Jonathan Reece

@Nobleshield May I suggest Erenshor, the "single player MMO"?

Man, all I want is a good single-player fantasy/medieval RPG where you're like a regular adventurer or something (no named character with a story, however much you can ignore it), character creation of some kind (or similar system), no souls-like or parry/timing combat, no survival junk, no MMORPG stuff. Just a mercenary adventurer exploring and doing quests that you come across, or like finding a dungeon or something and deciding to explore. Crazy this doesn't exist?

@TrojanSharkKhan @AgrivarDragon It's a really difficult game to GM well. So much of it is communicating to players (who are running very, very skilled characters) what their characters evaluate. Very good GM training.

Alrighty! A (very) quick rundown on how resolution works in Amber DRPG. (Note: there are no randomizers like cards) Basically, it's just a comparison between your stats/powers and the other person. Depending on the type of conflict, some are more appropriate than others. The higher number wins. HOWEVER, with good prep, the environment, clever RP or use of other skills, will give the GM an opportunity to nudge the results one way or another. What about non-contested actions, I hear you cry! The basic rule is, if you have the power/ability in question, you automatically succeed. If you are opposed, then your level of ability determines success. Yes, this requires a lot from the GM. And, yes, the players have to have a high level of trust in the GM. But it DOES work. (The fact that you typically have NO idea how powerful NPCs are makes for a lot of uncertainty that replaces randomness!)

I just read about “diceless” TTRPG”s? Not to ruin anyone’s fun, but how does this even work? This is so counterintuitive to everything role playing games are to me. Anyone play this way?

@John_Cyrano @AgrivarDragon Honestly, any GM that wants to improve should pick up Amber Diceless and at least read through it, if not run a mini-campaign. It really teaches you a great deal about how to adjudicate, very transferrable to standard play.

@AgrivarDragon The only one of which I am aware is Amber.

@Dystopian_Dawn 3000 years ago... oof... I started before these... My back is sore...

I was there....3000 years ago...

@CorpseKings Worst in a TTRPG? Running out of available schedule time.

Which is worse in a TTRPG? Running out of food Running out of light Running out of ammunition Running out of hope

@preacher37 @BuckSexton Literally world-changing.

@BuckSexton The Gospels are pretty good.

What's the best biography ever written?

@RogueScholarMDC If you want "alignment" as a shorthand for "behavior and rough beliefs" than Palladium's are the best. For "cosmic axis a la Moorcock" then OD&D is better. But asking: 1- What do they want? 2- What do they fear? and 3- Who do they follow? I found better than either for me.

Using the superior Palladium alignments doesn't have that problem.

@mikemearls "... because having the DM arbitrarily decide the outcome of a fight is boring..." Combat in Amber Diceless is many things. "Boring" isn't actually one of them, oddly enough.

D&D has so many rules for combat because having the DM arbitrarily decide the outcome of a fight is boring. D&D has so few rules for social interaction because letting the DM portray an NPC and make decisions in-character is one of the ways they get to have fun.

*laugh* My dear good sir, my friends and I gamed together for 40 years - and you don't think we changed? During that same interval, we changed diapers, ran businesses - and if you don't think that changed us, and that our gaming changed, well, I don't know what to tell you.

No D&D campaign today should be over 2 years long. If you go longer than that I don't want advice on how you did it. I want to give you advice on being aware that no one at your table is changing, growing or being challenged. This isn't the '80s.

@Gingerblast Meh. I've not run a single campaign that ran for decades, but I have a group of RPG friends for 40+ years that are willing to play in whatever I'll run (with the occasional bit of merciful reversal when someone else wants to run something). I'll take it.

Campaign longevity is the only reasonable measure If you run a 3 month long campaign that meets regularly, you're starting to win At 1 year, you won 10 years and I want to know everything you did to master the craft so that I can put your wisdom to use

@Dystopian_Dawn @kcoppernoll Conan is one of the cases where a classless system works better to simulate him. Classes have their purpose - just not this one.

@kcoppernoll yeah, we used to argue way back when - but since I was the only nerd in the group who read actual REH books - I explained they were wrong! haha Thief - Warrior - Pirate - King

I remember a lot of people being upset on this app because Conan has levels in thief lol

@KasimirUrbanski @Borpo101 That's my most common "fudge" - I roll a result, calculate the outcome (often from a table someone knocked out), look at it, look at the situation, and go "That's unbelievably stupid. No. This makes more sense."

Well it depends on what is the error? Because if the errors about the world now not making any sense in the setting because that roll does something that shouldn't be able to happen, then yes you should fix it. Basic example let's say that in your setting it's very clear that there are no undead. If you use a random encounter table for travel and the results an undead, you should just change it. But if the error is just that it creates a result that is plausible in the world but not desirable by you as the director of a story, well then you should probably just give up GMing all together and become the director of some shitty community theater.

I get what you're saying but that's not really the issue. The part that everybody misses is this: if you have to end up fudging a dice roll, then the entire premise of that roll was wrong to begin with. No mechanic that you use in the game should have a potential outcome that you do not accept for the game.

@KasimirUrbanski More or less true. But sometimes, being human and mistake-prone, we realize that after the roll is made. Not infrequently, that's due to rolling on a badly designed random table that we didn't completely vet.

@nugbonuggs @Nobleshield Right. Another part was how the AD&D rules "dribbled" into the scene - we had been using the MM and PHB for quite some time in our "white box" games, fitting them into the rules we had.

@JonreeceReece @Nobleshield It was a framework back then. That is why back in the day no dm/gm table was the same. But we all had blasts table hopping through life and learning new ways to experience dnd and rpgs in general, all while the basic core framework was there doing it's work.

Why was Gary like this? An entire paragraph of waffling on, when he could have simply stated: "If the party is much higher level than the monsters, reduce the XP accordingly."

@Nobleshield Here I'll disagree -- yes, if you are trying to play AD&D "strict RAW" the DMG is obnoxiously badly organized. But what it really does is show you what to think about as you design your own table's game. It's liberating, not prescriptive, once you see what it offers you.

@JonreeceReece Oh yeah it is 100% an informative read. But so many rules are buried within text that it's a bit obnoxious.

@ScythianB @Nobleshield And they still took forever... man, the wait between the MM and the DMG was rough.

@Nobleshield Gygax was an insurance adjuster and wrote as such. And it can't be overstated that the advanced Dungeons and Dragons books were a rush job.

@Dystopian_Dawn Um... is that a walktapus... ? Run, don't ask questions, just run.

It was a simpler time.

@KamisamanoOtaku @Nerdcognito Exactly. Use a points-based game (e.g. GURPS, Hero) and let them do that - just like Batman. But it costs points - that's part of the character's power budget. It's a great option, honestly.

@Nerdcognito ALTERNATIVELY, adapt rules from other TCGs where that's perfectly fine because the character PAYS for it. I know GURPS has rules for this. The CATCH is it costs Character Points that also have to pay for your Attributes, Advantages (Feats), Skills, etc. Ruch guy is a role, tho'.

Give them all of it. Everything. ...then slay the character.

@paul_jkrause Yes, exactly. Hwæt is the first word that comes to mind when you read Beowulf.

What is the first word that comes to mind when you read or hear the name: Beowulf.