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What's your point? I don't know what you mean by 'complete rules unicorn'. You make a case that games that require GM rulings result in oppositional play and playing the GM and GM mercy and so on. As such they are inferior. Your case is based solely on your own personal bias. So it is ok for...

From a purely abstract concept, I agree with you. If an 'ugly' theory is more effective than either the nature of what is theorized is too complex to be covered in an elegant manner, or that we have not yet discovered how to reduce the 'ugly' to something elegant. In terms of game designers...

This is hyperbole. No one is suggesting that the GM just decides what happens in any conflict. The concept of a GM making rulings does not at all facilitate this situation. The concept of GM rulings is to make fair judgements when the rules do not cover a situation. Again with the bucket...

Don’t ask me, the bucket brigade orcs thing isn’t my idea... I have no idea where it came from or why it is even relevant, lol. My only point is that general resolution mechanics aren’t universally superior and GM rulings is a perfectly acceptable method and is not to be assumed to be biased...

I suppose if you want or need such frameworks. I find them unnecessary and an over complication of something I can do more quickly and effectively by making a ruling.

I'm sorry I'm not following you. In both B/X and in 5E I can use the charm person spell to charm and ogre and have it behave as if it is in inclined be a friend. Likewise I can set fire to all kinds of things in both of those games. I don’t need a general resolution framework to do any of...

This is how 5E handles it as well as other systems like OSR - B/X and so on. The spell has a clear description of what it does. If a situation that comes up that is not covered by the description, the GM can make a ruling. I don't understand the distinction you are making.

I reject your assertion that this style of play is as you state in the bold text. This style of play supports a core construct where the GM is a fair and neutral arbiter of the rules. In the early days of D&D and in some modern clones the GM is often referred to as a referee or judge. This...

That's a good point. I'm personally not a fan of keywords for this reason. It is better to have Charm Person spell just describe the effect. You don't have to reference another part of the book to understand how to use the spell.

I agree that a lot of times rules in the game look better than they play. I find this problem with the above mentioned Keyword approach. I also find this to be the case with universal resolution mechanics. I think these are two areas that are aesthetically pleasing in a theoretical sense but...

There is an easy solution to this. The player can simply ask the DM. "If I use Charm Person in <whatever situation> how would it work/what would happen?". The DM can then take in the situation and the context and provide possibilities to the player that can be used to make a decision. This...

Stonehell Dungeon. It is super easy to run because of the way it is formatted. Its great for going in, getting some exploration done, and getting out, without a whole lot of preparation ahead of time.

I don't see any problem with the spell. I'd rather have this natural language than a more precise keywording system, because you are talking about edge cases that aren't covered by the rules. The best way to handle these edge cases is to allow the DM to make specific rulings based on the...

Umber Hulk 23+1 = 24 Winter Wolf 7-2 = 5

Here are some of the resources I've been using to help stock my hex crawl campaign. The overall theme is to look at products from other game systems (mostly OSR) and convert them to 5E. In my experience, I've found it trivial to convert. Hex Crawl Chronicles. They are a series of hex crawl maps...

Got to get back to running for my old B/X campaign. A campaign that has run for about 4 years and the PCs have just started teaching the domain game. It was developing into a very interesting combination of dungeon crawling, hex clearing, and political intrigue. Unfortunately, situations have...

I’ve had success with the mega-dungeon as tent pole concept. The idea being that the mega-dungeon is the clear obvious activity on any given session, but there is a world beyond it. If you want overland adventures there are other areas to explore. Likewise, if you want some political...

Tarrasque 12+1=13 The Angry 12 The Lonely 7 -2 = 5 The Wretched 10 Trapper 14 Umber Hulk 26 Winter Wolf 22 Worg 25 Yeti 24 Young Remorhaz 22 Yuan-ti Abomination 18 Yuan-ti Malison 10 Yuan-ti Nightmare Speaker 16 Yuan-ti Pit Master 16

How is High Fell? I passed on it due to being disappointed with Archaia. Although, to be fair, I did use some of it in my hex crawl. I basically broke out the smaller mini lairs as independent locations. I also liked the henge gate idea. I heard High Fell has a wizard tower generator?

I like the designation of V,S,M in spells. But I think sometimes it becomes glossed over or ignored except for corner cases. They are good to have in the game to help guide ruling when those corner cases do occur. But they are relatively ignored many other times. But I come from B/X as my...