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Warlocks are not clerics. They do not need to like their patrons, and patrons do not need their warlocks' worship. A warlock (like Maggart) can be in it just for the power, and be working the whole time to get out of the ultimate cost while keeping that power. Player goals, my dude. As to the...

Normally, I would not argue, but this is the Rate 2024 thread, so I am going to argue: running 2024 now, I have not found a change yet that is not worse or at best neutral. Nothing I have seen on the GM side is a marked improvement. I think some of players like some of the player facing changes...

That is what the GM is there for, to interpret unusual mechanical results in a way that enhances the state of play while remaining true to the fiction.

Just do it on failure. Shadowdark characters whiff often enough that it should work out. At least test it and see how it feels.

Give it time...

Sure. That what the dice are for, right? Those times that neither success nor failure are a foregone conclusion.

That's just undermining success, which is not acceptable.

I love haunts. Condition tracks, too.there is a ton of stuff in the Gamemastery Guide I should revisit in fact.

I think it is important to remember that dice also hold in them the unknown elements of any given situation. Say the player makes a persuasive argument, but then rolls really badly. You don't have to (and probably should not) frame that as the PC screwing up. It is better to frame it as...

Bold take.

I think players are generally allergic to anything that smells of taking away their control of their character. It is that simple, I think. I have a warlock PC who HATES his patron -- and his patron wants his soul. So my warlock got himself a ring that will absorb his soul on his death, just to...

We haven't really talked about puzzles and traps yet, and maybe we should when talking about "player skill." I used to try and do the "old school" thing where the players has to tell you where and how they were looking, and then when they found the trap, how they were trying to disarm it. This...

I think the most important thing for a GM to do with regards to NPCs -- no matter whether they prefer the roleplay approach or the mechanics/social combat approach -- is to give NPCs real motivations. I mother who wants her child back above all else can only be manipulated so far by PCs...

The 2024 DMG is a really good introductory DMG, but it isn't a very good general reference DMG and a pretty bad "veteran" DMG.

I think tis makes sense when specifically talking about the dungeon exploration game. Every PC there is a professional tomb robber and dungeon delver. Most of the situations they encounter will "make sense" in that context (however senseless certain dungeon aspects might seem). As such, you...

I think it probably has SHadowdark-esque legs: popular, but not going to replace D&D in the marketplace, even if it replaces D&D for some people. (I am some people, for both games; when I want gritty D&D, I run Shadowdark, and when I want heroic D&D, I run Daggerheart now).

The problem is that many YTers use clickbait headlines for the algorithm even when their content is nothing like that. it makes it very hard to find good content.

Exactly. That is what it is there for. I generally like 5E, and generally prefer it to 3.x, but I do wish they had included similar lists of tasks and DCs that 3.x had.

The idea originally came to me when running Shadowdark, where not having light is a major problem and tension builder. It worked great. I would do the same thing in 5E because at least the shadows would then get advantage on their attacks. But it isn't as interesting in 5E as it is in Shadowdark.

2025 and some people are still like "People watch other people play D&D?!?!?"