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Looking at the 2014 page, which I haven't looked at in about 10 years since I haven't cracked my PHB since a first couple of reads, I'm amazed. There is so much stuff on that list that I would not expect to see in 2024. I would bet that new 5E players have missed about 90% of it. I was just a...

There definitely can be consequence we (and by that I mean I as player/GM and now designer) don't care about. A lot of it is multiple rolls to effectively do the same thing. I have played in many games where you had to make stealth checks and, against all odds, the entire party made it. Even the...

I agree with you 100%. I would really like to know the inspirations behind the current rules. I'm not sure I would be interested in many of the authors, but I would investigate them pretty thoroughly. For a lot of the RPGs I've been looking at recently, I've read or watched all of the source...

This is a really good question, and it relates to the fact that I've been working on this game for a long time. It's older than FitD games, PbtA and even Fate. Back in ancient times, you would see a lot of die rolls made simply because it was just seen as "realistic" to make them. If you were...

As someone who doesn't use Twitter and hasn't joined anything new since Google+ (I'm still bitter about that), I wonder what the over/under is on this one. I have some friends who've announced they are heading there and leaving Twitter. I thought, "As long as you post your family stuff and...

I think you win. That was so good!

It's funny that you mention that because I think I remember reading that when it was new. I was influenced a lot by this for my game design. I must admit that I run every game with the rules I came up with and haven't found a problem. I always tell people that we roll dice when all three of...

I think that the inspirational books section is extremely important for people just coming into the hobby. I've read a lot of RPG books lately from different authors and they have all had an inspirational sources section. It gave me an idea as a reader of that style of game this one was designed...

Just a quick comment: I definitely intend to make my game commercially available. I also hope to back up trucks full of cash from all the money that will be generated. Okay, that last point was completely a joke: there are no big trucks full of money for anyone in RPGs. But there is room for, as...

That's a really good point. I have a section that I model after the Bobs in Office Space (is that too ancient a reference, I wonder?). You talk about "What you do around here." Session zero has you establish what the group actually starts doing. The game is actually about a crisis that occurs...

I have to say that's an interesting perspective. I've read a lot of great RPGs in the last few years. I don't think really any of them needed a "how do you play RPGs". And yet they all had them. And, masochist that I am, I read them. Some of them were interesting because they told me what the...

I think I definitely misspoke if I gave the impression that I was going to do anything genuinely new, or that I was going to set the world on fire. I am firmly of the belief that there's nothing new under the sun as far as RPGs go. What can be different is how you assemble the different...

This is a really good point! For me, I'm doing my own RPG because I think I have something to contribute to gaming, that I haven't seen before. With this section, I don't want to put it in the game unless it's something I can bring to the table that's interesting. But of course, when you...

That is a really useful question to ask. It seems to me that it depends on what you think the on-ramp is going to be for new DMs. In 5.5E, they didn't think it was going to be a Starter Set, otherwise they would have had one at launch. It seems instead that the new DMG has taken advice that I'd...

I think a good starter set is critical for a game that's trying to reach a large audience. I know I've run the Beginner's Box for PF2 six times at this point. I've played two scenarios with them for 5E. They are a great way to introduce new players to the hobby.

I was never able to actually determine how this worked, but I think it was largely the GM would tell players things and direct them about what was happening. Questions, and back and forth conversation, were discouraged. I ... let's just leave it at that's not how I like to play RPGs, and I never...

Another quick comment: you can see my influences pretty directly when I write about the conversation. That's the main way you play my game. It's honestly how I play almost every RPG both as a player and as a GM. I didn't think this was a controversial point, but I was involved in a thread where...

Some good thoughts here. I am a big fan of John Harper/Vincent Baker, and I have to admit that I bring in elements of his design when playing other games, which is where my idea of "universal" advice takes place. Of course there are different RPG styles but there's a big group of games that are...

I am writing an RPG. Like I suppose a lot of people have attempted over the years. One thing I am dreading writing is the "what is an RPG?" and "how do you play an RPG?" section. You know, the sort of thing that (almost) every RPG has and (almost) no one reads. I had a thought that if there is...

I haven't had the chance to look at the book yet but I understand that a lot of the optional rule mechanics have been removed from the new book. From a rules perspective, I can see the magic items and the Bastion rules. Is there anything else there? Both of the games I'm in are playing with the...