Recent content by J.M

I'd say the simpler versions of BRP (e.g. Openquest) meet this criteria somewhat: options granularity via skills, combined with an interesting and granular advancement system, yet the percentile system is intuitive. But honestly, the dearth of such games is one reason I think Elemental (which I...

I also think we need more nuance in the conversation when we describe a game as "crunchy" or "light". When people say "crunch" they often conflate two very different things: rules complexity, and options. If the core book has 300+ pages, people are quick to say the game is "crunchy", but is it...

Hey all, just a quick heads up to say that ELEMENTAL is today's Deal of the Day on Drivethru. For more info about the game, see @Charles Dunwoody 's great review above!

That's hilarious. I pity the orange and purple games on the right, you somehow have to make it all across the page to get to them :LOL:

To push on @mearls 's idea of "adventure-forward design", I'd like to see adventures that have all the rules required to run them inside the adventure. We've grown to accept this idea that in order to run an adventure, you also need to learn and reference a complicated rule book, one which for...

I like 1shotadventures, it has reviews of modules for various systems, JC gives thoughtful advice for running them, and talks about his own adventures, some of which I've run and enjoyed. Good channel if you're a fan of well-crafted adventures, as I am.

Love that quote from St-Exupery, I think I might have used it in the intro to Elemental. Along the same lines is this one by Mark Twain: "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead."

Seriously considering the Easley book. His AD&D covers are my favorite D&D art!

My experience is similar to yours and I agree with you, as long as we recognize that players also have a responsibility for the game's success beyond just showing up. Sounds like you have great players!

As GMs we tend to take things personally when sessions aren't great (or at least I do), but I think we sometimes overestimate the importance of the GM as the sole driver of fun, and underestimate the importance of group chemistry. Some GM/player groups just mesh well, and some don't, so it can...

Why not a series of adventures you can run separately but that also link to form a campaign, don't you get the best of both worlds that way? (maybe that's what this year's releases are, not sure). Bonus points if you can run them out of order based on player moves, so it's not a railroad.

What I mean by “discussing what’s happening” is the difference between “I hit…three points of damage” and “(The GM, after player rolls partial success): The deck of the ship lurches violently as you swing, knocking you off balance; roll damage at -2.” I agree with your point that not everything...

The game system can also influence how rulings are made and envisioned. For example, I've found that games with binary "pass/fail" resolution systems don't really encourage people to engage with the fiction and therefore can feel a bit mechanical in play. On the other hand, systems that produce...

Good point on creeping complications. Designers often make the mistake of judging rules in isolation. When you always succumb to the temptation to add one more rule, no matter how good it is, the game as a whole quickly becomes an unwieldy mess. Always think about (and test) how does this rule...

The skills were probably the single most difficult design challenge we faced with ELEMENTAL. The only way you know you have the right balance is if playtesting shows you that players are selecting a wide variety of skills (if everyone always picks the same subset of skills and ignores others...