#DnD

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@hellcowkeith@dice.camp #ttrpg #dnd #Eberron

When it comes to picking #Italian books for improving my skill with the language, obviously I had to include a #ttrpg book in the list.

Especially since I have already read the English translation. And I really appreciate the folkloristic aspects of this setting, although I am less enarmored of using #DnD for the system.

In case you need a new #dnd / #ttrpg monster: I present to you the flying turtle!

Here's a critter that probably hasnt shown up in a #dnd / #ttrpg monster collection before!

I would not rule out an appearance in the #Pokemon franchise, however...

I realize hardly any veteran #ttrpg player reads "Examples of Play" anymore, but I am impressed here. The authors nicely set a tone of: "People who look different are people, too!" - even people who would have been designated cannon fodder in earlier editions of #DnD and #Pathfinder .

Well done, Paizo. Well done. The "evil races" whom it was okay to kill on sight was always highly problematic, and I am glad that this game is moving away from it.

While I haven't really done much with the Forgotten Realms #dnd setting in a while, it's 3E version of the campaign setting remains my favorite. Mostly because I am a really big fan of hyper-detailed settings, and the 3E version delivers that - covering all the regions of mainland Faerun in depth.

Though it also had some good setting changes from 2E that, while not as apocalyptic as the 2E "Time of Troubles" or the 4E "Spellplague" - certainly made the world more interesting. The Empire of Shade were a good villain for those who thought that the Zhentarim had grown stale, and the attempt by the Red Wizards of Thay to become a magical merchant empire provided some good story potential. For as long as it lasted, anyway...

Still, even if you play in later, post-Spellplague eras, the 3E and earlier material doesn't cease to be useful.

The early #d20 era of #dnd was wild. #TTRPG publishers would create a setting or a supplement on pretty much any conceivable topic and rush it to market, causing a massive glut of products. And, as a result, the quality of these products was... variable.

I've never really investigated how Hamunaptra: Egyptian Adventures rates in this regard, but the boxed set is still among my belongings.

The Midnight #ttrpg setting for #dnd had an interesting premise: "What if Sauron had won the War of the Ring"? And I actually played a short campaign in it.

But ultimately, I found it too depressing - I prefer settings where there is actual hope. Heck, even Call of Cthulhu offered chances of victory, however temporary they might be - and an opportunity to escape the horrors, however brief.

I have sold of much of my physical collection of #ttrpg books. But I am still reluctant to part with my copy of the first Forgotten Realms Campaign Set... #dnd

Most #dnd / fantasy #ttrpg settings out there seem to be vaguely based on Europe and European cultural assumptions.

However, most religious conflict in these settings seems to be based on conflicts between the followers of different gods. What I'd like to see more examples of is conflict between followers of the same god(s) who interpret their faiths differenty.

I mean, consider the conflict between Catholics and Lutherans in early modern Germany, which ultimately led to the Thirty Years's War - arguably the most traumatic war in the country's existence, eclipsing even the World Wars in many respects.

Such conflicts between different theological interpretations of the same faith have thus plenty of potential for conflict - and thus stories. However, you do need to make sure that the gods of your setting won't settle theological disputes directly...

Dark Sun was a fun setting, but I always thought that the #DnD rules were an awkward fit. The wild psionic powers, the differences in available equipment, the transhumanist spellcasters... it all diverges pretty strongly from "standard" D&D.

I once ran a #GURPS with it, which I thought was a pretty good fit - using tbe system from GURPS Psionic Powers, and giving each character 25 points from one of the prepackaged power sets. It worked pretty well.

I think one of the main flaws of the original #Spelljammer #dnd setting was that it tried to hard to be a sort of "connecting tissue" between other D&D settings, rather than having its own unique developed culture and environment.

While #Planescape also connected the different D&D worlds with each other, it went much further into being a fully-developed setting in its own right, and thus I regard it as the superior line.

If Spelljammer had published a collection of interconnected crystal spheres - a whole "space sector" for the PCs to explore, with different factions and cultures that play off against each other - then it might have been a lot more interesting. To me, at least - others might prefer the "toolkit" approach that Spelljammer ultimately took.