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I'll accept there have to be some assumptions. A card game often assumes that the players know what it means, for instance, to shuffle the cards and deal hands. The analogue in a RPG might be assuming that participants know how to roll and read dice. Perhaps even that they have an idea of the...

Here are some examples - actual play reports - of player-driven RPGing: * Burning Wheel, where I'm the player; you can see how the GM follows player-generated cues <Burning Wheel actual play> * Burning Wheel, where me and my friend are both players and GMs (roughly, each frames the scenes and...

I'd go so far as to say that that is probably bad advice.

The idea that GMing principles for a RPG are "training wheels" or for "beginner GMs" is one of the more bizarre, yet recurrent, ideas out there.

Prince Valiant probably doesn't count as breakout, but it has rotating GM responsibilities as part of its rules, back in 1989. Burning Wheel has clear procedures and agenda, and has the whole table vote for Mouldbreaker awards, the Trait Vote, etc.

I don't think I'm in "hot demand" as a GM. I'm certainly not part of a "service industry"! I just have a thing I like doing - RPGing, including GMing RPGs - and I have friends who like RPGing too, and who mostly prefer the player to the GM role. So we play games together. It doesn't seem like...

Torchbearer 2e uses random events that index things that matter to the PCs, like friends and family. It's a different approach from Mythic Bastionland, but is definitely something that is shaping how I think about the latter. EDIT: Just read @zakael19's reply mentioning AW, DW etc. I fully...

In my case, I read out to my players the brief account of the people of the Realm, which includes this: SEERS • Those who understand the nature of Myth enough to glimpse into our future. • Their visions grant legitimacy and direction to a Knight’s quest. • They know when a Squire is ready to...

Yeah, things can be "ahead of their time".

I think "B" more than "X", to be honest. Expert is streamlined compared to the DMG; but I don't think has the same coherence and clarity as Basic.

If the players can't see past the need to obtain and act on information, then when the time comes to resolve a myth, there's the risk of the players looking for the "right" answer, rather than injecting their own thoughts as to what resolution means. I think the GM needs to somehow make clear...

Over the past few days I've been prompted to think a bit more about this. When I think of "sitting back and letting the game come to them" RPGing, the first thing I think of is AP-ish, quest giver-ish play. The second thing I think of is a type of dungeon-y play, but one that doesn't require a...

I think something to watch out - again, I caveat that this is based on limited play experience! - is the risk of the gamism completely swamping this. I think the metachannel here needs to be fairly open - or at a minimum, the players need to have some confidence that the GM won't hose them for...

Huh? Vestige Warlocks were a thing in 4e D&D.

Upthread, before I'd actually played Mythic Bastionland, I made these posts about it: After having played it, I made these posts (on another active thread): In this post I want to say a bit about how these "before" and "after" thoughts fit together. It was the players' need for information...

Yes, that is what I posted: I think one of the reasons that Moldvay Basic has such a strong contemporary reputation is because there is a reasonable clear statement of GMing principles, in Chapter 8. AD&D doesn't have the same clarity, and I think there is some tension in the DMG. Contrast, for...

Have you played it?

Your posting is going too fast!

It's not a mechanic, but here's a thing that strikes me as modern when it is found in a RPG: a clear statement of GMing principles. A related thing, which also generally strikes me as modern, is a clear statement of how actions should be resolved, which makes reference to principles as part of...

That's a tenable reading of slots, I agree. Part of the issue in D&D particularly is that in most versions there is no real provision for losing slots as a consequences of a failed action, or of a failed save to avoid hardship. So they become weirdly silo-ed like you say. In 4e, by way of...