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Unproductive post, but just wanted to take a moment and say that I really appreciate that you and Michael post here. I miss the "olden days" and I really enjoy hearing the stories and your take on things.

...So, when will those books be ready guys?

Murder hobo!! He's a paladin!

This is fairly similar to a campaign I'm currently working on. It's very much a fantasy Medieval Europe setting, with the demi-human races being assimilated into human civilization (no "nations of elves") and they are slowly "fading away". The elves live on the periphery of civilization centers in small enclaves. They are very fay and resemble Tolkien elves with the exception of height and long lives (living only about twice as long as humans).

Anyway, perhaps you could implement something along these lines:

 There are two sub-races of elves. The "High" elves consider themselves apart from (and perhaps better than or even against) humanity - these would be your "Tolkien" elves. The "Burgher" elves are more in touch with humanity and have chosen a life of mortality, assimilating themselves into human culture. Or maybe you want the High elves to be small inimical beings, and the human-friendly elves are more "noble" and Tolkien-esque. Regardless of how you paint your elves, I think it would give you some room to develop both types of elves in your campaign.

Hope that was useful... it's the end of my day and I'm in "blather" mode.

Perhaps Gary et al:
1) wanted to make up for the fact that the cleric gets no starting spells at 1st level, or
2) wanted to make up for the fact that the 3rd-level spell list is short (only four spells - ignoring Greyhawk) and rather passive in nature (as are most clerical spells).

Clerics really don't need nerfing, IMO. If it's still concerning, you can employ non-rule-changing, role-playing methods of "nerfing". You can enforce a "duty to church/order" aspect; the "church" may severely restrict it's priests' activities and allowances. Also, the character is going from 'Curate' to 'Bishop', so it's plausible that the character is initiated into the guarded secrets of several new rites and scriptures suitable for someone of his/her station...

Github, huh? Neat. Being an Open Source user/proponent, I have a general understanding of how it works. Having lots of eyeballs on a project is always a plus. I'll have to keep an eye on that site. Thanks for the link, BTW!

Oh my, sorry if I riled you.

It is indeed a shame. I can think of two personal examples right off the bat. In college, I was invited to what I was told was a "really awesome game of D&D". The referee's maps and the campaign description were impressive; I was excited to dive right in. However, our very first encounter was with a small group of bandits along the trail to the dungeon - it took the entire session (about 4 hours) to just resolve the combat. Ugh. Years later, while in the Navy, I was invited to a game run by a barracks-mate of mine. The description of the game world was very gonzo, so I thought, "OK, I'm down with some light-hearted fun!" As the first game progressed, the DM was all business and extremely rail-roading (we ran into a giant of some sort right off the bat; it seemed more planned by the DM and less a matter of a group of stupid players making the wrong choice). Needless to say, I politely dropped out of both games immediately.


Thank you for the answers, Uncle! It is why I ask questions. I learn things.

1. "Dice contest" is just a term I applied to the "I roll, you roll, compare results to see who 'wins'" mechanic you describe. "Loosy-goosy, hand-wavy method" is rather denigrating, and it can be difficult for the loquaciously lax.

2. Very interesting. Would he also conduct the game as "I roll, you roll, who's result is higher?" or did he tend to just have the player roll 3d6 and he had a target number in mind (so basically rolling against a table of numbers, but the table was in his head)?

3b. Man. I'd give my left arm to be ambidextrous.

I'll check out the videos (I have watched one or two, but it was difficult to ascertain the "system" from the video. I'll just watch some more. )

AAAAAmen, brother!

Oh crap. I just violated the board policy on religion too...

geoffrey, in your IotU campaign, how did you treat the clerical turning ability since there were no undead? Did you just drop the ability altogether and maybe dropped the weapon restrictions on clerics, or did you change it to something more in tune with the Isle (i.e. some sort of fear affect over the island's chimeric creations)?

Thank you Uncle! That's very interesting. It seems a very fast-paced style of gaming. Some follow-up questions, if you will indulge me:

1. "[Dave] preferred six-siders" - Did he use the "contest of dice" method you describe with a single d6, 2d6, 3d6, or did the number of dice vary by the situation (allowing for the referee and the player to roll different amounts of six-siders depending on who had the advantage)?

2. "These three guys played that way" - Did Gary sometimes use a similar system for a "loosy-goosy"* game (i.e. dice contests), or did he stick closer to the original D&D rules?

3. Is this method used to resolve combat as well? Would you be willing to write up an example?

4. Would character stats (dexterity, cunning, whatever, etc.) modify the rolls at all?

Very nice! I would have enjoyed the Lord Meren game very much (I'm part way through the second book - CSI:New Kingdom is quite fun), but I likely would have bribed the other players into playing a game in Tekumel.

I like your "loosy-goosy" table setup for FRPG Day, BTW. It seems so obvious to me now, but it never occurred to me to re-purpose a whiteboard as a playing surface. Genius!

(pssst... it's in the thread title...)

Have to agree with Ritt; very interesting. I had no idea Mr. Gygax was a Libertarian.

It's too bad that someone at TSR didn't seize the opportunity to have a little fun. Would of made for a great story.

Agreed. We'll steer the conversation towards Bastinadi.

However, if Dr. Duhr does not bring it up, then we'll bluntly ask, "What do you know about Bastinadi?"

Sharron will keep her revolver concealed under her jacket, and she'll leave her sword back at the ship... don't want to be too intimidating.

She briefly scans the professor's office (I'm assuming we're meeting him at his office at the UoL... correct me if I'm wrong), making note of any unusual decor or media - visual clues may help us guide the conversation.

In the mean time, with her best "official" voice:

"Thank you for meeting with us, Dr. <insert-name-here>. We are sure that your academic schedule is very busy, so we appreciate you seeing us on such short notice."

"We are... private investigators that have been hired to locate a missing individual. Our client believes that the disappearance may be related to ...unsanctioned psionic research. It is our understanding that you conducted a survey recently and may have uncovered something with respect to the psionic capabilities of the indigent population. My partner and I would greatly appreciate it if you could help shed some light on our situation given your expertise."