These articles have been posted despite being incomplete. This may be because I haven’t decided how to have the article end, or because it’s just throwing ideas out for discussion or consideration.
Down to the last set of failures, and can’t say that they are necessarily serious problems for everyone. However, I have seen complaints about them a number of times, so I’ll do what I can to describe them. These are things where reasonable applications of the rules lead to possibly …
I’ve described perhaps the biggest systemic problems, now for a few things relating to application of the rules. These points aren’t as critical to game balance, but certainly detract from the game experience. Preparation time and complexity, temporary changes, and figuring out just how powerful something is can all be …
I think I’ll start my ‘Thing a Day’ series with a description of why and how I think D&D fails. This is likely to be a work in progress, the points below are more or less off the top of my head. I’ve been playing RPGs for almost thirty years, …
Another idea inspired by fiction, this one is based on the Dance of the Rings series by Jane S. Fancher (I’ve only ever found three books; there’s a fourth book in the works). In this series there are ‘leythium nodes’, places of power. Leythium seems to be a form of …
A waterfall with elemental power. Geography Diamond Mist Falls is a waterfall so high that the water turns to mist before reaching the bottom. There seems to be some kind of elemental power here, though what kind is not entirely certain. Game Mechanics Spells cast in the mist at the …
Geography These plains are located fairly centrally to the nearby countries. The red, moist soil does not support very much plant life, in most places. The Charnel Plains have been the site of many battles over the centuries. So much blood has been shed here that the ground itself now …
Geography Storm Mountain is a high peak with unusually severe weather (blizzards in winter, thunderstorms in summer, storms and hurricanes almost any time). Almost no one lives here. Mountains aren’t generally all that hospitable anyway, and where you’ve got lots of storms they’re even less so. However, here is a …
In an Alternative epic level system thread in rec.games.frp.dnd, I had cause to examine the spell slots available to the various classes. I was able to come up with a reasonably close approximation to the spell slots available to all of the base classes. Examination of the various spell lists …
Advanced classes provide some additional ability, sometimes at the cost of constraining character options. Each class has prerequisites such that a character has to work toward becoming a member of the class. To become a Wizard you must have some spell casting ability, a cleric must be able to channel …
Basic classes are very flexible, but not particularly powerful when compared to Advanced Classes and Prestige Classes. They may be considered as something of an apprenticeship and preparation for later, more constrained ‘careers’. Some sample basic classes are described below. I give them somewhat descriptive names to help identify them, …