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It's not really an issue if not all terms apply to all games; what becomes an issue is if the same term can mean completely different or even contradictory things depending on assumptions about what kind of games are being discussed. That's why it's important to recognize and look for places...

I don't think I understand this viewpoint, or at least I lack the perspective necessary to empathize with it. If I'm roleplaying an unpleasant jerk, and my friend is roleplaying another unpleasant jerk, and our characters both decide to off each other, that doesn't negatively impact my...

Yea, I’d just let the stat boost go to one of the other stats, but keep the save DC on Charisma. This is a super niche use case anyway.

It's a really common trap for people to fall into to think it's necessary to pick a lane; that liking a new type of game means you also to have eschew your old way of playing. You can play a loosely defined story game, or a more tightly defined narrative game, or a crunchy trad game all at...

Exactly. If the DM was a holodeck, than of course it would be much easier to play in a fully-immersive, "react as the character" manner. But since even the best DM can only provide .001% of the feedback of a holodeck, we use other techniques instead.

Tidier, but IMO, less interesting. Managing a limited spell deployment, to me, is more interesting than the deeper reserves of standard casters.

For sure. Some tables use spells as strictly diegetic objects; both wizards and light clerics are casting fireball, like you described, and that is recognized as being the same identity within the fiction, even if the source and techniques for the two characters are different. Items like spell...

Sheriff is definitely 0/10, would shoot.

It would just be nice if people could stop using game jargon and just talk casually for once. :)

This is how I view the word usage. If the DM narrates the party seeing a patrol of orcs a few hundred yards ahead, the party has had an encounter (game usage). If the party proceeds to stealth around the orcs and continue with their travels, they did not encounter (natural usage) the orcs...

Well, yes, obviously. The problem is the natural usage of the word encounter means to actually, ya know, interact with something. “Encounter” as a term of game jargon generally means some pre-prepped bit of interactable content, which conflicts somewhat with its natural usage. Modules are a...

Notice how important "planned" is in that definition being viable, and how much it assumes a norm of pre-planned, module or dungeon-crawl style play.

Agree to disagree. That period of complexity and novelty was the high point of the 3e era to me.

But D&D, particularly 5e, is a game about fantasy superheroes.

To me, 24 sessions feels pretty long. Something going to 50 sessions would feel eternal. Looking back, the most sessions I've ever done in a single campaign was in the upper 30s. For D&D-type games, I would say 20 sessions spanning 3-4 levels feels "just right". Anything under a dozen I...

Heh. "Rule Zero" for bad rules is akin to saying you shouldn't arrest burglars because you can always just lock your doors and windows. Yes, bad rules will always exist. Yes, they will always need to be ruled around if they impact the flow of the game. But the bad rules should also be...

Red. WotC not producing desired material (like psionics) only serves to hasten the transition away from "official WotC" and towards 3pp material. which is my long-term desire.

I generally prefer for games to run for 18-24 3-4 hour sessions. So around 75 hours of play, roughly. Most of my games are twice a month so this would be about a real-world year of play. To me, that's plenty of time to engage with some plot, and have a nice little character arc for everyone...

The core issue with using D&D as a generic toolkit system is its magic system. D&D has an incredibly specific, bespoke magic system. You can strip it out fairly easily, sure, and use the remaining resolution systems as a core chassis. But to do that, you've stripped out so much from the...

I don't think it's "zero-sum", but I don't necessarily agree with ideas like "a rising tide lifts all boats" or "a strong D&D makes for a strong TTRPG market." But I'm anticipating a weakening 5e market and an inability to make a viable 6e will prove to be a test bed for this particular...