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This is mostly musing and hoping for pleasant conversation and light debate. I really like the broad food based analogy* for RPGs. Like all analogies, it isn't perfect, but I think it hits pretty well overall. GMing IS, in fact, a lot like cooking -- and that means GMs range from "toss it in...

My 5E 2024 (5.5E) campaign is reaching its climax. The PCs are currently 15th level, and depending on whether they decide to tie up some loose ends, or decide to rush the BBEG, they will either be 15th or 17th level for the "final battle". A detail that may be important: there is no cleric in...

This is in response to @SlyFlourish new video. Here is a link with a time stamp of 31:14 where the discussion starts: Since I am one of the voices here constantly asking for WotC to make a new setting, I thought I would explain why. First off, I acknowledge that there are lots of great...

[NOTE: this is another thread in my ongoing series to explore and discuss various aspects of TTRPGs as I work toward a foundation for my own RPG. Thanks for participating. Even if we disagree it will be helpful.] There are lots of ways to define PCs in TTRPGs, from classes and levels to skill...

This is a poll! Pick your top 3 TTRPG systems (not games, which might be why you see some stuff missing) to determine the TOP 5 systems EN World allows going forward. All other systems will be erased forever. Note that some are broader than others because some systems only seem to have one...

I am considering running a 3.x Eberron campaign as my next thing. I will take care with some of the powergaming concerns of 3.x, but what I am more interested in input on is what are the best resources for 3.x Eberron, and where would YOU set a 3.x Eberron campaign? I feel like there are a...

I have the opportunity to teach a bunch of young uns (okay, millenials) D&D (using fantasy grounds). We had session 0 last night, creating characters and getting familiar with the basics of FG. Next week we are going to start the game proper. My intent is to start Storm king's Thunder with them...

NOTE: this threads is yet another in my "series" to get me thinking about a specific aspect of TTRPG design, as I try and build a conceptual foundation for my own RPG. As it pertains to the subject, the resources I am talking about here are things like spell slots, power points, Hope (not as a...

[This is another htread in my ongoing exploration of foundational TTRPG elements to consider for Bucket: The RPG, my personal RPG design to check off a Bucket List item. The intent is not to talk about my game design, though, but to explore the subject -- in this case metacurrency -- in a way...

Note: The "which D&D" part of the question includes D&D simulacra and adjacent games, from OSE to Shadowdark to Pathfinder. But not like Daggerheart, Draw Steel or 13th Age. Now what do I mean by "hometown heroes"? I mean a campaign centered on the PCs home town/village, where the majority of...

(Note: this is a 5E question broadly and I don't think 5.0 vs 5.5 really matters here) When you start a new campaign, do you usually start at level 1? Why or why not? If not, what level do you usually start at? This question is only really applicable to the start of a new campaign. If you are...

[This is part of my ongoing effort to get a solid conceptual foundation for my own RPG design, so the goal is to get a sense of what other folks like and don't like in the domain of the subject.] When it comes to mechanical options available to players, it seems there are two poles: options...

I just watched it again and it is still amazing. It is so unapologetically in-genre, embracing what makes comics and Supes so wonderful. I can't wait for Man of Tomorrow.

[NOTE: This is another in my ongoing musing threads meant to help me think about my Bucket List RPG. The purpose of the discussion is mainly to see how other folks feel about the subject an dhow it impacts their play and design choices.] I feel like "Intended Playstyle" has fallen out of the...

A little background: I have been having some recent "wake up call" cardiac situations, which has motivated me to finally take some things off my Creative Bucket list. I have been freelancing off and on in the TTRPG space for 25 years, but one thing I have never done is design my own system...

Upon catching up to A Knight of Seven kingdom with Episode 5, I am angry at myself for not waiting until all the episodes were out. This show is definitely better as a binge. it feels like a long movie, rather than a series. This got me wondering what shows people felt were better binged versus...

NOTE: This would have just gone in the Shadowdark General thread but the author of that thread decided to lock me out with two way ignore. I am prepping my 4 session "West Marches" style convention game for next weekend at TotalCon. Part of doing so is stocking small dungeons for the PCs to...

In the same way that Buffy had that musical episode, or some grounded cop show has an apparently supernatural episode, what is a time in a campaign you were either running or playing had an adventure or "epsidoe" that broke the general genre of the thing? How did it go? Was it intentional? Was...

Just a chat thread: What does your planar/worlds/heaven and hell/etc cosmology look like in your D&D campaign? I very rare use the official D&D cosmology. I just don't particularly like. it. If I am inclined to use it, I use at least the 4E version of the Astral Sea as opposed to the Astral...

This came up in he Daggerheart General thread and I thought I would move it to its own thread for discussion. In games that havel levels, ranks, tiers, etc, do you prefer difficulty or target numbers to be dependent on those levels, or should they be independent of levels? For example, let's...