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I know as a player I can overtalk, especially when I am excited. So I make conscious efforts to slow down and listen to everyone else. And it's OK as I also know my ideas will be heard anyway. I don't have to say them three times or three different ways. We booted one guy who could not do any...

use animal companions and comic relief. they could be the same thing.

Any edition of D&D < 3.0 works well without minis. Or any of the retroclones or simulacra. We just use rough maps & pencils (and erasers if needed). Fights tend to be short so the environment doesn't have to be elaborate.

Of course, yeah, if you are playing with obnoxious players that always play characters who are paragons at everything possible, you have bigger issues in your game than skill checks.

I play a skill-less game with skill checks. I roll under d20 against the relevant ability adjusted by environmental and situational factors. Fail to roll means utter failure, but sometimes partial success. To differentiate characters a bit, every player has a background. So for example, (note...

It's like the Dirty Dozen, Kelly's Heroes or the Odd Couple. Odd group compositions can work out well with a bit of thought. While it is expected there will be some room for tension, there is equally room for comedy. The main thing is that the group be sustainable, and maybe a few stiff...

Zeus woke up one day and found he had turned into Serapis. At the same time, another aspect of Zeus woke up and discovered he had become Zeus Ammon. Yet another aspect of Zeus woke up, felt odd, checked his ID and saw that he had become Jupiter. All of him was the same, in a sense, but each of...

It depends. You can use 10 seconds for measurements, things like moving, spell durations, complex actions etc, but in game reality it's flex time. Rounds take as long as they need to be. Actions (complex versus simple) should be considered in relation to each other. Just have complex actions...

When I was a teenager, I would get ridiculed and then punched for playing the game. However, that's unlikely to happen anymore, so it's no longer a factor. Now I've never had any sort of RPG blowback at work, but then I usually talk hockey or movies or music or whatever common ground there may...

I'm currently running a mini series. The pilot was accepted by the network. Ratings remain strong. We are optimistic about a second season, especially after the goblin invasion cliffhanger that is probably coming...

Burlew is on a publishing tear lately. Feels like a daily script!

An old standby is just having the players taken prisoner. Gamewise, it's a good idea to end the session at a TPK or neo TPK. Leave the players hanging (but also letting them cool off); next session they will sharp and committed. In the meantime, take the time to work out the nature of the...

As others have said, it's only a problem if it affects the game. My group drinks. The biggest problem is frequency of pee and smoke breaks.

Pretty Much. I use BFRPG as my base system ... the morale rules take a quarter page. Morale is a single line entry in a monster listing. It's really just a 2d6 reaction roll, but in combat. In play there's always circumstances to judge, so it doesn't take away DM agency.

The violence of your response is intriguing Mr. Hat. I like a loose system. So in play, a morale roll is like a reaction roll. Or a wandering monster chart. Or a treasure composition table. None of these are dictating to the DM, but they are results that can be used. Anyway, it's not just...

I really like simple morale rules and use them all the time. PC's are never affected by them of course. But they can act more heroic knowing that many of their opponents just might flee or surrender in response to a deadly round of attacks.

I've never played the game in this kind of context, but I am kinda impressed that Organised Play exists at all. It's a lot of work and effort involving thousands (?) of people on a regular basis.

*Looks at his collection of funny shaped dice* I think this genre is built on a high degree of randomness, whether its character generation, combat or wandering monsters. Now the challenge of a player or DM is to overcome that for best results. I like random a lot.

Of course I do. They haven't run out yet, ever, but they think they might. It's a little detail that with my group adds a little more.

12-15. ish. higher levels than that aren't that important for most players.