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I think the challenge is from a game design perspective there's not an agreement on phrasing what a "smooth" game feels like. That is, top to bottom, rules, narrative, etc. work. D&D gets stretched massively to accommodate playstyles it probably wasn't originally intended for. It's quite...

I've quoted it a few times in past articles. It says volumes about how Gygax was thinking about the state of the industry. He was elevating "people who publish" above "people who game" because of course he was putting himself at the top of the pyramid. It's definitely an interesting look into...

The metagame of "leveling up your playing style" was something that Gygax used in early days (his book on DM Mastery is all about "grading" your gaming abilities). It's like meta-D&D where we have levels for our game play. And oh boy did it work -- because of course it did: buy into levels in...

Totally an oversight. I will fix, thank you!

Because it's been adapted to American culture, there's also the element that it may well be a prank -- or that (as other media has portrayed it) there's both a prank AND a real Headless Horseman, giving the party a red herring to deal with.

If you're an older geek like me, you have quite the collection of figures, decor, dice, and miniatures. Here's some gift ideas for the geek in your life who has everything (but not these!). Please Note: I'm a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising...

Completely forgot about this guy, thank you! I wonder if the 5E version is an update to this. Given he wields a sickle, probably not (but I see the heads still follow him around, so maybe it was an inspiration).

Well, the nascent RPG industry started out with "there are no RIGHT rules, play how you want." To your point, as time went on, the rules codified, and TSR became a business and very much cared about the "right" way to play. That's the meta-game: We don't need all these rules, or new editions...

Lew doesn't say it here but it's implied: the criminal mastermind is actually the author (of novels) and the GM (of games). Since games are fluid, being a criminal mastermind is a LOT harder. In short, the only real mastermind is the creator, and to be seen as such they have to plan way in...

New England is rife with gothic history to draw on for a D&D campaign; Sleepy Hollow is a great place to start. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow The Sleepy Hollow we know today is a recent invention; it was originally North Tarrytown in the late 19th century, adopting its current name in 1996, and...

Related to this point is the question of how people actually learn the game. Do they really learn it by reading the rules? D&D is so complex, I've been playing different editions for over four decades and I STILL discover something new each time. In all the games I've played, someone has only...

Get ready for Halloween and the holidays with décor you can use inside or outside, any time of the year. Please Note: I'm a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising...