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1 Spell 3 Systems: Decompose

The cultist grabbed a handful of the strange yellow-gray dust and cast it into the air above the body of Sir Reginold of Larksley. To the horror of those still in the right frame of mind, the body...

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Magic – The first thing I’d change in D&D

This post is in response to a long standing request from wickedmurph that instead of just declaring what I don’t like about the track WotC took with 4E D&D, I focus on expending energy taking a...

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Magic Items and Failure

In a response to a previous discussion on how I would remake the magic system in D&D, wickedmurph conjectured: The other thing that this system would do is really make scrolls viable items again,...

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Clerics – Restoring the faith in D&D

This is the next part of a response to a long standing request from wickedmurph that instead of just declaring what I don’t like about the track WotC took with 4E D&D, I instead try my hand at...

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Giving the fighter a fighting chance

As was rightly pointed out by Mark, I’ve been seemingly negligent in posting on this blog. Now, before you heat up the tar and start plucking the chickens, I’ve been a bit busy. But Mark’s right and I...

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The ultimate 1 page RPG Throwdown… D&D

Over at Lord Kilgore’s blog, in a discussion of the merits of a core mechanic as opposed to multiple mechanics in a game system, JB of BXBlackrazor countered that you should attempt to shorten your...

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Passions

We’re in a war for the hearts and minds… This is not a rant. Readers looking for another of my rants on what’s wrong with D&D won’t find it here. I’m done ranting and have moved on to analysis and...

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But we’re not playing D&D anymore…

… or are we? Wikipedia describes D&D in part as: Dungeons & Dragons is a structured yet open-ended role-playing game. It is normally played indoors with the participants seated around a...

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1 Spell 1 System: Mark of Inequity

When the balance is tips, be sure it tips in your favor – proverb of the Masters Mark of Inequity* Dungeons and Dragons (D&D d20 SRD Format) Pathfinder Evocation Level: Clr 5 Components: V, S...

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1 Spell 1 System: Mark of Iniquity

When the balance is tips, be sure it tips to the favor of evil – proverb of the Dark Masters Mark of Iniquity Dungeons and Dragons (D&D d20 SRD Format) Pathfinder Evocation Level: Clr 5, Evil 4...

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Eliminating the Flaws of 3d6

This very post got me thinking again: 3 to 18: Why do we really need it? It’s an interesting question to ask. In fact, its so interesting that a lot of people have been asking it over the years. Lord …...

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The inherent problem with making your fantasy world one Big ol’ Super Random,...

In those halcyon days of Junior High gaming yore, my friends and I believed that if the small introduction of a single, isolated random, dangerous encounter was a good thing, ipso facto a Big ol’ Super...

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Claw of the Pistol Shrimp

The Claw of the Pistol Shrimp is a strange device like that of a large golden crustacean claw one wears as an over-sized glove. The interior of the glove will stretch or shrink to fit any size of hand,...

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1 Spell 1 System – Death Knell (spell and object)

Death Knell In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral The church bell chimed, ’til it rang 29 times For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.* Dungeons and Dragons...

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Can High Fantasy be played without gods?

High Fantasy games such as D&D and their like have long held the iconic Cleric or Healer as the active representation of a divine being. But what happens when you remove the divinity from the game?...

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The Quantum Ogre says you’re doing it wrong

A word of warning: This post may at first appear argumentative. Perhaps it is. Though in the beginning of crafting it I didn’t intend for it to be so. Consider it a response in the form of constructive...

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Skill and Feat inclusion yields less of each

With all the talk about Monte Cook returning to WotC and the subsequent murmuring surrounding this with regard to a possible 5th Edition D&D, there’s been a few posts about how other RPG bloggers...

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Racism in D&D – it’s time to stop the madness

Before we get started, the racism I’m referring to in D&D isn’t the racism of the real world. The racism I’m discussing is the apparent need to create rules to make the fantasy races in D&D...

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D&D just has too much class

Let’s continue with the challenge laid before me by wickedmurph on describing what I’d have done to redesign D&D as opposed to just griping about where I think it’s headed. For reference, let’s...

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Charisma – Why the heck are you still there?

This post is another in the series of what I’d have done to redesign D&D had they asked me. It’s short, but necessary. In the past we’ve removed the classes that base their prime requisite off this...

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Unraveling the (il)logic of AC in D&D

We’re really getting to the meat of some things that are wrong with D&D these past few days, so let’s keep the momentum going and continue with the challenge laid before me by wickedmurph on not...

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Attributes: what do they mean now?

As we continue to redesign D&D, let’s recap what we’ve done with the attributes so we all can stay on the same page. We’ve… Eliminated 3d6 as a flawed methodology of generating characters most...

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Removing the golden thread: A Level-less D&D

We’ve almost come to the end of this exercise I agreed to take on in not just complaining about what’s wrong with D&D but providing an alternative take on how the game should be designed. We’ve...

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Paring down the Divine spells D&D

As noted in our level-less redesign of D&D, combining that concept with a Cleric’s ability to cast any spell “of their level and below”, we’ve created an incongruity – and a rather serious one at...

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A general Magic Spell effect table for D&D

Here’s a table for clarifying the rework of Magic-user spells in our D&D redesign. What’s presented is a simple table for referencing the maximum impact of a spell based on failure and number of...

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Slashing the Weapon Tables

Don’t worry too much, this post isn’t going to do anything drastic like remove levels or completely change the way magic is handled in D&D. In fact, this is probably going to be one of the tamest...

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I search the room…

There’s been lots of talk about Monte Cook’s Legends & Lore article. That’s a good thing. The more we examine the game, the more likely we are to find it’s flaws and hopefully find solutions to...

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Equipping the classes

Broken – Or at least highlighting the wrong thing: D&D’s methodology for determining a character’s starting equipment has always been one part annoyance and one part curiosity for me. Having a...

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Reinfusing the Magic into Magical Stuff

A dash of This by Monte Cook and a bit of This by The Rhetorical Gamer. Seriously. Combining those two concepts would be something I’d try to recapture in my D&D redesign. But I’d steer clear of...

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The bigger they are…

A few nights ago, the question was posed to me via email on how I would handle creatures in a level-less D&D redesign. That question really was just a jumping off point into a larger series of...

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The KORPG™ 2011 year in review

2011 was a year that can really only speak for itself. As with all things, there were highs and lows for KORPG™. Some were expected and others were quite unanticipated. There were some really...

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Good Luck WotC, I wish you the best in your 5E product…

… Lord knows I don’t envy you in the task. Why? You have a divided fan-base. Half wants hard and structured rules while the other demands less rules and more guidelines for rulings. Half the fan-base...

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If you don’t want to suck in older edition D&D…

If you don’t want to suck in older edition D&D and don’t want to up the beginning level at which you start playing the game, then according to some you’re probably out of luck. Is that really the...

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Elsewhere

While perusing how people are linking and coming to the site, I stumbled upon this gem of a (mini) World Building Work in Progress: The Blackwood. I may be reading things wrong, but I must admit this...

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Topless Elf Chicks

I’ve been monitoring the searches that bring people to KORPG™ and I’ve discovered that some of the more popular searches are for Hot Elf Chicks, Elf Chicks, Hot Elves, etc. which naturally link to the...

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The Darkwood – an introduction

What is the Darkwood?: Darkwood: where the realm of man is the meager locations he takes back from both the forest and the night. Darkwood: where the things that go bump in the night are predators of...

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Battling the Creatures of the Darkwood

I was inspired to set this up by an article at Reality Refracted on the Supernatural Game Style. Specifically, the point made that a supernatural setting is full of, and relies heavily on, rules as to...

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D&D Next – initial thoughts

Play-test! So I finally got the play-test materials downloaded after apparently having something wrong with my account – my guess is that, because I created the account last night (during the initial...

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Love is not about accepting the things you like

I like it, but I’m not sure I like that I like it Love does some wonderful but strange things to a man… I’ve been struggling with something about D&DNext; something I didn’t expect. For starters, I...

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D&D Next and Me Me Me

Maybe I’ve been tainted with by 37Signal’s design methodology Getting Real. Maybe I’m seeing the writing on the wall. Maybe I’m tired of arguments about scope and default stance. Maybe I’m just not as...

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Brave

So I took the kids to see Brave on Friday and really enjoyed it. Granting that it is as predictable as any other Disney|Pixar film, the kids obviously found it a fun movie and they had a great time....

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Beast Quest

Summer Reading: So over the summer, in order to keep his reading skills sharp, my son’s been reading out-loud to the family. One of the set of books he’s been working his way through is the Beast Quest...

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Dragons. Why you should leave them alone.

Dragon. The very word elicits visions of a majestic creature guarding a horde of treasures. Warriors immediately ponder the fame brought by besting such an iconic beast. Spellcasters begin to envision...

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Dragons. Why you should leave them alone. Part 1

The Loremaster turned to his students and watched as their fascination and curiosity was fueled by the tiny, scaly, red-hued creature in the cage. He paused for a time as his class all studied the tiny...

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Dragons. Why you should leave them alone. Part 2

The door burst open just as the Loremaster, speaking softly to the small dragon placed the golden coin before the creature. The room smelled of brimstone and of smoke and the old man was obviously...

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Dragons. Why you should leave them alone. Part 3

The Loremaster, dragging his son behind him, ran out of the building and across the small courtyard. Smoke poured from the school and the sounds of screaming came from within. “Let me go!” his son...

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Going out of alignment

Loyal reader Isaac sent me an email with a simple question indicating that I may still have much to do to eliminate pointless rules from D&D. With a single sentence, he demonstrated that I’ve...

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Why Charisma and not Intelligence and/or Wisdom?

A while back I received this rather intriguing email from Demiurugs: Kevin, As so oft happens late(ish) at night, I started having creative thoughts, and was wondering about some of the implication of...

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A time honored tradition

It is fitting that the logo for KORPG™ games is a raven. Because I’m about to set the table so I can eat, nay… feast upon crow. For my first helping of this fine avian dish let me say… 5e Dungeons …...

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How magical are your magic items?

Bear with me because I’m going to use a singular, yet poignant and shining, example of one type of magical item that so epitomizes what I really hate about the nature of magical treasures in most high...

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