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Well, Alaska and the entire country of Canada.

And Flaws.

Backstory? I find it really odd that anyone playing an RPG would see their caracter as a "pawn." That just defeats the whole purpose of playing an RPG. And contrary to your assertion, most RPGs do not need anything like alignment. Most modern RPGs give you guidance on how to create backstory...

I’ve gotten around the excess rolling by turning minion attacks and traps into lair actions. Edit: should probably better explain. Example: in a recent pirate ship battle, the ship's crew was assisting the PCs against the big band and a few of his henchmen, all quite tough. Rather than add 20...

I don’t like or use alignment but one of my players does. He likes it because he has trouble getting into role play and finds it provides him a handy set of rules for how to play his character. It is perhaps not a surprise that he plays a paladin. Anyway, it works for him so I say bless.

Causal factors in the rise of D&D (IMO): 1. The demographics of Gen X. 2. The publication of 5e 3. Pop culture tie-ins (see 1) 4. The growth of streaming 5. Lost Mine of Phandelver I’ve probably forgot something, but those are the big five in my mind, and I think 1 dwarfs everything else.

My understanding is that Felicia Day suggested the switch because D&D is better known.

You’re aware that CR started as a private game, right?

They literally did do it for free originally. I also run my games for free. It is possible for something to be both a job and a passion.

See, I think it's about "punishing" the players, in a fun way, for playing their characters like they're dumb. It's not heroic to go charging into an unknown, potentially dangerous situation without exercising a little due caution, it's stupid. After the first trap or two, if they wanna keep...

I would argue that Critical Role has built a much more diversified business than WotC.

There's no "maybe." It isn't close. On some stockholder reports D&D barely rates a mention, just being lumped in with WotC, whereas MtG is a pillar not just of WotC but of Hasbro. It's just a much, much more profitable game. We have game store owners who post here; presumably they can share. I...

I like it! The first game of my current home campaign took place in a driftstone quarry:

I think D&D owns the fantasy genre for TTRPGs. Period. Everyone else is fighting for its scraps, for the reasons that you cite. It's a big enough genre that those scraps can still be enough to support some awesome games, don't get me wrong, and I wish them well. But I think anyone thinking that...

I point out that according to Hasbro's reports to investors (so, pretty reliable unless they want to go to prison), MtG dwarfs D&D in terms of revenue. Like, five times as much.

I just watched the Fireside Chat with Mercer and Mulligan, and they talk a fair bit about having the main architects of D&D on their team, so that when they need a new creature or item or whatever, Perkins and Crawford just make it for them and it almost feels canon.

I think that it is mostly DM types (i.e. 90%+ of the people on this forum, I suspect) that are driven to try out different TTRPGs and mechanics. It's a lot of expense, in terms of time, money, and effort, and as you say, your average player doesn't see the value in the proposition. I can get my...

Monster Manual 2 would be very welcome - one thing I've noticed about using books that have come out since the 2024 rules update is that older monsters feel both weak and one dimensional. In the 2024 book, most monsters are not only tougher but have some kind of tactical option, even if it's...

Hot take: maybe the Critical Role cast just love playing D&D as much as they've always said they do. Ashley Johnson has said in multiple interviews that, if CR all went away tomorrow, they'd still be getting together every week to play. She's waxed poetic about how much D&D, specifically...