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There are many reasons why the “adventuring day” remains one of the most problematic concepts in D&D, and most of them trace back to D&D itself—across all editions. The game has always tried to define a formula that balances player strength against monster power, distributed over a certain...

That’s a fair point, and I agree—there are definitely cases where planning a campaign around a defined time frame makes sense. I’ve seen that work well when groups know their availability is limited or want to build something self-contained. That said, those examples lean toward situations...

What stands out to me about this question isn’t the choice of system, but the way it’s framed. The stipulations remove every real-world constraint that usually shapes how campaigns form—time, player interest, preparation, and technical support. What’s left is a thought experiment about design...

I get what you’re saying — Essentials isn’t a different edition, and it’s fair to point that out. But there are good reasons why people still list it separately in polls like this, and it’s not about feeding a false perspective. It’s about acknowledging that Essentials occupied a unique space in...

When people talk about “modern” tabletop roleplaying game mechanics, they often imply a chronological boundary — as if certain design trends mark a new era distinct from the past. But tabletop design doesn’t evolve linearly; it branches. What’s considered “modern” is less a matter of time than...

You’re not wrong, but I think that’s an oversimplified way to frame it. This Kickstarter exists because fans (and retailers?) were asking for a new way to package and purchase cards—something Darrington hadn’t initially planned or wasn’t sure would have demand. Right now, the only true core...

We could also just ask why this validation chase matters in the first place. Do people at your table really stop to check Kickstarter numbers before committing to a campaign? Do you cross-reference Amazon rankings before scheduling your next session? Or worry that the game isn’t popular enough...

I agree with you that raw numbers will always be read as a signal, but the key context is what’s actually being measured. This Kickstarter isn’t for Daggerheart itself—it’s for a niche supplement that many players didn’t ask for, don’t need, or already have functionally covered by the core set...

Appreciate the clarification on card size. I had the same impression from the video, so you weren’t alone in that. Thanks for confirming it’s the same dimensions as the core set. And yes—I agree there’s nothing wrong with having personal sticking points with a product like this. My aim wasn’t...

From what I’ve seen so far, these Class Decks are essentially premium, pre-packed domain sets tied to each class. That makes them attractive to: players who want a dedicated deck for their class, groups that don’t want to share from one pool, fans who enjoy premium collectibles, and anyone who...

I think you’re right that 5E’s accessibility expanded the player base in ways that benefit the whole industry. But I’d add that the “casual” audience was always there—it just hadn’t been acknowledged. For decades, D&D defaulted to higher complexity, partly because that’s what the inherited...

@DinoInDisguise I think the core of what you’re getting at—using fewer words and letting players fill in the gaps—is absolutely right. Description doesn’t have to be exhaustive to be effective, and motifs are a good shorthand for building consistency. What I’d emphasize is that description...

I think there’s a mix-up here about what “treasure” really means in the D&D loop. It was never just about gold. The real rewards were always the things that made characters stronger—levels, magic items, and other sources of power that let them keep pace with the campaign’s escalating challenges...

It seems like the real issue isn’t that RPG economies are “broken,” but that they’re serving very different purposes depending on the type of game being run. In most versions of D&D (and many OSR-inspired systems), treasure is deliberately inflated. That’s because gold is meant to function less...

I'm just waiting for the flood of players to rush in here with a deep sigh of relief, finally able to say how much they've wished that their weapons and armor would break every session.

I’m not sure what specifically ties this discussion to OSR games, but I do have some thoughts on dungeon crawls more broadly. The gaps I see tend to live in two places: player-facing goals (beyond the room-by-room grind) and structural remixing (ways to keep the loop fresh instead of...

The way I see it, we’re not looking at a pendulum swing so much as a branching. The industry didn’t collectively move toward simplicity; instead, the market broadened. For about a decade, we saw an explosion of light-to-medium games because they were easier to design, publish, and playtest in...

I wasn’t going to get involved here because I didn’t want to interrupt anyone else’s fun, but this topic is too appealing for me to pass by. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I’m a huge fan of XCOM, having bought it for myself about a year ago, and I’m now on my 54th campaign of War of...

I agree with your first point—that’s how it looks to many of us from the outside. But we also have to go back to what they said: the decision was already in place before Daggerheart even released. We don’t really know how much long-term prep and planning goes into these shows. People tend to...

That’s a fair comparison on the surface, but not quite the direction I’m pointing toward. BECMI was its own branch of D&D, with a different progression path and only slightly parallel with AD&D. What I’m suggesting wouldn’t be a separate rules line—it would remain fully compatible with the...