whattime - I think the mini-game idea is interesting. I haven’t played the dead lands RPG but the card game had a mechanic where you would play a hand of poker to resolve an issue. The cards were printed with a number and a suit as a graphic in the corners. I have always thought that was really cle...

What caught me about fantasy literature as a child was that it felt more real than our world. Books in general felt more real to me that the anguished and fake 'real world' that I knew. Your post reminds me of the quote from Tolkien. I imagine many here know it Faërie contains many things besides e...

I wasn't thinking of this when I started this thread, but I'll add it. I like the notion of the occasional connector, something that's the same in-game and in the world of the players. I know some refs make maps, "feelies," and so on, but one special fantasy of mine is the minigame. I imag...

The reply from @Paladin is pretty inspiring, so I'm not trying to top that. But as to the OP, do you want a whole system or a simple little thingy? And are you talking about something that fits squarely into D&D? If it just affects when you drop, it could be a re-skin / replacement for the vario...

There isn't an opportunity to read body language in the play by post format but I sometimes feel an excitement in the writing a player uses in their posts when something interesting is happening in the story. It can sometimes lead to a surge in participation. There is a momentum that builds behind ...

Valdus wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 3:47 pm I want to run this bare-bones D&D myself, like my buddies and I did at the back of the Biology lab in high school. YES, DURING BIOLOGY LAB!

1 Pot RPG

This is totally cool. If someone ran this for three hours, I would be thrilled.

I remember the first time I saw any D&D stuff, mentioned it on another thread.  An older kid showed me some of it.  There were a couple miniatures involved, and I think a book.  Likely a BECMI volume, but I don't remember.  I had no idea what it was all about.  There was talk about my being a cl...

It's possible to re-code hit points as not just physical but moral(e) toughness; a combatant reduced to 0 hp might fall down, or flee, or surrender. I keep thinking about this or something like it for running for kids. I want to allow combat and allow risk but without the "tough! that's the me...

Is it okay to start a "theory" thread without any specific purpose, just to share thoughts about a theory-iah topic and see where it goes? I ask this because there are so few threads, I wonder if there is some restriction on making them.

Good rolls can set a player up for success overall, and supplement or improve future "other" rolls by adding positive modifiers. Conversely, poor rolls during character generation can have a similar negative effect on all future in-game rolls. Which isn't an argument that character genera...

Sorry I neglected to do this before. I was first introduced to D&D by a slightly older kid at recess. I didn't have a clear idea what was going on, but I remember feeling quite engaged. I've played less than I would like over the years, but it's still a strong interest. I've enjoyed some of the ...

Thanks for the replies, all!

I think this comment is a little off-track for this totally interesting thread, but I'll say it anyway. Seems like one way to think of the "divide" here is: do you think the rolls of chargen are just more rolls to be dealt with, celebrated, mourned, used for whatever, like the other rolls ...

I spend a good bit of time thinking through a character's back-story. Who are they, and why are they like they are? It isn't really worth my time to make up a character that will die in the first game or two. I find it neither heroic nor fun. I really enjoy dealing with NPCs; once I know who my cha...

I feel like the surface of my life is pretty limited and I have never felt that much agency in it. I love the idea of a setting where the risks I take matter, at least locally. Not that they have to matter at the level of heroism, but at least somewhat . I love the idea of trying being meaningful. A...

Personally, I have a bit of trouble with a very detailed fiction for my character down to where this tiny scar came from and his relationship with his second cousin and so on in a game that otherwise doesn't tend towards simulationism. Not that I want to simulate everything, but the difference in at...

I assume it's okay to post on an old thread here... It seems to be that these debates are all based in the (often unspoken) idea that people and actions are either good or bad. And for the purposes of the game, I have no problem with that. Although it seems to me that in "real life," even ...

It seems like the "mainline" games have trended more toward power fantasy indulgence over time, and that maybe some of the newer games were developed in reaction to that trend. Not sure what I'm thinking about all this. Is it something that other people notice or care about? When I read t...

I could give this a try.

Can I ask for a sample of what the markup should look like? I think I'll mess it up without a little help.

Also, is there a time committment?

I guess that's the subject. Ideally I'd like a chnace to join a game with low crunch on the player side. Heavy on exploration and resource management. Relatively low on playacting except when fun.

Is there anything like this?