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I voted: “I like some parts random, but certain aspects of the character must always be choosable.” Although, even in those cases I’ll sometimes random roll the choices I get to make as well. I’ve been really impressed by classic Traveller. Chargen is very random, yet if I try to make a pilot...

Could it be done? Of course! Game mechanics aren’t covered by intellectual property laws. (Well, you could patent a game mechanic, but I don’t believe this has been done for an RPG yet.) The problems are that it is a lot of work, not the kind of work that is very rewarding for most people, & a...

For me, fireballs spreading and lightning bolts bouncing aren’t about them being “tricky”. I think, rather, that I like that they require me to think even more carefully when using them. Speaking—as I only can—for myself: I don’t like it when my PC dies. Especially since that means I most...

Nobody I’ve gamed with could resist showing off such a die, thus making moot the point of whether they’d actually try to cheat with it. I do know people who would probably try to cheat in this manner, but they aren’t the type of people who would play role-playing games. In any case, this...

Robert’s First Rule of Fixing Online Discussion: Post the kinds of messages you’d like to read. And that Monty Python thing. Fawlty Towers is also acceptable.

Yeah. Didn’t get a good look at the amp. (’Cause...you know...the Tele) I’ve never actually heard actual wide-rangers, but I have been told they were kind-of weak. But it looked real beat-to-hell. Not those silly faux-beat-to-hell things that seem to be so popular these days.

We’ve all played with that DM who was so opaque that we felt like we might as well just dice to choose our actions. Right? The key to me is to not be that guy. When in doubt, err on the side of telling the players too much.

Was there something in that video besides that sweet Tele thinline? It’s a weakness of mine.

I’m all for the GM considering the players’ desire. I’m all for people playing the game however they want. But I think there is much value in trying to understand how the game was meant to be played before you twist it to fit your preferences. i think there’s even more value in that for...

I don’t know, but I think there really is something to “we come from books”.

Clearly there’s only one thing to do. Start them out with games that don’t use hp. A friend of mine says that Guantlet once ratted him out: “Elf has been getting all the food!”

I love the way S&W encourages you to customize it rather than run it as is. I keep thinking I’ll use it as a base for a variant oD&D I’ve been wanting to run. I’ve promised myself to concentrate on working on campaigns to run with existing rules rather than continually tinkering with homebrew...

I don’t think you need to bemoan it. I think there are still places & games where it is still very much alive and well. Though it isn’t all that recent, the first example that pops to mine is the “Seven part soul” article in Pyramid from a few years ago.

I completely understand, as that was one of the reasons I stopped running 3e myself. <shrug> I’ve done it many times and had a great time doing it. There’s something quite satisfying about being a low-level PC who saves a high-level PC by taking out a threat that—despite being small—would’ve...

Right. Now just imagine that it’s John Cleese screaming that at Michael Palin.

Of course! How could I be defending 3e if I weren’t? ^_^ I’m no fan of 3e’s system mastery aspect. That’s one of the reasons I prefer B/X. In my experience, however, it never gets anywhere near as bad as it gets painted. And I have a hard time imagining it ever getting that bad unless there are...

That is a very reasonable interpretation of the tables. Does seem a bit weird for only MUs to be linear. In any case, read the Afterword from The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures again. It says—explicitly, “Here’s a start; make up the rest yourselves.” So the progression beyond what’s given...

I think it’s probably too late for me to be posting anymore, but here goes... ^_^ Perhaps it is that we can’t (easily) play characters who are completely unlike ourselves, but we can play characters who are like who we have the capacity to be? We use the game to explore these possible selves...

I don’t think I’m the only one who keeps coming back here for reasons other than 3e, d20, or 4e.

^_^ That bumped me from about to voting 1 to voting 2. I don’t know if the one book bought second-hand after 4e came out counts, but that would still put me in the 2–3 bracket.