Recent content by Thomas Shey

Is that specific to the approach Brindlewood Bay? I'm curious because it seems an odd statement for investigative games in-general.

What I'd phrase it as is Hero is no worse than most trad games for investigation--but that's very much damning with faint praise.

Proper management of the phase chart is a bit of an art, even with proper tools.

Well, part of that is the price of Hero going full generic-system at one point. I think Robot Warriors back in the day did as or more credible a job than any of the crunch-oriented mecha games. Including sometimes doing it and discovering what you've done just doesn't work the way you hope it...

Its a vicious cycle though; people who see it at one end tend to do it at the other, and I'm not convinced the power dynamic is symmetrical.

There's also me who plays/runs games, but also has a limited playtime, and well, lifespan but still like reading interesting games (sometimes things I'd never run, sometimes ones I would but may well never have time).

Its an intrinsic benefit/risk with BRP derivatives.

For what its worth (and I acknowledge your caveat at the end there), while I think Hero does only work for some kinds of tone, the Fringeworthy and fantasy games I ran with it didn't feel superhero-ish.

I was talking primarily about combat, and, well, I've seen other games that turned on that kind of dynamic (the old DC Heroes game could uncharitably be described as both sides hosing hero points at each other until someone ran out, with the dice rolls adding a little unpredictability to how...

As I said, I see things that go beyond that to judgment of the other at both ends.

Again, look at the tone of people who post to do things like complain about "circus parties", and then come back and tell me its only in response to criticism. This is not a one-way problem.

Like it or not, when you get into one of these discussions, you end up being a proxy for everyone perceived as being on the same side as you are; I see it all the time. So whether you feel that way or not, the fact some GMs seem put out about it is something you're going to end up having to...

I think at least to me, "yet WotC are the only ones offering a TTRPG within that D&D genre somehow" reads differently than you thought it did; that's why I asked if it was intended as sarcasm.

Maybe not that they have no right, but are kind of annoyed they did. Like I said, that's clearly be the case of the tone in some cases that they shouldn't be like that, with a pretty good dose of judgment that they do.

And there were plenty of GMs who seemed offeneded that players would look at a narrow setting and say "Pass". You don't get to have it both ways; if its okay for GMs to say they're only interested in running the campaign they wanted, then its okay for players to say they're only interested in...