Wow! It's Been a While....

I finally got a new HP laptop and some really great internet service so I thought I would check out the old blog to see where I need to pick things back up at again.  Yikes!  I had not realized it had been 3 4 years (new year) since I last posted!!!  I really need to get back to blogging again.  I have a goal of easing my way back into the old routine so I will try to post once a week from this point on but that may increase.  Who knows?  So, in an attempt to catch up on some things here are some items that may be of interest.

Latest Gaming Purchases

Over the last few years I have purchased gaming products.  I have the three core D&D 5E books and Tasha's Cauldon of Everything.  I am enjoying these books and will try to get a game together some time soon.  I also have the Pathfinder 2E Core, Bestiary, and Lost Omens manuals.  I really dig the Pathfinder stuff also and I am looking forward to seeing how things develop with each.  I also picked up the Aliens RPG Core, Ogre, and the Dungeon Fantasy boxed set.  The last kickstarter project I backed was The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition by Steve Jackson Games.

New Gaming Interests

My son has gotten really interested in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40k that basically means I just got interested in both of them to at least a minimal level. I discovered that I can actually paint to a level that I am satisfied with so I have also begun painting Reaper miniatures to gather a collection of standard encounters; orcs, goblins, minotaurs, mind flayers, mimic, etc.  I may not be the best painter in the world but I am painting for in-game use and representation instead of painting competitions so it all works out in the end.

Other Stuff

I own the first two seasons of TITANS and I am really looking forward to the third season.  I have watched the entire Swamp Thing series twice and it is a shame it did not continue.  I have the first season of Doom Patrol on DVD but I just have not gotten around to watching it yet.

I have Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ so I have seen several other movies and shows.  I got caught up on The Walking Dead.  I am still enjoying the show; even without Carol or Rick.  I am watching all of The Orville at the moment and it is much better than I pictured.  I binged the entirety of The Mandalorian.  That show is amazing and much better than the sequel trilogy. 

On a personal note, I am in the process of house hunting at the current moment.  I am at a point in my life where I need to crap or get off the pot so I am seriously looking.  Fingers crossed on a quick and easy process.

The Future

Expect more posts to come.  I am going to try to maintain once a week for the immediate future. I suspect most of the posts will be about gaming and fandom in general but who knows... 

A 5E Hit Die House Rule Idea

I have finished reading through the 5E Basic Rules I had printed out at Office Depot.  Although I was very skeptical before the release of any 5E product, I am very happy that my initial suspicions were unfounded.  I am looking forward to getting the Starter Set in several days and I have been coming up with ideas for adventures when I get a home campaign up and running. 

 

This is the first Wizards edition of D&D that I want to play by the book.  The course of D&D has been righted with this release and I am very much looking forward to getting the PHB.  I had originally intended to wait until I evaluated the Starter Set and played a few sessions but I am enjoying the Basic Rules enough that I am ready to dive in.

 

I am in no rush to get started on a big list of house rules.  I have not even played a session yet.  It seems like a pretty solid rule set and I do not want to go messing around with it before I give the rules as written a good workout.  That does not mean I have no ideas for any house rules at all.  I do, in fact, have an idea or two that I may implement in the future to see how well they work in actual play.

Hit Die

I think the Hit Die for Fighters (d10) and Clerics (d8) is perfect.  I think it makes sense that the Rogue and Wizard both use a smaller Hit Die than the Cleric and Fighter; they both use a d6.  I am thinking of changing the Hit Die for Rogues to a d6 and for Wizards to a d4 for no other reason than to fit my perception.  

Page 7 of the Basic Rules state that “…hit points define how tough your character is in combat and other dangerous situations.”  It makes more sense to me to have the Rogue less tough than the Cleric because the Cleric represents a type of warrior priest instead of a devout member of the clergy.  It makes sense for the Wizard to also be less tough than the Rogue and the other classes as well.  I wonder if a d4 is too low.  I did double check the B/X rules and both the Thief and Magic-User use a d4 for hit points.  Interesting.

Final Thoughts

Who knows if I will implement this change any time soon.  I can see a few things that I could start working on right now.  New races, classes, backgrounds, and trinkets come to mind pretty quickly.  I believe I will wait on most of these to see what is in the PHB.  Why duplicate something that is coming out in an official write up in a short while?  If I work on anything else it will probably be trinkets because that would be a small investment of time if something was duplicated.  Have any of you experimented with any house rules yet?  Do you have a new race, class, or a rules mod you would like to share?