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Roleplaying design is highly sensitive to context. Some rules work really well in one system and really poorly in another, and it all depends on what each game is trying to achieve. But then there are mechanics that don’t work well in any system, and … read more »
Downtime is an important concept in roleplaying games. It represents whatever time passes between adventures, whether those adventures are old-school dungeon crawls or awkward socializing on prom night. While the narrative focus may be off, PCs are intelligent beings with free will, and players will … read more »
It should be obvious by now that hitpoints like those found in D&D, Pathfinder, and similar games don’t make any sense. Characters can take a dozen hits or fall from a great height and walk away unscathed. Normally, there’s no reason to harp on how … read more »
Torchbearer is a great game. It makes the environment feel dangerous and ensures every stash of copper pieces feels like a wondrous treasure. Torchbearer has even revitalized my interest in dungeons, something I thought was dead forever. But like any game I play a lot, I … read more »
I love reading roleplaying games. I have shelves of books and folders of PDFs that I’ll never have time to play, but I read them anyway because it’s fascinating to see what different designers come up with, from the cutting edge of modern roleplaying to … read more »
I’ve written about Mouse Guard’s qualities before. It’s one of my favorite systems, from its core dice mechanic to its setting and flavor. But some things are better appreciated with a bit of perspective, and so it is with Mouse Guard’s failure rules. After years … read more »
Most roleplaying games on the market these days take a laissez-faire approach to play. The system will provide detailed rules for character creation and probably combat, but once play actually starts, everything is put in the group’s hands. Any structure a system might have is … read more »
We want to be excited when our favorite roleplaying system releases a new edition. The designers have been hard at work, we hope, fixing problems and adding new functionality. But that’s not always what we get. Sometimes, we open a shiny new book and find … read more »
Some roleplaying games are good, some are bad, and some are just weird. This week Jonathan returns to the podcast to chat with us about the strangest RPG mechanics we’ve ever encountered. From self-sealing stomachs to lethal Perform checks, we talk about rules that leave … read more »
It’s been some time since I discussed mistakes common to roleplaying games, and designers have not been idle in my absence. Quite the opposite, they’ve been churning out enough mistakes to make a critic weep with joy.* These mistakes show up across multiple games and cause … read more »