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I think I'm largely with you on the 13th Age issue. I get it that these RPGs are games and some metagame is necessary, but there is a point when the game structure is simply too much.

Well, for M&M that's a feature, not a bug. It's a prime source of hero points. You go down in M&M, you get a hero point for use later in the caper.

Reducing sophisticated math to puns appealing to the lowest common denominator. I think only about half of my college math professors would approve. My 7th grade math teacher would almost certainly be full of pride, though.

Jürgen Habermas, postwar German philosopher and sociologist, has died. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/14/jurgen-habermas-german-philosopher-and-sociologist-dies-aged-96

That would be the function of math companies. It is, after all, their product. Though it does feel a bit derivative to joke about it like this.

We teleported. But to where?!?

It's not really a good counterargument because, while the characters of the Fellowship are all of some social significance, it doesn't really do much for them in the course of the story for any of them other than Gandalf and Aragorn. Gandalf because he's a powerful entity and Aragorn because he...

I figure Chaosium’s various Call of Cthulhu campaigns also have some influence on the format, particularly Masks of Nyarlathotep.

3e was a real step forward in this regard because it was the first edition of D&D that offered real, positive reasons to choose to play humans rather than simply avoiding the negative reasons of demi-humans being unable to play as or advance far in these other classes.

Negative levels don't get their final and best fix until Pathfinder 1. If you fail the save to shed a temporary negative level, it just sits on you as a permanent one. No change to actual character level or accrued XPs, just a permanent negative level dragging at you until some spell comes along...

In my experience, hit point bloat isn't really a problem - PCs grind through monster hit points much faster than you'd expect. In fact, hit points probably haven't been bloated enough for some monster CRs and PC levels. And no, it is NOT more fun if attacks fail more. That's far more...

Disagree. The clerics in the game I'm running are definitely thriving. The 5.5 rules DID double the healing dice, though, so it's not like healers haven't gotten some of the honey. I'd argue that dedicated healer, as an archetype, has always had serious problems - significantly because it tends...

Alexander Butterfield, Nixon aide who revealed the secret conversation taping system, has died. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/10/alexander-butterfield-nixon-aide-dies

It's a balancing act. Are they SO irritating that it's worth missing the occasional insight? Then block away. Make the boards a better and less frustrating place for YOU. I do think it's generally a good idea to avoid being petty or stubbornly and excessively prickly in your blocks. But I block...

Depends, in this case, is right. I might go so far as to say that if someone can deliberately spend extra effort, it's not properly a metacurrency at all. Rather, it's a currency. While there may be meta- aspects about it, as there are with virtually all abstracted game mechanics, being...

Country Joe McDonald has died. https://www.npr.org/2026/03/08/nx-s1-5741805/country-joe-mcdonald-woodstock-vietnam-protest

Pretty much any edition of D&D can work - you just lean into the setting appropriate aspects like making more out of their 5e background as their non-adventuring job or their 3e profession and crafting skills. I would also generally slow advancement to extend the mid level sweet spot.

He certainly missed Rousseau and the Bernoulli family. So...not highly educated in either philosophy or mathematics.

There's some ambiguity in the MGibster's statement and yours that may be tripping you up. Not making a statement that explicitly recommends starting at level 1 isn't the same as recommending NOT starting with level 1, in general. But it does also say, in the segment on starting at higher...

The only way you'll know if the juice is worth the squeeze for you and your group is to give it a go. There are some definite improvements and some things that, I think, aren't. I'd recommend a shorter series going up a few levels (making sure to incorporate the subclasses) as a trial.