Comments on: Contest: Win an Open Game Table Anthology

By: 5 Games I Want to Play | A Butterfly Dreaming

5 Games I Want to Play | A Butterfly Dreaming — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:01:49 +0000

[...] speaking of contests, don’t forget to enter to win a copy of the Open Game Table Anthology right here at A Butterfly [...]

By: Anthology Contest Update | A Butterfly Dreaming

Anthology Contest Update | A Butterfly Dreaming — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:59:17 +0000

[...] contest I’m running (in which you could win a copy of the Open Game Table Anthology! Have I mentioned how awesome [...]

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:58:38 +0000

Thanks to those of you who pointed out the navigation issues. I wasn’t aware that they weren’t working, but evidently they broke when I upgraded to either 2.6 or 2.7… that’s a while back. I’ve got them straightened out now, though I may tinker a bit more in the near future.

By: Chris Cumming

Chris Cumming — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:46:08 +0000

Thanks so much Scott! This blog is one of two that inspired me to start my own. I look forward to reading the OGT and hope one day to write for it too!

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:18:21 +0000

Thank you all for the replies.

It was a little hard to choose, but… congratulations, Chris. I’ll be in touch with you shortly.

By: kaeosdad

kaeosdad — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:36:03 +0000

1. What would you like to see more of? What’s your favorite type of blog post to read? What do you find most useful?

I like reading system neutral but genre specific posts about both GMing and actual role playing, those type of posts are the most useful. I also like reading about anything that will trigger questions beyond the usual what do you think?

2. What can I improve? What, if anything, would you like to see less of? What, if anything, would you like to see more of, if only I’d do it the right way (and what am I getting wrong)?

The one thing I don’t care much for on a blog is news. I think it’s the chamber effect of news that I don’t care much for, that and edition wars, I really don’t like edition wars. I did like the What D&D is to me post though being that it wasn’t about how others should play D&D but instead it was how you play D&D.

As for what I would like to see more of question 1 takes care of that for the most part, but I would like to see more posts that focus on house rules & ideas that supports how you yourself plays D&D!

3. Is there anything non-content-related that I should take note of?

Site navigation could use some work. It is difficult to just surf through the archives. When you click on a category the site displays the first 5 but I can’t figure out how to access any other post before that without randomly sifting through the related links. That along with the calendar and archives by month which both seem to just bring me to the front page makes it difficult to find old posts on your blog. I like the layout though and the theme.

4. What’s your favorite game system at the moment, and what do you like best about it?

4e. My favorite part is also the part I hate the most and it is how incomplete the system is with just the core books. For this reason I enjoy the house rules and new monsters on your blog. The post on level 0 heroes was a real good one.

My other favorite part of 4e is the combat system. It’s a little slow though, so I cut monster hp in half and reward half xp as well which has sped up the game big time and really gives the game that heroic feel.

5. If you play or run 4e, and you had the power to see one supplement or module published for it, what would you want to see, and why? (If you don’t play or run 4e, just say so. It won’t hurt your chances.)

An expanded book on the manual of the planes would be great as it’s my favorite supplement so far but really lacking in content. More maps, races, items & locations would have been great but I had a feeling they created it as an intro product so that they could release a book on each individual plane which would be lame and I was right unfortunately since I’ve read that it is exactly what they are doing. If I had the power I would have more content released in 4e books comparable to the last edition. Right now it feels like the current edition takes what should be a single book and splits it into several bite size chunks.

I don’t like the modules that have been released for 4e but if I had the power I would like to see location based modules without some overarching story. Just a fleshed out location and whole mess of npcs, detailed maps of buildings and such as well as price lists, vistas, a bestiary of creatures in the area and a good backstory. If all these things are present then the plot hooks should write themselves.

kaeosdad´s last blog post: Path to Urheim

By: Chris Cumming

Chris Cumming — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 03:03:13 +0000

1. What would you like to see more of? What’s your favorite type of blog post to read? What do you find most useful?
I like posts that get me thinking, that inspire me to create something new or use the material in my own game right away. Vague I know, but the posts on the Monk instantly inspired me as did those on firearms and especially the ones on adventure writing. The writing was tight, the concepts evocative, and the content solid.
2. What can I improve? What, if anything, would you like to see less of? What, if anything, would you like to see more of, if only I’d do it the right way (and what am I getting wrong)?
I’d like to see more adventure/campaign building articles (I know you’ve already done those) but these are really what fire up my own creativity. Even if they are pieces that I wont use much in my own games (the war articles) they are still intriguing. Beyond what I want more of, I can’t think of improvements.
3. Is there anything non-content-related that I should take note of?
The month based archive dropdown is not working. You’ve got a link to the Monk project at the top, it would be nice to have more selections of the major projects you’ve tackled, like the adventure writing and war series.
4. What’s your favorite game system at the moment, and what do you like best about it?
Personally I’m digging 4e completely at the moment. The primary thing I like is how easy it is to prepare material as a GM. In our first adventure I threw together a combat encounter with 2 minutes prep in game, knowing only the general type of opponent (human bandits) and general setup (streetside ambush) before hand. I’ve done some monster creation and adventure conversions and they are so easy. I still really like 3.5 but only to a certain level, above that the work required to stat up creatures was way too cumbersome.
5. If you play or run 4e, and you had the power to see one supplement or module published for it, what would you want to see, and why? (If you don’t play or run 4e, just say so. It won’t hurt your chances.)
OA. I love oriental inspired gaming material and would love to see something a bit more influenced by Shintoism similar in a way to Avatar the kids cartoon.You can see why the monk appeals to me. I’ve been wanting to run a spirit world based campaign for sometime, so I really need more oriental flavor. Though I must say that PH2 was a pleasant surprise and the primal classes are very cool for the spirit world style game.

Chris Cumming´s last blog post: Ash Mephit

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:03:48 +0000

@Lemming: Thanks!

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:49:23 +0000

Actually, I’m going to extend this a little bit… somehow, when I posted it, I completely blanked on the Easter holiday. I won’t even be at my computer Saturday! I’m going to push the deadline to Wednesday the 15th.

By: TheLemming

TheLemming — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:01:09 +0000

Well, by now there are far too few entries here. Given the high quality you’re posting in regular doses.

1. What would you like to see more of? What’s your favorite type of blog post to read? What do you find most useful?
Personally I like the adventure-design 101 best. This is due to their general usefulness, without limitation by a ruleset (like 4e) – I would love to see more advice from your side. Especially when it comes to dm challenges and I would love to see more of a creative-inspirational source.

2. What can I improve? What, if anything, would you like to see less of? What, if anything, would you like to see more of, if only I’d do it the right way (and what am I getting wrong)?
Personally I have the feeling you do not use a lot of visual aids – in your blog it would be useful first to have more eyecatchers, secondly to guide a reader with actual examples. Visuals don’t have to be pictures, more sketches, maps, writeups even – (different looking than the main design of the blog) charsheets would be very appreciated from my side. I would rather have a nicely prepared, quite easy to follow blog entry every three days – which is actual offering a bit more than words – than every day a long-reader’ .

3. Is there anything non-content-related that I should take note of?
When preparing for this posting, I noticed that I could not easily move to older postings, perhaps it’s just me but I looked a bit like the template offers no “older posts”. I’m talking not of the single-post view but the view where you have more than one posting open.

4. What’s your favorite game system at the moment, and what do you like best about it?
Pathfinder, it has improved greatly over 3.5 and I did not like the streamlining of dnd 4e and regret spending a cent on it with WotC’s late behaviour on publishers and customers alike (pdf policy). I think D&D has become the best system around when the OGL came into play. The more people work together on a game, the better the game will become in the end – and the game means ” gaming experience for my players ” to me.

TheLemming´s last blog post: Rashemen and Beyond (Session 7 / Session 2 with a Lemming as DM)