Goodman Games

Using the excellent vampire example above is a sign of a good rule for the healing properties of something that can be harvested naturally. If that blood is further refined (i.e. converted to a potion by wizard or priest, then the side effects would go away). The same could be done for 1000's of ra...

But as you gain in character levels, the 'joy' of re-rolling a new character becomes less as you become more attached to your existing character. You will find that true of many gamers out there. I agree about the "third type". We're probably both in that category to some extent. And I th...

In Swords & Wizardry, I use the following rule for drinks: the first dose gives you back 1d6 hit points. After that, the following ones give only 1, but you still roll 1d6 for every drink, which adds together with the previous ones, and once it reaches your max Hit Points, you're drunk. You cou...

If magic is going to be low, then there has to be a whole bunch of middle tiers of items that provide a game/mechanical bonus but are not really magical. 3e introduced the concept of Masterwork armor and weapons. That does fill a niche but it would be interesting to take things a bit further and fo...

It should come as no shock that I fit into column A with clear memories of character death. It is my hope that this game can convince a few of the people in column B to accept and learn to enjoy character deaths. I'm a card-carrying member of the first group as well. However, I have a clear memory ...

In my mind, there's a difference between consulting a table and consulting a rule. Consulting a rule slows things down, requires reading, and sometimes requires adjudication. Consulting a table is just like reading a sentence or two that corresponds to your roll. At least in my head, the latter is ...

Having looked through this thread I am on board with the idea of 'alternate class features' ala PfRPG. But, to be honest, I think in the core book you shouldn't bother it should be something for a supplement or 3PP. The problem with this is that one DM's idea of a good hybrid class (i.e Wizard/Thie...

If the result of the mechanics is "you die", the narrative could still include your character seeing that deadly beam heading his way, and possibly reacting -- just not enough to survive (mechanics already said he doesn't). This is one of the reasons why I'm frequently annoyed by the pass...

Interesting idea actually. I'm not sure I've ever really thought about class as a higher level template that could be tweaked and personalized via some type of "background" kit (for lack of better terminology). That's my preferred approach. A "barbarian" is a fighter with a clas...

Shields Shall Be Splintered is a great house rule! I have a "short list" of "other people's house rules I want to include in DCC RPG" and that one's on it... Yup. One of my favorites too! I second dkeester on the Free Whack and appreciate your approach to the grappling thing. It...

Grappling, It's just like doing calculus only you have to roll a d12 and nothing happens! Crying Uncle, It's just like doing tai chi only you have to roll a steak knife and wild, uninhibited sex happens! Personally, I'm liking that Cry Uncle rule already! LOLz. You laugh now but watch those actuall...

I also don't think that every situation, or even 90% of all situations should be accounted for in the rules. Flexibility is important trying to account for every situation severely reduces flexibility. Houserules were an important part of OSR games. They shouldn't get lost. I think we're in complet...

Hmm. Well, I'm asking for stuff because I know it's in Appendix N and because I know players WILL try to use it in a looser system. For example, my current group never EVER attempted to grapple anything in 4e. Didn't try any stunts either... despite all that whatchamacallit about p. 42 in the DMG. S...

I'd much rather lose a level than lose an ability point permanently. A level can be regained. A con point is gone forever. Muwahahahaha. Then you'd hate my Energy Drain houserule. Instead of losing a level, an attack that drains a level drops a character one bonus level of CON permanently and ages ...

After rereading my last post I realized that it sounded rather contentious and conceited. :oops: That was not at all the intent behind it. I think your ideas are absolutely valid and I hope I didn't sound like I was trodding all over them. No apology needed. I got what was being said and wasn't off...

I am not exactly sure what you mean by "conflates the purpose of the Grappling thread altogether". I am going to assume you mean that I am confusing the purpose of the other thread. :) Sorry, my brain went tilt on that sentence. I felt that this thread tying the Grappling thread into line...

I agree in principle. But I think this kinda conflates the purpose of the Grappling thread altogether. Here's my most recent post there. Reposted here because I feel it's relevant. Regarding Grappling... I'd like to see something simple. It really breaks down to two things for me. 1) Restraining ano...

And therein lies the difference between a game run upon old school sensibilities and one run today. In an old school game there's a tacit agreement (is covenant going too far?) between players and DM that's based on a system of trust. The players trust the DM to be impartial, fair and consistent, w...

Regarding Grappling... I'd like to see something simple. It really breaks down to two things for me. 1) Restraining another character. How do you do it? What does restraining a character do to that character? And how do they get out of it? That shouldn't take more than a paragraph or two, really. 2)...

My concern is that I would rather have tables for generating magic items than a shopping list, and have wizards call on dark forces or quest for iron-bound tomes down in the sunken vaults of where-ever to gain new spells. I agree. Something along the lines of the Random Esoteric Magic Item Table. O...

The only problem with "save or die" stuff is that players can react one of two ways: (1) free-wheeling, damn-the-torpedoes, let's get 'em style where they just do stuff for fun. (2) total withdraw, with fatalistic fear that anything could kill them and they can't do anything about it. I t...

I'd say three alignments: Lawful, Chaotic and Unaligned. I prefer to let a character's actions and decisions determine if they're good or evil. Law and Chaos are at war. Sure, I can see characters aligned either way cooperating with each other to address a greater threat. Perhaps putting themselves ...

I will go ahead and correct myself. :oops: Chaosium does produce "bestiary" materials, but also does include enough creatures in the main book for a Keeper to get by for a while. Oops. I'll follow suit. I wouldn't mind a monster book. But, like dkeester, I'd prefer to have enough monsters...

And I quote (damned Michael Cole :mrgreen:). Haha! Just give Bryan Danielson 5 minutes in the ring with him. Just 5 minutes. That's all I ask! Michael Cole is such a tool. Maybe a solution could be implementing a sort of Kit , like the one used in AD&D's Complete Handbook series.. but obviously...

Once Palladium insisted that there is no such thing as someone who is True Neutral, I was done with that alignment system. There's no one that's absolutely Lawful Good, either, but what if I want to play a character in a game that's like that? Palladium thinks I shouldn't have the option. I think o...