Tag Archives: Paranoia

Never split the party—except when it adds fun

Posted on November 10, 2016 by David Hartlage

Everyone who plays role-playing games learns the Dungeons & Dragons adage never split the party. In the hobby’s early days, when dungeon masters were referees and players chose difficulty by dungeon level, never splitting the party always made good strategy. … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why second-edition Dungeons & Dragons dropped thieves and assassins

Posted on February 12, 2014 by David Hartlage

I have only run an evil-themed D&D campaign once, and only because Wizards of the Coast cornered me. They released the Drow Treachery cards and the Menzoberranzan campaign book and promoted the products with the Council of Spiders season of … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

The brilliance of unrealistic hit points

Posted on January 28, 2013 by David Hartlage

(This post continues a discussion I started in “What does D&D have to do with ironclad ships?”) After the role-playing game hobby’s first 10 years, designers turned from strict realism and began to design rules that both supported a game’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Role-playing game design, Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments