#DnD

In case you need a new #dnd / #ttrpg monster: I present to you the flying turtle!

Here's a critter that probably hasnt shown up in a #dnd / #ttrpg monster collection before!

I would not rule out an appearance in the #Pokemon franchise, however...

I realize hardly any veteran #ttrpg player reads "Examples of Play" anymore, but I am impressed here. The authors nicely set a tone of: "People who look different are people, too!" - even people who would have been designated cannon fodder in earlier editions of #DnD and #Pathfinder .

Well done, Paizo. Well done. The "evil races" whom it was okay to kill on sight was always highly problematic, and I am glad that this game is moving away from it.

I've became interested in the world of Brancalonia as a quirky, folklore-themed #ttrpg setting when it was first released. And now that I've actually started to learn #Italian , my attention has increased - my plan is to read the Italian-language originals of these books once I'm a bit firmer in the language.

Still, I'm not quite happy with the rules for this setting. I mean, I do understand why they picked the 5E version of #DnD , but limiting character growth to 5th level doesn't really make for a great fit. I'd rather use an entirely different rule system that's a better fit for lower-powered protagonists, such as #WFRP , instead of trying to turn the D&D rules into something they are not.

While I haven't really done much with the Forgotten Realms #dnd setting in a while, it's 3E version of the campaign setting remains my favorite. Mostly because I am a really big fan of hyper-detailed settings, and the 3E version delivers that - covering all the regions of mainland Faerun in depth.

Though it also had some good setting changes from 2E that, while not as apocalyptic as the 2E "Time of Troubles" or the 4E "Spellplague" - certainly made the world more interesting. The Empire of Shade were a good villain for those who thought that the Zhentarim had grown stale, and the attempt by the Red Wizards of Thay to become a magical merchant empire provided some good story potential. For as long as it lasted, anyway...

Still, even if you play in later, post-Spellplague eras, the 3E and earlier material doesn't cease to be useful.

The early #d20 era of #dnd was wild. #TTRPG publishers would create a setting or a supplement on pretty much any conceivable topic and rush it to market, causing a massive glut of products. And, as a result, the quality of these products was... variable.

I've never really investigated how Hamunaptra: Egyptian Adventures rates in this regard, but the boxed set is still among my belongings.

The Midnight #ttrpg setting for #dnd had an interesting premise: "What if Sauron had won the War of the Ring"? And I actually played a short campaign in it.

But ultimately, I found it too depressing - I prefer settings where there is actual hope. Heck, even Call of Cthulhu offered chances of victory, however temporary they might be - and an opportunity to escape the horrors, however brief.

I have sold of much of my physical collection of #ttrpg books. But I am still reluctant to part with my copy of the first Forgotten Realms Campaign Set... #dnd

Most #dnd / fantasy #ttrpg settings out there seem to be vaguely based on Europe and European cultural assumptions.

However, most religious conflict in these settings seems to be based on conflicts between the followers of different gods. What I'd like to see more examples of is conflict between followers of the same god(s) who interpret their faiths differenty.

I mean, consider the conflict between Catholics and Lutherans in early modern Germany, which ultimately led to the Thirty Years's War - arguably the most traumatic war in the country's existence, eclipsing even the World Wars in many respects.

Such conflicts between different theological interpretations of the same faith have thus plenty of potential for conflict - and thus stories. However, you do need to make sure that the gods of your setting won't settle theological disputes directly...

Dark Sun was a fun setting, but I always thought that the #DnD rules were an awkward fit. The wild psionic powers, the differences in available equipment, the transhumanist spellcasters... it all diverges pretty strongly from "standard" D&D.

I once ran a #GURPS with it, which I thought was a pretty good fit - using tbe system from GURPS Psionic Powers, and giving each character 25 points from one of the prepackaged power sets. It worked pretty well.

I think one of the main flaws of the original #Spelljammer #dnd setting was that it tried to hard to be a sort of "connecting tissue" between other D&D settings, rather than having its own unique developed culture and environment.

While #Planescape also connected the different D&D worlds with each other, it went much further into being a fully-developed setting in its own right, and thus I regard it as the superior line.

If Spelljammer had published a collection of interconnected crystal spheres - a whole "space sector" for the PCs to explore, with different factions and cultures that play off against each other - then it might have been a lot more interesting. To me, at least - others might prefer the "toolkit" approach that Spelljammer ultimately took.

One of my long-running aspirations is to design a (#dnd -style) #fantasy #ttrpg setting that features truly vast cities, of a size comparable to modern-day major metropolitan areas.

As a result, I've accumulated a number of books that try to examine the structure and layout of cities - what makes a modern city a city, instead of just focusing on any single town. This particular book offers layout views of streets and buildings of major cities - without labeling them - so that readers can get a feel for their structure instead of getting bogged down in the details.

While I haven't bought it, I am curious - how did the latest incarnation of #Planescape deal with the Factions?

#dnd #ttrpg

If I had to choose, I'd say that #Eberron is my favorite #DnD setting. The world is simply well designed from the ground up, and not just an agglomeration of tropes. I also like that you can fit pretty much any D&D element into the setting if you put a little thought into it.

And I really like Keith Baker's attitude when it comes to character concepts: "What do these game mechanics mean for your character? How do you interpret this class/subclass/race for your game and this individual person?" This is as it should be. #ttrpg