somewhat upsets me and leads me to imagine that this is not … Continue reading

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Perform (dungeon master)

So what is DMing with Charisma? There are three skills in D&D that represent the ability to make money in a non-adventuring role (and it’s telling that all of them were in my last post, which means that 4th Edition … Continue reading

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Secondary Skills

I have plenty of complaints about the skill system in 4th, but the thing I missed the most is the skills that fell by the wayside. I understand rolling skills like Listen, Spot, and Search into Perception, and I don’t … Continue reading

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The Seven Party Roles (Examples)

So what does it mean to have roles that aren’t defined by the system? In 4th Edition, a fighter is a defender. Though you can build one with striking or controlling, it’s a rare fighter that doesn’t function at all … Continue reading

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The Seven Party Roles (Definitions)

Since Delve Night is moving from D&D 4th Edition to Pathfinder, I think it’s about time to dig up this thing I wrote years ago, possibly back before Unearthed Arcana, the fourth core rulebook, was even released. Before 4th Edition … Continue reading

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Disparate Character Abilities

One of the campaigns in which I’m playing has managed to step into a problem I’ve seen a lot since it was first brought to my attention years ago. A friend of mine was playing a character who couldn’t take … Continue reading

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Campaign Writeup: The Nine Emblems

The Nine Emblems was the first campaign I ran, a million years ago in early 2004. Like most of my early campaigns, it was timed to wrap up by the end of the semester, and it must have been shortly … Continue reading

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A Rant on Dragons

Dragons irritate me. Maybe it’s because they’re popular with designers. After all, they’re in the name of the system, and I can think of five first-party books off the top of my head all about dragons and how players can … Continue reading

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A Rant on Racial Prerequisites

I’ve been asked why I don’t like racial prerequisites (or, as I like to call them, racist prerequisites), and I don’t think I have a clear, logical answer, certainly not the kind that will sway everybody to my viewpoint. The … Continue reading

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