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Fair enough In the Buffy RPG, PCs have Drama Points they can use to create plot twists, remove damage, etc., exactly the kinds of things that you say make it not a roleplaying game. The number of these points the characters get, how expensive they are to buy, and the way they are rewarded are...

Out of them, I'd say 4e because it has the easiest prep while having unified mechanics. But to be honest I'm not all that much of a D&D person.

Question: If an OD&D GM asks for character backgrounds, even brief ones, and uses that information to flesh out his world, is the group no longer playing RPGs, according to your definitions? What about a wizard casting a Wish spell? If a player makes a suggestion as to what's beyond the hill...

That's just a feature of 4e, its focused on making a fun tactical game, not create an interesting fight story-wise. Exalted's mechanics enforce this, though its multilayered and often not seen until you actually play. First off, everyone has killer combos. Good guys and bad guys. Everyone...

The problem female gamers mentioned - the attention seekers, derailers, and those without the social sense to not make everyone uncomfortable - have nothing to do with gender. It has to do with gamers. Its a combination of the geek social fallacy that we have to accept people for what they...

You can feel nostalgia for something without having experienced it yourself. I was born in 1975, but that doesn't stop me from getting a sense of nostalgia from eating at a '50s' style diner or listening to Elvis. That you didn't start gaming until three years ago doesn't preclude you from...

Do what I do - join three weekly games. That way you're guaranteed at least one game a week. In the high school days the big challenge was finding a good place to play. We were never keen on having parents overhear us pretending to be elves. Now we've all got houses so location isn't a...

I disagree. 4e is awesome, but its built on assumptions of dudes with weapons and armor being a big part of it. I run a lot more modern games than I do fantasy, and hand to hand combat is a rarity (Except Buffy, which I talked about above). How would defenders work? They'd run up and try to...

I find that the term realism has to take into account what the genre of the game is. I'm usually not too interested in the real world, but the world that I'm running a game in. If I'm running Buffy, then what is 'realistic' is what would happen in the TV show. M&M, what would happen in comic...

Going in that direction would actually be pretty simple, if you're talking about D&D characters in a modern world. Just give the 'monsters' lots of strong ranged attacks for their guns, and you're good to go. That makes me think of another issue - armor. Armor is part and parcel of D&D, but...

Um, the Buffy system can be figured out in less than an hour of gameplay. Especially coming from 4e, your players are not going to have the slightest trouble with it. Nor should they feel the need to buy any books. (Apart from how awesome they are). I really wouldn't treat that as much of a...

I don't use any maps, as a rule. I find them far more limiting than general descriptions of what's where. I'd be in the event-based for the stuff I run. Though I'd refer to it as character based. The events that happen are either in response to their past actions or designed to get a...

As a GM, I deal with this two ways. First, I don't have scenes that aren't important. If there's no conflict to be introduced, explored, or resolved, I cut to the next scene. Now this isn't to say that I'll keep a PC from talking to someone, but I'll make sure to figure out a way to involve...

Agree with Rodrigo and Rel. No one cares how much you work on your game. That isn't a bad thing, its just how things are. Imagine you go to see a stand up comedian, and he tells a joke that isn't funny. When no one laughs, he starts telling you how long he worked on that joke, he put hours...

I don't recall saying they were mutually exclusive. Just given the choice, I'd take the less optimized character. And IME, the optimized characters tend to be less interesting. Your optimized character has something to do in every scene to apply their amazing bonus. The non optimized guy has...

No, there really isn't. It isn't even about the drinking, specifically. Its the whole bit about someone breaking "your" rule by drinking a beer in their own house after inviting you to a game. This is not socially acceptable, you don't get to give other people rules. It would be socially...

I pretty firmly believe that there's nothing wrong with fudging dice per say. Its better to fudge a roll than ruin an evening. But I also think it means your rule system has failed you. Better to change the rule system than just consistantly ignore it. Action points are one way to do that...

I'm playing in an oWoD game, which is very much an 'evil' game. I mean we're all vampires. My character in particular, a southern rock musician, has his Humanity down to 3. Which means that humans are just playthings to him, he honestly couldn't care less if one dies, even at his hands. What...

What if there's, let's say a bookstore. The owner of the bookstore says "I don't carry roleplaying games, because there was this time some gamers came in, gamed on my coffee table all day, got cheeto-dust on my books, smelled like they hadn't showered in a week, and harassed anyone who would...

It will vary considerably. I and most of my friends come from a working class midwestern culture, which alcohol is very much a part of. It is a social glue that brings people together. I have to remember that not everyone will realize this, but having a beer is one of the primary ways people...