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I don't know what you mean by 'prone to'. I'm talking about the text itself. I think heavier games are more likely to have an explicit 'the GM can fudge' instruction than rules light games. I haven't 'crapped on' rules heavy games. In fact, I haven't said a single bad thing about them...

How so?

FR I'm scared to handle my copy of Burning Empires because the binding feels like it's gonna give way

Thanks! Yes, Burning Wheel sits oddly in this schema. It's kind of like a rules light game wearing a heavy overcoat.

This isn't about the amount of rules that exist but the weight they carry - i.e. can the GM fudge. If the rules can be unilaterally overridden by one participant, they have no value in limiting that participant's control over play. Rules heavy games are much more likely to allow fudging than...

I think the totemic notion of D&D is a different thing to whatever the current edition's rules may be at the time. The notion of D&D - its tropes, its imagery, its language - has an undeniable magic of its own, and this is what people new and old are attracted to. The details of the game design...

I'm never sure which edition people mean when they say HQ2E - the Issaries book that revised Hero Wars, or the Moon Design book that revised HQ1 proper. Technically the Moon Design book was a third version and Questworlds is now the fourth.

I think the difference is mostly one of philosophy. To my mind in a rules heavy game the rules themselves seek to channel the gameworld, such that engaging with them is the same as engaging with the fiction directly. I'm thinking here of Rolemaster/MERP, where you select how to split your...

A characteristic of some rules light games is stake setting and user-generated traits. So a particular conflict can resolve even extremely esoteric or nuanced situations that even the most complete rules engine could not hope to anticipate, and then articulate exactly the impact that might have...

No I don't think this is true at all. FATE, Dogs, Apocalypse World and others are all rules light games where the mechanics strongly underpin and drive play.

D&D has definitely made an interesting journey here: Niche game appealing to a niche audience Niche game appealing to a broad audience Broad game appealing to a broad audience EDIT: And yes, I also miss the narrower game it used to be.

This is what 'everyone's second favourite game' means.

Buttery Wholesomeness https://www.amazon.co.uk/Buttery-Wholesomeness-Todd-Shaughnessey/dp/0966476522 EDIT: I played Hol once, I was the Rorschach guy. I saved the Silver Surfer guy from a crashing spaceship by shooting him with my grappling hook gun and dragging him to 'safety'. I'd love to...

Reminds me of the old MERP Lords of Middle-Earth books, which told you in great detail every major NPC's bonus for every skill - so the Balrog's Skiing bonus, Gandalf's Swimming bonus, etc.

Not really. Unless the adventure is only in dungeons or other planes, eventually there are going to be townsfolk, sailors, criminals, nobles, etc. No special DM effort necessary.

I think it's probably correct to say they weren't often used, certainly at higher levels. Not sure that's why they were jettisoned though. Perish the thought our 500 page combat and magic simulator includes anything about roleplaying!

No this is false. They're cool little traits. If they come up, great. If they don't come up, nothing is broken. To an extent it's up to the player to find ways to use them. It's not a burden on the GM at all.

I think the narrative background traits were the best bit of 5e 2014, it's a shame they jettisoned them. They should have made a big book of them instead and allowed martial characters access to additional ones. The traits would be a good way of heloping martials stay relevant at higher levels.

There's no need to warp the game around it, what does that even mean?

That's the point I was making?