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As a player, I never fudged and I don't think I ever will. As a GM, I used to fudge quite a lot, but stopped doing it some time ago. That's exactly what LostSoul wrote above: if the game is not fun unless I fudge, then either the game system is bad or we are using it very differently than...

For me, the perfect number of players is 3. It's enough to have interesting interactions and relationships. In more tactical games, it's enough to have crucial roles covered. On the other hand, the group is still small enough that everybody gets a lot of screen time and the pace is good. That's...

We are talking about different kinds of focus here. For me, the focus is thematic. It's "what is this game about?". And the game may be about "challenging" in the sense of "presenting obstacles to overcome" - but it definitely does not have to. Another way of looking at it: the focus of the game...

My relation to my character strongly depends on the game I play. I enjoy many different play styles, so the stance I use differs, too. That being said, rarely if ever I "am my character" totally. Even when I play with deep immersion, there still is some awareness of OOG matters and it affects...

I definitely expect characters with strong ethical restrictions to have those restrictions (and their consequences) represented mechanically. This adds weight to dilemmas the character may encounter. What I don't like are restrictions that are judged solely by the GM and result in nearly...

For me, it depends strongly on the style of the system in question. If it's, generally, strongly focused on overcoming challenges (combat and non combat) with use of game mechanics, then balance and niche protection become important. In such case, classes and levels are useful. Optimally, there...

From my point of view, magic in a good book or a good RPG is always a "setting element". It fits there, is well integrated, even if rare and generally unknown. If it is not, there is a dissonance, a jarring feeling that the whole does not make sense. It would be nearly impossible for me to run...

Mostly fantasy, but with widely varying approaches to the genre. I also played with modern occult and horror games a little. Other than designing my games from scratch, I rewrote the mechanics of several games for use in my gaming group, because we found their settings interesting and fun, but...

Wolsung Dogs in the Vineyard E6 variant of Pathfinder Nobilis Mouse Guard Call of Cthulhu Savage Worlds Mage: the Ascension and several homebrews

Most of adventures I run fall into two categories: 1. Strongly NPC-based. They are typically urban, but it's not a hard rule. Locations are just a background for interactions, anyway. This kind of scenarios typically has a lot of talking and some fighting, often with one leading to another. And...

There is no such thing as "ultimate system" for me. I like many different play styles and every game that tries to fit them all works poorly for most. I need multiple games, each designed for specific style and setting. Anyway, there are some common traits that each game should have, IMO: 0...

I run many games, with wildly differing styles. For this reason, I find it very important to discuss with players what to expect and what is expected from them. Many problematic situations during I encountered in game were results of bad communication and could be easily avoided if common vision...

I don't feel a need for multiclassing and I see it as a lack of consequence in design. Either a game aims for flexibility or for encouraging certain archetypes. For flexibility, some kind of a point-buy system is best, while classes create an unnecessary complication and restrict player...

I handled this matter in various ways - each game has its own style and approach. When we play with a strong simulationist focus, the main determinant is a reasonable level of in-character knowledge. There are things characters should know, being who they are, even if players do not. There is...

I voted #2, for several reasons: - I don't like miniatures and battle mats. Even for combat-heavy play, I prefer systems that are less about tactical positioning and more about fluid action. - I rarely see tables big enough to comfortably play with more than 3 players. You need much more space...

I differ in my approach from most people posting here, and agree with OP's player. I roll initiative at the first hostile (or potentially hostile) action, not earlier. In my experience it really helps players with considering the whole range of choices, instead of being forced into violence. It...

I know two good approaches to combat-like social interactions. Both address the basic issues: that there is no clear "win" and "lose" in most conversations and that adjudicating them must take a context into account as an important factor. In first approach, the stakes must be set before the...

When I ran a Planescape campaign, the world war quite high-powered. Of course, there were first-level commoners somewhere in the background, but such characters were never meaningfully interacted with. My NPCs had about 3-5th level on average, with PC classes in most cases, and some of them were...

It's the same with me. I have strong opinions on various playstyles. Not only I have my personal preferences, I also see some of them as inherently more and some as inherently less valuable. And I am not ashamed of being judgmental. I just don't feel a need to force my viewpoint on people -...

I love parts of character creation that tie together the concept and the mechanics. That means different things in different games, of course, but the general idea is the same: I like to be able to tell who my character is by looking on the character sheet, without additional, "fluff"...