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This thread is almost as old as DnD 3.5. :)

I also like to do a lot of prep, but I don't come prepared with a specific adventure I expect the players to do this week. I try to consider all the reasonable options they could go for, and prep for all of them. This is sometimes very time-consuming up front, but it's not as bad as it sounds...

"Who do you want to be in this fantastical world of adventure, as you delve into ancient tombs, uncover lost secrets, and battle creatures from the nether pits?"

2,000 posts! I knew you could you make it! And still, no one willing to address the plain fact that gnomes were a mistake. You all know it's true, deep down.

It's also worth noting that The Colour of Magic was a fairly unsubtle spoof of fantasy literature. Several of the works being spoofed can be found on Appendix N, so there's likely a strong element of DnD and Discworld sharing influences.

The role of GM was not an innovation of DnD, it was ported over from tabletop wargaming. Modern wargames tend not to have GMs, because they have evolved towards more codified rulesets that clearly define what can and can't be done; but some older games took a much more freeform approach where...

Because people with darkvision see in darkness as if it was dim light. Perception checks that rely on sight have disadvantage in dim light. I too think darkvision is too common. The overwhelming majority of races have it, which strongly prejudices people against just playing humans.

Hah. Yes - having grown up in Britain I am familiar with both systems; but I often forget that my European players only know that 5ft = 1 square. So they look at me blankly when I start saying things like 'it's about 20 yards away'.

I'm not really sure I understand the example. I've learnt that I can't have generic flavour runes since coming across that skill that lets warlocks read everything. So if there's writing I have to know what it means. But if I didn't know what the runes meant, and just had to make something up...

Current campaign is on about session 40. I think there have been two or three without a fight. Hard to remember the boundaries between sessions in retrospect.

I don't do checks for any of this. That just feels weird. Ability checks are rolled when a player does something, and there is a possibility of success, a possibility of failure, and a consequence of failure. 'I look at that rune and think really hard' doesn't meet those criteria. I've started...

While I wholeheartedly applaud the intent, I question the practicability of implementation. This sounds like one of those ideas I have that sounds great away from the table, but which I completely forget about when busy adjudicating combat and trying to remember the monster's reactions.

I had this when I was a kid! Mum bought it for me. I never got anyone to actually play a game with me, but I always thought it looked interesting. And I was a big fan of the setting concept. Seemed well suited for some sort of episodic adventure where the players had to a different world each...

Set XP rewards per level for easy, medium and hard challenges (these are already given in the rules). Defining 'easy' is of course somewhat arbitrary, but no more so than the core mechanic of the entire game (setting a DC), so that does not bother me. I guess this is not what you're looking for...

I get the intent, but it doesn't feel right to me. And it's not necessary for XP to be driven by player's goals. Like I said, you can just award XP for steps taken towards the objectives they tell you they're working towards. Unless you don't want them to work towards those objectives, in which...

This is already solved. Give XP for overcoming obstacles and achieving objectives. If the objective is to get past the guards, give the players XP however they accomplish that. Kill all the guards? 300 xp. Sneak past the guards? 300 xp. Trick the guards into allowing you through? 300 xp. Isn't...

That's not how trademarks work. Games Workshop never had a problem describing halflings as skilled archers.

Alright, I'm definitely including a god called something like Teratospago in my next campaign and see how explicit I have to be in describing the iconography before someone gets it.

That problem was resolved already by 1974. Make up your own.

Possible inspiration from another fun game: Old School Hack's Awesome Points. These are distributed by players to other players, from a pool provided by the GM. The GM replenishes the pool in order to 'cheat' (for example, the players kill the evil villain, but you want to use him later on, so...