The top 100 'Sacred Cows' of Roleplaying

[ThirdWizard]

38: Using the word "rollplaying" is creative and makes you look smart.

39: The world wants to hear about the adventures of Munchy McElven. I should talk about him at the local gaming store to anyone who shows any interest in roleplaying books or who happens to walk by the roleplaying books or maybe glances at them from across the room.

40: That's not possible! King Flendolburt stepped down from the throne in the Book of Flanglasses last year and now his son Rappenpuppin is the king! See, I've got the book right here in my backpack, let me show you. Just rewrite the adventure while I find the right page...

 

[Thunderfoot]

<SNIPPY>
32: Your finces are universally accepted, reguardless of country of origin. Gold coins could spend thousands of years in a jug at the bottom of the sea, if you pull them up, they still spend the same.<SNIPPY>

I agree - and don't try that in my world - they have an exchange rate. The only real universal currency is gems. (sorry the rogue in me coming out)

And speaking of which....


41. All races are particullarly skewed to one class or the other and are completely driven away from another class simply becuase of race. Also known as the Hobbit/LotR effect. - The fact that in 3.X they play into this by making races even more focused by offereing bonuses in the form of lifting XP restrictions just burns my butt.

 

[Crothian]

42: The idea that if someone is a mature gamer or in a mature group it means they don't mind rape and other darker concepts into their game.

 

[Shade]

43: The game breaks down at high levels.
44: Level advancement should be painfully slow.
45: The DM's fun is more important than the players', since he puts more effort into it.
46: All game books need to target/take into consideration brand-spankin' new players, regardless of how niche or advanced the topic may be, otherwise the hobby will die and we'll all be sorry.

 

[lukelightning]

47: All the PCs must have extensive description and background (probably featuring the death of their parents) with intense emotion to explain their drive to adventure. Even at first level. Saying "I finished my apprenticeship as a wizard and now am searching the world for adventure" no longer cuts it.

 

[GSHamster]

48. The levelling idea, character improvement makes survival more likely.

 

[Crothian]

49: That using minis makes it impossible to role play

 

[buzz]

I love fun. I'm mister fun. Fun is my middle name* It just aint everything.

Add me to the list of folks who want to know what the purpose of RPG'ing is if not to have fun. I.e., what's the rest of the "everything" you're talking about? I guess I disagree with your intial "cow".

I'll second #49 from Crothian, big-time.

I'll also ad an adjunct to Hussar's #13:

#50 That every game feels the need to insert the now-standard, "The GM should feel free to remove or alter any rules they feel get in the way of having fun." Replace "having fun" with "the story" if we're talking about a typical WW product.

I mean... why the heck were rules included that might get in the way of my fun? I think this is usually just an excuse for shoddy design (or just bad GM advice), i.e., the rules presented don't actually support the game's purpose, so we'll give people an 'out' so they can patch the holes in the system.

Thankfully, this is slowly going away.

 

[buzz]

Oh, and...

#51: A game-line/setting isn't being "supported" unless there's a constant stream of thick hardcovers being produced for it. A.k.a., "How can I be expected to run a game in [Setting X] unless you give me fifteen 300-page supplements?"

Lemme get all diaglo for a sec... back in the 1e days, we used the 32-page Greyhawk gazetteer, and nothing but, and we liked it.

Don't get me wrong; I love all my Eberron books. But seriously, D&D (and many other systems) work fine with even just the barest sketch of a setting. Give me an interesting setting concept that is pregant with crisis/adventure opportunities... and do it in a page count that won't require six months of prep just to run a campaign.

 

[shilsen]

#50 That every game feels the need to insert the now-standard, "The GM should feel free to remove or alter any rules they feel get in the way of having fun." Replace "having fun" with "the story" if we're talking about a typical WW product.

I mean... why the heck were rules included that might get in the way of my fun?

Everybody has different ideas of fun. And, by extension, so does every group. So while a rule may fit perfectly and enhance the fun for one group, they may drastically take away from another's. Since the game wasn't written purely with buzz or shilsen in mind, it will include rules that hamper our individual enjoyment of the game. I think it goes without saying that the GM alter stuff to suit the individual group. But having it mentioned doesn't hurt in any way.

I think this is usually just an excuse for shoddy design (or just bad GM advice), i.e., the rules presented don't actually support the game's purpose, so we'll give people an 'out' so they can patch the holes in the system.

See above.