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It's also my experience that less adversarial RPG campaigns more easily permit player collaboration. Players are less tempted to angle for advantage in their requests or conceal information from the referee, and referees feel less obligated to default to answering "no" to every player request...

This may be somewhat incoherent, just trying to address the topic. The roles I am interested in the the context of RPGs are the roles that emerge from the mechanics. These have some sort of objective existence providing mechanics are being used to resolve game conflicts - totally freeform RPGs...

I don't think the comparison is direct here, at least for 4e. Strikers have similarities to light infantry but do more raw damage than defenders typically, bonus defender damage is often contingent on the enemy making choices that trigger it, and not all defenders have bonus damage mechanics. I...

I agree with this post in general. But I think the Striker entry above lacks something important - Strikers often have some sort of ability to pick and choose their targets, whether it's stealth, ranged attacks, improved mobility, teleportation etc. This facilitates their job to do damage to the...

Injured but dying PCs can be stabilised by a healing check in some versions of D&D and automaticallyt in others. Dying NPCs often involve DM fiat in and of themselves,as there iare few ways by the rules for someone to issue a dying declaration and then expire, due to the coarse nature of the hp...

I object to the tactic of painting people who disagree with you over "rulings not rules" as the only unreasonable people. I've seen plenty of unreason on all sides of this issue. IMO it's a matter of taste. Some players and DMs want definitive rules, even if they immediately go and houserule...

I've seen letters looking for official rulings from the very start of the hobby. Rules clarifications, official rulings, and possible variants have all been around. A reasonable percentage of the player base want clear rules, and seek to dispel ambiguity when possible. I'm one of them. This is...

It's weird, loads of good suggestions in this thread, and I'm stuck on the thought that in a pseudomedieval society based on historical precedent, this would end up yet another way to grind down the peasantry. Peasants were often prohibited from owning weapons, forced to used the lord's mill...

I greatly value transparency and clarity in rules, so much so that I haven't bought 5e because it isn't transparent and clear. I want a ruleset that can be used as written without constant adjustment and tweaking. I don't expect perfection, but my sense of aesthetics can't handle sloppy rules...

One thing I haven't seen mentioned in this discussion is whether or not there are classes in play that depend on short rests for some of their abilities. The harder it is made to take a short rest the less playable classes depending on a short rest are. Making short rests practically impossible...

Despite the fact that I'm generally refereeing these, days, I still feel sympathy for the players in situations like the OPs, There are two important facts for referees to remember 1)you know almost everything about your game and gameworld. The only thing you don't control is the PCs. Messing...

My highest level character in 2e was 20th level, though designed at high level. The highest level PC I played from 1st level rose to 12th level. My own campaigns all aim to rise to high level. My 3rd ed campaign went to 23rd level, but became increasingly work-intensive. My previous 4e campaign...

I feel this argument is a bit of a red herring as entirely-NPC faction fights using the combat rules will be slow regardless of the ruleset used. In fact there is no obligation for the DM to use the full RPG combat rules to resolve inter-NPC fighting, effectively impractical past a certain...

I do think tactics, strategy and logistics are good terms. The planning I referred to in previous points pertains mostly to the latter two. I think the earliest editions of the game had a mish mash of mechanics that often resulted in poor odds for the players when used, the rules were of...

I also agree with at least some of Ruin Explorer's comments. Not everyone enjoys a deadly game, and even more would prefer some capability to dial deadliness up or down to suit the particular campaign.. There are plenty of players who don't like high mortality games, but a lot of them don't...

In the Action Movie paradigm the plot tends to be stated up front, transparent and typically isn't messed with. It tends to be "Bring down the BBEG" with a side order of "Save the Hostage" and "Now it's personal". Action Movie logic is in effect, specifically that "Action is Effective" and...

From the very beginning of D&D I feel there has been a tension between those who crave clear unambigous rules and clarifications, and those willing to accept or even preferring ambiguous rules. From someone of the former camp, I see the advantages of the latter camp as facilitating situational...

Some people prefer RPG rules to be extremely clear and unambiguous, others want the rules to be as invisible as possible, most people as usual being in the middle. I'm one of the former. My experiences of early D&D and other RPGs, with strong DM dictatorship and "rulings not rules" the default...

New players need to be encouraged to have (appropriate) goals and take calculated risks. While some players are content to be passive, I find a number of them have been taught to be passive, not have plans, backgrounds or ambitions. Admittedly it's often because new players first active...

I got disillusioned with the hit penalties method of restricting combat maneuvers in some editions of D&D. This typically made the combat maneuvers a bad choice unless the player invested in enabling feats for his PC at which point it could become the best choice all the time, possibly making...