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I do agree that is absolutely imperative to be prepared for any potential result when you call for a roll as a GM. I also agree that...

I aspire to have only meaningful, interesting outcomes for dice rolls, regardless of the result, but sometimes it isn't always possible...

Absolutely. I'm a firm believer in it, and it's really, really, really hard. Yeah, huge mistake. If they didn't already know what...

I'd seriously consider one of the Gothic House adventures: Castle Amber, Tegel Manor or Castle Xyntillan (my personal favorite of the...

I always thought there was a distinct difference in when to apply player skill or character skill. The player gets to decide what their...

As a player, if I feel the need to map a dungeon, I use little boxes for rooms/areas with a descriptive label (such as "Statue" or...

You can have both easily enough. Even a well-designed and well-hidden trap might be given away through the inevitable decline of...

100% agree. Give the players choices at some point in the process. Part of that might be letting them know there is a trap and let them...

Yes and no. It depends what you’re using them for. But the essence is that a trap is meant to be interacted with. That’s the key thing...

Overpowering the PCs is easy for the GM. It takes no skill, nuance, understanding, or imagination for a GM to dial an adversary up to...

I voted for Milestones/Fiat/1983... Generally, I favor quest/adventure rewards over individual encounter or challenge rewards. Oh, we...

In a d20 system, a natural 1 is usually always a fail and a natural 20 is usually always a success; though I skip rolling if I think the...

For 5e, I'd say 3-4 sessions of about 4 hours. Add a session or two if the scenario has heavier roleplaying or requires additional...

A published campaign setting: 1. Serves as a backdrop to play in, hopefully adding verisimilitude and texture. 2. Helps create a shared...

I've always taken Old School Rules systems to be adaptations and derivations of OD&D, Holmes, B/X and BECMI. These might be direct...