Passive skill checks have been around forever, or at least since elves had an auto chance to detect secret doors just by walking past them. I think they're useful for certain situations where the PCs might know something that the players could not without implying the PCs know, and that's not fun.

I think if it's something you want to use to give the PCs a fighting chance, do it up. Just don't abuse the rolls and expect the players to actively take part in the game. You'll train them to just expect to be told when danger is near instead of trying to find out themselves.

https://nilhemoth.com

To join: https://www.tinyurl.com/randomworlds-discord

Log to be posted at https://gmshoe.wordpress.com/

Agree with the above. I got the 3rd KS super special edition after I traded my 2nd edition away. Honestly I think that was a mistake and wish I had kept it and avoided 3rd. 1st~>2nd is a major upgrade and worth the money.

Also the name changed and I liked the original better. Sounded more RPG; Hyperborea sounds like I'm about to read an atlas.

Tonight! 9pm Eastern, I'll be doing a Livestream! Answering your questions, talking about Baptism of Fire, and about the latest WotC woke garbage dump. Don't miss it! �#dnd� �#ttrpg� �#osr�

I'm Running 5E (Lost Mines of Phendel... on Roll20) and using Perception when they listen at doors and it feels odd. I think in AD&D if they said they were listening I just told them what they heard. I'm thinking of dumping the perception checks except in cases of ambush or something and wanted to know other opinions.

Quote from: Zelen on June 01, 2024, 11:22:42 AMFor example, the idea that normal people are NPCs, but Heroic PCs can make a difference in the world by taking on challenging tasks.

This reminds me of an old article in Dragon or White Dwarf or something that talked about what level a king would be. At the time I was in high school thinking that made no sense. He might have class and level but it has little to do with the royal succession.

I try to keep it apolitical, but I have to inject my own little things in there.  So recently, while designing a level of the Patali Underworld using Pundit's Arrows of Indra I had an area where I rolled up "toxic environment."  Pundit has tables for generating poison gas, etc.  So I added grating feminine voices whispering "me too" as you traverse the toxic environment.

I think it depends on your preferences.  I got into Hyperborea with 2e and that remains the version I prefer.  Here are the reasons:

1.  Everything is in one book.  Sure it's a beast, but still just one book and incredibly well made.  I had a flood in my apartment that saturated part of the book, but once it dried, it's been totally usable for 5 years now; just some wavy pages.  You also get the gazetteer and a sample adventure in the book.
2.  3e comes in two books, one for the player and one for the DM, plus a separate gazetteer.  That has some utility, I guess, but I prefer it all together.
3. In 3e, for some weird reason, Jeff changed the monster stat blocks so they're now crammed together and harder to read.
4. A couple character classes, particularly the monk, were tweaked for 3e, but I don't think it added anything.
5. The art for 3e is inferior and less consistent, IMO.
6. There were some rules changes to things like combat sequence, but we always played Hyperborea like our house-ruled AD&D anyhow so I never paid any attention to the convoluted RAW.

The game is still great and if you prefer the set-up and organization of 3e, have at it!  But I backed 3e in the KS then ended up trading it away and hanging onto my water damaged copy of 2e.

Quote from: jeff37923 on June 02, 2024, 09:49:08 AM

Quote from: jhkim on May 31, 2024, 03:10:45 PMI also don't think this is a radical left position. i.e. I think that most Americans - both Democrat and Republicans - would consider the story overtly and obviously racist.

In my decades of living, I've voted for both Democrats and Republicans and I still do not consider the story overtly and obviously racist.

Then again, I have Common Sense. Which might as well be a superpower to the woke.

Greetings!

Yeah, Jeff! As usual, we also agree on this. I have, once upon a time, voted Democrat, though the vast majority of the time I have voted Republican.

And, right. I don't see the story, "The Last White Man" by REH as being overtly or obviously racist. It just seems like a kind of dystopian, fantastic story like other stories REH has written. It is a fictional, "Futuristic" kind of fantasy story.

*Laughing* Yes, "Common Sense" is a superpower to the Woke. The Woke don't have "Common Sense", as their minds have been corrupted by Marxism and insanity of post-modernism. Everything is political, everything is corrupt, everything is misogynistic in their minds. When a person has been brainwashed like this, it also means that their family and social relationships will rapidly become corrupted and deteriorate. Hence, why it also seems like Woke people are socially isolated and estranged from their family and normal friends. They are only left to really associating with fellow Leftists that have been corrupted with Wokism just like themselves. This, then, also creates a self-reinforcing "Echo Chamber" where the evil brainwashing is hammered into them even deeper.

This process, this deep brainwashing, and mental and moral corruption, eats away at and constantly corrodes any sense of normalcy and "Common Sense" they may have had once upon a time.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

I have the first edition "Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea."  What are the major differences in it and the new 3rd edition?  Should I upgrade?  Is 2nd edition worth considering?

Thanks.