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But video games are a different beast. I think you're absolutely right in your assessment that with video games, randomized elements would be a fat fit for survival horrors in the way that they're articulated. But you obviously can't reproduce this the exact same way with TTRPG, you have to...

The other games that I know that use a wound system with your encumbrance all don't allow to increase your carrying capacity. It's often modeled after your STR or something similar. Accumulating wounds often force you to either get rid of some items, or make them "unusable" depending on the...

Happened once. I've backed about two dozen Kickstarters. And a few weeks ago was my first time where once I got the email that the campaign had fulfilled I regretted it. The product will be great, no question about it. But I realized that I had backed it up for the wrong reasons. Maybe it was...

I'd also add that the friction that a set of rules create is different from the complexity. They can be confused. A high friction can make internalizing and understanding rules much more difficult, which might make it seem like they are complicated. A simple example would be making a random...

I don't think complexity belongs anywhere. Complexity is undesirable. But it's often unavoidable to introduce complexity as you add rules, or try to add depth to your designs. So it's a necessary evil that you try to curb. The golden goose is always to have simple rules have offer great depth...

I have my issues with Spire, but it is still an incredibly evocative game and will never leave my shelves.

For me it's very simple. In some cases, having a game designed from the ground up just leads to a product more coherent with the source material. There's plenty of adaptations that I find pretty underwhelming, but there's some absolute fantastic ones. My most recent example is The One Ring 2E. I...

As you mentioned, the difference can be razor thin. I think that's while we see much more of underpowered encounter than overpowered ones. The consequences are much more fleeting. These challenges of balancing generally stems from two variables: the action economy of the game, and the general...

My Burning Wheel campaign is winding down... Right now I'm eyeing: Dolmenwood. Just received my pledge last week, the books are so inspiring. Outcast Silver Raiders. Similar boxset with everything you need. It's gonna be this or Dolmenwood, not both. The One Ring 2E has been next to my bed for...

I don't know if it's hard. But DMing definitely can be overwhelming. And some products offer a framework to organize oneself.

That's a great idea. I've never seen one though...

I actually like the D8 and I think it rolls decently well. But the D4 just falls flat and slides a bit, very underwhelming, definitely the worst dice.

The D6 is classic. Effortlessly cool. Can't beat it.

Just finished Mr.Inbetween last week. Gotta pause series watching for a bit. Been stuck to my TV a lot lately. Next year I'm gonna dig into The Sopranos.

I ordered Carcass Crawler #5 and #6 in print during Exalted Funeral's black friday sale.

The second edition of UVG has been out for a while now. It's been on my shelf for more than a year.

2025 had surprises planned for me, so my goals of this year have all been shifted. I can pretty much list what I aimed to do in 2025. I want to buy a bit less games. I want to play at least two or three different unplayed games from my shelves. I want to run a short solo campaign. I want to...

Bastionland Podcast is Chris McDowall's (Into the Odd, Mythic Bastionlands) podcast. It's not constant, and the format changes often. But he talks with designers, he talks about his games. They often explore things outside of TTRPG. I enjoy it. Between Two Cairns is an OSR module review podcast...

The quality level of the YouTube scene for RPGs is really, really low. There's a ton of interesting small channels that are not very popular. But the big ones are quite bad.

To be hair, I also really like the setting of the Third Imperium. But yeah, without the associated mechanics I would not stick around.