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One of my favorite PC in my Buffy game is a mentally disabled boy with few real useful skills. He was kind of good at fixing things, and physically strong. But really, he was barely literate. He really worked because he was the moral heart of the group. When everyone else was getting all...

I disagree. I'd rather get the rules wrong and keep the game flowing than the other way around. Just remember when spot ruling something, do it in favor of the players. And Crothian's 'no one gets killed if the rules were wrong' idea is great.

Easy, play Paranoia. Expressing knowledge of the game rules is treason, citizen. I think you'd do better trying to cut down on the specific problem areas rather than a blanket ban. Using rules language can at times be clearer and faster than trying to narrate everything, especially with a...

I've had a great time using Meetup.com, if there isn't a group in your area starting one can lead to more gaming than you know what to do with. A set of dice is a good idea, but I'd hold off on books until you find a group. What if you buy that new 4e PHB and they're still playing 3.5? Or...

I would agree that any character can be roleplayed, regardless of their level of optimization. I would also agree that there's not much point in applying formal logic to the best way to pretend to be an elf.

pfft. Play Exalted. Your six dice at a time is nothing.

The quote about pirates made me think of an article I read the other day by Ron Edwards on The Forge (Don't worry, no GNS stuff here) The Forge :: A Hard Look at Dungeons and Dragons Here's a snippet that I believe is what Gary was talking about. A very interesting idea, and makes sense with...

I'm going to tell you how you can do this. I run every game like this, even weekly games, because I find it to be a lot of fun. It will likely be very different from how you normally run things, but it is certainly doable. First is your game. 4e or 3e are right out, fights take too long...

BRP is Basic Role Playing. Its a simple percentile system that the non-d20 Call of Cthulhu uses. I've never used the d20 version, so its hard for me to say. If you're talking about books I highly recommend the Malleus Monstrorum, a book fully of Mythos creatures and gods. Rather than...

I came up with some research rules that work pretty good (Maddman75 - Research), and think that it is applicable to skill challenges. One thing that helps IMO to add tactical depth is options to do something other than get successes. Now successes are big, but these other options will allow...

I don't run or play any variety of D&D right now. Now I do think 4e is a neat game, its just not that exciting to be honest. So what kind of game would WotC need to do to make them my main game? Release a 'basic' version of the game. Like I said I like 4e, but I like simpler games. Its a...

Doesn't it mostly refer to being annoyingly paranoid and having the MM memorized?

I think I heard that there were less 4-day badges and more 1-days issued. Which makes sense in a down economy. To me, the days in the convention center still felt like GenCon, but at night in the city it just felt like Indianapolis.

Not everyone has the same point Z. Heck, I don't have the same point Z from game to game. I'm a firm believer that if you're fudging dice or rules, it indicates a failure of the rule system to give you the kind of play you want. I tend to agree, that if you don't want outcome Y, don't allow...

So your argument is that poison that has a good chance to kill a character makes for a better story. All mechanics support some agenda behind what the story should work like. The old D&D attack tables support the idea that an experienced swordsman should hit a foe more often. Yes, and? I...

I think this ties into not only kids, but the recent 'casual gamers' discussion. I came to this realization a while back. Most gamers won't do homework. They won't worry about builds in between games. They won't look at your website with any regularuty, and you should be grateful for a skim...

Its a difference in styles, certainly. I run a lot of different games. Normally I run 12 sessions or so to bring everything to a climax, then switch to something else. That makes indie RPGs a lot more appealing, as I don't want tons of suppliments or the Hero's Journey. We don't play one...

Creation. Are we in agreement that all RPGs create stories?

Another good tip I've heard is to keep it simple. When putting together a mystery, it can be tempting to make things obscure so it won't be too easy. As a GM you can think 'well obviously they need to stand on one leg and swing a dead cat over their head at the old crossroads and midnight'...

I find it works in practice in a very similar manner. A crowbar is something that might or might not appear in the toolshed, it would be a reasonable thing to appear, but there are no assurances of such. I don't have my books in front of me, but the Luck score is used IIRC to see if something...