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Application of the question at different scales, may produce different answers. Comparisons between the way Europeans responded to the news of the first Columbus voyage, with any other historical event of contact between subsets of humanity, such as the Ming treasure voyages, are arguable; any...

If you catch someone showing off and scoring points, do you then score a meta-point, for revealing that person's ego-driven agenda? (If so, do I then score a meta-meta-point, for naming your knock-it-off agenda?) You have the option to stop following this thread, if you don't find it useful for...

The reason isn't a good reason. Because comparing the actions of all the people who came to the Americas from Europe, from Leif Erikson onwards, with all the actions of all the people who came to the Americas from Asia via the Bering Straits, from the Taino to the Inuit, is such a large scale...

That's a good question. Some people can, some can't. It might depend on how you express disagreement. "if you studied this ancient period..." I have my opinions, but I cannot expect everyone to agree with my opinions on moral superiority. I think sometimes there's a moral difference between...

To me this comes across as talking down, as if you're assuming that Gradine hasn't studied that period, and as if you're assuming that Gradine has an oversimplified view of who's nice and who's nasty. When people disagree with you, is it always because they're ignorant? You apparently believe...

That's a reasonable concern. I'm glad you're able to put people at ease.

I'll suspend disbelief at various levels for various purposes. I enjoy Far Side cartoons in which cave-men co-exist with stegosaurus (and the Thagomizer). I've played D&D characters who could *reliably* expect that after falling fifty feet, they'd be able to stand up and fight (and/or sprint). I...

This does not address the first sentence of my post. (shrug) if you have players who are interested, then have fun. not my cup of tea.

As a player, if I wrote a character who lives on the shore of the Mediterranean in 1250 BC, the gap between "how my PC would understand the situation" and "how I as a player would understand the situation" would be too wide for me. I can't imagine a Bronze Age warrior (not even with the wits of...

I salute Paul Ming's patience, and encourage others to follow his example.

Whether sessions include eating together Whether sessions include breaks Use of phones or other devices Relative roles of host and of DM Appropriate ways to raise concerns Sandbox-to-Railroad Ratio Who sets the pace of the session Consequences for misbehavior: to character, or to player?

I generally prefer con games which provide pre-generated characters. Pre-gens are, when competently written, roughly equal with each other. Sometimes each pre-gen character has short notes on how that character gets along with each other member of the team; this helps clarify each character's...

IMO here's my ideal: when you have thoroughly explored what you can do at level X, then it's time to advance to level X+1. I'd guesstimate around 15-30 hours of session time, with variables depending on class and path. For example, gaining the ability to cast Plane Shift, opens up a wider range...

True Polymorph is a high requirement, and regular Polymorph could only turn the insect into a beast. Is it THAT hard to find a willing humanoid?

I don't know if it can in 5E. But in real life, a skilled con artist sometimes gets outcomes along those lines, within minutes. For example, if you can persuade a Marine, that you are a fellow Marine, you can then exploit a degree of camaraderie. See also, computer hackers who talk people into...

I played for a while in a campaign which started at level 13, with plot lines only relevant to those who can cast Plane Shift (and their martial counterparts). Several encounters ended with PC retreat, often using Plane Shift. In most of those cases, the PCs took a long rest, sometimes adjusted...

Did you notice that the OP reduced all weapons to their mechanics? Using the PHB, as written: "Six gnolls cackle at you, some drawing swords, others brandishing axes or banging spears against shields, their insane laughter echoing in the cavern." The PHB has rules for swords, axes and spears...

How important is it, to your DM style, that the PCs encounter foes which are closely matched to their abilities? I'm happy with a game in which the PCs don't know whether a foe will be easy to defeat, hard to defeat, easy but only if they burn resources, or it's time to run away. If the DM...

DM: "As you approach the city walls, you see some guards at the gate. They're wearing medium armor, and carrying large martial melee weapons." Player: "The kind that does slashing damage, or the kind that does piercing damage?"

The first custom magic item I created: the Void. Not a physical, tangible object. More like a reality ripple. Only the party's Warlock could sense its existence. DM: "You check for treasure and find Nothing." Player: "Darn." DM: "So, do you take the nothing?" When attuned and equipped, the...