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As to the notion that dealing fictional death to evil vampires, trolls, demons, dragons, etc., is all by itself going to create bigotry toward human beings, I have never seen any evidence to suggest that. Now, one certainly can make propaganda in which fantastic monsters stand in for...

I am not up on the scientific research, but here are some preliminary observations from what I have encountered in life: Someone with a deep revulsion toward violence will not in the first place find depiction of violence in any form entertaining. That level of sensitivity does not contain...

In a full-scale campaign, it is par for the course. Of course, the Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil types tend not to sign up for the same teams! Gangbusters tends to see criminals whacking even members of the same gang for various reasons. Suspicious minds make for itchy trigger fingers, and...

I think Pavis and the Rubble should be splendid as offering both a basic set-up analogous to the classic D&D dungeon and also plenty of Gloranthan flavor. There are different scenarios in the 2nd ed. and 3rd ed. materials, some of which might be good for novices. Borderlands (not necessarily...

FA2 Nightmare Keep, by Rick Swan, also came out in 1990, I think -- and was for my taste much superior to "Vecna Railroads!". Edit: Wikipedia says 1991, so maybe "Vecna Lives!" was not really quite the last nail. I do know that after '91 I pretty much lost interest in TSR product, so there...

I don't recall any reason to consider those possibilities disastrous to a fun game. Maybe I should have a look to refresh my memory of the situation. Not, as I tried to make clear, that I seriously mean to place the scenario in the top 5 of all time! Paul wrote in his introduction that he had...

"Killing a shard of soul" would have been too vague a notion, I think, for my parents to worry about. There were much more obvious elements of D&D to find objectionable back in the day, most chiefly: - violence - greed - bigotry ... nor were those exceptions to the general run of popular...

I guess that could depend on one's personal definition of Satanic, or perhaps of evidence.

You are asking the wrong people. We can't define "fun" for your players any more than you can. Player X either finds something fun or does not, and trying to argue that his response "ought to" be something else is just silly. So, if you want fun to be someplace, then you need to find out what...

I say cover details as they come up in play. If they are not actually interesting in play, then why bother with them? Real-life trivia is the same way. I've got an autism spectrum disorder, and I know too well how easy it is to lose normal people's interest with "information overload". When...

I'm not seeing any compelling reason to make a rigid "always or never" rule either way. Use figurines, or any other tools, when they are useful. Don't use them when they're not useful.

Replace "You, the DM, should do this" assumptions with "You should give players the opportunity to do this" and I would think the advice pretty good. Give players plenty of interesting chances to win treasure and glory or have their PCs die trying, and the game should be exciting whatever the...

Should it not come up on average once in six melee rounds of play, i.e., on tied initiative dice?

On the second point, unique monsters (and magics, too) figured more in my old Holmes Edition D&D game. Characters went only up to third level, and as a consequence the game took on a very different character than common D&D. As to more usual D&D, T&T, etc., I am of an early generation (started...

On the assumption that we are talking about a commercial product line, and that "better" means more pleasing to me as a game hobbyist, I would say: Provide a basic outline for those who want to grab that and run with it (e.g., Empire of the Petal Throne). Provide an encyclopedic work for...

How is that different from 1st ed. AD&D? Or am I mistaken in inferring the distinction? "A system" I can see, as the 1st DMG leaves details up to the DM (so that players must really discover any system that may indeed underlie the processes, apart from the game-mechanical data that could be...

A "Best in Category" thread might be worthwhile, considering the diversity of D&Ders' interests. The "best" of what many dungeoneers dig might be pretty bad from the perspective of some plot-line aficionados, and even dungeon lovers differ on "wacky" and "sci fi" ingredients. Dramas can be of...

Role-playing during battle is the same as role-playing on other occasions. Interact with the secondary world from your role's position in it. Make decisions from that perspective. Use the resources available as you would if you were "in the shoes of" the persona in question.

It's neat to see the nods to "fun house dungeons" such as White Plume Mountain. Such elements seem to me of the essence of the classic "mega" dungeon game that was responsible for so much that became D&D. Naturalism or verisimilitude is easily taken to what I consider dull excess in the context...

Caverns of Thracia Dark Tower - for sure! The other three may vary depending on when you ask me. Today: Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan The Halls of Tizun Thane (White Dwarf) It's especially tough to make the 'final' pick. Which of the great Gygax scenarios is greatest? I will side-step by...