Has it been that long? Why yes, yes it has been. Time for another roundup of ... Snarfticles?
Yeah, I guess that works. If you're looking for the past archives, you can find them here ....
First Archive
Second Archive
Third Archive
Fourth Archive
Fifth Archive
Sixth Archive
Old Rules and How They Explain Current Problems (Or Don't)
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Random Thoughts about 5e, or Why No One Reads the DMG
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Theoretical Theories about Theory- Assorted Puffery and Argle Bargle Passed Off as Essays
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Talkin 'bout a New Edition
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Law 'Spainlin'
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The Media, Pop Culture, and the Streaming Wars
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Potpourri
Yeah, I guess that works. If you're looking for the past archives, you can find them here ....
First Archive
Second Archive
Third Archive
Fourth Archive
Fifth Archive
Sixth Archive
Old Rules and How They Explain Current Problems (Or Don't)

D&D General - Druids and Path Dependency: Why the Scimitar Helps Illuminate D&D
In another thread, people are having a great discussion about what, exactly, a D&D (5e) scimitar really is. Like many D&Disms, the inclusion of scimitars is ... well, it's certainly a choice. But reading the thread, I saw a great comment by @Gradine ... They're swords that druids can use I...


D&D General - Lethality, AD&D, and 5e: Looking Back at the Deadliest Edition
I saw a comment in my favorite meta-thread a week or so ago that, roughly boiled down, was, "Yo. AD&D wasn't that difficult. Heck, combat was much less lethal than later editions like 5e. AD&D was practically easy mode. By fourth level, you really couldn't die in AD&D." Now, when I first read...


D&D General - The Original Reason for Spell Components: Balancing Bad Jokes
Occasionally, we see threads pop up in 5e discussing spell components, and whether the components required for a spell (especially the expensive ones) are required in order to balance a spell correctly. In order to understand the original purpose of spell components, it is helpful to understand...

Random Thoughts about 5e, or Why No One Reads the DMG

D&D 5E - In Search Of: The 5e Dungeon Master's Guide
Lost civilizations, extraterrestrials, myths and monsters, missing persons, magic and witchcraft, unexplained phenomena, and unread roleplaying game books. "In Search of..." forum posts are traveling the internet, seeking out these great mysteries. This thread was the result of the work of...


D&D 5E - The 5e DMG Part 2- The Purpose of the DMG
Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process. 1. Introduction- What Does "No One Reads the DMG" Actually Mean? So my undying love of Leonard Nimoy, long-running jokes, and the many nifty and obscure things tucked away in the 5e DMG led...

Theoretical Theories about Theory- Assorted Puffery and Argle Bargle Passed Off as Essays

D&D General - What is Good for D&D ... is Good for the RPG Hobby- Thoughts?
Just when I thought I was out, @Scribe dragged me back in. A long time ago, there was a famous quote- What's good for General Motors is good for the country. Which is a mostly untrue quote in terms of historical accuracy (albeit it was likely said by Abraham Lincoln), but 150% true in capturing...


D&D General - What Does the Choice of Dice Mean for the RPG? (+)
This is a first post in what I hope to be a continuing series looking at some of the basic ideas behind TTRPGs (hereafter "RPGs"), design, and theory. Note that this is a "+" thread. For purposes of this thread, please do not discuss anything related to the Forge, Ron Edwards, or Forge...


A Remembrance of Everway: The First WOTC RPG that was too Good to Succeed
I'm taking a break from writing my second post about dice mechanics to have a little refresher- this will be a bit of an appertif, much like a bracing Cynar Spritz before a meal. 1. Prelude. The Cognitive Dissonance of Diceless Games. The problem with life is that either you know what you want...


D&D General - FKR: How Fewer Rules Can Make D&D Better
A lot of the time, I fail my own wisdom saving throw. I sometimes will refer to FKR with the assumption that people will know what I'm talking about, given that I've written about it in the past. However, as @Micah Sweet recently reminded me, that is not the case. So, since it has been a while...


D&D General - Rules, Rulings and Second Order Design: D&D and AD&D Examined
I was just reading the excellent posting by M.T. Black about Dragon Magazine number 67, mentioning Gary "Jake" Jaquet, and it reminded me of an interview Jaquet did some time ago. In an effort to avoid finishing my series of posts about dice mechanics, I've been writing about some issues with...


D&D General - Understanding History: Why Serious Scholarship of D&D Matters
A conversation in another thread started me thinking about the excellent flurry of recent scholarship in D&D, and, more importantly, why I write the posts that I do- and why I write them in the way that I write them. Because, of course, in the end it's always about me! To start with, I always...


D&D General - Jargon Revisited: Why Jargon is Often Bad for Discussing RPGs
So long as the terms are undefined, people can continue on, happy in the oblivious notion that they agree. It is only when someone makes the tragic error of defining a term that the people realize that they were only in agreement because they were talking about different things the entire time...


D&D General - And the Druid Explodes: Understanding the AD&D Design Space's Legacy
A few brief words are necessary to insure that the reader has actually obtained a game form which he or she desires. Of the two approaches to hobby games today, one is best defined as the realism-simulation school and the other as the game school. AD&D is assuredly an adherent of the latter...

Talkin 'bout a New Edition

D&D General - Some Thoughts on Historical Edition Changes, and What that Portends for OneD&D
Zeno: History doesn't always repeat, but it sometimes rhymes. Achilles: Wait ... wistery? Mistery? BLISTERY! IT'S BLISTERY, ISN'T IT?? Zeno: ........ you make me cry like Prohibition, Achilles. Anyway, I think that when we are peering into the crystal ball of nonsensical youtube conspiracy...

Law 'Spainlin'

How to Do Your Own Legal Research: Worried about the OGL?
Greetings, fans of turning discussions about unicorns and dragons into protracted legal-ese (all three of you). As you might remember, I have previously cautioned people against tackling complicated legal issues and/or going pro se (roughly translated as “I like to lose without knowing why”)...


Law is Hard: Worried About the OGL (Part 2)
Now, my good readers, we have come to the second in the occasional series on the Law (having been roused due to the OGL nonsense). In order to understand why the law can be so gosh-darned difficult to understand at times, we must first answer a more simple question, as first posited by the Hon...


Why do lawyers write like that: Worrying about the OGL (Part 3)
So we are now on part 3 of the occasional series on the law- again, this is a general explainer about litigation, but has application to TTRPGs due to the current kerfuffle over the OGL. How to Do Your Own Legal Research: Worried about the OGL? Law is Hard: Worried About the OGL (Part 2)...


Understanding the In Terrorem Effect of Litigation
So this part of my ongoing and series of law-splainer threads tangentially discussing legal issues and related to nuTSR and the OGL kerfuffle. For prior threads, see the end of the post. Disclaimer: This is about litigation in the United States of America. Not other common law countries (the...


Boilerplate Language: Worrying about the OGL (Part 4)
Well, I made a promise to @LordEntrails ... so, you're welcome, I guess? I've previously posted some explainers on some fancy lawyerin' topics, and the two that are relevant to this brief(er) post are as follows: Why do lawyers write like that? Why does litigation cost so much? One of the...

The Media, Pop Culture, and the Streaming Wars

Doctor Who: Past, Future, and Thoughts on the End of the 13th Doctor (SPOILERS!)
(Note- I originally wrote this as a comment on this thread. I ended up writing a lot about Doctor Who in general, so I am posting it as a separate thread) I watched the finale of Season 13 (and the Whittaker era) the day after it aired (recorded on BBC America) and I've been thinking about the...


Power Rankings: Weird Al's Top 26 Songs
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. And Weird Al is as professional as they come! In honor of the Weird Al "biopic" (and yes, there is a thread on that), I am posting my list of the BESTEST EVAR Weird Al Songs. But in order to keep it ... weird, I am going to break this list up a...


Disney- The Past, Present, and Future with the Ouster of Bob Chapek
(This was originally going to be posted in this thread, but I ended up writing a lot) So, what really happened with Bob Chapek and Bob Iger at Disney? As a threshold issue, and I mean this in the nicest possible way- if your youtube algorithm/facebook feed/googling for news sources is...

Potpourri
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