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I love them and most of my recent campaigns, both run and played have been short ones although I've kept groups together for years on end running chained campaigns. I also find D&D and especially D&D 5e very bad at them. I'd rather use something more narrative (e.g. Apocalypse World, Blades in...

For non-fantasy I'm going to suggest Apocalypse World. Also does Scum and Villainy (which is not Star Wars, honest!) count as non-fantasy? For that matter does Blades in the Dark?

Oh and just to confirm what you asked about: The XP for GP rules were specific rules for dungeon crawling. I'm not sure why you are saying that it makes it 'no longer gritty'. What ripped out what mechanical grit there was from 1e dungeon crawling was the deprecation or removal of the hireling...

D&D has never in any edition been genuinely gritty. Hit points are anti-grit. Gritty is Call of Cthulhu, WFRP, or even Blades in the Dark where you have to live with consequences. The only consequence in D&D that's on the table 95% of the time is death (and here comes Sigby, brother of Rigby)...

Exactly this. The main mechanical changes I recall were the deprecation or removal of XP for GP and of hireling rules, both of which strongly work with gritty dungeon crawling, and the addition of "Non weapon proficiencies" But the tone changed dramatically while most of the mechanics didn't

Xp for GP is a fundamental default rule in 1e and deprecated into a very much optional rule in 2e. And deprecating this rule (and a couple of its relatives) ripped the heart out of the gritty dungeon crawling In 1e roughly 80% of your experience came from loot not fighting. If you could trick...

Honestly? Because 1e is a solid game of gritty dungeon crawling mercenaries out for liit with rough edges, 2e is a complete mess where the rules are written for high fantasy action adventure while still using 95% rules for gritty mercenaries robbing dungeons. (And most "1e" fans IME play B/X...

To me this says your knowledge of modern systems stops in about 2010. Because there was a vast leap forward in using mechanics to encourage characterisation starting in about 2010 with games like Fate Core, Apocalypse World, the Cortex Plus games, and others. And Daggerheart has basically...

Your perception [edit: that game lines are smaller not that there are fewer games as well] is absolutely right IMO - but on the flip side I can count many more indies with solid reps than I could in the 90s or the 00s. And games have got a whole lot better at focusing on a theme than they were...

I have three metrics for success. Commercially: Did it make break even? Design wise: Can I see myself running or playing this over using Fate, GURPS, D&D 5e, or the nearest existing PbtA game? Socially: Three years after release is anyone in my extended gaming network running or even talking...

That's basically what most narrative games (almost all the GM'd ones) do. The old school narrative games are all about cutting the cruft that gets in the way for a light and fast experience then relying on players and GM to go cinematic. The new school ones add lightish rules that enhance the...

Mothership. One survived. A win!

I'm not complaining about spell reuse. I'm saying that spells and spell reuse has been part of the identity of the psion in 2e, 3.0, and 3.5 and anyone claiming they weren't a spellcaster is trying to retcon. I wish they weren't spellcasters with a splash of paint - but that's what they have...

I'm with you right until this paragraph - but when you're trying to convince me that something like Levitate (Psionic) from 3.5 isn't a spell when it literally references the arcane spell I start wondering how little paint it takes for you to think something is different. They didn't even bother...

Or really any building with windows

Every single psion D&D has offered in every single edition has been disappointing to me, with the best psion in any edition being the 2014 Aberrant Mind (not letting them change subclass spells killed this in 2024 for me). The best psychic in the history of D&D for me has been the 2024 Great Old...

If you have total control over the tone you must have a very docile group of players. And yes if you have all the acting done against a green screen you aren't at the mercy of the actual environment and have more direct control

But they allow you more control over the tone than simple D&D style success/fail (never mind "roll to see if you have to roll again"). And a lot of grimdark is about the tone.