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Prestidigitation, for sure - it has many fun uses, but instant cleaning is the most important. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep the house, clothes, dishes and everything else clean, even with modern technology. Doing it with a single word and gesture would be great. Invisible Servant -...

I definitely want to play or run Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine, but haven't yet found enough people interested in this game.

I'm not completely decided on the order among my "top 10", but I'm sure what games are there: 1. Fate Core 2. Dogs in the Vineyard 3. Dungeon World 4. Nobilis 5. Exalted 6. Blood&Smoke (aka new-new-Vampire) 7. D&D 4e 8. Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (and other Cortex+ games) 9. Chuubo's Marvelous...

I have encountered people who were shy or short on ideas. In general, I neither kicked them out nor forced them into spotlight. I run the game normally and they usually stay in the background. They don't do much (there is much more talking than fighting in my games typically), but having them...

What I do is gathering players' ideas and building the situation in game around them. So instead of designing a situation and wondering how to make players interested in it, I take players' input (their characters' goals, motivations, relations, weaknesses) and focus the game on them. Players...

I see no reason for a published adventure to necessarily be a railroad. Most of them are, due to authors' personal preference or laziness, but definitely don't have to. While I rarely run published adventures, I did it yesterday and the adventure I used is a good example of the non-railroady...

If a player doesn't want to use a significant part of their character's abilities, it's definitely a reason to have in-depth conversation about it. Because it means something is not right. Maybe the player doesn't really want to play this game. If so, it's better to make it clear (and switch...

I agree with Hussar and pemerton here (unfortunately, I can't XP them). Many kinds of mechanical rules support engaging the situation, instead of ignoring them. Rules that effectively skip over a situation or reframe it can be used intentionally for things that are not important and that...

1. Not all rules are about numbers and rolls. For example, Dungeon World gives very specific agenda and principles for the GM and lists "moves" they can use while running the game. They define the style and flow of the game. Ignoring this part of the rules affects the game much more than...

In each RPG, I focus quite a lot on the rules. I may play a freeform game just fine without any rules. So if the game has rules, they should positively affect the experience. If I'm playing a game with rules, I'm not going to ignore them. If the rules don't work as they should, the game is not...

Powers thematically centered on a loved person (probably require some kind of mechanical tracking of who the PC is bound to by love): - Get a significant bonus when helping, defending or trying to understand somebody you love - Know where a loved person is, their emotional state and general...

I like the language, but I may not be the best person to judge it. English is not my first language and many subtleties are invisible to me. I really like the style of your introduction, the way it is built. It focuses on the tone and style of play, so I can see what the game is about and why I...

I avoid games that demand contradictory things from me. The most common case of such problematic games are games that expect me to play efficiently and tactically (combat is an important part of play and defeat is not interesting) but break when one approaches them this way and optimizes. In...

Piracy is only a problem for very famous games. People who will pirate your game probably wouldn't buy it anyway, so you lose nothing and gain some free advertising (if they like it, they may come back and buy later to help you make more). So you don't have to worry about it. But requiring a...

There are several GM-less RPGs, like Polaris or Fiasco. They are , in general, focused more on interactions and story than combat and exploration. This can work either as a sole replacement for a traditional RPG or as something you mix with board games, depending on the group's needs. It can...

I haven't bought a physical RPG book in nearly 10 years. There are several reasons for that: 1. I don't have space for keeping all the books. On the other hand, I can keep hundreds of PDFs on my laptop or reader and have them on hand when I travel. I also don't have to worry about them being...

I believe all games should be very balanced. But what the "balance" means depends on the game in question. If a game mainly focuses on PCs facing and overcoming challenges, all characters should be balanced in how well they overcome these challenges. If different kinds of challenges are...

For me, it strongly depends on the game in question. In games with mostly freeform character creation (points to distribute, self-defined traits, few if any mechanical interactions between various parts of the character) I start with the story side (themes or relations I want to explore...

It's quite typical in Dogs in the Vineyard. Conflicts typically start with talking, but if both sides are determined to get the stake things escalate towards physical (grabbing, pushing etc.), then fists and finally shooting. This escalation is a basic part of the resolution system. As a more...

None of the three is my favorite fantasy game. The best system for running fantasy is Fate Core for me. And among various editions of D&D and D&D-likes my favorite is 4e. But choosing from the games listed, I think I'd go with 5e. I like Pathfinder for it's extensive SRD and many fun ideas...