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An RPG GM has many of the same tasks or duties as a game designer. Even though what I’m saying today can be taken as game design advice, it also applies to the GM as he/she creates an adventure, even as they prepare to run an adventure created by someone else. "A hero ventures forth from the...

Thank you for the interesting comments. Evidently I have failed to communicate (I think I cut out part of a sentence to lower the word count), which would be a cardinal sin for a tactical group. We selected spells collectively rather than simply assume a cleric was a healer, for example. (Yes, I...

The blessing for FLGS is that they sell physical products, not "digital" (electronic) products such as video games. Digital tends to race to zero pricing, for a variety of reasons. For example, most mobile video games are free-to-play. Perhaps a reason for the less-than-desirable atmosphere one...

Thanks for the sometimes-waggish comments. "Planning" doesn't mean you have to have just one plan; you can have a Plan B, C, and so on as backups, and still be a planner. About the "neurotic sort of 'planner' who is only happy when planning", S'mon, that may be a reflection of one of the...

I submitted them for White Dwarf. Ian asked if they could be used for the FF instead. I agreed. I don't recall them appearing in WD at any point. Lew Pulsipher

Perhaps I should explicitly state the obvious: my articles here are descriptive, not prescriptive. I can't care how you run or play your game (unless I'm playing!). prosfilaes, I just reread the Lensman series. Yes, it's apocalyptic, yet so much of it is individual adventures, quite a...

As a recent addition to Gainesville, FL, I can name several game cons in Florida, but none have much in the way of RPGs. I don't play games at conventions, I go to talk with people, but GenCon has become a chore. (Anyway, I call it a story convention, not a game convention, because such a large...

It's easy for fans of any activity to make fun of any such discussion, because it's practically impossible to "prove" such things. Consider how many people refused to accept the plethora of proofs that smoking was bad for you. They said it hadn't been proved. Some still do. And that's about...

It's a common reaction of younger people to claim that any suggestion that changes in life have occurred in ways that "don't sound good" is simply an old person reacting to/hating on the young. I've even encountered people who believe there are no generational differences, despite all the...

It's striking that much of the information about new game releases focuses on the story, not what actually happens in the game. This is reinforced by looking at the back of game boxes at a shop, information about actual play is limited to non-existent. Evidently, people buy based on story, even...

Well, while not trying to pick out all of the really long comments, I've seen 603, 605, 713, and 1,320 word comments, all longer than my original post. I think the fundamental roles in RPGs are wizard, divine (cleric), and fighter. With fighters having various combinations of strength and...

People writing new RPGs are often perfectionists. The old games aren't perfect, so they want to write a new one. Unfortunately for them, even if they create something they think is perfect, their preferences will change over years and it will no longer seem perfect. Game design is always...

Thanks for the comments. Keep in mind, folks, I am editorially constrained to 500 words. If I had a thousand, I’d have more thoroughly addressed/explained many of the points people are making or questioning (or explaining, thanks). Of course. It would be interesting to know what proportion of...

In my experience with contemporary college game clubs, there are many younger people who have not yet tried tabletop RPGs. I was also told that many of the players coming to the evening games at a local shop have been new to tabletop RPGs. This is different from my pre-Internet, pre-video...

More recent points of view Always interesting to read something I wrote more than 30 years ago. These days I wonder whether I'll agree with stuff from my "Game Design" book published in 2012 when I read it again, let alone the 30+ year stuff. Some styles are certainly at odds. For example...

Hobby games, not just RPGs ruin explorer: You've posed your answer largely in terms of (tabletop) RPGs. My statement encompasses all kinds of hobby gamers, and recognizes that video games and gamers are far more pervasive than tabletop. Of course, Tabletop RPGs are now just one of many...

30-some years see lots of changes Two and a half years ago I completed my book "Game Design: How to Create Video and Tabletop Games, Start to Finish" (McFarland, 2012). Whenever I have occasion to look up something in it, I've been happy to find that I still agree with myself! But agree...

I have a prototype that's a boardgame in which players make up very simple RPG characters (skill/module based, more or less) and either a referee or a set of cards (that's the tough part) control the opposition. I'm not sure it will ever amount to anything, even if I figure out the...

The economy? No, the collapse of the RPG market considerably predates the collapse of the economy. Boardgames are selling very well, because in economic bad times people move to forms of entertainment that are big value for money, but RPGs still suffer... The majority of young people *are*...

Hi Mark, The problem is that tabletop RPG sales SUCK. And have for several years, perhaps excepting sales of the very largest companies. Most young people, even those who play video games a lot, have not played tabletop RPGs. The point of my original response was, I guess, that there isn't...