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My knee-jerk reaction was "This is a fallacy." However, on further reflection I would rather frame it more cautiously: "This is quite dangerous." Spending a lot of time to make the game more fun from a meta-level is very dangerous. Why? (Warning: Rant!) It's the difference between Game of...

Well, in that case: fair enough, I say. He'll learn from it. :D

Players don't declare actions, they declare intent. The GM decides if that intent translates into a corresponding action and what the outcome of that action is. So, if there's a lot of noise in the tavern behind that wall, the paladin might not be able to focus on meditation. And if the rogue...

Just skimming over the thread, I am confused by the discussion. Due to the very nature of the RPGs, the GM has broad discretion with regard to what's happening. Under normal circumstances, I expect a GM simply to determine what's going to happen based on his understanding of the game world. Of...

I think that is what a lot of us want: standard fantasy gaming but in the world of Bilbo and Aragorn.

You can't be consistent across all movies and all franchises and all genres. But if you take a look big picture, a few relevations emerge. I'll get back to it. This is a great point: I'm currently designing a scenario for my system which involves a dragon and so far I have had the fear factor...

Well, here's where I think many combat systems go wrong: let's take the called shot to the head. You can't force that in every situation - it's only a good idea when you catch the enemy not guarding it. We're not simulating this detail in combat. The assessment of the situation is about other...

So the solution I have come up with is that you need to do a fighting test before you can attack unless you're the main attacker (which can change!). This is kinda less ideal in some regards - because of the potential frustration factor and because of the added rolling. On the other hand it does...

So, first of all I need retract a few things because I did misread the AW play example indeed. The grenade hard move was in response to a prior failure and the gender of that ganger was not determined on the fly it was just never announced previously (not that the latter makes much of a...

Well, Rolemaster is of course not for those who hate tables. That much is obvious. (Personally, I think anyone who considers himself a self-respecting nerd should not be afraid of tables but that's just me.) But I don't think that was the cumbersome part. What I could do without was the...

I'm drawing on examples from the Apocalypse World and Dungeon World rulebooks and from actual plays (though it's been a while since I've watched any). Not necessarily. In the Apo World rulebook example of play, gangers show up in follow-up scene after a PC rolled a 10+ on a Move...

This requires an explanation, I think. Because I am reading the following in the Dungeon World rulebook: "When you draw a map don’t try to make it complete. Leave room for the unknown. As you play you’ll get more ideas and the players will give you inspiration to work with. Let the maps expand...

Oh, most definitely - I love all things d100! I also remember depression criticals, LOL. And my freshly inducted Rider of Rohan - who got vaporized by a random demon encounter. Grrrr! (Didn't Tolkien Enterprises help ruin ICE to get the license back in time for the movies? I seem to remember...

I have some loose familiarity with those rules, yes. That's what I was alluding to. DW operates on a different abstraction level than trad games that not everyone is comfortable with it. Doesn't mean they're bad, just that it's a matter of taste. For example: a Volley move takes an...

If one searches for 'cinematic combat rules' online, one can see that there clearly is both a demand for cinematic combat rules as well as publishers that advertise their games as having such rules. There are evidently gamers who want more out of a game's rules than rules that are more than...

In spite of many games' promises, combat in RPGs often does not feel all that cinematic. One situation in which this becomes apparent in RPG rulesets are 'One-vs-Many' combat situations. The default solution in role-playing games -round robin-style attacks by the outnumbering force (since...

Proper periodization is always a contentious task for historians. The Middle Ages, for example, are only roughly defined - still it's good to have that rough definition for conversation about the subject. In the case of RPGs, I think it's good to understand how the simple early games blossomed...

Personally, I think (A)D&D has been a gamist-simulationist hybrid (to varying degrees) up to and including 3.x. I should add that I consider OD&D, based from what I've seen, simulationist - for the mid 1970s. ;) Not from the POV of any later era though, obviously. And, as mentioned, there...

Yeah, it could be! But I think that is the main point, rules-wise, that the designers have to address in making their pitch to would-be backers.

We will never be able to agree on what rules-light is, there are too many shades of grey. I like the approach of defining rules-medium, however. For me, D&D 5E is rules-medium. I can cite plenty of games that are significantly easier/more difficult to play. I don't think we can agree on that...