A random RPG mechanic popped fully-formed into my head, so now it will pop into yours. The player first states what the character will do: I cut the heads off three goblins. I stab him in the neck. ...and the opponent makes a counter-proposal. I shoulder-barge a bandit, and throw him into the river. Or he could duck, …

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My character was an elvish paladin. Coming from the ancient world of A,D&D, with its racial alignments, I still thought of D&D elves as 'Chaotic Good'. The unusual image of a law-focussed elf made me wonder how someone would approach a law-abiding philosophy if they came from a society of well-meant maniacs, …

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Fancy a game of football on Saturdays? I mean all Saturdays. Every one, for the next few months. We need you to join a pivotal part of the game. This is you. This is how you sound when you ask people to play D&D. You can't miss one game, or we'll have to call the whole thing off for that week and no-one will be able …

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It's hard to remember all those little things mid-game, so I'm thinking of making a LaTeX footnote for stories, which mentions a random very-normal-thing. Three young students, complaining about the mosquitoes. Retired accountant, walking his dog at 5am because he cannot sleep. Traffic jam made by two German tourists - …

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In some sense, you don't care about your washing machine. You have no clue where that powder comes from, or where those particles go after the wash. But you care a great deal when your washing machine breaks down. In the same sense, everyone playing RPGs cares about what the chosen system does, because that's where the …

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I love the notion of OSR books - the bare minimalism, the daring reinvention and questioning of schemas and tropes. So here are my musings on some OSR-style mechanics.1 Goals like old D&D don't fill the character sheet with 1,000 special skills short rules lethal game-play, forcing players to be clever Why HP? If we're …

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I sometimes feel that collections can imply something shameful, and it's especially potent in RPGs. It has something to do with wanting to horde, rather than use; to own rather than do. I can't fully articulate the feeling, but it has something to do with one thing coming from on high as the 'definitive' idea, the …

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When designing Fenestra, I noticed it had no magical universities. I really mean 'noticed', rather than 'stipulated', or 'invented'. People think that if anything's possible at the start, then it'll all be possible later. Options 'A', 'B', and 'C' are each possible, so perhaps we might select option 'A', and later 'B'. …

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Ronald Knox wrote ten rules on how to avoid ruining a murder mystery with an unsatisfying solution. They apply very well to writing and running RPG modules, with a little alteration. And just like any module or murder mystery, I'm going to start with a problem, then undress it slowly. How to Ruin a Story Suppose your …

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RPG dungeons often presume a lot of separation between rooms. Anyone starting a fight in this dungeon would immediately tip off all creatures. We can excuse our way around it with oozes, deaf goblins, et c., but it's a heavy restriction that seems to receive less attention than it should. It also seems odd to find …

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