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  1. GMMichael

    Punisher is on the big screen! (Accountant Squared)

    Jon Bernthal, or as I know him - the Punisher, is coming to a theater near you! He's in the Accountant ^2, and I have internal conflict over that. As a sequel, that means it has Ben Affleck in the starring role. The Punisher can do some amazing support (like Ebon Moss-Bachrach did in the...
  2. GMMichael

    Should Wizardry Require Player Intelligence?

    GM: Stephen, you're up. SH: I c a s t m a g i c m i s s i l e . GM: And? SH: O h s o r r y . I d i d n ' t c a l c u l a t e t h e f l u x c a p a c i t a t i o n y e t . GM: No problem. Everyone, Stephen's wizard starts casting a spell. Stephen, let me know when you're ready. Gronk, you're...
  3. GMMichael

    Friends, Gamers, Editors, Lend Me Your Ears! (New Rules)

    Do you: love reading about RPGs? consider yourself a grammar fanatic? enjoy bashing on RPGs that aren't yours? have a minimalist streak? want a new, free, game to play? exhibit none of the above? If so, follow the link below to an 11-page, medium-type-size .rtf of Modos RPG game rules...
  4. GMMichael

    Darkvision Ruins Dungeon-Crawling

    A human and a grue sit at an inn's common room (just go with it), talking about their quests. Mystery is a big part of fantasy. What we can't see is mysterious. We can't see in the dark. Darkvision allows us to see in the dark. Ergo, darkvision ruins fantasy. Dungeon-crawling, in...
  5. GMMichael

    Witcher 4 DRPG (pre-alpha)

    This game could be fun. Provided they don't Cyberpunk it. Anyway, the CRPG might be months or years away, but you can play the discursive role-playing game now on an unmodified Modos RPG chassis, with Modos 2 lists. Here is how some of the trailer features are played in Modos RPG, in...
  6. GMMichael

    Dismantling the Game Master

    Game masters are players of RPGs*, yet their experiences are often significantly different from that of player-characters. The traditional GM supplies the setting and outcomes, while the PCs provide the (hopefully) best intentions of the main characters. Some game designers have found that no...
  7. GMMichael

    Teaching the Matrix to Play Modos RPG

    Soo... I wanted Adobe's AI to check my document, Modos 2 Free Edition, for personal metadata. The first step of that was to enable the AI Assistant, which promptly read the whole document up and down. Well, shoot. I wonder if it can play the game now? So, I asked. "Do you know how to play...
  8. GMMichael

    D&D (2024) Spellcaster Rules Summaries

    I tried to bone up on the new (and old) edition spellcaster rules. Using WotC literature for it was a mistake. For example, the wizard needs the following resources/rules (I think) to cast a spell: wizard spell list, spell description, a spell book, prepared spells, spell slots...
  9. GMMichael

    The Quality Contest: Better Than the Crit?

    The Quality Contest is a follow-up roll to a skill contest (a test or check or what-have-you that adds a bonus based on your skill level). To determine if a roll was high quality (or very poor) you roll a second skill contest, not against the first goal/target but against the result of your...
  10. GMMichael

    2018 Stealth Rules (Closed-Book / Light-Rules)

    Since heads are spinning over in this thread . . . https://www.enworld.org/threads/new-stealth-rules.705814 . . . I thought some perspective on stealth would be nice. I'll use the Modos 2 rulebook as my example of what stealth could (should?) look like. The TL;DR is that there is one primary...
  11. GMMichael

    Extensive Character Sheets Are GM Oppression

    PC: I look at the broken wain. Fixing it should be easy. It clearly just needs to have some parts nailed back in place, reset this brace, and a support put here. GM: Um, are you a wizard or a wainwright? PC: Wizard. But my Mental score is 15. I can figure things out. Who was I to tell the...
  12. GMMichael

    How Many Spells Does a Wizard Need?

    As we all know (/snark), Gandalf knew only three spells: speak with moths, continual light, and force charm (or was that Obi Wan?). The rest of his magic required his epic-level staff (just ask Wormtongue). So why do some wizards need 10-pound spellbooks? Isn't three spells, plus a staff...
  13. GMMichael

    The Use (or Abuse) of Animal Companions

    I GM a game that includes a PC who plays a gnome with a furry woodland friend: a giant badger. I also GM a rules-light game that has no rules for animal companions: they're not required to act on your turn, they don't have power progression tables, and you don't lose a point of Constitution...
  14. GMMichael

    Should Magic Spells/Powers be Interruptible?

    I was designing powers for Elden Ring monstrosities, picturing an epic, 60-foot lunge coupled with the swing of a flaming, one-ton axe, or something like Godrick's magical flamethrower stemming from his grafted dead-dragon-head. I realized that these powers would require multiple actions (in...
  15. GMMichael

    The Elden Ring RPG (module)

    Lowly Tarnished, the Erdtree has revived thine soul yet again, to gather the Great Runes and restore the Elden Ring. But many steps make a great journey, and the Shardbearer to whom thine fate leads remains indomitable, lest ye reclaim lost runes and turn them toward the ends of Grace. The...
  16. GMMichael

    Primary ways to dungeon crawl

    I'm setting up a dungeon crawl one-off and want to offer some pregenerated characters to reduce setup time. They'll have a touch of room for customization, so I'm hoping I can get away with some generic pre-gens and not, you know, 21 different sheets to proofread. My first three shots at the...
  17. GMMichael

    Which came first: the damage or the protection?

    You've just charged into the market square, eager to show the townsfolk that you're not afraid of the bridge troll there, and that they can count on you when needed. However, the bridge troll seems keen on keeping its career change to market troll, and its oversized forearms and blood-tipped...
  18. GMMichael

    What Should the Bard Be?

    'Tis the season in which everyone becomes a bard: merry singing, gay dress, lifting spirits. So it's a good time to ask, what do you think a "bard" should be, now that you've been one for a day or more? My favorite bard from memory was a witcher, less the juicer/monster hunter aspects. He was...
  19. GMMichael

    How can we sleep while our game is burning? Or, how many problems?

    I was happy to house-rule D&D (3rd) back in the day. It was kind of fun, actually - a little tweak here, another there, until I had the game that ran like I wanted it to run. I didn't (that I recall) complain about how broken polymorph was, or how grossly overpowered the cleric was, or how...
  20. GMMichael

    Should PCs from different RPGs be allowed to meet?

    I'm running two games with different RPGs and had a thought: I can increase my prep efficiency if I have only one setting to develop instead of two. This can extend to PCs in one game becoming NPCs in the other. But what if one set of PCs gets really involved with the PCs of the other game...
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