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I voted for Milestones/Fiat/1983... Generally, I favor quest/adventure rewards over individual encounter or challenge rewards. Oh, we need to get the MacGuffin of Ultimate Usefulness? Let me figure out how to do that in whatever way I want and reward us when the party is successful. XP for...

In a d20 system, a natural 1 is usually always a fail and a natural 20 is usually always a success; though I skip rolling if I think the end result is a foregone conclusion. Also, I view dice results as the vagaries of luck, fate or what have you and not indicative of PC skill. So when...

For 5e, I'd say 3-4 sessions of about 4 hours. Add a session or two if the scenario has heavier roleplaying or requires additional exposition to set up campaign detail. Levels 1-2 in 5e are generally training-wheel levels and can easily be skipped. They are most useful to allow new players to...

A published campaign setting: 1. Serves as a backdrop to play in, hopefully adding verisimilitude and texture. 2. Helps create a shared understanding for the DM and players (i.e. helps get everyone on the same page). A DM saying: "You are in Waterdeep" or "a Red Wizard stands before you" can do...

I've always taken Old School Rules systems to be adaptations and derivations of OD&D, Holmes, B/X and BECMI. These might be direct retro-clones that attempt to adhere closely to the rules (ala OSE) or be comprehensive remakes (ala Shadowdark). There is a huge amount of latitude even within...

OSR plays just fine without a hyper-fixation on inventory. Never let rules you don't like ruin your gaming.

One of the major joys of RPGs is playing a character other than yourself. Doing something because it's what your character would do is essentially the game. However, it should never be used to justify obnoxious, toxic or narcissistic behavior towards other players. My self-imposed guidelines...

You don't "need" any particular class, concept or archetype for most RPGs. Well, I suppose if your game is "Wizards & Warriors" you would need wizards and warriors but in a more generalized system, such as D&D, nothing is essential. Classes are merely packages of features designed to emphasize a...

First RPG: D&D Basic (c. 1984) Second RPG: Top Secret (c. 1985) We played the Operation Sprechenhaltestelle module, had no idea what we were doing, but had a ton of fun. One of the locations is a greasy spoon diner. On encountering it, my brother complains: "Wouldn't go nowhere expect to eat...

A lot of this depends on the experience you value as a player or as a DM. A certain player desires victory more than anything. They want combats in which they can contrive an overpowered solution to (say a potent control spell from command to Tasha's to forcecage or what have you). They feel...

All D&D designers have struggled with optimizing the math of the game. Look at Gygax who went from the simplistic 1d6 = 1HD/1 weapon hit of OD&D to adding Strength to damage, to variable weapon damage, to exceptional Strength bonuses, to specialization, to the munchkin-excesses of Unearthed...

A few of my tricks: 1. Ditch or minimize initiative. I've come to loathe WotC-style sequential initiative where everyone stops to generate initiative scores at the start of a fight and spends the next 15 minutes-1 hour stuck in the same dull sequence. Generally, the aggressors go first as a...

For me, a trilogy implies 3 strong movies without any major disappointments. Unfortunately, some many series have delivered two good installments only to be let down by a lackluster third. That leaves a few precious gems: Lord of the Rings. Conceived of as a unified whole. It has some rough...

I tend to agree. However, the modern playerbase likes the "press shiny button" modern game design while disliking the "why can't I press the shiny button all the time?" aspect of resource management. This is natural. Gamers, people really, will always try to maximize the upside while minimizing...

I played 2e from '88 to '92 or so, then very rarely thereafter. I played 1e for a few years previously and found 2e much improved but not improved enough. I was disappointed that there wasn't ascending AC, better skill system, or more useful saving throw system. I was really looking for 3e...

If you change it to more of a hit point pool/quest model, now you're moving back into 70s-era D&D territory, where in-dungeon resting and recovery was very much an exception. Hit point pools are strictly a "per delve" resource. If you run out, you die. The "lifetime hit point pool" has a bit of...

I don't see any advantage to a "lifetime hp" system. There wouldn't be any tension until characters got low on hit points, then their players would retire their characters and start fresh, no? See also: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Surely a kobold with 1,000 HP would tell you it has 1,000 HP. I would. Probably can't get him to shut up about it.

The best, and maybe the only good dungeon crawls I've ever been involved with, have had a party goal other than "explore the dungeon". I've never been a fan of old-style mega-dungeons wherein the dungeon crawling is the point. Put in a rescue the princess, find the magic sword, or seal the evil...

I have the rules, but I haven't had a chance to play this yet as our group has a full list of campaigns going or on the horizon. My question is how receptive players are towards random-talent leveling? My players aren't serious optimizers, but I don't know how much they would go for completely...