The Gaming Den

Honestly I'm inclined to agree with the thesis that oral history could okayishly-accurately record some pretty far-flung histories, as long as you can keep people reciting the repetitive, mnemonic storyline over and over, juxst, we abandoned that technology when a much better tech came up: the abil...

Ah, I remember that one. The first one I saw was a nice young south african woman (tagged as a human rights activist) talking about Israel and Palestinians. I had no idea about this group, and it wasn't the typical presentation. But then little buzzwords and the usual agenda started slipping in, and...

The lawsuit text is bizarre. Systematic shaming and discrimination does not fly with the fact that despite being a white male conservative (while claiming he isn't, kinda?), he got his salary, a 8 performance bonuses, a promotion and stock options worth an additional $150K in less than 4 years. Yeah...

What makes for a good cantrip in this edition? Scaling damage (which starts outpacing weapon damage at level 5, as they add a die at 5th, 11th and 17th) and useful rider effects, usually also combining them in a class that gives a stat bonus to damage (though that often comes very late). If you're ...

I don't see any evidence that Mearls has paid anything to anybody. If the amount of articles Kotaku, Polygon, and similar channels have dedicated these two years to a game that is, for all practical purposes, abandonware, mixed with the alarming percentage of those "articles" that amount ...

It makes me sad that the cantrips are the selling point of the spells section.

Though after all these years, shitty 1st level spells don't even register.

So, mechanically, I thought Xanthar's had some cool stuff. The Celestial Warlock spec is cool, for example. But I FUCKING HATE THE FUCKING PREMISE AND THAT GODDAMNED BEHOLDER. What you don't like the idea that the super-genius paranoid beholder is a gabby, sociopathic ten year old? Conquest sounds ...

I think you and I are saying the same thing I'm just being more derisive about it. I know there are two dozen monsters labeled "Boss Monster" but they're all just fat slabs of hp with axes. Being behind on the action economy is also a thing big bosses in 3.E (Like Dragons, Balors, Nightwa...

5E D&D characters are already too strong against hordes and boss monsters, as shown by me knowing an Adventurer's League cleric with 26 AC at level 13. I think you're saying characters when you mean full casting classes. If you can tell me what a Barbarian or Rogue or Ranger do to make them che...

Eh. I don't really see the point. Settlements are a 'screw around if you feel like wasting time' 'feature' of the game. The gameplay doesn't do a good job of being convincing that settlements are in any way worthwhile or even useful. Just a good place to pile shit, while you wait to level and unlock...

I know Paizo prints their books in China. If WotC does as well then even if the print was done quickly, container ships and customs will make any 'immediate' restock difficult or impossible. They don't, surprisingly enough (or at least Xanathar's has 'printed in USA' on it)- China is usually the no...

1 Hit = Edible, 2 Hits = fast food good I think you reversed these. But regardless, the problem is in most games this doesn't matter at all. A GM calling for a cooking roll at all is deliberately wasting your time, except in absurd corner case scenarios. Craft rules determine how quickly you create...

Now, everyone who has read those texts twenty years ago would tell you it always has been clearly established there were six eras who all lasted 5214 or 5200 years, and that the mana peak that allowed the Horrors in happened at the middle of the two previous magical eras. Mostly what everyone actua...

Seven more Magic computer games? Are any of them not going to suck? I'm actually surprised at new D&D computer games. I thought that particular boat was burned after their licensing fuck ups with Atari- even once the agreements expired, they'd avoid that path again. Hmm. Unless they're counting ...

TLJ could have easily started with the Resisty trying to capitalize on their victory and getting their teeth kicked in. Instead of extraneous plotlines and soap boxes, they could have been over confident, had a nice set-piece space battle, lost and then had to flee to Salt Planet not!Hoth. Everythi...

Given that TFA has established the First Order as ludicrously dangerous and the New Republic as so short-lived as to be basically a non-entity in the actual stories depicted, the right move for TLJ is definitely to try and make that work rather than backpedal out of it. If you want to erase the stu...

Nope. No treaty. Supposedly the Republic didn't believe the First Order even existed, despite the fact they're accumulating larger fleets and transforming an entire planet into Even More Bigger Deathstar. All of which obviously takes ungodly amounts of money, material, a huge construction corps and ...

Apparently his only contribution was to let the audience learn that if you're rich in the Star Wars Universe, you must be an arms manufacturer supplying both sides of the conflict. Which doesn't even makes sense or hold up, which makes me again wonder if Johnson was even vaguely familiar with the s...

The exit polls are very favorable, and at this stage that's what Rotten Tomatoes is supposed to reflect, too. It doesn't, so it's cooked. What the actual fuck? You're citing an article that is selectively culling 'random samples' and 'being allowed' to provide 'some ' of someone else's adjusted exi...

"we're all awesome, fuck the aristocracy" Yeah, fuck that Rebellion! Fuck the Aristos! Fuck Leia! Authoritarian regimes and brainwashed anonymous children for everyone! This beat makes me think Johnson was very unfamiliar with Star Wars. The Rebellion was extremely aristocratic, and a 'cl...

I think the problem with Rey is that she didn't have a two-minute scene where she is introduced to the Force. Seriously, just that small of a scene would have completely dispelled my authentic disbelief that she could fight toe-to-toe with a clearly powerful Sith. The problem with the Last Jedi is ...

Someone else needs to buy the IP for 6e. Weird debate time: what IP? The 'Dungeons & Dragons' specifically-with-ampersand title? The tiny corner of the Forgotten Realms that they shove adventures into? They've abandoned every other setting, the mechanics can't be under copyright and the 4e/5e m...

Truthfully, I don't give much of shit about the old characters (beyond at least one 'critic' saying that since Carrie Fisher died any parts of the movie with her in it are immune to criticism, which is utter bullshit- Criticizing the film isn't a reflection on her anyway). Their arcs were finished i...

Koumei wrote:It didn't use to have a Linux install at all. What you had to do was install and run the GoG version

Somehow I doubt they're referring to the GoG version. NWN predates GoG by a good seven years or so.

Weaker? Bard, Warpriest, Hunter
Maybe Occultist for wizard instead of bard, but that involves a lot of accounting, but less of a flavor change (though it randomly changes of how spell components work)