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Category: Games

These are game related blog posts.

Paladin’s World

Paladin’s World

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on June 18, 2021

I recently started playing a game called Sentinel Comics RPG run by my friend Jared Rascher.  It is a newer superhero system with an interesting structure to its combat, a deep amount of lore, and a somewhat randomized character creation which calls back to the feel of classic Marvel Superheroes RPG without being so random as to make the characters silly. The lore of the game is also based on the board game called Sentinels of the Multiverse. I made a character called Paladin, because his abilities were supernatural and began to resemble paladins from D&D. I created a lose history for the character, but I realized after playing him I needed to do something more. 

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Cyberpunk: The genre and the games.

Cyberpunk: The genre and the games.

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on May 26, 2021

Cyberpunk 2077 has been the source of much conversation. It was long-awaited and there much hype preceding its release. The launch didn’t go…swimmingly. There were some well-published bugs, particularly in older consoles. Beyond that people complained about it not being “punk” enough because you can work for the police, or the problems of the social media managers being transphobic, or the fact that they made the developer do mandatory overtime as part of pre-launch crunch, or…. let’s just say it was a rocky start.

I actually played the game via Stadia and had fewer technical problems as a result. Actually playing through the game, I got to appreciate the things that didn’t go wrong with it. I got to experience the tremendously well written story. With lots of heart to it. It is about who you are when you are losing anyway, but you chose how you lose.

It started me thinking about the genre and the games that operate within it. It made me want to talk about those things. I will mainly focus on the TTRPG’s because that is my area of expertise.

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Basics of the Game: Reviewing Pathfinder 2ePathfinder 2nd edition cover logo
The Role of AlignmentJacob Wrestling angle line drawing
The School of VitomancyIlluminated Text

The School of Vitomancy

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on August 15, 2020

My intent here is to create a wizard healer school that is viable and has a flavor that works.  I know there are some who will object to the whole idea. I can’t really convince you if you are strictly against the idea altogether. I can only say that this proscription against wizards who heal is strictly a D&D thing. Plenty of games, and folklore traditions, show less of a separation on this point.

I did try to make the thematics of this work for me. The Vitomancer is a close cousin of the Necromancer but inverts that connection to give us the healing wizard.    

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Elemental Beasts part 2
Elemental Beasts: New Companions for Rangers
Monsterous Ecologist: The History of the Tarrasque.

Monsterous Ecologist: The History of the Tarrasque.

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on January 24, 2020

I have done intermittent segments for The Tome Show, a long-running D&D podcast. The segments are called the Monsterous Ecologist. I took on the persona of the titled ecologist and I would give a history of the monsters from D&D. I would explore the history of the real world legendary monsters and fiction that inspired the monsters in D&D. I also would track the changes the monsters went through in D&D through the editions.

I had a computer failure which has complicated my further recordings, but I do intend to return to this. If you want to help that project I won’t turn down any contributions.

That said, I did have a friend (C. J. Hunter aka Commander Pulsar) make a suggestion that made a lot of sense. Turn the research I did for these podcasts into blog content as well. I will do that. It gives me a chance to revisit these creatures I like so much.

With that in mind, I present..

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Talking about high level play and reasons why it isn’t happening.

Talking about high level play and reasons why it isn’t happening.

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on December 30, 2019

So, this was the subject of conversation. Why are people not playing high-level D&D? This was prompted by this post on ENWorld, which was based on stats found on D&D Beyond drawn from users making characters using their tools.

The short version of the analysis is that after 10th level, the number of characters drops off dramatically. The majority of the characters are between 3rd and 6th levels.

This has prompted a bunch of people to put forth their own ideas as to why. Far be it for me to buck a good gaming trend. Here is my list of reasons why people are not making characters for higher-level play.

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Removing MonksJacob Wrestling angle line drawing

Removing Monks

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on October 8, 2019

I have written previously about the problems embedded with Monks in D&D. I say that as a guy who has always loved the class. Despite my love, there are some deeply problematic cultural stereotyping embedded in the class. The fact is, they default fiction of the class is a western misunderstanding of East Asian cultures and deeply lacking knowledge of the rich tapestry of martial arts that are found in the world.

I don’t think those original designs, or designers, were coming from a place of hate, maliciousness, or even knowing it was a problem. I think they even meant well. Awareness over the years has improved and now we can recognize the issues. 5th edition D&D did a lot of work to bring a lot of the classic D&D feel into it and the Monk class came along.

So, how do you fix it? Well..you could try and rework the theming and naming to make the class a little more culturally neutral. Another option, and one I am going to explore, is just removing the class altogether.

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