Recent content by Toben the Many

Jay Little just posted this to his Facebook. It's pretty remarkable. http://siliconangle.com/blog/2016/01/14/tabletop-games-raised-twice-as-much-as-video-games-on-kickstarter-in-2015/?utm_content=buffer0876f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The idea that RPGs are failing is ludicrous to me. I direct the table top panels are DragonCon, I have seen a lot of metrics that show me that it is now quite the opposite. RPGs are actually flourishing. They are flourishing for a wide number of reasons. For one, MMOs are actually waning in...

I've used the reversal of the dice and narration to great effect, speaking only personally. Interestingly enough, it came about because the system we were using didn't support the kind of play that we wanted out of the game. So, the reversal of operations where it's dice and then narration...

I agree entirely with how you did this. The characters are supposed to be experienced adventurers, even if the players are not. Usually, if a PC does something not taking into account something I think their character should know, I'll give them a check like you did. In a room, sitting on a...

Probably one of the players I'm most grateful for is a guy we sometimes call, "Mr. Dependable." He's the kind of player that is assuming. He'll never be the greatest role-player or be the party leader. But is there at every session, without fail, never complains, and is happy to play whatever...

You know, here and on a lot of other places 'round the 'net GMs get a lot of credit. It's the thankless job. The bulk of the game rests upon the GMs shoulders, etc. I do not dispute these things. However, as I look back over the past ten years, I've been really damn lucky to have some of the...

This basically outlines why I don't think that Bards suck in Pathfinder. In our early play-arounds with the system, people were looking over at the guy playing the Bard with mouths agape, saying, "What is this? A bard that doesn't suck? A bard that can actually do stuff?" Our bards were slaying...

I agree wholeheartedly. Look at the World of Warcraft TV ads. They don't tell you anything about the game, really. You know it's on the computer. You know it's high fantasy. But it doesn't take time to explain to you what an MMO is or how you play one. But they are really funny and get you...

Well, the ad is obviously directed at two different groups of people. By putting it in the red box, by calling it the red box, and by putting the old art on the cover, they are obviously going to the nostalgia factor. They are aiming right at all of the lapsed players who will get a zap of good...

Mouseguard is a very cool game. Just understand that the game and system are quite different from the traditional roleplaying game. For example, there is a GM's turn and a Player's turn - something that takes quite a bit of getting used to. Also, combat is done very differently. It is done as a...

For me, that would make me seriously look at something like the iPad as a new iteration from having the books at the table. The big thing for me is that a backlit screen fatigues my eyes after a while. It's why I can stand reading for long periods at a time off of a screen. However, if something...

That is very different from saying that people don't have an attention span any more, and that a game needs to cater to that sort of audience. But I did buy their arguments that new players nowadays come to the table with a different set of expectations and experiences.

Well, in that interview, Wizards is much more explicit about taking deliberate cues from video games. They even talk about how they were trying to appeal to an audience that they felt like had an increasingly short attention span. I found the article fairly informative, but I didn't post it...

Right. I think people have been hinting here (and I agree) that taken to an extreme, the "it's magic" approach can be used to make a campaign too arbitrary. Again, going with an extreme example, I once saw a player get very upset when a DM took away his character's paladin powers for no apparent...

Okay, the last WotC estimate I had heard was 2 million people world-wide play D&D. Perhaps they only meant in the US when I heard that figure. That was on National Public Radio, BTW. I totally believe that figure. Having moved around a lot, having been to many different cities, I've found a...