Feats were one of my favorite additions in D&D 3e. To some degree they replaced the weapon and non-weapon proficiencies. More importantly, they gave a means of customizing characters that wasn’t class-based. Mostly; there were exceptions. It seems many other designers liked feats, even became enamored of them if the …
Games almost always limit how many times actions can be done. Some actions can be used at will without limit (attacking with a weapon). Others can be used a limited number of times per day (often 1/day or 3/day, or number-plus-modifier; ’rounds per day’ is a similar limit). I think …
Basic paths are just that: very generic paths, probably one per significant option (something like D&D 4e’s power sources: arcane, divine, martial, primal, psionic, and shadow). They will likely be somewhat similar to d20 Modern’s basic classes, granting some common abilities and allow selection of talents. This is contrary to …
It has become obvious to me that this series is not going quite the way I’d planned. Instead of distilling game rules down to their basics and building back up, it appears I’m mostly going through and deciding which elements, or what approaches to those elements, I plan to use. …
A few days ago I decided how I was going to handle character advancement (use levels) and classes (a path model like that of Shadow of the Demon Lord). I didn’t go into detail, and it just became relevant. In the table below, ‘B’ indicates a level in which a …
Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Al Qadim, Maztica, Rokugan, Golarion, Spelljammer, Greyhawk, Birthright, Known World, Dark Sun, Planescape, Kara Tur… of all the D&D settings over the decades, my favorite has been Birthright. Others have their place in my heart, but Birthright has always been my favorite. Partly because of the demesne …
Almost all games have a ‘winner’ and a ‘loser’. In adventuring role playing games, a character death is seen as at least a setback, if not a loss. How do you tell if a character is dead, though? How ‘dead’ do we really want that to mean? Damage and Death …
Part of the premise of Just The Rules is that specific artifacts — classes, feats, spells, etc. — will initially be jettisoned. The purpose is to get down to the core behavior of the game and build up. This might lead to similar artifacts, different ones, or even the same …
Eventually, someone is going to try something that is not absolutely certain to fail or absolutely certain to succeed. It is, however, more or less certain to do one of these. Existing Resolution Models Here is a brief look at how some games handle task resolution. d20-Based Resolution In Dungeons …
Not all creatures in role playing games are equal, being more or less powerful. In games based on Dungeons & Dragons, this is primarily a function of level or Hit Dice. In Dungeons & Dragons games, characters typically gain experience points for defeating enemies. Depending on edition, other activities can …
