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Context: I have GM'd for an investigator from levels 1 through 9, and three campaigns overall. The investigator benefits from having setup time, but it isn't necessary to the class working. You don't need any of the above, you can ALWAYS use Devise a stratagem (and should be most rounds!)...

It looks like they are doing this - most of what XP could be spent on in the current edition will cost Resource Points instead. What they're specifically keeping is XP for rerolls or player intrusions, which I think is a good thing, to keep them rare.

Controversial take, XP for rerolls is good and I'm glad they're keeping it. You should be incentivized away from rerolling all the time - its more fun when rerolls happen only in desperate moments.

I much prefer the minimalist designs of the current edition.

Just want to comment on this specific fight setup - Graz'zt should be using his teleport to stay out of movement range of all the melee PCs. He has 4 casts of Dominate and a number of spells/legendary actions which create more distance between him and his foes. Was the combat in a very small...

I think the modern OSR is not built to deliver you this kind of experience. While you certainly CAN do this in OSR games with lots of houserules, its not a good starting spot. Your best bet would be systems/adventures designed for trad play - either just actually playing 2e AD&D, or trying...

This sounds miserable regardless of system or edition of the game.

Probably if the convention game revolved around a lot of combat. That said, Shadowdark adventures generally shouldn't revolve around a lot of combat, especially when you have a magic user without a bunch of offensive spells. Did you try avoiding combat? You should have 4 more spells that you...

The most important thing is to make it clear to the players that it is their job to read and learn all the rules as well. They cannot show up and expect you to know everything. Everyone in the group should contribute to learning the game.

An adventure is words on a page. It is text and images used to convey information from author to reader. The only frame of reference that is the same between groups is the actual printed product.

Reviewing a module based on what a DM could hypothetically add to it doesn't make any sense. Yes, a DM can change anything and run things differently than they're written, certainly. That's not really saying anything. What I am criticizing about kotb is what is in the text.

Except that ~20 of the encounters in KotB explicitly tell the GM to attack the party immediately... KotB works best when you ignore all of the bad advice contained inside, which brings me back to my original point: you're only going to get a great adventure out of it if your DM does a ton of...

Faction Play in KotB is very sparely detailed, given only a single paragraph across 36 pages mentioning the idea of turning the various factions against each other. The same section DISCOURAGES the GM from doing any kind of faction play if they have a larger party. Meanwhile, the module is...

Having read a bunch of the classic TSR modules, I imagine that this was always the case when people remark on them fondly. That, or they were 10 at the time.

This is a problem with the Outgunned games and supplements too - everything is just ____ IP with the serial numbers (very lightly) filed off.

Iirc the GM section leaves it up to the GM whether or not to announce the level, and suggests always announcing it when playing with new players.

Expanded worlds has a section on crime and espionage games including a number of non-magical foci. It's certainly not an entire book's worth, but it does exist. First Responders and Stay Alive have tons of resources useful for a modern game, though they're not focused on the same kinds of things.

What part do you find vague or handwavy? The guidance on how to make creatures is very clear to me and the monsters they've statted out are quite detailed.

To be fair, that's kinda how Monte Cook Games markets the game. But yeah - its "narrative" in the sense of traditional games; the GM has a plot and the players are playing through that plot. Its confusing terminology that mixes the game up with Storygames, which are a VERY different thing.

Sooner than later there won't be any 'safe' platforms - your only option will be self-hosting and selling on individual websites.