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Classic Traveller intends NPCs to be generated as PCs. That's 1977. That's pretty old school... Supplement 1: 1001 Characters (1979) most of whom were computer generated (on an apple II). I think it's the start of the trend of full stats for NPCs, because the physicals are how damage is taken...

Mostly; they're expensive to invoke, like fate Aspects, but without the negative use and ability to earn the metacurrency in RAW. D&D 5.0 used template NPCs, too. Technically, so also did AD&D and BX/BECMI/BBB+RC. But, yeah, I see that, too. but my buying/reading is down this year. The One...

I rarely do this. Hell, I seldom use Third Party Products (3PP). I've been using a bunch for Daggerheart... and have been contemplating more... but I consider RightKnightToFight to not really be 3PP, because they're part of the design team for the core rules. The one series of products I have...

Being blunt: I'm saying the OSR shouldn't be considered Modern as a clade, and few games using the OSR lables really do much for the play-loop nor for GMing ease, and tables in play as part of it? Not evidence of modernity. Not even requisite for modernity... And that the novel use you claim...

I also found RM/SM char gen a hurdle for my players. Of the 20-some I got to Character Gen, only 7 liked the result, and three of those didn't like the way it played. Then again, two of those had characters who died in first fight from an E66... one before even getting a turn. (13 actually...

Having a given worldview in no way guarantees it's true. I can't give the best examples in detail, as they are current politics... Let's just say, a bunch of people are realizing their worldview in re their governments is unsupportable by actual events and how the government reacts to them...

charts for reducing GM workload have been present since 1977's Traveller (classic '77, to be specific) - Random Patron encounters, random person encounters, random weapons for said persons. We can push it back to '74 for the reactions table and treasure table, but I don't see the latter as...

Marvel FASERIP can, certainly, sustain that... even as I, as a GM, can't sustain a 6 month Supers campaign in any of the Supers games I have (chono order: V&V, MSH, AMSH, TMNT, Champions 3rd, Heroes Unlimited, GURPS: Supers, Champions 4, Mutazoids, Champions New Millennium, MSHAG, Good Guys...

[snip] No, all I need for an NPC is their current motivations and current game stats. And half the time, the stats are overprep. Giving them history is not a benefit most of the time. If they're not a major NPC, I only need their goals for the current scene or adventure. I'm far better off...

There's a warning about that... There's an undercurrent in AW, it's more explicit in DitV... "Every moment of play, roll dice or say yes." (DitV p 91). {aside: while Vincent has the right to withdraw it from sale, DitV is really as important as AW in the storygame space.} AW doesn't say that...

Sadly, only one worldbook. Sure, it's a great worldbook... but not one that you can use in public... Ironwood. Great adaptation of an excellent (if sexually explicit) comic fantasy adventure. Theatrix is really two games in one... the totally diceless version, and the version using D100 by the...

There is an interesting case of two "editions" remaining in print without changes to the setting... Let's look at Pendragon: 1st Edition was version 1 of the mechanics. 2nd Edition (when they counted to label 3rd ed) was a reprint of 1st ed, so version 1 3rd edition was a slight revision of...

Traveller... CT was in print 77 to 88, and 2000-2002. IY 1100 to 1115. One new book (Book 9: Pirates) in 2025. MT was in print 87 to 92. IY 1115 to 1135 or so. TNE was 1996-1996. IY 1200-1245 T4 was 1997 to 2000. IY 0-100 T20 200 GT, a licnsed game usng the CT setting and GURPS rules 1998 to...

All three are, of course level based skill driven... but... Dev points: In 3.x, it's class based. In RM, it's based upon current attributes. In Alternity, it's based upon level (4+New Level). Dev point spends: In RM and Alt., different skills have different costs, and those costs vary a point by...

1981... The influence was obvious, but not direct; Alternity was MUCH closer to Rolemaster... To be honest, I'd have preferred at the time to have seen D&D 3 be Alternity...

Yes, there is one signidicant difference, at least in VTM 1e: Players having a no-roll option; actually, two: Willpower spend or sufficient ability. They're player discretion. Note that VTM1e was difficulty being the lowest number counting as a success on each d10. Sufficient ability: If your...

Somewhere in the middle. Pendragon, I am pretty well plotted out. L5R, in Magistrate campaign, I have a bunch of clues and who has them, but I have a list of 2-4 possible potential guilty... the actual guilt is determined in session. (Yes, Illusionism.) If they accuse one of the possibles...

Many people have done so. WFRP 1 had a fairly broad range of adversaries, and there was a WWIV-net fan book with more critters (sadly, the HD I had it on is long toasted). Plus, anything from WFB and WH40K were readily converted into WFRP 1e... Here's the list in the corebook...

Traveller: The New Era has World Tamer's Handbook which is specifically for doing colonies. Traveller: T4 has Pocket Empires, which can be stretched to doing so. Mutant Year Zero has the PCs establish a surface dwelling once they leave their arc. Fallout has a whole sourcebook for settlers...

Even 10+ levels doesn't guarantee character growth, only increased competence. It's a flaw of systems like Palladium and Arcanum, where level up raises everything known, and only select levels get new stuff. (I prefer Arcanum to Palladium fantasy, but they're very parallel designs.) Not all...