merricb.bsky.social
Australian gamer and occasional reviewer and blogger. D&D, TTRPGs, various computer games.
1,127 posts
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The most significant factor in the long-term success of a TTRPG, IMO, is how it sustains being played again, again and again by the same group.
The initial success requires a hook of some sort. Either a quality game+concept (and luck), or borrowing a quality concept from elsewhere.
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It really is!
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The series I have the most platinums in is Yakuza - 8 so far - with Final Fantasy having 6 and Assassin's Creed having 5.
There are a lot of VERY good games that I've played, especially story-based games.
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Good to hear!
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It's one of the few 3.5E books I didn't pick up. That and Tome of Magic.
Meanwhile, my campaigns made EXTENSIVE use of Magic of Incarnum.
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The mechanics aren't well distributed or balanced. Vex is just so, so good for the dex paladin in the group. While others feel like "whatever".
Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with topple/pushing much.
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I was just thinking about how much I hate the Steady Aim ability for rogues... So random for me to get upset by, but still...
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There are things in it which are fantastic improvements... but so much stuff that I dislike as well.
Never had an edition - including 4E - which gave me this reaction.
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I *really* liked D&D 2014. But I feel that I may need to homebrew the game a lot now to get the game to a place that I like.
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I was trying to remember which of the other JRPGs I was playing recently where damage type also mattered a lot - and now I remember it was Yakuza: Like A Dragon (and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth).
Because each character had different abilities, your choices mattered.
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Just drop it on them. Let them figure it out... :)
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Approach *may* be intended to work with the target using the Dash action. And if a rogue, also Cunning Action to Dash. (The wording with Flee sort of implies that).
It's very imprecise, though.
(Also, shout "Approach" to a creature on top of a 60-foot cliff!)
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Mixing 4E material with 5E? Heresy! ;)
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Deleted. You bring up correct points.
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There's stuff in 2024 that is really, really good.
And then stuff that makes me so frustrated.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Yeah. I was so happy when Xanathar's expanded it, and I used it extensively.
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I really wonder why they are stretch goals and not part of the base package.
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Yeah. That's the biggest failure of the organisation IMO. Really, really wants an NPC section.
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The organisation still sends me wild.
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Lots of computer games. Some playing of D&Ds. More time spent chatting with RPGs with my friends on discord, before that gets sold off...
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There used to be good internal retailers, but no longer, I'm afraid!
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Ow!
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About a decade ago - when shipping was cheap to Australia - I went on a big collecting spree, but it's currently impossible to source most of it at a reasonable price, alas!
I mean, just look at this:
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2E had *so* many products - and some very odd ones as well. I think I decided relatively early on that getting all the back catalogue wasn't going to be worth it!
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Here's a couple I took end of last year.
(And then boxed sets and 3rd party books give me more trouble... :))
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I've got most of my D&D books arranged in chronological release order. (The hardcovers sit in a different section to the softcover/modules). Which gives a very interesting view of the eras with more books!
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Mostly. There's a bit too much of "travel to this location and learn one thing, then travel to the next" in chapters 2 & 3. But there's a lot of good as well.