Lancer

Even better I would do the following: Calculated your Modified THACO in advance with strength/weapon/magic bonuses, penalties and everything so that your equation is just: To hit= Modified THACO - enemy AC Cake.

No. You don't have to worry about order of operations at all. The formula for calculating to hit in 2ndEd (not including other weapon/str bonuses or items) is ALWAYS the following: To hit = Base THACO - enemy AC If the AC is positive for example (AC 4),and for a Level 1 character (Base THACO 20) 20 - 4=16 If the AC negative.. No problem.. Say, AC -4 20 - (- 4). = 24 Two negatives is just a positive so the Level 1 character needs a natural 20 to hit..etc What is so unintuitive about that? The key is to have that little math formula in your head: To hit= Base THACO - enemy AC And when you have two negatives, it becomes a plus. That is all there is to it. And it is always like this. There are no exceptions. There also is no worrying about order of operations or any of that stuff when you think of it like this. The math takes care of itself.

This is exactly why I wonder why AoO even exists. It makes no sense. Just because someone lets down their guard for a split second (be it from walking from one end to the room to the other and entering another's threat, or casting a spell..etc) doesn't mean that a nearby opponent should automatically get a free attack on you. This is a key problem with the validity of AoO as a concept: 3.x assumes that your character is always aware of all his surroundings 100% of the time AND able to attack everyone around him at all times--- even in situations when he can't possibly be. For example, if you are in a heated duel with another combatant of similar ability, struggling just to deflect HIS blows... How can you possibly be able to launch an attack at another hostile enemy that happens to walk by you while simultaneously being able to meet the attacks of the first combatant at the same time? More than likely you will ignore the passerby or try to position yourself so that you are in less danger of getting hit by the passerby...If you even notice the passerby at all. But there is no way you can block an opponent's blows and at the same time make a sword strike at someone that just happened to walk by you at that particular instant in time. In a chaotic mess of a battle with 20 combatants you just can't afford to dodge someone's blows WHILE in a heated duel, AND lounge at everyone single person that happens to come within 5-10 ft of your character. It is just not realistic.

Tisk...tisk.. And I was beginning to think you were above that.. I tried 3e with Greyhawk (as a player) for several sessions.. and had enough. I never played or GMed 3e Mystara so at least I don't have that on my conscience.

Oh.. and I just want to clarify what a "dominion" is for jorian. It is basically just a realm in which a lord has "dominion" or control over. A dominion can be as small as a tiny settlement or as a large as an entire empire filled with kings, lesser rulers and vassals. In Mystara you have the entire gamut of rulers each with their proper vassals (a vassal is a ruler that serves under the main lord of the dominion). The sequence starts off with baron then in order of increasing influence--- viscount, count, marquise, duke, archduke, king, and finally, emperor.. There are specific guidelines in the Rules Cyclopedia for this (including how taxes, economics and fealty would work..etc) but a PC ruler would in most cases start off as the lowest category(baron) and as his dominion expands either through self-expansion or conquest, may begin to take on higher titles. The main ruler has a network of rulers of lower rank which serve under him (vassals).. For example, a duke would have a network of baron, viscount, count, and up to marquise vassals that serve under him and so forth. The ideal scenario is when a local lord grants the PC a starting barony (what a baron is charged with) . The PC (by default)then becomes a lesser ruler or vassal of that lord. As the PC gains in clout/influence he may be granted higher titles. One day when he or she gets powerful enough, the PC may decide to 1) break away from his benefactor lord and create his own nation (Duke/King Stefan anybody?). .. Which may lead to diplomacy or war... or 2) continue to serve his benefactor like a good vassal would.. " So just to clarify--- in Mystara, the PCs can rule entire nations too (as in Birthright) if they can get to the appropriate rank and power. What can't you do in Mystara? EDIT: I should run a campaign in which the PCs give King Stefan a taste of his own medicine. I am sure Thyatis would like that.

Yeah! At least you never defiled Mystara with 3e.

Much better than the competing (A)D&D stuff, but as games go, I actually like Call of Cthulhu better. Mystara is tied way too closely to the more silly aspects of D&D rules... I've been considering the idea of Mystara with GURPS rules, but it'll be a major rewrite and I'd lose or have to heavily convert a lot of the feel in the process <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Why don't you try a FUZION Mystara?

Much better than the competing (A)D&D stuff, but as games go, I actually like Call of Cthulhu better. Mystara is tied way too closely to the more silly aspects of D&D rules... I've been considering the idea of Mystara with GURPS rules, but it'll be a major rewrite and I'd lose or have to heavily convert a lot of the feel in the process <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Whats GURPS about? (and for what stands GURPS in short?) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> GURPS stands for Generic Universal Roleplaying System. It is made by Steve Jackson games and since it is a unversal roleplaying system it claims that it can handle any PnP genre.. Be it fantasy, sc-fi, western, horror, superhero..etc Of course, in practice this is not actually true...

Mystara had specific guidelines for "dominions" in the old rules (and in the Rules Cyclopedia) with castles, servants, and such. Take a look at some of the articles here. Mystara also had rules for becoming an immortal (god). Still, Birthright had rules where the players were the leaders of entire nations... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Jorian, aside for the "grey" tones in Mystara, the politics, and rich world, it was the ability to become a lord of a dominion in Mystara that got me hooked. There are even rules in that same Rules Cyclopedia (IMHO, the greatest Dungeons and Dragons rulebook ever made... if not the greatest PnP rulebook ever made!) called the "War Machine" for conducting mass military battles. The Poor Wizard's Almanac series (The PWAs) had army statistics--which included the stats for soldiers, generals etc.-- for every single nation of the Known World. These were the stats you would use to conduct War Machine battles. The PWA's were also notable in that they detailed important political events that would happen throughout the calendar year. By incorporating these events, you really make your Mystara a truly living, breathing world with real dynamics. Mystara even had a cosmology system (similar to Planescape's cosmology) but waayyy before Planescape was even on the board. Not to mention that Mystara's Voyage of the Princess Ark (VotPa)/Champions of Mystara boxed set beat Spelljammer to the punch. Long before the AD&D Castle Guide, Mystara already had rules for designing a castle from scratch. Down to how to obtain important castle NPCs like castellans, castle materials, and castle siege artillery like trebuchets and catapults...etc Jediphile also already mentioned the option for PCs to achieve Immortality. It even had rules on how to run a *very* political Immortals campaign (alongside other fleshed-out Mystaran Immortal stars like Thanatos, Ixion, Khoronus, and Ka) as your Immortal PC struggles to gain clout and tries to advance the interests of his or her chosen Sphere. Come to think of it, this would make a great option for a non-combat oriented game. As I said Mystara is rich. No that is an under-statement. Very, very, very freaking rich. IMHO, it was probably the richest PnP setting ever devised. I don't know any game with more gameplay options than Mystara does and I have been gaming for well over a decade having tried many, many other settings.

Much better than the competing (A)D&D stuff, but as games go, I actually like Call of Cthulhu better. Mystara is tied way too closely to the more silly aspects of D&D rules... I've been considering the idea of Mystara with GURPS rules, but it'll be a major rewrite and I'd lose or have to heavily convert a lot of the feel in the process <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Nah..You know how I feel about Call of Cthulhu's combat system. Not to mention that it doesn't have some sort of traits/advantages system.. And I think you once said that you don't even use CoC's combat system but have transplanted the one from Twilight 2000. Mystara is just a much larger and richer world than CoC , IMHO---barring rulesets aside.. For the same reasons you have mentioned--More issues, politics, more grey. etc. I also want to add that Mystara just has many more gameplay options (which I describe below). Aside for how CoC introduces horror, there isn't too much more that CoC can offer. Horror personally has never really been able to scare me anyways. Not to mention that in CoC, you are damned no matter what and there isn't much you can do about it. The good guys can never win in the long run though they can temporarily thwart the threat through very small scale victories. That isn't much fun either. CoC might be great for a non-combat game and for getting a certain atmosphere, but it just can't match Mystara in terms of richness, diversity and substance. EDIT: The Vaults of Pandius site is first-hand evidence of just how rich Mystara is. It truly is an amazing world, barring rulesets.

Whats this about? <_< What should it mean? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think Gabrielle was just confused about my post.

Sorry. Let me be more explanatory.. The Hero system is what is used in the Champions RPG which is a superhero RPG. Like the other games on that list, you get to design your own superhero without the influence of classes. The company that makes Champion is at www.herogames.com

I am just reluctant to sell stuff.. Even the products I don't really use that much.

I own *at least* 15 other rulesets aside from AD&D , OD&D, and 3e

And that was just Dungeons and Dragons and doesn't include all the other PnP systems I own. It's called tabletop gaming or PnP.. Most fun experience ever. It is the purest form of roleplaying and the "forefather" of console and computer RPGs. You should try it sometime.

You are a big fan of Monte Cook, I see. He wrote a lot of stuff for the AD&D Planescape setting which is as you know one of my favorite settings ever. So I definitely don't dislike the guy.

But it is not about the quantity but the QUALITY that counts.. Hades, you should know that of course. EDIT: I have a ridiculous number of Dungeons and Dragons stuff too.. The entire AD&D Mystara, AD&D Planescape, and OD&D Mystara lines with a good chunk of Ravenloft, Greyhawk, Dragonlance and a smidgen of Forgotten Realms mixed in with at least 250 issues of Dragon Magazine, All the Complete Handbooks, Player's Option, DM's Option. and many other 2ndEd sourcebooks I can't remember right now..etc.. Many PDF modules for both OD&D and 2ndEd...etc. And all the core 3e handbooks but I stopped buying those once I decided that 3e sucks.

There are an innumerable number of systems that are far superior to d20 or 3.x. Including free ones.

Are there any games today that use 2nd ed rules anyway? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No The closest I guess was FRUA (Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures) but I had trouble getting it to work on a modern computer. FRUA is just too old and crude by today's standards. But I don't mind using other rulesets (such as a variant of SPECIAL.. Blades of Avernum is my light!).. just not 3.x

I am mildly intersted in NWN2 because it will FINALLY allow you to have a party of 4 unlike the first one.. But it still uses 3.5 rules...

Screw Nintendo. SEGA will rise again!!!!

Hell yeah girl.. Hells YEAH with a capital Y!

Give us another Planescape!

The only thing that truly should in regards to NPCs in a good RPG In IWD, OTOH they are nothing but pack mules and cannon fodder even though you can customize them all you want. I find the latter worse.

All the NPCs had their own individual strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. I had no problem with that. They weren't my character. EDIT: And my character doesn't have a right (EVEN in a PnP game) to tell the NPCs what they should or shouldn't use in battle...etc