Recent content by The Firebird

When Wittgenstein's argument is brought up, I feel obligated to suggest The Grasshopper as a rejoinder. Bernard Suits sets out to identify a robust definition of game and does a pretty good job of it. Likewise, I imagine there may be a way through with RPGs.

They didn't turn the Emperor or the stormtroopers or the TIE pilots. The point is more that redemption is possible and it is worth having faith in people; that when Darth Vader says "it is too late for me", he's wrong. Likewise with the rest of Star Wars. The use of force isn't a priori wrong...

Is Mad Max scifi? No spaceships. If so, then both Fury Road and Furiosa top my list. I'm tempted to make it 5 mad Max movies and call it a day. If not, I'll put Revenge of the Sith, which manages the unique task of being an ending and tying together two separate acts in a satisfying way. It...

I find this really fascinating. The past is a foreign country, and the bronze age and iron ages aren't just different but deeply weird in what they value. And often disturbing in their moral values. Anyway I also like works that take these differences seriously and I think I'd have fun with a...

What data are you looking for? I guess we don't know for sure if A New Hope would have been less popular if Jar Jar Binks played a major role.

I prefer settings of Despair with bright spots that the players can make a little bigger. I guess I feel it helps me establish stakes--a setting of Hope can have the problem that many heroes can solve the worlds problems, and then what role is there for the PCs? My goal is to thread the needle...

Right. But I get it; it adds work for the DM to go through option by option, or to present the players with a long yes/no list, or to field questions about this or that specific option. Much easier to say "PHB + Xanathar".

Tough crowd! I enjoyed the distinction you drew with cRPGs that adopt the mechanics but not the core conceits. I think there is a lot to say there and would enjoy an exploration of just that topic. If you don't mind me asking, did you use gen AI to help with this post? A lot of the diction...

Right. So the long needed adoption of many of these changes ended up being associated with poor balance decisions like the Twilight Cleric. If someone didn't want to use Tasha's, was it because they were a jerk or because that's a lot of temp HP?

It is an unhappy accident that the laudable changes Wizards made here occurred about the same time as the Tasha's release. It's hard for people to separate criticism of those good changes from criticism of the direction of the game.

A little mean, guys. I would like to see more optional rules with specific art styles and approaches. E.g., pastel, happy beholder art for the cozy fantasy crowd, with rules for small businesses like Legends & Lattes. Classic b&w lineart with more detailed dungeon crawling rules for the...

I consider myself a skilled user and have a subscription so I decided to take you up on this. Rather than asking for an answer (poor practice) I asked it to look for reasonable sources. (Also good-- "tell me about the pros and cons" or "discuss some relevant factors"). It ended up giving the...

I don't read @Micah Sweet as demanding that anyone cater to his preference. Just that it is sad that the network effects of rpgs make it hard for people with preferences outside the mainstream to find the games they want to play.

This is pretty typical for the AL games I ran, at least at one store. In the city I'm in now, multiple game shops are explicitly pitched at a LGBTQ audience and there are some rpg groups marketed that way as well. Wizards would be fools not to include representation in their marketing. It's such...

For me, Lucas, Tolkien, and Gygax are so important as to demand a place. But I can see a lot of debate for the 4th slot. George Miller is a fun choice but I don't think my personal love for his work reflects his influence. Howard is worth it but little of his direct work has persisted. Lovecraft...