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Just because a game or style of play is not for you does not mean you should not respect its place in the hobby.

Are you suggesting that just because play is more intentional that people are not inhabiting or portraying their characters? Come the <naughty word> on. You should know better by now.

No Country for Old Men, Breaking Bad, Homicide and Sons of Anarchy are l very good examples of media that use conflicts to setup other conflicts (and mostly avoid scenes that exist only to establish things).

The slower moments don't have to be conflict neutral or without genuine stakes. They can simply be moments of play where the stakes are lower. but still contribute to the momentum of play. These smaller conflicts than become fertile ground to establish the sorts of details that bring meaning to...

Greedfall, Witcher 2, Deus Ex series and Cyberpunk 2077. About as close as you can get to playing an actual protagonist in the CRPG space. Lots of impactful choices, multiple approaches to most challenges, rich characters with varied relationships to your character. Probably the best games are...

There's a very very big difference between framing situations that address a character's (and the game's) premise and delivering the story a player wants. I know when I run games like Apocalypse Keys the last thing on my mind are story outcomes or character arcs.

Terrion Arnold at 24 is a steal for my Lions. Can't believe the board broke that way.

I'd likely say the personal story of the characters and reinforcing players' conceptions of their characters taking precedence over rules as GM rather than just story generally taking precedence (where GM directed plot is a norm of middle school (1990s design) / trad design).

I think the most important thing is that there are many things that are great/unique about the medium. For me personally the capacity to dynamically frame situation and build a setting as we go with fairly minimal effort is one of its' biggest advantages. It means we can build off the things...

There is not just one reason to create a rule or a piece of lore. Sometimes one comes first and justifies the other. Sometimes its uno reversi. One is not more valorous or normative than the other. Roleplaying game design is about synthesis of these things to create both compelling gameplay and...

I don't dispute that people feel more comfortable with a process of play they are more accustomed to. What I dispute is that this is actually the case. How plausible, consistent or credible an established element of the fiction is has far more to do with the thought process around it than who...

I think if you want the current Fighter and Warlord to exist within the same class chassis you have to reduce the footprint of things like extra attacks, action surge etc to leave more room for customization to occur. Otherwise, you are only going to ever be slightly a leader of men. It's never...

As an inside I really hate the word 'mundane' being used as a stand-in for not supernatural. It breathes life into the notion that only magic can be incredible, fantastic, special. Looking at all the things that exist in our world and calling the artistry of the great architects, the prowess of...

As an addendum to the post above I'm more than happy to have a discussion about technique and what sort of designs are best for which sorts of play experiences, but no one is going to get very far with me by saying that only certain play agendas or desires are worthy. That includes stuff I'm not...

This thread be like... Basically, instead of liking the things you like, and playing games well suited to the things you like, you should instead like the things I like and play exclusively in the way like. At the end of the day not every game needs to be for everyone and even for a...

At a certain point it becomes hard to reconcile. If you see an ancient red dragon or a gaggle of fire giants and it seems like a reasonable idea to sword it/them to death, it's likely you have left the just a guy territory.

I could cut through the bravado in this post with a knife. Wanting a different arrangement of GM responsibilities and set of authorities is not caused by some sort of abuse. It's just about wanting a different sort of play experience. This sort of indie RPGs as a response to bad experiences...

What conflict resolution (especially the more moment to moment sort seen in Apocalypse World) does is it continually volleys the ball back to the GM to frame situations/scenes that speak to the premise of the game or the characters. Task resolution inherently results in focusing on things...

I don't know how much experience has to do with it. My own anecdotal experience is that it's much easier to newer players than players who are used to the GM and/or system sort of owning consistency. While I think taking ownership of the fidelity of the fiction is a skill all players should...

Mechanically, any game that is rooted in rationed and strategic use of discrete abilities over a specific time frame is not going to be very well suited to the loose sense of time and space you need to have in any game where the GM is framing situations with an eye towards staying on premise. If...