NB: I wrote the following last summer in preparation for new campaigns. I am posting it here as a place to point people when I'm in that situation. "Prosperous Pirates" by Josh Hass ...Respect other players as people with a valuable set of experiences and perspectives. This means never giving anyone a reason to think … Continue reading My ideal fellow players…
Leave No Trace - Pat Lee I recently left my last Adventurers League campaign, in which a player from my Out of the Abyss campaign is now running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist for approximately the same group. A number of reasons led to this choice, including the AL Season 8 ruleset. However, the fact that I really prefer the GM … Continue reading What other folks say about running versus playing games
I'm not entirely sure playing an RPG in a convention-like environment or at a gaming store is as good as we might hold it up to be sometimes. A couple of weeks ago, I went out to a comic store in my city that's known for having lots of players. Wednesday night Adventurers League easily … Continue reading FLGSuck
The most interesting things their characters do should happen primarily in the world. By the same light, the most interesting things that happen in the world should happen with the characters.
I don't like the way D&D Fifth Edition and lots of other "modern" games handle skills. As a player, I don't like spending time deciding which skill should cover a particular task. More than that, however, I intensely dislike using Charisma rolls to cover role-playing. In 5e, for example, Charisma skills include Deception, Intimidation, Performance, and Persuasion. … Continue reading Rolls for role-playing
I have real difficulty putting down any sort of hard boundaries around role-playing games. Like other things, I know it when I see it. But "race" as a trope seems as core to most RPGs as "classes" and some sort of individual characteristic statistics. The vast majority of fantasy uses this trope as a crutch - and … Continue reading Race as a trope in role-playing games
Technoskald's Forge 