• I Want Realistic Dragons

    calendar Jun 14, 2022 · 2 min read · Theory Blorb

    Weighing into an ancient (or at least senile) fantasy debate, I'd like to go back a step. The debate usually goes like this:

    An elf punching a dragon to death because of monk-training isn't realistic.

    1    You think dragons are "realistic"?

    No, but a certain semblance, in certain regards, to reality, which …


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  • Ideas People

    calendar Mar 26, 2022 · 2 min read · Theory

    Oh young one! So you think you have an idea. Well let.me.tell.you: EVERYONE has ideas. Nobody cares if you have ideas. The real results are in work, in the execution. It's about labour, not inspiration.

    I've seen this kind of patronising lecture a few times on various RPG boards, and speaking as someone without any …


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  • What Systems Do

    calendar Mar 21, 2022 · 10 min read · Theory

    Systems can be boiled down to input, process, and output.

     1┌────────────────────┐     ┌───────────────────┐     ┌────────────────────┐
 2│   Monster: AC 17   │ ──> │                   │ <── │ Player: Attack +3  │
 3└────────────────────┘     │      process      │     └────────────────────┘
 4 …

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  • If You Want to Understand an RPG System, Remove the Dice

    calendar Mar 5, 2022 · 6 min read · Theory Design
    Reading over systems with all of those 'Add this, roll that' can give someone the appearance of a massive, complicated RPG engine, churning out all sorts of details and replicating various interesting minutiae of the gaming world. But sometimes what's really happening in all those tumbling pieces of plastic, and once …
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  • Random Character Generation

    calendar Mar 1, 2022 · 3 min read · Theory

    Random character generation is great, especially random Attributes.

    Why you hate random Attributes

    People think Random attributes will ruin your game because D&D has taught them that Attributes cannot be raised quickly. If one rolls a bad character, they'll have to play 'Jake, the pointless', forever after. This …


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  • Don't Have a Fun Game

    calendar Jan 20, 2021 · 4 min read · Theory Utilitarianism

    I so often hear people giving the golden rule of RPG's as 'remember it's a game, and to just have fun'. I can see that if nobody likes the game then it's not a good game, but the 'have fun' advice, while common enough, doesn't help anyone to do anything.

    John Mill discussed the paradox of happiness. If you want to …


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