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I'm writing this in the rules forum, because tactics in D&D emerge largely from the rules themselves (even if 4E has cleaned itself of many of his ancestor’s futile simulatinonist artefacts). The 4th chapter of the DMG does a basic job, but for a DM like me that has neither military background...

Alediran, I didn't remember his "elven name" :p But I'm sure he will still hang out on the boards :hmm:

Like that "wannabe elf" guy ? :D

Burning Wheel : Magic Burner.

Other : Burning Wheel. With the Magic Burner (Magic expansion), it will finally be a complete FRPG. This game shows what "Story Now" means.

Lumpley Principle : Roleplaying in a RPG can easily be defined as : Establishing facts in the Shared Imagined Space using the system. system = "written rules" + fluff text in the books + some "table rules" (but not thing like bringing pizza/beer, that's social contract). Are you talking...

Scripting is difficult, but what I hate is the lifepaths, a bit of the concept, but more on the execution (LoTR / historical middle-age feel).

BW is a really nice Hybrid G-N game with a high amount of Exploration. Hybrid games work then the different agenda are divided in different parts of the game. It can be dangerous with Sim players who will fail to understand the goal of the game while looking at the HUGE like of skills that...

I can't write an example now, but yeah that's the idea. BW and RoS are a bit different, because while in both you need to fight for important things for your character to survive (that's where Artha and Spiritual Attributes come into play), the first has a gamist combat system (BW with Fight!)...

Yeah, that was the tricky thing :). I'm just not sure if the "lose now to win later" is often a good tactical choice.

It's not as easy as positive traits (look above for my suggested house rule), but certainly possible. Maybe something like : After a success, you can invoke a negative trait that turns the success into a failure. Later, in the same encounter, if you barely fail at a check, you can get a free +2...

On the encounter level, D&D should stay Gamist, however at the adventure level (which challenges you'll face), D&D could learn from games like Burning Wheel (BITS) or The Riddle of Steel (Spiritual attributes) of course. I don't agree that 4E has done much of it yet, even if some Simulationism...

First part of the answer : When you say "make decisions in character", do you mean* : A) Players look at all the defined characteristics (on the sheet or in his head) of his character; consider the established genre/theme of the campaign, to find the most coherent action. B) Players make a...

Making every decision by "being in his character's shoes" is one way to play a RPG, but it is certainly not the only one.

A nod to scene framing in the DMG is fantastic, but it is poorly written. The key idea is that when you decide (you is the group) that a situation will be a challenge, you rely on the rules to resolve actions; when the situation is not a challenge, you can skip over it or simply do some...

It may be pretty clear in skill challenges, but in combat ? I'm not sure at all. The DMG could have also suggested that the DM can share the narration role when it comes to describe effects.

Yeah, that's the same I was saying without RPG theory buzz words ;) The books are not clear enough on those issues IMHO, I won't discuss it in details again however :)

DMG should say : each roll must be roleplayed, i.e. at least describing the effect in the Shared Imagined Space with narration and/or acting. That's what you need to transform a tactical board game in a Gamist*, Combat-Focused RPG. *Gamist = Challenge-based, not necessarily combat challenges.

Well thanks, it comes of a mix of different techniques used in indie RPGs. The important idea hidden behind it, is that these traits won't become a strait-jacket; the characters won't be static because the players are encouraged to change the traits on a ongoing basis.

I'm not sure that "personality traits" and "background features" are more related to skill challenges than to combat, but my point was that I would have prefered more specific guidelines as how to put these traits/features in play. I agree with that of course. In terms of challenges...