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Great comment! I should have made it clearer from mine that I'm not vehemently opposed to minis or props. I stop and marvel at ones created and sold by other people all the time. I would honestly paint and buy minis all the time if I had a cool place to showcase them at home, but I don't. I...

That's tough. I could literally become my favorite cartoon (The Boss Baby). Haha, kidding.... Would totally take the money.

Well, I can still read this, so I guess the innuendo refers to someone other than me. This is kinda sad.... As bad as bards are, you don't see them eat their own.

Please do engage! The last thing I come here for is intensely aggressive groupthink. (Because I come here for the intensely aggressive semantic debates.)

Free country and all...at least for one more day.

I never use props either. I have before, years ago, mainly battle maps, but they aren't my thing. I'd prefer to have my players focussed on me or each other, not the surface of the table. Yea, that's snark, but it's true for me. I also don't like having to remember to bring more expensive crap...

Do you have a printer at home? If so, print a few copies of a sheet that says "START HERE" in a big font near the top, then "NEXT READ HERE" in a slightly smaller font, etc. I'm not saying you're wrong about how clear the instructions are about where new players should start because in my...

Maaaaaybe.... Sometimes when the only objective is to NOT get hit, say when someone is coming at you with a knife, the defender isn't squirreling away some of their attention to save up for a well-timed retaliatory strike. They're often simply just trying not to die. But sometimes in a fight...

One doesn't first decide whether to mentor someone. Someone else must first decide whether they want to be mentored. As others have already said better than I, focus on the positive, support her, help her (to the extent she appreciates and welcomes the help), be an asset and an ally to her. You...

I agree! But do you ever gamble at casinos or play the lottery? I also have a pretty good grasp of probabilities, but I've also at times felt like my luck was leaning one way or another. Play enough Blackjack and you'll go on streaks that seem statistically impossible. I've won 17 hands in a...

It does, though. I've seen it play out countless times. It's like gambling at a casino. The guy next to you hits a jackpot, and suddenly everyone thinks they can win. Same goes for this mechanic and the psychological effects on the table. As soon as one of the players around the table gets hit...

Characters don't literally have to be under threat of dying every time they do something that requires a roll. They just have to feel some risk. I think the key is simply eliminating the "sure thing" mentality, because once they're certain they'll succeed at something based on some core...

I think you might be surprised. Since it affects all damage die rolls, it comes into play pretty often overall.

Here's that house rule I was referring to: So it becomes mathematically possible (although still statistically highly unlikely), that a hit from a 1d4 dagger could conceivably do 200 HP damage. HIGHLY unlikely, but still possible, which is enough to influence gameplay, in my experience. It is...

I agree, which is why I've mentioned that house rule I've done re: max damage die rolls for the past 40 years.

I was very active in martial arts for about 20 years (way over the hill now), but I've sparred and grappled literally thousands of times over the years, and one thing you said here resonated with me. When a fighter focuses on defending themselves and stops (for the most part) looking for...

Agreed. That should be made to be a rare occurrence, which is what "DM magic" and house rules are for. Drama = fun in most TTRPGs. A lack of suspense/fear/anxiety/worry at the table doesn't equate to the kind of fun that TTRPGs can deliver. I mean, if a table is having fun playing a game that...

The player is the character's conduit to the real world. The character is just an avatar. D&D's HP mechanic works so well because when a character has only 5 HP remaining before the next battle, the player sure as heck feels it. That anxiety is real! The effects it has on gameplay decisions are...

I'd love to call more attention to what you said here ----> "...fiction needs some sense of danger to be meaningful." All I can say is that in my experience as a GM and player of TTRPGs over the years (I'm not new at this), that's a hugely meaningful statement. In too many games, and at too...

Agreed 100%. I said upthread that some of this is inherent in the "game" part of roleplaying games. There have to be some rules. I, personally, believe that D&D (across the amalgam of different editions over the decades) gets the balance mostly right, IMO. I also said that it's a truly slippery...