Exploring Mechanics

    Here is where I take a look at existing mechanics and how they work...

D&D 5e Variant - Ultramodern5

 part 1 - An Outline of the Game
    Some thoughts after a first adventure (that didn't have any combat)

part 2 - combat and final thoughts


D&D 5e Variant - Adventures in Middle Earth

part 1 - overview
    A friend talked me into starting a campaign in this Lord of the Rings D&D spinoff, and there are a few neat mechanics that I wanted to review.

part 2 - Travel
    It's always tricky running travel scenes in an RPG, I think the AiME did a good job with their travel mechanics.

part 3 - Shadow
    The rules for resisting evil/ Shadow and Corruption are interesting, but fall a little short of being really useful.

part 4 - Audience
    Along with travel these are my favorite rules from AiME.  An audience is that "first impression" meeting with an NPC and how that effects the party.

part 5 - Odds and Ends
    Finishing the series with a quick look at a few other systems and my general take on the game.


Pathfinder

Ultimate Intrigue - Verbal Duel rules
    Taking a look at the optional rules with an example of play and handouts

Ultimate Intrigue - Pursuit
    Taking a look at the optional rules with an example of play and handouts


Pathfinder Playtest

Elves - differences between Playtest and 1st edition

Sample Character - Devi Stoneson - part 1
Sample Character - Devi Stoneson - part 2
    Watch me make a first level Dwarf Fighter with the Playtest rules

Playtest First Impressions


Starfinder

Adventure Breakdown - Incident At Absalom Station part 1
    I really, really hated this first adventure and I'm going to breakdown exactly why (light spoilers)


5th Edition SRD

    It's important to note that I am not reviewing Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, I am only reviewing the System Resource Document (or SRD) which contains all the freely available rules that you could build your own game upon.

part 1 - Races
    Here's a quick overview of the races and their core mechanics

part 2 - Racial Abilities
    Now I'll take a closer look at exactly what kinds of abilities the races have, to try to work out a range of power to create new abilities within.

part 3 - Backgrounds
    A look at the single Background in the SRD, and trying to work out something useful from such a small sample.

part 4 - Class Basics
    All classes share some elements, which is a good place to start looking at them.

part 5 -  Starting Class Abilities
    What you get at level 1 sets the tone for your future development, so I'm comparing the starting abilities for each class.

part 6 -Spellcasting Progression
    Spellcasting is complicated enough to look at on it's own.

part 7 - Equivalent Exchanges
     Just how similar are some of the background things, like saving throws and weapon proficiency?

part 8 - Monster Abilities and Defenses
    Continuing the last post by looking at saving throws and damage types.

part 9 - Feats and Final Thoughts on Classes
    This is a wrap-up on the classes before moving onto other mechanics

part 10 - One Roll To Rule Them All
    Looking at the core mechanic for attribute and skill checks, with a breakdown of the odds of success for most situations

part 11 - Skill Descriptions
    Taking a look at the skills and how they work

part 12 - Exploration Actions
    I'm using "Exploration" for anything that deals with the environment around the character.

part 13 - Discovery, Manipulation and Communication Actions
    Sadly while these are major types of challenges/actions in an RPG, the SRD has little to say about them