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  1. GMMichael

    Avoiding campaign sameness

    I suspect that sameness comes from the GM's thought: "what would be a cool adventure?" Variety comes from the story itself. "The villain did X to accomplish Y. Now that that problem is solved, what's the next step in accomplishing Z?"
  2. GMMichael

    D&D 5E (2014) What should I Let's Read next?

    You should Let's Read Xcrawl. For no rea5on in particular.
  3. GMMichael

    Pace of Play, Engagement and "Excitement"

    Ah, the great words of Sun Tzu: know the enemy. That's like "know the players," right? I feel like the player-type exercise can mostly be accomplished by asking the players what character class they want to play. Point: games with classes.
  4. GMMichael

    Worlds of Design: How Subtle is Your Sorcery?

    What if THL were based on a human sense? Vision range. Requirement: make a funny gesture within sight. Sound range. Tell a joke loud enough for the sound to reach the target. Smell range. Emit a "laughing" gas that reaches around corners near you, unless there's a breeze. Taste range. Put a...
  5. GMMichael

    Cleaner - Exclusive Trailer (2025)

    I miss the good, old days when movies used real fire, and stuntmen actually fell off buildings. As long as Ridley's character keeps her shoes on, she'll be okay.
  6. GMMichael

    Worlds of Design: How Subtle is Your Sorcery?

    XP for Sue! (Suepuls?) Whoops. My magic system is the fifth module, so I missed "key" by three or four modules! Hold on! This is inspired by Skyrim's shouting dragons . . . but what if spell effects are based primarily on sensing them? So, you can't be affected by a verbal spell that you...
  7. GMMichael

    D&D General Out of Phase

    An odd-numbered test (on either side) indicates the creature was out-of-phase, if we're talking the newest edition. PCs can overcome this by using their reaction for the round to "time their shots" before taking an action.
  8. GMMichael

    Pace of Play, Engagement and "Excitement"

    I was hoping you'd say, "the PCs decided to protect the dryads by erecting a fort around them. So they started cutting down trees for the palisade and building fires to harden wood and light their fire arrows. The dryads asked the goblins for help instead." I've been dreaming up rote things...
  9. GMMichael

    Christmas Gifts for Gamer Geeks

    There are a couple of restaurant/bar/game stores out near me. Gift certificates to those would be nice, but dice are always good. Or, Medieval Times! I'm easy, though. Give me some good backstory nuggets I can use, or a magic item my character could use until it falls apart. Like...
  10. GMMichael

    D&D General What is your most prized Dungeons and Dragons Product?

    I'm pretty proud of my Creative Commons 5RD. It commemorates WotC's greatest, and possibly last, gift to its fans.
  11. GMMichael

    VR in rpg (not 'rpg in VR')

    I haven't run Shadowrun adventures (yet), but I've definitely had a party or two split up. I'll say that it can be awkward, but it doesn't have to be a nightmare. My solution was to find natural breaks in which one side could take a short break to "watch" what the other side was up to. It...
  12. GMMichael

    D&D General A Quick Peek At Tiamat In Amazon's 'Secret Level' Anthology TV Show

    I don't know about being "friends" with the "gold dragon." 1) Would a friend require a high-concentration spell just to open the door? 2) Probably not an actual ancient gold dragon - too dumb. I'm not sure what else would look like that, though. 3) I doubt a gold dragon would "save" someone...
  13. GMMichael

    D&D 5E (2014) Reducing Power Gaming

    Sure, but OP's issue was that PCs/classes are already over-buffed. To which I say essentially, "nerf with permission of the PCs, or play something else." Now, -bloated- is probably an issue that a lot of D&D-clones have, others just have weird or bad rules . . . I'm sure it's been said...
  14. GMMichael

    Spoilers Alien: Romulus (Spoilers)

    His name was actually ND, not Andy. Which, if it suggests Not David, then we're at least closer to the fifth letter of the alphabet.
  15. GMMichael

    Positivity: What I'm doing to combat sexism in TTRPGs

    XP for truth and simplicity. Respect, please. But if you want to get hardcore about it (or literal?), you could create some new dragons for the PCs to fight. Racist dragon. Sexist dragon. Ableist dragon. Slay those demons. Designing the breath weapons could be interesting!
  16. GMMichael

    List of All Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds & Flaws

    @darjr, you're too high-level for a necro 🤓
  17. GMMichael

    D&D General Multiple Sources of Resistance?

    Citation, please. This can't be true. WotC said both rule sets are compatible.
  18. GMMichael

    Technofantasy for Fantasy AGE 2e!

    Sounds like it should be called Plasticgrave. But given that Modern AGE supports "dystopian future" gaming, and Fantasy AGE should land neatly in the middle of the above-listed inspirations, I don't see that a new rulebook is needed. A setting book would be about perfect, though.
  19. GMMichael

    D&D 5E (2014) Reducing Power Gaming

    That'll work - the DM's tool bag always has a bigger tool in it. I don't ramp up the monsters. I just use a different game. Problem (D&D) solved. I'm not following this one. How do the PCs get more stuff than what's in the rule book, unless the DM gives it to them? Or are you saying the DM...
  20. GMMichael

    D&D 5E (2014) Reducing Power Gaming

    Talking with PCs about expectations is always sage advice. With D&D though - it's an uphill battle. The book, which gets conflated with the game, tells PCs, "at level X, Y, and Z you get these awesome powers!" So if the DM comes along and says, "well no, you don't," then the DM is just out to...
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