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    Different philosophies concerning Rules Heavy and Rule Light RPGs.

    Although there are also some very interesting (and reasonably influential) games from the late 90s. The two I'm thinking of (admittedly one has a 2000 publication date, from memory) are Maelstrom Storytelling and HeroWars. The latter morphed into HeroQuest, then HeroQuest revised, and now there...
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    D&D General GMing and "Player Skill"

    Often we agree, but on this occasion we don't. On the issue of ranking: there can be a "known best player" without an official leaderboard. In my main university RPG group, everyone knew which player was the best at deploying the Rolemaster spell rules; he was also (subsequent to attaining this...
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    Different philosophies concerning Rules Heavy and Rule Light RPGs.

    Another interesting thing about the comparison of Daggerheart (as rules "light") to PF2e (as rules heavy) is that it can help someone whose main experience is PF-esque and D&D/d20-esque games to see what is possible with other designs. That might help them appreciate how even lighter RPGs are...
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    Worlds of Design: Life in the Big City

    I don't know FR very well. Is there scope to imagine that, in FR, a deep water port means navigable approaches and docking consistently over (say)15' deep? But I think it makes a pretty good model for a D&D city! The cities I've been in that have given me the greatest degree of D&D vibe are Fez...
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    Different philosophies concerning Rules Heavy and Rule Light RPGs.

    Yet someone coming from PF2e sees it that way! Maybe that tells us something about PF2e?
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    Does Your Game Have Random Encounters?

    Is this in the context of D&D play (or some similar sort of FRPG?) Can you say a bit more about how your system works: who is rolling? when? modified how (eg what stat)? And do you have a look-up table that you're using, or something else?
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    Does Your Game Have Random Encounters?

    The use of random encounters as a type-of "clock" is one well-known use case. The other, though, is as a type of "world simulation". At least as I understand and approach them, this is the role of random encounters in Classic Traveller and of events in Torchbearer 2e. To borrow some language...
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    D&D General Why do people like Alignment?

    I see this as a type of gameplay mismatch: * The 3E rules - for better or worse - present themselves as a game for playing combat-oriented, dungeon-assaulting fantasy. The wealth-by-level rules are a component of this. (There are well-known flaws in the design, including the tension between NPC...
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    D&D General Why do people like Alignment?

    To me, it seems to come down to a desire not to want to waste one's leisure time. I mean, the GM you're talking about isn't accepting "no" either - presumably because they are determined to spend their leisure time doing whatever it is they want to do with their setting/campaign. I personally...
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    D&D General Why do people like Alignment?

    There's a widespread view, at least among D&D players, that the GM has the sole authority to make things true in the fiction. This leads to the idea that if the GM decides something is true (say, in their notes) then it is true, as part of the fiction, even if never shared with the other...
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    Different philosophies concerning Rules Heavy and Rule Light RPGs.

    Huh? I'm not sure how writing down more stuff makes the character feel less like a piece of (or a bundle of) paper. The rules for Cthulhu Dark are pretty short. And all a character is is a name, a job and an Insanity ranking. But I've not found Cthulhu Dark characters to be less vibrant than...
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    D&D General Why do people like Alignment?

    I've co-authored a lot of papers. That doesn't require a "leader".
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    DMing philosophy, from Lewis Pulsipher

    Using the vocabulary of GNS (from The Forge), he identifies two forms of simulationism - purist-for-system (eg C&S) and high concept (the "living novel" approach, where as I posted upthread he anticipates the issues with Dragonlance) - and also two forms of gamism - the gamble ("lottery D&D")...
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    D&D General Why do people like Alignment?

    I don't think alignment contributes any sophistication to moral thinking in play, for the reason that I already posted in this thread: it characterises all the major moral outlooks/approaches as good, and hence has nothing to say about disagreements between them. In my own play experience, I...
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    D&D General GMing and "Player Skill"

    Agreed. It seems like a concession to the sorts of approach that Pulsipher criticises. I think it's interesting in that it shows that Gygax/TSR was aware of this variety of approaches to play as early as 1978. Interesting point. I think that there are differences between Gygax's PHB and DMG...
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    Ben Riggs: 'The Golden Age of TTRPGs is Dead'

    Which entails that it can't be anything but opinion, doesn't it? Anyway, I'm still not sure that measurement or metrics are how we identify golden ages. I'm probably out of touch. My sense of when things might have "peaked" is a little different - but still, I don't have any sense of a "golden...
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    D&D General Why do people like Alignment?

    I'm not telling you what you meant. I'm saying that there is a difference between player actions determine alignment and GM arbitrates alignment based on player actions. For instance, the player could determine their PC's alignment based on their actions. Or they could ask the opinion of the...
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    D&D General Why do people like Alignment?

    I agree with @EzekielRaiden: there is a big difference between alignment is a consequence of how the player plays their PC and alignment is decided by the GM on the basis of how the player plays their PC.
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    D&D General Why do people like Alignment?

    The original AD&D rulebooks (PHB and DMG) are clear that "good" encompasses the general range of moral view: LG is framed in Benthamite terms (the greatest benefit for the greatest number) while concepts of "right" and of "welfare", "satisfaction" and "life, happiness, and prosperity" are also...
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    I've never read or played MouseGuard, though I have heard of its phases/turns before. (I know TB2e fairly well, but it uses a different phase structure.) I'm curious about your (1) - as in, to what extent is the GM free to set the stakes in the GM turn? Is there some expectation that these will...
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