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D&D is notoriously unclear with what various pieces of the game are intended to mean. No surprise we get discussions like this, with people interpreting the same things in completely different ways. The same matter as with hit points. ;) In general, I think that classes should reflect the...

What is the design goal behind having bigger weapons deal greater damage? I'm not saying it's a bad idea - if your goals align with the feeling (and mechanical incentives) it produces. This kind of rule strongly suggests that the real warriors are wield greatswords and huge axes. Rapiers and...

In D&D I generally roll for damage; that's what is in the rules. I sometimes make an exception for big groups of weak monsters - as it would average out anyway. On the other hand, I generally prefer games where there is no separate damage roll. Like in Fate, where stress is equal to the...

More often than not, it's not even a player problem, but communication problem. When players have widely divergent expectations towards the game (which happens often when they are not clearly discussed beforehand), things happen that ruin fun for some or all of the people at the table. It...

To me, it looks like a result of either a misunderstanding of what the icons are for, or a miscommunication between players and the GM. Icons that the players choose are "flags" - they mark what the players want the game to be about. And the icon rolls are there to enforce that. So, if the...

You must remember that the probability distribution is two-dimensional here - probability of success depends on the difficulty level and on skill level. It is very hard to keep it reasonably intact when translating to a different resolution mechanics. In other words, you will have to decide...

Both are art, IMO. But the role of a GM is very different from a playwright or a composer. In my experience, the sessions that could be called "art" had less than average GM control and were driven strongly by player creative input. And I had never seen GM notes that would be as inspiring to...

Have you read the rest of my post? I state that a session of RPG can be art, exactly as a performance is. I disagree with GMing being an art. A symphonic concert is art. Directing it, isn't.

I would never consider GMing a fine art. An RPG session and its emotional impact is not the GM's own creation. In practice, the GM's creative input is usually minority in all but the most railroaded (or participationist) games. On the other hand, I definitely thing that RPG, in general, have a...

The simplest way of handling social rolls is setting (and negotiating, if necessary) clear stakes before the roll is made. This way, the player buy-in for whatever the result is guaranteed first and then the situation is resolved mechanically. Of course, this means that rolls are only made when...

In general, I strongly prefer various "status effects" to damage. In most games, damage means nothing until the character is removed from play; in some cases, it introduces blanket numeric penalties that also do nothing interesting. On the other hand, status effects restrict some activities...

Have you considered Dungeon World? It's "D&D" to a similar extent as Pathfinder (that is, does not share the name, but shares similar setting and playstyle assumptions). It's also rules-light and presents its rules in very clear, easy to understand fashion. All the rules a player needs are on...

I definitely let the player roleplay the charmed character. I know I can trust my players to do it properly. Domination is a harder case. I tend to leave the dominated character in the player's hands if the effect is long-term and take control myself if it's short (one round to one encounter)...

After reading the discussion here, I feel that one of the nonsense assumptions is that an RPG must be either a sandbox or a railroad (or, in the best case, some mixture of these two). In reality, it's not two states, or even a linear spectrum. Sandbox and railroad, as characterized in this...

All the common moves (available to all PCs) together take about one page. Each PC also has a few archetype-specific moves on their character sheet. The rulebook contains extensive explanation of each move, with examples etc. - it takes about 20 pages in total. But the rules themselves fit on a...

I really like how Urban Shadows handle negotiations. On one hand, it has solid rules that free the GM from having to decide if the PCs succeed - something I value. On the other hand, the rules put specific constraints on how they can be used - it's impossible to persuade somebody just with a...

Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine. The game looks very fun, but I just can't find people who'd like to play it. The mix of strange mechanics, strange setting and manga-like aesthetics scares people away.

Same page tool is definitely a good starting point. I would also ask the GM: - How they approach morality? - Is there a clear distinction between NPCs and antagonists? (also known as "Are orcs people or monsters?") - What trigger topics may show up in game? - What do we describe, what do we...

I think there are two kinds of metagaming. One of them is concerned with the mechanics. The metagaming player makes decisions based on how the rules work, not what makes sense in the fiction. I used to have problems with it in the past, but I have none today. It's just a matter of switching...

I've always understood ""epic" as being more about big stakes and far-reaching consequences than about shows of personal power and badassery. The most epic campaign I've taken part in used Mistborn Adventure Game. It definitely had some badass moments, but they weren't what made it great. It...