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Another problem --- the Venn diagram of humans who have played enough variety of RPGs, for a long enough time to meaningfully digest the scope of intent and realization of intent of each creative work; who also have enough background in doing academically rigorous and meaningful analysis of...

I'm going to pipe in on one thing here, having had quite a bit of success getting my group to try stuff over the years. Our group has played at least 5 sessions of all of the following since 2012: Savage Worlds GURPS Tiny D6 Dungeon World Ironsworn Starforged Star Wars: Edge of the Empire...

The problem GURPS has is that it's now too much beholden to its own design paradigm (much like D&D) to really go anywhere different without spurning its (miniscule) existing market. The people who like GURPS are the kind of people who are married to the core system at a near-metaphysical level...

Tiny D6 is an ultra-lightweight attempt at creating a level 2 through level 6 BECMI-ish sort of game experience. It's probably about as close as you can come to "Free Kriegsspiel" without actually doing away with player-facing rules completely. Its entire ethos is "trad" to the Nth degree -- GM...

I honestly thought I would hate using a critical hit chart in FFG Star Wars. The way the weapon crit ratings worked made me think they'd never get used. Boy was I ever wrong. Our group loves it. It's exciting to roll the chart, and the narrative effects are fun and flavorful. Also, the hit...

A thought about what's different now than the last contentious D&D edition changeover in 2007-2008, and it comes down to this --- the external network realities around the D&D game are radically, massively different. One, the main pain point of a D&D edition change is the risk of change to your...

Not announced, that was me brainstorming what level of content availability would rise to the level of being worth $30 per month for a subscription. In my view, pretty much anything less than what I proposed would fall significantly short of being "worth it" at $30 per month.

I think the premium tier will be closer to that than not. Truthfully, once you've got the core VTT up and running, extending its capabilities and adding new content becomes a breeze. It may not look like that at launch, but it'll be something close to that a year post launch. Because if it...

Here's what $30 a month looks like in terms of content. Full digital access to every book released for D&DUno. 2 hardcover copies per year of D&DUno books you select. A huge selection of prerendered 3d figures inside the VTT. Access to a selection of 3d model files to 3d print your own minis...

To the OP: Yep. I think I mentioned it in a different thread; the point of deauthorizing OGL 1.0a was never about collecting the pittance of royalties that it would generate. It was always about creating the walled garden. And it seems pretty clear that deauthorization of OGL 1.0a is the...

One of the more interesting aspects in all of this is just how far the leaked text of the Decidedly-Not-Open Game License 1.1 pulls back the curtain on WotC's intentions. Even if Decidedly-Not-Open Game License 1.1 is completely scratched by WotC today or tomorrow with a massive mea culpa...

QFT. This. All of this. This is the ONLY reason WotC is even attempting this shenanigan. Are they really concerned about somebody Paizo-ing 5e? Well, yeah, but the royalties and such? There's not enough 3pp that even make enough money to even care about it, and the collected royalties are a...

Let's say you wake up this morning in possession of a magic djinni lamp, and the djinn has but one wish to give. However, the power of the wish is limited to just your own personal roleplaying experience. Our djinn can't make you rich or a rock star, but can grant you the opportunity to play...

So . . . D&D.VE? "Dungeons and Dragons -- The Voldemort Edition"?

If you want tactical, but are eliminating D&D, PF, GURPS, and Zweihander from the get go, about all that's left is some version of Rolemaster/HARP/MERP/Against the Dark Master, HERO, something vaguely OSR-ish, or something BRP based (Mythras, et. al.), or maybe EABA. Do you want something D20...

There's a slight chance my Deep Rock Galactic board game kickstarter will arrive before Jan. 1. That's the one I'm most looking forward to. Otherwise, my family got me the Pebblebrook expansion for Everdell, which is one of my favorite board games ever. So definitely some of that is in the...

Another thing I just thought of --- I probably started my true "GM career" later than most. Sure, I messed around a bit as a teenager, but never actually GM'd anything remotely resembling a real campaign. When I got back into the hobby in my mid-20s with D&D 3, I was always a player. It...

One more note --- The Starforged iteration of the Ironsworn rules is overall a bit cleaner, a bit more refined, and a bit more user friendly, though "OG" Ironsworn is still awesome. If you think you'd like to try sci fi / space opera first, Starforged gets a resounding 5-star review from me...

I found playing with a GM to be fantastic, almost revelatory for me as a GM. If you want to have a GM, just treat it like a relatively "standard issue" PbtA vehicle, and you're pretty much in the right head space. I found playing with a GM, as well as "GM-less" with all players participating...

I don't care about my characters picking up "plot hooks," but I have a near pathological need for my players to interact with NPCs. I watch my players run their characters back and forth in front of an NPC that if they would just stop and chat with for a split second, they'd have something...