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Seconding, thirding, and fourthing this recommendation. Must read for anyone interested in samurai. On the off chance that you're running your game in late 19th-Century Japan, Nakae Chomin's Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government gives you a really good look at Japan's competing political...

Check out Spirit of the Century--it's much, much less technical than d20 Modern, but it's absolutely a perfect fit if you're interested in a more storytelling-oriented game. Here's the SRD, as well.

That's awesome!

As someone who almost exclusively GMs, I find that a disproportionate number of my NPCs (15% or so?) are old women with one of the following voices: *"We are not amused!" *The wealthy dowager voice from Marx Brothers movies *A creaking old peasant lady voice. "'ello deary!" I don't think I've...

Maybe in your games, but not in everyone's. Certainly that's not how I would play Spirit of the Century, for instance. I like having villain monologues in silly games, and most of my players do, to. I had one player in my last campaign interrupt the BBEG's cackling monologue and shout, "I...

This was definitely how I managed things in 3rd edition. I don't run 4e, but I imagine you should be able to continue to run things that way. 4e's page 42 is designed (to my mind) for the DM who wants the PCs to succeed at 70% or so of the tasks they attempt. If that's not your goal (and I...

The stats-by-level page in 4e--can't remember if it's in the DMG or MM--looked really familiar to me. I took one look and said, "Get out mah head!" The number one thing that lets me "wing it" in any combat-oriented game is my little GM cheat sheet. I make a generic stat block, then adjust to...

It's not how I run games, but I can see the appeal of simulationism. You can get a kind of emergent behavior that isn't present in other ways of running the game. When you look at the rules as the guidelines by which an imaginary universe function, you can do things like flinging the party's...

Sounds like an advanced application of the Knowing practice to me! Gnosis (2) + Spirit (2) - Resistance (?) = ? dice, 0 successes. "I am a fragment of the events of the Alpha, my dear," the spirit replied. "Built by Henry Hobson Richardson, the F.L. Higginson House is a perfect example of the...

I and my players are in it to tell cool stories, so we run our games differently. I think it's a lot easier to improvise when the goal is to tell a cool story, and problem-solving of the kind you're describing calls for a certain level of DM preparedness. Certainly in the past when I ran games...

I think doctorhook should encourage his/her players to try it, because they might find out that they like it once they do. I got into the hobby as a miniature-pushing wargamer, but once I made the connection with the improv theatre I had done in high school, I found out that I really liked...

Who cares? Some people (myself included) play roleplaying games as a form of sit-down improv theatre, and it doesn't much matter whether that's called "roleplaying," "acting," or "polyhydrogenated soybean oil." How does this semantic argument help anyone to enjoy the game more?

It's probably not a good technique to use on players who want what you want, then. My players care more about how interesting the story is than the problem-solving aspects of RPGs, so it doesn't much matter to them whether they succeed or fail, as long as it was a fun story and everyone got to...

Freedom is yours... with Zanthrea! Do you suffer from poxes, palsies, arthritis, or the gout? Do you sometimes have the urge to use the privy more often than usual? Do you lay awake at night for hours at a time? Have you lost one or more teeth in the past month? Consult your apothecary to...

Nobody tell my players, but this is exactly how my "mysteries" go down. If the player's speculation is reasonable, or at least reasonably fun, he's right--unless another player gets it in his head that it must be a red herring! :lol: Many an adventure has been generated simply through the...

While roaming the wilds of the Internets for WHFRP stuff, I found this great article on how to improvise effectively. It uses a few Warhammer examples, but it's a great guide for any GM who wants to ditch their 3-ring binder full of notes and let the players lead the action. I started doing...

I found a couple of reference PDFs that you guys may find useful. One's a cheat sheet for all kinds of stuff, the other is very similar to the link Solarious provided, but it goes up to 5 dots in each Arcanum. Enjoy!

"Here goes nothing..." muttered Gabriel, and began a High Speech incantation. "Prekiniti ta duh klavir!" The assembled mages watched as the piano's Twilight expression cracked, splintered, and shattered into shards of ephemera, which fell onto the floor, liquefied, and seeped into the cracks...

Define roleplaying however you like, but doctorhook wants his players to engage in activities other than out-of-character descriptions of combat maneuvers. It's a problem if doctorhook finds that kind of play unsatisfying. Whether or not it bothers you to have players project their own...

I really like the New World of Darkness abilities. There are three categories: physical, mental, and social, and each has power, finesse, and toughness. Physical Power: Strength Finesse: Dexterity Toughness: Stamina Mental Power: Intelligence Finesse: Wits Toughness: Resolve Social Power...