Be social
Thanks for taking the time to post a new comment or a reply to one! First scan these quick notes, if you please:
General
* Currently, previewing a post is optional; you're welcome to preview or post immediately.
* You should see plain text input by default; click "enable rich text" for fancy formatting tools. (Some people love that and some don't. Be aware that formatting tool performance may vary by browser.)
* With apologies to all, "captcha" questions may face unregistered posters. Otherwise, the spam flow will dwarf the Nile.
Registration and login
* Registration is available! Sign up here. Chief benefits at present include the ability to edit your own comments, bookmark favorite content, and manage subscriptions (newsletter, threads, etc.).
* If you'd prefer to post as an unregistered visitor, that's welcome too. Just leave "Your name" as the default "Esteemed Visitor", or type in some other name. (But if you happen to type in a name used by a registered user – say, "tbone" – you'll get an error telling you so when you hit "post comment". And while your post text should still be there, waiting for a revised user name, there's a chance it could disappear.)
* If you're a registered user but haven't logged in and want to post a quick comment as Esteemed Visitor, that's fine; see above.
* If you're a registered user but haven't logged in, and enter your user name under "Your name" when posting, you'll get an error saying that's the name of a registered user. That's a good thing; it means strangers can't make posts under your user name! But as above, there's a chance of losing your post text. It's best to log in first here, and then start your posting.
Final
All the above is standard stuff for community web sites, but reminders are good; I hate post-related glitches, and hate to see people run into them on this site. On this or any site, it's a good practice to do a quick "Select All" and "Copy" on your post text before hitting "Preview comment" or "Post comment" – just in case.
For more on the whole topic of interaction with the site, please see User Interaction (opens in new window).
Patron advantage
How's everything?
Enjoying your Games Diner meal? Is the wait staff attentive? Is the chef bathed? (Then it must be a Sunday.) You do know that a little eggshell in the French toast adds calcium, right?
If the cramps haven't set in yet, I hope you'll say Hi to the chef or check out the many ways you can contribute to the Diner.
Now eat. Eat up! You're as thin as a rail.
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THE TAKEOUT MENU
For collaborators, contributors, or the curious. Notice of site updates; project announcements; calls for playtesting; etc.
aesthetics
there is something to be said for having a handful of dice to express an attack or defence. It makes for a more tactile experience (our group used nice wooden salad bowls to hold our dice and a larger one to throw ours into).
Of course, Riddle of Steel has a deadly combat system so the number of combat encounters is usually less than a hit point based rpg. End result is that combat takes the same amount of time (in our group about 20 minutes, plus or minus), but fewer 'rounds' happen than would in DnD. The exact results of each group of roles then becomes more important (thus players are more interested in them).
From a game design point of view, multiple dice create a more distrubted bell curve of possibilities. A single roll of a 20 sided dice is very unpredictable. Others play DnD with 2d10 or 3d6 to give a different flavour. As for determining whether to modify the target number, or the dice pool, that's a matter of taste and experience. A lot of systems will just simply the process and alway use a specific target number, then only apply pluses/minuses to the rolls (if there is only one die).