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In some sense, I think this gets to the heart of something missing in today's RPG'ing and gets back to Lewis's Rule #3: RPG's are meant to be "fun". I think something can be rewarding but not fun. Exercise, at least for me, isn't fun, but it's rewarding. Meditation isn't fun, but it gives...

I will amend my statement here in one respect. Players should be warned ahead of time that the campaign may be bittersweet and there may be losses. I would hate to be tricked into going to see a tragedy, when what I wanted to see was a light hearted comedy. But if the players agree, then...

So, we (or our characters) are always going to win? Remember, none of the cadets knew it was a no-win scenario. Originally, Spock was supposed to stay dead, and Kirk had to learn the meaning of the Kobayashi Maru test the hard way. It was Spock who truly understood that his sacrifice was...

The thing is, Kirk missed the point of the scenario; how to deal with a no-win scenario. An officer has to be able to deal with loss. While in fiction, it's great that we can craft the story the way we want so that the hero is triumphant, real life doesn't work that way. And I actually find...

Is railroading inhibiting player agency or character agency? I've often been fond of the idea of the Kobayashi Maru scenario. A scenario where, no matter what choices the agent (character OR player) makes, they are bound to lose. Take for example being a Spartan at Thermopylae, the French at...

Thank goodness they are removing alignment. I've never understood alignment and all the bike shedding or even heated discussions it causes. Virtually no other game system uses alignment and they do just fine. Everyone has their subjective take on law vs chaos. good vs evil and the borderline...

I'm definitely in the mechanics matters camp. Different die rolling conventions lead to different probability densities and distributions. This not only simulates actions better, but evokes a different experience for the player. This is why I am vehemently against shoe-horning every genre...

With regards to being able to add numbers quickly or do other arithmetic, some people you would think would be good at this aren't. I've done a wee bit of tutoring for people over the years...including other software engineers, who most people tend to think of as being good at math. But I've...

The odds of that happening are extremely small. A little python tells me that (0.6**34) = 2.8651179995807006e-08 (that's seven 0's before the 2...or rounding off is about .0000000286 chance or roughly 28.6 times in a billion rolls) Only if you're interested in math How did I come up with that...

Yes, I was thinking pre-agrarian society before people had a surplus of food and could therefore start specializing in skills...including entertainment. I would suspect even some pre 1900s nomadic societies had far less entertainment as we would think of it. I think entertainment would be more...

I actually think this is less important than we (meaning our modern generation) make it out to be. For tens of thousands of years, mankind got along just fine without books, plays, music (minus singing), fine cooking, or even art...or at least very primitive art. Would we get bored out of our...

These are good pieces of advice. I have to admit, I'm not good at the first one. It's like trying not to complain when there's a rock in your shoe; it's too painful to endure anymore. That being said, I haven't been in a gaming group in a long time. Thank goodness for solo RPGs :) The funny...

If nothing else, it has some lore that I wasn't aware of :) Made me want to go and buy the graphic novels that I didn't even know existed. This reminds me, I need to send an email to Magpie...the distributor did a crappy job delivering, and my lenticular covers and Wang Shi Tong guides all got...

Disclaimer, I only read, and did not play the game. That being said, I generally don't like any kind of "class" based game, and IMHO, the playbooks are a lot like classes as they determine what moves you get. The balancing mechanic was interesting and does suit the game world to some degree...

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but I would love to see a Rurouni Kenshin game. But it has to include the Netflix stories, and not just the anime and manga. Second would be Attack on Titan. One Punch Man would be kind of hilarious if OPM would come out of nowhere like some Deus Ex Machina to...

A feral kid might come in handy too...

Which is why it's very important to build a community as soon as possible. This implies that leadership, communication, and charisma are vital (if you're going to be a leader), or the smarts to realize when you're being milked. Or, the strength to escape if the local strongarms are trying to...

Agreed, and I'll be honest, I'm a city folk :) But both my parents were farm kids, and hearing their stories, I have an appreciation for what it takes to grow food and truly "live off the land". It may be cool from a gaming perspective to be decked out with some sleek black rifle with a bunker...

I have always thought prepper stuff seemed too immediate focused. Like a bug out bag that you need for your immediate survival for the next 3 days. It sounds "fun" for gaming, but it's also not realistic. Beyond the immediate 3 days, you better have a source of food. And I don't mean...