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I will wildly speculate that the last panel foreshadows the nature of Belkar's death: he will find he needs to die to win, and it will work. Assuming the oracle's prophecy isn't total misdirection, of course.

That's a perfectly reasonable attitude to have in the absence of reasons to think otherwise, but my opinion is that a little optimism is actually justified in this case, and not just wishful thinking. I'm optimistic because concrete ideas are flowing, because sound DM judgment can address this...

There are two levels of market in play here: the first is the market of the setting (the utility to characters), and the second is the market of game itself (utility to players). We pretty much need to make sure the relative valuation of items works well when considered as a game, otherwise the...

I'm don't think I'm assuming that a robust market for magic items exist. (I suppose I am assuming the physical gp is a liquid asset, but that's practically its raison d'être.) The whole notion is to use the concept to imagine how a game's magic item economy could work in highly liquid or...

I certainly agree with you that there is tension between powerful interesting magic items and keeping character ability in the forefront, but I think you've missed the point that obviates the conundrum: what decoupling magic item power (whether large or small) from character ability would...

Did those old articles provide inexperienced DMs the tools to make those judgments well enough to run that sort of game? (This is an honest question, I only know about these articles secondhand.) If not, then the real issue isn't whether we're pursuing something new, but whether the game gives...

I'm in complete agreement. To my mind the best thing about decoupling magic items from assumed wealth and character advancement is it enables essentially all styles of play (and manner of story) to work better than they did before. In fact, it enables multiple styles of play within the same...

It's official: Mearls has ruined onions. The one thing I don't really like about his solution is the constraints it places on the added modules so that they are individually balanced against each other, even though that is probably the sanest way forward. Even though this would guarantee that...

Why thank you. I hope the same is true below, although the content is a bit more pointed. (I will respond to your charge that the rules do not make sense in a moment.) It needn't be a universal response, but it does have benefits. When the game's rules coexist peacefully with some simple...

Ehhh, there are various ways to interpret flat-footed, and some of them will fit better or worse with the rules and the rules' various goals/simulations/abstractions, but it seems a bit premature to excoriate the rules (or other posters) when the very act of interpreting adds a whole heap of...

Another thread is discussing playing 2e, 3e, and 4e at the same time, in the sense of multiple ongoing campaigns. And it is indeed an interesting conversation. But there is another way to play a bunch of editions at the same time, and that is include all the rules from all the editions in the...

On the contrary, my usual preference is for crunchy strategic/tactical games, where a strong narrative is an emergent property. I think the reason I'm having trouble is that I'm trying to spin ideas for the Timmy, and I'm not really one. Here's my tension: 1) It's relatively easy to think of...

I'm pretty confident the GM is using the Dresden Files rules as the basic source for FATE in our game, so it wouldn't surprise me if he took that idea but chose to go in a slightly different direction. I should ask him. I've read some parts of the Diaspora SRD before (I found the ship combat...

I'm thinking along similar lines. One problem I have is that, in general, I shy away from gamist mechanics unless I can ground them in the setting. Still, one idea I had was to create a pool of drama points that ebbs and flows in the battle. On a player's turn he can specify a dramatic action...

Thanks! Of all the DMs I've played with, my impressions of those that were naturally the best were those that apparently took the "Fast Talk" feat at first level. (And let me tell you about my bridges sometime! Such a deal!) In one case I played in the DM's first game ever (I think it was a...

Next week my group is starting a 2nd game, a FATE 3e campaign in a setting that is inspired by Stargate. Three of us are very familiar with the show, and one of us is not. However, to help us break away from the tropes and background of the show, the GM has had us play the Microscope RPG for a...

You're correct, of course, that magic as physics and the "natural expectations" regarding magic will not be uniform. Let me be clear: I think in the game we can accept that the potential of magic is essentially limitless and that "a wizard did it" is perfectly coherent. That, however, does not...

Long story ahead. I've never considered myself a particularly good improvisational player or DM. I like preparation and considered courses of action, and am generally most comfortable in that style of play. Which is why tonight's game was an amazing and challenging experience. For the last...

That's an excellent point, and I must admit I don't have quite as firm a grasp on the Timmy idea. (Some of the more recent posts have been helpful in that regard.) I'm also not quite sure how to use mechanics to influence the problematic Timmy to be a better team player, at least not without...

Can people say something with their dying last breath in a world? Can they be mortally wounded but linger? Can they lose an arm permanently? If the rules say yes, then clearly the answer is yes. To the degree the rules don't address all these little variations, or do so in a clumsy way, then...