I've had too many bad experiences with gnomes. They always get played as really horrible NPCs that you want to punch in the face and leave on a roadside while your're being followed by a band of orcs.
Okay, first of all, Adam never rode Cringer, so there's no reason to mention him on the list. Furthermore, it's rude and possibly a little sexist for you to mention Battle Cat and completely ignore She-Ra's Spirit/Swift Wind (and yes, Adora actually did ride Spirit, so it makes more sense to mention him than Cringer). Anyway, I vote for the Luggage from Discworld. Not the most reliable of mounts, but it did get its owner from place to place in a hurry every now and then.
View full commentOkay, first of all, Adam never rode Cringer, so there's no reason to mention him on the list. Furthermore, it's rude and possibly a little sexist for you to mention Battle Cat and completely ignore She-Ra's Spirit/Swift Wind (and yes, Adora actually did ride Spirit, so it makes more sense to mention him than Cringer).
Anyway, I vote for the Luggage from Discworld. Not the most reliable of mounts, but it did get its owner from place to place in a hurry every now and then.
I see worries that tracking expertise over the course of a long round could pull players out of the story. You could represent expertise dice WITH ACTUAL DICE. If you have 5d6 in XD, then stack 5 six-siders in front of you at the start of your turn. If you use 2 on attack, they go into the center of the table. You can then use the remaining 3 on parrying, attacks of opportunity, etc. This prevents the need to track anything in your head.
View full commentI see worries that tracking expertise over the course of a long round could pull players out of the story.
You could represent expertise dice WITH ACTUAL DICE.
If you have 5d6 in XD, then stack 5 six-siders in front of you at the start of your turn. If you use 2 on attack, they go into the center of the table. You can then use the remaining 3 on parrying, attacks of opportunity, etc.
This prevents the need to track anything in your head.
You could split XD into Expertise Dice and Damage Dice. When a player gains an XD according to currently rules, give fighters the choice to gain a "Damage Die" instead, that adds to every attack. Then get rid of Deadly Strike. This will let players differentiate between "Simple Fighter" and a fighter with a variety of combat options. Alternatively, replace XD with "Action Points", but still give fighters the choice between "one action point" and "one damage die" at key levels. Then,...
View full commentYou could split XD into Expertise Dice and Damage Dice.
When a player gains an XD according to currently rules, give fighters the choice to gain a "Damage Die" instead, that adds to every attack. Then get rid of Deadly Strike. This will let players differentiate between "Simple Fighter" and a fighter with a variety of combat options.
Alternatively, replace XD with "Action Points", but still give fighters the choice between "one action point" and "one damage die" at key levels. Then, keep Deadly Strike in but require TWO Action Points for each Damage Die. This way, Simple Fighters get an advantage in max damage, but "Complex Fighters" still have the option to throw their Action Points at damage if the other maneuvers available don't make a lot of sense in the current situation.
www.wizards.com/dnd/
Article.aspx?x=dnd/dragon/2013March
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