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Fair enough. Articles have a "hook" which is intended to draw the reader in and the hook was that statement. Maybe you feel it is overly ambitious, but I'd argue that the points you conceded are evidence enough that power creep is damaging. Add to that the fact that power creep makes older game...

I thought it was a very fair piece. The DM (the most cliche of the gamers) was very articulate, approachable, and it was easy to understand his arguments. I'd game with any of the folks in that video and I'm normally pretty harsh since my group has always been very "normal."

Looking for feedback on another article. If interest is piqued, please respond in this thread. ----------------------------------------- Power creep is perhaps the greatest threat to modern RPG game design. That comment is not made lightly. RPGs have to continuously develop (and sell) new...

I'm also not 100% on your question, but I think the jist is about whether people are motivated by "story" or "mathematical probability since they know the numbers and the system." I think attempting to decouple these two things is a mistake and punishing players for being unable to decouple is...

I was thinking about the default roles at the game table which led to an article you can read here. But the conclusion was basically that GMs are set up to constantly "lose" since we want players to succeed. So I started thinking about developing a resource of (mostly humorous) responses to...

Here is the tagline for a free mini-game intended to be played without prep after a TPK (attached). I actually wrote it in conjunction with an article about using rules to align conflicting incentives posted here: Alignment: the most important thing in an RPG. tagline...

Wow, I had not seen that system before. I now also envy the coolness of that mechanic. :)

Most people have a preferred game system but have experience with a lot of different games. What is the thing you envy most about a game other than your preferred system? In other words, ignore the rippling effect of changing a rule and imagine you could port one thing from any system into your...

I recently made a site with the eventual goal of developing a communally created RPG. In the lead up to that, I'm posting mostly general game design articles. Today's article focuses on identifying bad rules. I've copied it below or you can check out the original here: The cost of rules...

I think folks often forget how much less stuff mattered in older versions of D&D. The difference between an 8 strength and a 16 strength with regards to hit probability was nothing. No difference. Today, that same gap would represent 20% of the entire variation the game allows. Introducing...

This is a cool issue and I don't mean for this response to sound dismissive, so please read it as though I'm trying to paint similar arguments from a new angle. Video games have a tremendous leg up on table-top RPGs in being able to instantly compute tons of variables to allow for incredible...

That's a good point and I admit that the analysis is a generalization. After all, high crit on a dagger is worth less than the same on a greatsword yet they both are "valued" at +1 point. In general, though, the value is that it tosses up red flags and makes discussing tradeoffs easier. I can...

I’m getting the idea that I chose poorly in using the term “reverse engineer” because it is implying things I didn’t want. Let me try again. The goal of this post was to demonstrate that creating a system helps you better understand and balance a given sub-set of rules. To illustrate that, I...

Appreciated. I posted it here because the primary goal was to understand the underlying system (although I acknowledge that it immediately begs for house rules). For folks that would rather jump to the chase, here is the link at the end of the original post:

I created a site with the eventual goal of developing a free system populated by user created content. In the lead up to that goal, it will mostly be general game design articles with 4e as the backdrop. The current top post discusses reverse engineering the system 4e designers used to develop...

I can't seem to log out. I click log out dozens of times, each time it says all cookies are deleted, and then immediately I am logged back in. Any help? thanks

It seems the mature thing to do is always the least enjoyable... confrontation is not enjoyable. It would be one thing if the player simply never showed up, but his MO is to disapear for a few weeks and then return and act as though nothing happened. For us, then, it is either confront him or...

To preface, our gaming group has been the same core people for four years of weekly gaming. One of our players has always been something of a problem gamer, but for the last year or so it has intensified a great deal. He has been overly critical of DMs at the table when events conspire against...

When I wrote 'most' I was trying to imply 'full-plate' because such has been my experience. Should have been more specific... Hence, most mid-level fighters have a -5 or worse armor check, and therefore couldn't expect to routinely charge down a flight of stairs (something I consider pretty...

In the '4e more elegant' and other threads in general people seem to reference the various problems with skills a great deal. Personally, I dislike how un-heroic characters can seem with skills. Most high-level fighters couldnt charge down a stairway (DC 10 balance), jump onto a table (DC 10...