So I've noticed a thing since I started joining reading groups: Even the most beloved books have a lot people who hate them passionately.
When someone comes out and declares a book I consider sociopathic rubbish to be a masterpiece, it's hard not to think of it as a personal attack.
When someone…
Every time a new sequel for a beloved franchise hits the theaters a new wave of angry hysteria hits the Interwebs. The same things happens when the film adaptation of a beloved set of books arrives. No matter how it turns out, someone somewhere is going to begin angrily screaming that the film maker…
Once upon a time, the greatest and most advanced super-power in the world built a mighty wall and set up strict laws to keep out uncivilized foreigners who threatened its way of life.
Outside the wall, shut off from becoming part of the super-power's shining dream, the rest of the world busied it…
Reconciling the Dual Nature of Player Characters
The 1980's was one long journey down the road from pawn toward protagonist for the player characters in RPGs. The novelty of controlling a pawn as he crawled through mazes, battling monsters and collecting loot, was wearing off. Jaded players wante…
Reconciling the Dual Nature of Player Characters
Nameless, faceless, identical -- pawns exist to be sacrificed on the chess board. Growing emotionally attached to your playing pieces, struggling to keep them instead of staying focused on which ones to give up in order to move yourself close…
Much ink, both virtual and real, has been spilled on the subject of how important it is for a GM, in his limitless power,…
It was brought to my attention after my last post that the defensive fight maneuver was changed in fifth-edition Pendragon. It now longer allows a normal damage roll on a critical success, so the maneuver has been reduced to use as a delaying tactic. I only checked to make sure that the maneuver sti…
Here’s the first and most important house rule I made to make Pendragon playable with an over-achieving player: the resolution-bonus chart.
The number one thing that makes the game’s rules fragile is the over-20 resolution-roll bonuses. Grab yourself a sword (so that it doesn’t break on a tied…
Hello. My name is Leonard, and I'm a power gamer. It feels a curious thing to admit to, given some of my other beliefs about myself, but there you go. And I think it's why I was able to get my mind around D&D 4E and have some fun with it while my friends were dissing it as a lost cause. I've also go…
I can't speak to any issues other than my own, b…
It's a well known social acxiom that when your goal is to have an amiable chat with someone you don't really know, never allow the topic of conversation to turn to politics or religion. A less well known social acxiom is never discuss whether or not you believe a game master should allow h…
Google has managed what Facebook never could, in that I find myself increasingly becoming a member of the online community. As such, I periodically find myself part of discussions where I have so much to say that it seems gauche to throw it into the middle of an ongoing dialogue. So when those occas…
