Back in 2015, I came across a Gary Gygax quote I hadn’t seen before — one that resonated deeply with me then, and which still resonates just as deeply 18 months later: Role-playing isn’t storytelling. If the dungeon master is directing it, it’s not a game. I love this quote. It’s a strong stance, and […]
A lesser-known Gary Gygax quote Read More »
Over the years, I’ve played a ton of games where the PCs had hit points and didn’t need them. It took me a long time to figure out why that was a problem. If the PCs in an RPG have hit points — used here to mean “a stat which determines whether a character is
Never go in against a Sicilian Read More »
Over on Monsters and Manuals, David McGrogan (author of the excellent Yoon-Suin, one of the starred recommendations on my big list of RPG stuff on Lulu) wrote a neat post about a rule of thumb for sandbox games: Two Problems for Every Solution. David shares an example from his campaign that explains it well: For
One choice, two consequences Read More »
I was struggling to articulate my play style preferences last night, during a session debrief, and I kept thinking, “Didn’t I write about this on G+ like a year ago? I wish I could find that — and all those great posts that helped me figure out what I wanted in gaming, too!” What I
Alchemy, agency, and surprises Read More »
