I wrote the following essay ten years ago (2008). I reprint it here without edit or revision. The first time I ever mentioned the phrase “santa vaca” in conjunction with D&D. Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition was on the verge of release and after hearing so many people talk about “game balance” as the primary design…
Did I get hit or didn’t I? When Dave Arneson first introduced hit points and armor class into D&D, the system was based on another game: a naval combat game. Armor class represented the difficulty of piercing the hull and hit points represented the real damage inflicted. Well, that works fine for naval combat—and possibly…
Inspired by an off-hand comment in another journal, I put some serious thought to why I really don’t like alignment in any iteration of D&D. What I came across was one snippy comment and a well-thought out critique. First, the snippy comment. Can anyone give me the real difference between chaotic good vs. neutral good…
1. The supposed production of offspring markedly different from either parent.“A roleplaying game is a wargame where each player controls one mans (unit) rather than an army or a squad.” When Matt told me that, I was knocked off balance. I didn’t know what to say. We were talking about my previous D&D post (you can find it…
(Opened to the general public at jediwiker’s request) Listening to people talk about the fourthcoming (intentional) edition of D&D, I hear a lot of the same thing: balancing out the classes. I hear the fighter will deal out the most amount of damage up close while the thief (I will not say “rogue”) deals the most…