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One of the biggest things is just getting to the point and reducing process overhead. Like how instead of the intricate resolution process Warhammer Fantasy uses Warhammer - The Old World just goes straight to the flavorful wounds you have to deal with. Get hit and either take a wound or become...

There definitely is a difference. To this last part I would add that traditional game mechanics often ended up pushing play away from the thematic concerns we were all trying to keep our focus on. It did not just leave it up to us, but often both setting and mechanical concerns often fought us...

@mamba Working through those moves as a GM requires a creative process, reasoning about the fiction and making choices about how to move the situation forward. You are actively involved in the resolution process - it just provides some constraints. That's not a state machine where input goes...

Or that people just don't want to play that way (with lots of filler encounters that exist basically for attrition). One thing that would likely help is making a long rest more like stopping at Rivendell for an extended period and less like taking a nap.

"Play to find out" in the way Vincent laid out obviously does not consider how a D&D GM prepares because it's not meant to describe D&D play. It's an admonishment that point of playing/running Apocalypse World is to see how things snowball and not to try to control or limit that snowballing. It...

Right now I'm looking at Fabula Ultima, Draw Steel and the Stormlight Archive for my next long form game. All seem like they are distinct (offer something new) and should challenge me as a GM in different ways. I'd add Conan 2d20 and Warhammer - The Old World to the list of options but I would...

Thing is Monsterhearts is not a tool - it's a game. Someone say using a Cortex Drama hack to play a game with a similar premise is not engaged in the same activity. Situations are framed differently, GM and player roles are different, the interface the player is operating off of is phenomenally...

One of the things on the villain scenes piece is that while I do not think you necessarily have to include them if you do not you likely should probably step up direct interactions with villains. Regardless my sense is that you are meant to embrace that you are telling a story together. As a...

I should add that I do think simulation of setting is worthy goal of intentional design, which is why I praised Traveller. I would add Worlds Without Number and pretty much everything Kevin Crawford makes as a hallmark of intentional design and that it actually shows you how to organize play and...

The following games are not narrowly focused on a single thing: Draw Steel Warhammer - The Old World Fabula Ultima Lancer Vampire - The Masquerade, 5th Edition Legend of the Five Rings Fifth Edition Tales of Xadia Dune 2d20 These are games intended for long term campaign play that are no less...

That some people may not want those experiences or value them does not mean they are getting them.

Perhaps remove the "narrow" there.

All I'm saying is that games are more than the fictional situation we are playing out. If I'm using Champions for a Hellboy-esque Campaign I'm not actually getting anywhere close to the experience of playing Apocalypse Keys. The play loops are different, the way we interface with the characters...

I find the entire concept of general use games versus specialized games to be one of the more silly ideas in the hobby because it assumes gameplay has no real value on its own (and thus a "general use" game can be a substitute for a "specialized" game if used well). Apocalypse Keys is not a tool...

A fair of PbtA games are not the result of what I would call intentional design. You can often see it when the basic moves are basically Apocalypse World or they try to graft on subsystems that are incompatible or not well integrated with the GM Move structure (looking at you Headspace).

I obviously prefer games built around vision where everyone (including the GM) feels like they are playing the same game. I think that modern takes on Vampire, Legend of the Five Rings and Warhammer Fantasy are much better designed because they focus on the essentials and do not clutter play...

Yeah. They're pretty much just skill challenges, but with an added timer that provides some strategy around attempting to make a check or assist an ally and so you can build character options around it.

Other than intentional design how would one describe designing from a vision and only including mechanics that contribute to the realization of said vision (and that actively contribute to play)? What do you call the process of design that answers these three questions: What is the game about...

So I view success with consequences as very distinct from degrees of success and failure in games like RuneQuest. Sure, in both there is a lack of binary results, but success with consequences is rooted in conflict resolution where we are answering "Do I achieve what I set out to do?" while...

I don't think D&D or Traveller were aimless at all. I do think most 90s era design was. L5R (before 5th edition), Shadowrun, Vampire, Witchcraft, Earthdawn, Cyberpunk, etc. People basically did a bunch of world building (and not even with an eye towards its suitability for gaming) and basically...