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Every Night's Black Agents game I run is inspired by these emo nerds.

In only 8 lines, Donald Fagen's "True Companion" in that movie is another of a long list of Traveller inspirations: Crewmen of the True Companion I can see you're tired of action In this everlasting twilight Home is just a sad abstraction Just beyond the troubled skyways Young men dream of...

I'd say it's not expensive. A cost-conscious person could play without spending any money beyond expenses for internet or other things they'd already be paying for. Comparatively, roleplaying gives a better return on investment than similar hobbies I can think of. Especially if you consider a...

It had an effect, to the extent that GTG didn't allow conversions of Marvel and DC heroes on its boards. I would direct the OP and anyone interested in that sort of thing to the rpg.net forums. There are even some folks who have created their own fake comics publishers. I ran it once and would...

It's probably better to compare cooperative board games and RPGs. Just as it's probably better not to compare a turn in a board game to a turn in an rpg combat.

Gaz has played some Gumshoe games - I nominate some that aren't Night's Black Agents.

I don't think any other company will attain the amount of sales WotC enjoys with D&D. Of course, few can compete with the sheer size of Hasbro, even when they aren't trying to run its goodwill into the ground. But there are plenty of smaller publishers that have been business for decades...

I was kinda hoping you failed a Navigation roll and wandered into another space.

My definition of railroading requires oppositional deprivation of meaningful player choice. So there needs to be an element of consciously countering the group's pIans. I would also note that a GM who wanders into a situation in which she might railroad can almost universally avoid it by talking...

I have to assume there is a vibrant Discord community. Perhaps they didn't want to overlap.

The optimal skill number is a variable calculated along several axes: what are a game's core activities, how much simulationism does the designer want, how important is character differentiation and/or niche protection, how closely should the design emulate other games in the genre, and I'm sure...

"When we started this game I gave you my expectation that your characters would be heroes and go on quests. You agreed, or at least indicated that this was acceptable. I'm not prepared to run a game set in one place from where you never leave. So either someone else needs to DM, or you have to...

It also may be bad news if the things the PCs are hunting can see further into the electromagnetic spectrum than we can.

I would expect the baseline to be above 50%. Then, depending on the types of PCs and type of game, this would be adjusted further. If my character was an expert at something, like a professor or ninja, I would expect more successes. In a horror game, I like to think I'd be willing to accept...

I hate to microanalyze the example, but it sounds to me like player knowledge vs character knowledge was a real barrier. It's certainly understandable that a GM wouldn't have spent time detailing the security of the gambling house before play. And just as understandable to assume that the PCs...

Night's Black Agents contains "DVD Commentary" assembled from the playtest sessions. Not sure if that's the depth you are looking for, however.

Gumshoe has two mechanics for auto-success in the form of general abilities and investigative spends. I use the latter a lot for things like changing an NPCs' reaction towards the PCs.

When the PCs have an ultimate goal, and are competent to use a variety of methods to achieve it, they tend to drive what happens in the game. I wouldn't pitch a game without letting the players know that this was the case. Even a sandbox game has "explore uncharted regions" as a presumed goal...

I have some quibbles with your definitions of both things, but this thread isn't the place for them.

What do posters here consider mechanics that foster (or hinder) imagination, for varying values of imagination? I can get inspiration by simply reading a well written game book, but I can't see that being what the OP had in mind.