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Category Archives: House Rules
Themes: Farmer
I figure if I’m going to introduce themes as “what if you want to play a farmer?” pretty universally, it’s only proper for that to be the first theme I post. A few things to keep in mind throughout these … Continue reading
Themes: Rules
I have a few key points to keep in mind as I work on themes: They can’t be too strong. The point is not to give players a significant power jump or suddenly allow new game-breaker builds. Themes must be … Continue reading
Themes: Introduction
So what, exactly, is a theme? D&D and Pathfinder make a clear difference between PCs and NPCs. PCs are heroes, the stuff of legend, several cuts above the average person. PCs are stronger, faster, braver, and all around better than … Continue reading
NaNoWriMo
November is coming, as it does, and that means National Novel Writing Month again. I really like NaNoWriMo for what it is: a measurable, attainable, structured kick in the pants for people who want to be writers but can’t seem … Continue reading
Running a Video Game (or, an Apology My Players Don’t Want)
By my own standards I’ve been a terrible DM lately. When my latest campaign began, I didn’t give my players the normal pre-campaign survey. I haven’t been asking players to build levels for me. I haven’t been designing all encounters … Continue reading
Posted in DMing, House Rules
Tagged D&D 4E, Zelda Campaigns
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Removing Ability Scores
I got an interesting comment on my recent post In Defense of D&D Stats in Simple Language: What Measure is an 18?, and I think it merits discussion before we change topics: Out of curiosity, I wonder what your opinion … Continue reading
Posted in DMing, Gaming Systems, House Rules
Tagged D&D 3.5E, D&D 3E, D&D 4E, D&D 5E, Pathfinder
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Multi-Round Actions (Part 4, Tactical Feats)
I never felt like tactical feats really got the respect they deserve. I think the designers wanted to give characters neat tricks that meshed with their combat style while keeping them accessible enough that any character who wanted them could … Continue reading
Posted in Game Design, House Rules
Tagged D&D 3.5E, D&D 3E, Pathfinder
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Multi-Round Actions (Part 3, 4th Edition)
Channeled spells are great and all, but they don’t exist in 4th Edition. This entire endeavor started because I was tired of the “if you don’t make an attack, you’ve wasted your turn” design philosophy and play methodology of 4E, … Continue reading
Posted in Game Design, House Rules
Tagged D&D 4E
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Multi-Round Actions (Part 2, Channeled Spells)
When I thought of “things in D&D that can take more than one round”, the first place I went was “spells”. However, that space in D&D is largely filled with “spells not designed for combat” and “sorcerers trying to use … Continue reading
Posted in Game Design, House Rules
Tagged D&D 3.5E, D&D 3E, Pathfinder
Comments Off on Multi-Round Actions (Part 2, Channeled Spells)
On Unearthed Arcana: Variant Rules
After I spent all that time gushing about the variant alignment systems for Pathfinder, it’s only fair to point out when Wizards does something similar. The latest Unearthed Arcana (not to be confused with Unearthed Arcana or Unearthed Arcana) dropped, … Continue reading →