Recent content by BruceWright

i feel like we’re doing the idea of prep a disservice by arguing extremes. “Zero prep” vs “multiple hours writing up encounters”. Maybe something in the middle works. I’m more like, your game will probably benefit from some preparation. There are ways to prep more time efficiently. Absolute...

Sly Flourish has “Lazy GM Prep”, which uses steps to keep prep time efficient. It’s not really a goal of mine to eliminate prep or even reduce it too much. But i find the steps helpful nonetheless. I have definitely PLAYED games where the DM seemed unprepared. Maybe’s they thought they...

I don't agree with that. I find it very easy to differentiate their work from the AI-generated "D&D-like" content I've seen from chatbots. Unless you're asserting that you don't care for the work they're publishing, and this is just a dig at work you don't like.

If WOTCs AI is such that there is no way to tell it from the AI from a chatbot, they've already lost in the marketplace.

I concur. I picture D&D as the "middlest" fantasy TTRPG. The most agreeable, compromise game. Pathfinder if you want more crunch, Shadowdark if you want more fast and dangerous, Daggerheart if you want more soap opera. And D&D is there for when your table can't agree on one of the more...

Okay but how’s the hoodwink working in Pawtucket, Rhode Island?

Why would I pay Wizards for something I could get directly from a chatbot? Indeed a more advanced chatbot, more modern, run by more powerful parts of the tech industry than... HASBRO.

I ran "Sablewood Messengers" and now looking back I think I was taking the spotlight too often in combat, thinking I needed to whenever Fear was rolled. I think I should actually think in action beats, and bank my Fear until I unleash something truly narrative-shifting.

I picked up a copy of Metamorphis Alpha, which required me being old enough to be allowed to ride my bike all the way to Torrance. So that was also setting my timeframe.

Hard to answer, as I started playing D&D in the 1970s. There weren't other options right away. The "other" games were Monopoly, Risk, Sorry, etc.

Nah, it's supposed to do that. That's how it was designed.

Love Hero Forge's ability to order a custom flat mini, though. The 3d ones aren't to my liking, but the 2d ones are VERY affordable and REALLY look great.

HisGodHand posted this further description in the thread linked above:

One commenter on that thread suggested the simplified sheet and invulnerability of a "Fellow" might be a great way to run a character when the player is unable to attend a session.

I saw this post and the video it refers to: I found the idea of "Fellows" delightful. Basically, individuals make and share a simple sheet of a character they created. They can only perform simple actions, can't outshine the PCs, and crucially, cannot die. The published sheet has a...