Tapper Foul (he/him)
@tapperfoul.bsky.social
Saint Paul native. Talk a lot about ttrpgs. Ok, DnD. Ok, 4e.
Somewhat related is that it required players and DMs to spend more time and creativity taking what the game was giving mechanically and explaining it narratively and less time taking the narrative and determining what that meant mechanically. The square fireball or prone ooze as examples.
December 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Somewhat related is that it required players and DMs to spend more time and creativity taking what the game was giving mechanically and explaining it narratively and less time taking the narrative and determining what that meant mechanically. The square fireball or prone ooze as examples.
This was literally the topic at a holiday party last week.
December 23, 2025 at 4:25 PM
This was literally the topic at a holiday party last week.
There are plenty of games where Sway the Court and Slay the Monster involve a similar number of dice rolls. D&D has never been one of them.
December 23, 2025 at 5:06 AM
There are plenty of games where Sway the Court and Slay the Monster involve a similar number of dice rolls. D&D has never been one of them.
I hope there’s not a beloved yet struggling streetcar line in your town.
December 20, 2025 at 4:39 AM
I hope there’s not a beloved yet struggling streetcar line in your town.
I’m guessing the other factors in play made a bigger difference in practice. “What else is there to do in a tiny town?” probably being the biggest.
December 19, 2025 at 11:54 PM
I’m guessing the other factors in play made a bigger difference in practice. “What else is there to do in a tiny town?” probably being the biggest.
I’ll give them a pass on PF2 since it came out just before the end of the time period, but yeah overall a pretty dubious bracket. And BESM as the overall winner raises some eyebrows.
December 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I’ll give them a pass on PF2 since it came out just before the end of the time period, but yeah overall a pretty dubious bracket. And BESM as the overall winner raises some eyebrows.
That’s the one where instead of Snelling being an exit only lane, they keep all the lanes going through, right? Which never in my entire life have I seen as a source of congestion.
December 9, 2025 at 10:29 PM
That’s the one where instead of Snelling being an exit only lane, they keep all the lanes going through, right? Which never in my entire life have I seen as a source of congestion.
I think this is deliberately defining local in as strict a way as possible. There may well not be a tool that can accurately measure the difference between someone’s front yard and their backyard. I think a block-level analysis is what most people would like, though.
December 9, 2025 at 10:16 PM
I think this is deliberately defining local in as strict a way as possible. There may well not be a tool that can accurately measure the difference between someone’s front yard and their backyard. I think a block-level analysis is what most people would like, though.
HDoT forecasts that increased congestion on the road to hell could lead to reduced level of service and recommends additional lanes to improve throughput.
December 9, 2025 at 4:49 PM
HDoT forecasts that increased congestion on the road to hell could lead to reduced level of service and recommends additional lanes to improve throughput.
Or that the convention of “good guys need to work together to defeat bad guys” would involve any teamwork greater than taking turns in initiative order.
December 9, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Or that the convention of “good guys need to work together to defeat bad guys” would involve any teamwork greater than taking turns in initiative order.
Here are the games I’d like to run. If f someone wants something else, they are free to run it.
December 9, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Here are the games I’d like to run. If f someone wants something else, they are free to run it.
themselves from each other. A PHB ranger could have one of 18 different encounter powers, whereas every ranger (hunter) only has Disruptive Shot.
December 9, 2025 at 12:20 AM
themselves from each other. A PHB ranger could have one of 18 different encounter powers, whereas every ranger (hunter) only has Disruptive Shot.
The e-classes are described differently but in practice they play even more alike. Fighters and rogues and rangers are all just making basic attacks. Fighters and rangers (scouts) are even doing the same encounter Power Strike. And within a class two characters have fewer options to differentiate
December 9, 2025 at 12:16 AM
The e-classes are described differently but in practice they play even more alike. Fighters and rogues and rangers are all just making basic attacks. Fighters and rangers (scouts) are even doing the same encounter Power Strike. And within a class two characters have fewer options to differentiate
Right, but the term subclass was something they started using to differentiate essentials classes from their pre-essentials versions. And while Martial Power added to the options a PHB fighter could take, the HoFL Fighter was both the same class and also not.
December 8, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Right, but the term subclass was something they started using to differentiate essentials classes from their pre-essentials versions. And while Martial Power added to the options a PHB fighter could take, the HoFL Fighter was both the same class and also not.
It also retroactively made previous content more complex through the addition of subclasses and item rarity.
December 8, 2025 at 9:46 PM
It also retroactively made previous content more complex through the addition of subclasses and item rarity.
Whether either one is described as crunchy is largely whether they are using 3.x or 5e as a reference point.
December 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Whether either one is described as crunchy is largely whether they are using 3.x or 5e as a reference point.
It’s rough because I think there are legit pain points but “It feels like a treadmill because I only use level appropriate challenges” and “I still think just adding extra attacks are a valid way to design martial characters” aren’t it.
December 6, 2025 at 11:35 PM
It’s rough because I think there are legit pain points but “It feels like a treadmill because I only use level appropriate challenges” and “I still think just adding extra attacks are a valid way to design martial characters” aren’t it.
The two people who held the seat prior to Her were Erin Murphy and Matt Entenza, so it has a history as a prestige seat.
December 6, 2025 at 9:22 PM
The two people who held the seat prior to Her were Erin Murphy and Matt Entenza, so it has a history as a prestige seat.
Bedroom 2: Oops All Closets at least got an egress window.
December 2, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Bedroom 2: Oops All Closets at least got an egress window.
Hardly any measurements but thank you for measuring out arbitrary distances entirely beyond the east and west ends of the building.
December 1, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Hardly any measurements but thank you for measuring out arbitrary distances entirely beyond the east and west ends of the building.
The thing is you can do that with any edition. The only reason people would have an easier time guessing is a mix of fewer classes and more right answers because spells are almost never exclusive to one class and if you describe a weapon attack there are a bunch of right answers.
December 1, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The thing is you can do that with any edition. The only reason people would have an easier time guessing is a mix of fewer classes and more right answers because spells are almost never exclusive to one class and if you describe a weapon attack there are a bunch of right answers.
They never got past the art or made the connection that is was only for the one most magicy class.
November 26, 2025 at 9:07 PM
They never got past the art or made the connection that is was only for the one most magicy class.
The number of people I personally know who got turned off of ToB because Desert Wind happened to be the first style alphabetically and radically colored their perception is a lot.
November 26, 2025 at 8:59 PM
The number of people I personally know who got turned off of ToB because Desert Wind happened to be the first style alphabetically and radically colored their perception is a lot.
Which is how Spheres of Might got a whole system out of making standard actions viable for martials.
November 26, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Which is how Spheres of Might got a whole system out of making standard actions viable for martials.