tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.comments2012-05-27T01:36:39.068-04:00Erik Tenkarhttps://profiles.google.com/113341752897675495824noreply@blogger.comBlogger4983125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-54759205768316894392012-05-27T01:36:39.068-04:002012-05-27T01:36:39.068-04:00I haven&#39;t been up to that area in at least 20 years. I remember there was this abandoned civl war era town near Mountaintop PA that was just swallowed up the woods. There was this deacying railroad bridge over this small waterfall and a pool beneath it (the water was cold as hell).<br /><br />The thing I remember most is that there would be the thickest fog I&#39;d ever experienced that made those curving roads a nightmare.JasonZavodahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13109502376214104276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-62550581207277814992012-05-26T23:24:21.606-04:002012-05-26T23:24:21.606-04:00I shall enjoy me staycation.<br /><br />Thanks :-)The Happy Whiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13438469476168485775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-72839029175647901522012-05-26T21:40:45.196-04:002012-05-26T21:40:45.196-04:00&quot;your&quot; stay-cation. damn typosErik Tenkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-56976655416688528592012-05-26T21:06:42.670-04:002012-05-26T21:06:42.670-04:00Whisk - Enjoy you Stay-cation ;)Erik Tenkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-41279592726716341172012-05-26T21:05:49.870-04:002012-05-26T21:05:49.870-04:00Pretty good post, Tenkar.<br /><br />Enjoy the weekend.The Happy Whiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13438469476168485775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-82298603480495030172012-05-26T09:17:33.331-04:002012-05-26T09:17:33.331-04:00I have realised that <i>Lamentations of the Flame Princess</i> is probably my favourite version of <i>D&amp;D</i>, if there is one thing I don&#39;t like about it, it&#39;s that it retains that experience-for-loot system.Kelvin Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-25841907909679639572012-05-26T04:43:19.752-04:002012-05-26T04:43:19.752-04:00Q1: fire and acid<br />Q2: warrior<br />Q3: cloud of poisonous chlorine gas that is 50&#39; long, 40&#39; wide, and 30 feet high<br />Q4: warm shield and chill shieldBeastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07624828972465650454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-42306269421448133442012-05-25T23:48:30.686-04:002012-05-25T23:48:30.686-04:00I received my copy, too. I really loved the article about the great and mighty spell caster that will reach back in time to bestow aid upon his past selves. So fun! I also dug the art. Count Spatula is quite talented!christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09650456794111980661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-35844828850740414422012-05-25T22:41:20.483-04:002012-05-25T22:41:20.483-04:00answered correctly on G+ by Shane Knysh for 15 ptsErik Tenkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-14683095891976010562012-05-25T17:10:27.139-04:002012-05-25T17:10:27.139-04:00You know what.. Fuck them.. I think there worry is that whole.. &#39;All your friends also need to agree to the playtest terms&#39;. Like thats gonna happen in a face to face game let alone a VTT game.The Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13670101962259531452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-56141743791414116162012-05-25T17:02:40.825-04:002012-05-25T17:02:40.825-04:00I wish we could edit comments, that was very unclear. I like the skills bit just fine, I don&#39;t like other things.Josh D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17960874265925545983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-16887893220162068772012-05-25T17:00:51.895-04:002012-05-25T17:00:51.895-04:00Huh. I have no idea what to make of all of that. I like what they had to say about skills. Not sure I like what I&#39;m seeing in the rules as much as what they said . . . .Josh D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17960874265925545983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-45776836802701240082012-05-25T16:34:49.434-04:002012-05-25T16:34:49.434-04:00and now we know why I tapped out with pre-calc in college ;)<br /><br />good analysis tho i must sayErik Tenkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-64246048639182869822012-05-25T16:30:24.850-04:002012-05-25T16:30:24.850-04:00&quot;We learned this when D&amp;D went from descending AC to ascending AC in the transition from 2e to 3e. That was simple math.&quot;<br /><br />Not quite. In 3e, the core algorithm includes a comparison, and comparisons are basically subtractions. So, you&#39;re actually having to do mental subtractions on every core mechanic roll <b>because</b> of ascending AC. The to-hit algorithm that has the least mental burden is Delta&#39;s &quot;Target 20&quot; with descending AC:<br /><br />TARGET 20 ALGORITHM: d20 + level + AC + mods ≥ 20<br /><br />Which has a comparison, but, significantly, a comparison with a constant, round number, which is quick and easy on the brain. Sure, you have to subtract to figure AC, but you only do that when you change armor, not every attack.<br /><br />See the original analysis: http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-is-best-combat-algorithm.htmlJoshua L. Lylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03358762663581842879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-25363515579994308682012-05-25T15:23:36.313-04:002012-05-25T15:23:36.313-04:00i suspect it is lawyers - read my previous blog post - mike himself talks about how in the last round of play testing, hangouts was a successErik Tenkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-2506821378642313672012-05-25T15:22:02.171-04:002012-05-25T15:22:02.171-04:00They want us to play-test, but not online. Is there a legal/IP issue or do they want a &quot;pure table top&quot; role-playing experience?<br /><br />-lgmw00thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11361050748588247352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-28892869701852313382012-05-25T12:34:22.470-04:002012-05-25T12:34:22.470-04:00<i>Talk about shooting yourselves in the foot.</i><br /><br />It&#39;s not a surprise. I have nothing against WotC or the new <i>D&amp;D</i> -- in fact, I like what I&#39;ve seen so far -- but they do have a tendency to blunder. <br /><br />Taking the old pdfs away citing piracy concerns while at the same time someone within the company is leaking the <i>D&amp;D4</i> printing proofs, promising a bunch of online tools that never appear, having the playtest download link point to the wrong page; no, it&#39;s no surprise. What is a surprise is how a bunch of geeks get so much geeky stuff wrong!Kelvin Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-53176197607261403362012-05-25T12:16:57.712-04:002012-05-25T12:16:57.712-04:00@Callin - Mike Mearls himself talks glowingly about how well G+ Hangouts worked for different groups in the earlier play tests.<br /><br />I was one of those play testers that played with a group over G+ Hangouts. There were no restrictions. It never came up.<br /><br />As for the human trust element - if its run in a store with a pick up group, who will know if they actually clicked the box and agreed on the WotC website?Erik Tenkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-24453731660302119732012-05-25T12:13:11.762-04:002012-05-25T12:13:11.762-04:00There is a measure of human trust involved here within your group of players. Ask them if they signed the NDA and if they answered &#39;yes&#39; then you are absolved of any wrongdoing.<br /><br />As for not allowing the use of 3rd party technology, you can control who overhears/sees/records a game session at your home. You can not do that with 3rd party technology like Google+. Even their VTT can get hacked since the internet is an open environment. Same for an open convention site. (They did mention you can run a game in a store.)<br /><br />While their rules may be annoying, they make sense to me.Callinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10588183535221978936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-61438969906022055852012-05-25T11:37:29.823-04:002012-05-25T11:37:29.823-04:00@Tim - there is no physical NDA, just something you agreed to on the internet.<br /><br />How do I know if you clicked a box on the internet and said &quot;I Agree&quot;?<br /><br />They allowed use of Hangouts in the previous round - it worked very well according to Mike. Now you can&#39;t use it according to the FAQ (but not the agreement I remember signing off on)Erik Tenkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-39388092504878473232012-05-25T11:27:55.865-04:002012-05-25T11:27:55.865-04:00They even restrict video recordings and audio podcast and their OWN virtual tabletops. It really does sound like some laywers who are afraid of this &quot;internet&quot; thing.<br /><br />You would think actual play recordings would be great feedback but I guess they only want second hand accounts and not witness the thing actually being used.Joshuhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606562177765860993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-82273886596890937982012-05-25T11:15:48.452-04:002012-05-25T11:15:48.452-04:00I&#39;m also very annoyed at the restriction on playtests at conventions. I was asked by the local game store to run 5E playtest games for them at the upcoming Albuquerque Comic Expo, but that&#39;s out the door now, too. In fact, technically if I run the playtest with my own home group I could be in violation since I can&#39;t see how I can verify that each one of them signed up for the NDA without physically observing them doing it. So I guess while I might not be surprised at an NDA for this process, the one they&#39;re using is working counter-intuitively to how people are actually likely to engage in the playtest process.Tori Bergquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586371999646337047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-70521772653140997562012-05-25T11:14:24.995-04:002012-05-25T11:14:24.995-04:00Well when I run playtests I either know everyone in the group already or I bring the NDAs with for them to sign then and there.<br /><br />I get why they won&#39;t people using Skype Google+ for the playtest. It has nothing at all to do with other technologies.Timothy Brannanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923526503305233715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-60149811899852602352012-05-25T11:14:18.825-04:002012-05-25T11:14:18.825-04:00They are f&#39;n idiots, this is really not making me WANT to have anything to do with D&amp;D Next.<br /><br />After the crap release yesterday and the confusion coming from this BS NDA I don&#39;t know if they really have any clue as to what the Nine Hells they are doing. <br /><br />BTW I finally got the playtest this morning and it looks more like a house ruled 3.X than anything else, old school my @$$.<br /><br />ERIC!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251132223571608976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457309359800117925.post-62671120406037333202012-05-25T02:55:07.413-04:002012-05-25T02:55:07.413-04:00I know exactly what you mean by &quot;it just exists&quot;. I downloaded the rules, gave them a quick glance, and couldn&#39;t get warm or cold over it.<br /><br />I haven&#39;t seen DCC yet, but all the good comments about it make me curious.Jasper Polanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14304076684060757294noreply@blogger.com