The Gaming Den

Lago, we don't worship him. I barely even respect him.

'We' as in the nerd community.

There used to be this thing about speaking ill of the dead, especially the recently dead. It would be nice if we could have a moratorium on the more venomous criticism of Gygax's many faults until he's at least in the ground. [br][br]Unfortunately, this occasion is being used to cement Gary Gygax's...

Would any of us have heard of D&D if not for Gygax? It's an open question. So there's plenty to praise and damn him for. [br][br]The prototype from which D&D spawned already existed, so we still would've had pencil and paper fantasy gaming at one point.[br][br]Also, the latest Order of the ...

Hooray for thievery and frivolous lawsuits!

If you lie and steal and harass enough, you'll get remembered as the beloved pioneer of a signature nerd hobby!

Pour out those drinks and stop congratulating this douchenozzle.

Getting benefits for nor reason is not what I assume to be clear and concise, but to each his own. At least it beats the hell out of Polymorph or the True20 "get the mind of an animal if you stay too long as one" Shapeshift power. [br][br]It's not really benefits for no reason as much as ...

This is because spies, assassins, and ninjas are not known for their upstanding moral character. [br][br]But the series is aimed at children/preteens and stars children/preteens.[br][br]That kind of stuff is okay for, say, Battle Royale and Berserk. But unless you can convince me that The Shield is...

Maj, just so you know, I'm leaving out some of the sideplot with Jiraiya/Tsunade. I'm also leaving out the sideplot with Tobi/Konoha and the Akatsuki Leader. It's overall not important. Last year and this year is supposed to be mostly Sasuke. Hell, the first chapter for 2008 stated '2008: Year of th...

Fucking Mary Sue character destroying the manga.

I thought that we learned our lessons with Eragon and Wesley, but noooooo.

Anyone who has been reading the manga lately knows what I'm talking about. Ugh.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/fe ... e[br][br]I don't even know how to respond to that.

Do you expect M&M shapeshifting to be more clear and concise than D&D shapeshifting (the dreaded Polymorph)? It seems that the d20 system is cursed to have oddball shapechanging rules. [br][br]The M&M shapeshifting rules are very explicit and easy to understand what you get from it.[br]...

I mean, you could in out-of-combat funnel all of your power points to skills and stat bonuses and in combat cannibalize your stats into something you really want.[br][br]I fail to see a drawback here. The description of transform even seems to want you to do that.[br][br][br]While we're on the subje...

Furthermore, why the hell would you pick shapeshift when you could pick transform or morph?

It seems a lot more cost-efficient and is even mentioned in the description.

But so, do you know what the heck's "Lago AM3P" supposed to mean? Might be a reference, I suppose. [br] [br][br]When I was a little kid I really liked Largo from the James Bond movies and thought it was the height of wit to make the head villain of my LEGOS toys a portmanteau of those two...

Okay, here's another thing.[br][br]Say you have a dynamic alternate power that has a lot of points per rank on it. It shares power points with a power that has few points per rank in it.[br][br]So you use extra effort to raise the DAP that has a lot of points per rank and try to shift the points bac...

Any rule that screws over those retarded chewtoys is a winner rule in my book.[br][br]Wizards should post a sourcebook that's nothing but a chronicle about how hardcore their race sucks at everything. Even the goblins make fun of them. All that's in the book are MI that help you kill kobolds in gory...

All right, how does body armor and shields work with the protection power/defense bonuses?[br][br]Furthermore, what's the best arrangement for pumping up the trifecta of toughness? ([impervious] toughness, concentration, recovery check bonus, and fortitude) in terms of cost-savings?[br][br]Finally, ...

As an aside, I really must remind you that Nullify (Power Resistance) does nothing against super-senses. [br][br]Why not? Can't it counter other super powers as a reaction?[br][br]I could see the argument for a free action, but as soon as someone tries to see you with their supernatural sense why w...

Just a little help.[br][br]I'm trying to make a Darkness controller that combines Shikamaru's tricks with some of Raven's.[br][br]I want to have 20-22 ranks of Darkness Control while trying to combine Snare, Dazzle (at least visual, all senses if possible) Stun, Create Object, Strike (with the NA ar...

Holy shit, stun is crazy-go-nuts powerful.

If you fail one check you're pretty much screwed, especially if the person has Duration extras tacked on it.

I can't believe I haven't noticed this before.

You know what's weird, though?[br][br]Incorporeality is one of those tools that benefits players more than villains.[br][br]Yes, you have to pay more for it to get it to work than someone does to counter it, but the vast majority of villains do not have it so have to use extra effort for the AP; som...

Crissa, here is an average of several polls, including the one you posted.[br][br]http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html[br][br]http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_clinton-224.html[br][br][b...

If someone tries to change the laws, their political opponents accuse them of being "soft on crime" next election, they lose the election because Americans are drooling retards that respond to buzz words instead of logic, and they replace the first guy with someone who is a thousand times...

This stuff doesn't come as intuitively to me as Frank and K's writings.[br][br]Could someone ask me a whole lot of questions about the campaign setting or at least pick apart what they see as issues?[br][br]Because I really don't know where to start. I guess I should start writing about stuff that a...

- Drastically reduce military spending. My ignorance fully shows on this issue, but I've seen firsthand how ridiculous it can get at the local level. A piece of plastic on a spring seriously costs 600 dollars. The plastic doesn't do anything special, it's just a piece of plastic on a spring.[br][br]...

But Jesus Christ won't I vote for her no matter what.[br][br]The Supreme Court--let alone our foreign and economic policy--is just way too damn important to even cast a 'teach her a lesson' vote that my parents did in voting for Ralph Nader.[br][br]All of the candidates running for the GOP are major...