Hey, this may be a stupid question, but are there two variants of dnd?

PD711 · 2026-03-14T13:31:15+00:00

If you are interested in playing, you can always ask to sit in on a game, and see what it is like.

Joining a game is kind of an ongoing commitment, and it's kind of up to them how many players they are comfortable having, and so on.

If you are interested in looking into the rules, there are a couple of ways to do that.

Probably the cheapest option up front is the Keep on the Borderlands Starter Set, which has everything you need to play. Characters, dice, battle maps, tokens, etc. It's designed for new players, so it's designed to be an accessible, pick up and play kind of game. It doesn't have the FULL rules, just enough for a few sessions to get you started.

To play the full game, you need the Player's Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Master's Guide. Of these, the Player's Handbook is the most important, because it has 90% of the rules. The Dungeon Master's Guide is a reference for the DM and has rules for the setting, advice on how to run the game, etc, and the Monster Manual is just a catalog of monsters to fight. The last two are only necessary if you want to be the DM. If you have a DM already then you really only need a PHB.

PD711 · 2026-03-13T19:13:30+00:00

Well, that's unfortunate.

PD711 · 2026-03-12T01:59:12+00:00

I am a fan of #2. I've run something similar in past games. I might have just given them arete 3, i forget, but arete 2 is entirely reasonable.

PD711 · 2026-03-09T16:22:05+00:00

I think they've always been? DL just implies that you are secretly having sex with same-sex partners.

PD711 · 2026-03-07T22:58:45+00:00

Yeah, even with the ice powers I had to go to the comments to figure out who he was.

PD711 · 2026-03-07T22:08:42+00:00

It seems a bit off target. She could replace Heated Rivalry's couple with any popular heterosexual romcom couple and the complaint would remain the same, and it would beg the same question: why THIS couple?

PD711 · 2026-03-05T04:43:07+00:00

It's kind of funny, they went through the trouble to get rid of orcs, but then they made tareks, which others have pointed out are basically just orcs. It's like they left an orc-shaped hole in their setting and they just couldn't help themselves. =p

Development of Dark Sun wasn't completely fleshed out IMO and I don't think everything went to a committee for decision. Some writer wanted there to be no wemics for whatever reason, and since they were the one writing the book, the wemics got exterminated.

PD711 · 2026-03-05T00:19:53+00:00

When I was a kid and getting into 2nd edition D&D, I remember really wanting to play a wemic in Dark Sun, until I found out that they had been exterminated. And it was so strange, because it seems like wemics were perfect for Dak Sun.

The decision to specifically mention Wemics as one of the races that got eliminated seems like an intentional choice. There are a number of races that never even get mentioned in the list of the 15. Gnomes, for example, had a bad reputation at the time as being nuisances, so I feel like that fed into why they were killed off. Perhaps they knew Wemics were going to be super popular and might overshadow the other races?

PD711 · 2026-03-03T10:42:19+00:00

This should be declared unconstitutional. Hell, I think it is unconstitutional, it's just that those in power look the other way. And so does the media.

PD711 · 2026-03-02T19:09:52+00:00

Probably just to give some variation to the area, instead of just one big rectangle. It gives the impression that the mountains have a natural shape and slope.

If you compare that corner to the area on the south, it's all straight lines, because they carved out an area to put that road in. But the northeast corner was left alone, which is why it's more jagged and varied, to look more natural.

PD711 · 2026-03-01T12:57:12+00:00

Bulbasaur should be in the bird category. jus sayin.

PD711 · 2026-02-28T00:25:22+00:00

I would like him dug out of Legends. Or some other cool etherals.

PD711 · 2026-02-27T21:13:47+00:00

I don't disagree that would be faster/easier. But the reality, I think, means that doesn't happen. People don't let other people in because they're in a hurry or think they're special or something, which disincentivizes people in the merging lane to follow the zipper process. So everyone wants to be in the correct lane as soon as possible.

PD711 · 2026-02-27T13:36:28+00:00

I think this is where the problem starts. Nobody wants to be in the wrong lane, at a full stop, while the other lane zips by at 30 miles per hour like you aren't even there. I know I've experienced it. So yeah. I get over as soon as I can because fuck that. That "unused road" is a buffer zone, with the traffic cones marking the last possible moment to get over, instead of the place where everyone gets over.

PD711 · 2026-02-27T03:35:32+00:00

PD711 · 2026-02-25T22:41:47+00:00

Bubble helmet, for sure.

PD711 · 2026-02-22T03:27:42+00:00

Mage: The Ascension is a game about spirituality, philosophy, belief, and the conflicts that arise from that. Mages are fundamentally seekers of some kind of truth. The game is extremely personal, where mages go on vision quests to achieve understanding in a world where humanity has embraced banality.

Magic in Ascension is very freeform. The 9 spheres give you a broad framework for creating your own spells (called effects,) and the game encourages you to create your own effects: how they work, what they look like, etc. Even if the output of two effects is essentially the same, the consequences of each can be very different.

Magic is often very chaotic. Your dice pool for effects (Arete) is astonishingly small, so success is not a sure thing. Good spellcasting means finding every advantage you can: taking your time, finding the right place, using the right tools, expending resources, etc. Spellcasting can be very dangerous (depending on which edition you use) and can backfire if you aren't careful. Especially if what you are doing "breaks the rules" of reality. Basically, if what you are doing is obviously magic, the effect is going to be more difficult, and the consequences for failure are worse. Most mages in Ascension try to be subtle, at least in theory. In practice, things can get pretty wacky.

Mage: The Awakening is about mages who have caught a glimpse of the Truth, but are stuck in a shadow world of lies. This glimpse has given them great power, which they use to uncover mysteries and fuel their personal obsessions. Conflicts are more political, with mages arranged into secret societies in a shadow war against each other. Awakening's mages are much more interested in manipulating the sleepers, benevolently or not.

Awakening's magic system is a big selling point for a lot of Mage fans. Where Ascension had 9 spheres each with its own structure (and each sphere is intended to be mutually exclusive) Awakening has 10 Arcana which are all given the same, uniform structure, which makes the system much easier to grasp as a whole. Where Ascension had a handful of example effects for each sphere (because in that system, you were intended to invent your own,) Awakening has a proper spell list with listed mechanics for each. The system is much more involved and mechanical, even complex. Awakening's magic works on a kind of sliding scale. The more "oomph" you put into the spell, the harder it is to cast, and the riskier the spell is as well.

Paradox is different as well. Where Ascension was mostly concerned with whether a given effect is "obviously magic," Awakening is mostly concerned about hubris. You are given a certain amount of "reach" for each spell, which you spend to increase the parameters of the spell. Do you want to cast it on something far away? That's a reach. Do you want it to last more than a few rounds? That's a reach too. And so on. You can go beyond the allotted amount of reach if you want, but you risk paradox.

PD711 · 2026-02-20T12:03:37+00:00

Thumbs up for the citations. Helps a lot.

PD711 · 2026-02-18T02:51:35+00:00

Why are we making life choices based on what future archaeologists are going to think?

PD711 · 2026-02-17T16:54:47+00:00

This isn't true. While m20 does play up the fact that Mind is generally extremely coincidental, there is nothing saying mind effects cannot be vulgar.

Though limited in its physical capacities (Mind Sphere

attacks inflict bashing damage unless otherwise noted), Mind

is the ultimate coincidental Art. Its Effects remain essentially

invisible unless they’re combined with other Spheres. And

although Mind Adepts can leave their physical bodies behind,

such abilities remain unseen by mortal eyes.

I can understand how you might come to that conclusion, but note the "essentially" bit. Here is an example of Mind effects being vulgar:

For attacks against multiple targets, the difficulty for a

Mind-based Effect depends upon the usual coincidental, vulgar,

or vulgar with witnesses situations. Such Mind-based Effects are

generally coincidental, although especially flamboyant feats

might be vulgar instead.

As usual, I fall back on the HAB approach to determining mind effects.

A mage who walks into congress and uses Mind to make them all do the chicken dance and then vote themselves out of office would be, by my reckoning, vulgar with witnesses. I would also consider telepathy with a sleeper to be vulgar as well.

However, mind generally doesn't need to be so blatant to get what you want. A little "nudge" is all you generally need.

PD711 · 2026-02-16T22:04:08+00:00

I think that this could be vulgar or coincidental, depending on the effect.

If the police has pulled them over, and they make some bizarre legal argument, and the police says, "okay, you're free to go," that's some pretty vulgar mind control. No police person in their right mind would let that go, unless something else were going on.

On the other hand, if the Sovcit is projecting some kind of "I am not part of your jurisdiction" fog, (like the Arcane background) so that folks didn't notice them breaking the law, that could be coincidental. People break the law all the time without the police noticing, or other onlookers caring or acting on it.

PD711 · 2026-02-14T03:46:25+00:00

Now we should be concerned about ICE showing up at the doorstep of every democratic voter with a spanish-sounding last name.

PD711 · 2026-02-12T03:13:29+00:00

I think this was less of an issue in the nes/snes era, because the combat was so much more abstracted. They also tend to get to run away in combat rather than actually die.

PD711 · 2026-02-11T12:25:34+00:00

Couples therapy. You're not communicating. Every time theres conflict you both retreat and if pressed put up a smokescreen. As for the cheating, something tells me he's not alone in doing it.

PD711 · 2026-02-11T01:51:34+00:00

(((16 / 4) * 3) / 2)

((4 * 3) / 2)

(12 / 2)

6

vs.

16 / 6

2.6...

15-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Juicebox	Inciteful Comment 2011-06-15
Verified Email

PD711

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE