Not related to any one particular system of rules.
33
votes
12answers
1k views
What rewards can compete with experience points?
My group is running a series of published adventures. I am GMing one of the modules (level 21-24) after which another member will be taking the reins.
I have plans for a side-adventure that will take ...
16
votes
11answers
711 views
How can you find a balance between effective/optimised characters and creative characters?
When creating characters, I often face a dilemma between making a character. It feels like they can either be optimized so they can "pull their own weight" or having a character I think is creative ...
10
votes
3answers
394 views
Water and electricity spells - RL physics approach
I like to master (and play) in a world I can believe (even fantastic ones). This question comes from D&D3.5 but applies to every game where reality collides with things you can't (usually) do. So ...
12
votes
5answers
488 views
Dark Ages/Middle Ages marriage age?
I am trying to keep a fair degree of verisimilitude in my fantasy games (outside the obviously fantastical elements like magic and dragons). As part of that, the normal/average marriage age for ...
23
votes
18answers
1k views
Overpowered PCs (Gabe's Dilemma)
Penny Arcade recently ran the following strip:
(Original strip here)
While the resolution of this thread hasn't yet been posted, I'm wondering what we think here. How do you game with PCs who are ...
10
votes
1answer
116 views
Fine Granularity Hunting / Gathering / Fishing resources
I'm running a Session where my players spend long times on their own in woods / planes (etc.) and need to feed themselves from their surroundings. So I wrote a hunting / gathering program that ...
9
votes
4answers
318 views
In a high fantasy setting, what changes when you restrict player magical item purchases?
In every game that I've played or run, the players have been able to easily buy or craft any magic item that they could pay for. What are the pitfalls of this kind of unlimited magic freedom system? ...
14
votes
10answers
543 views
Weapon that does 5 damage vs. one that does 1d10 damage: What characteristic of the weapons causes this difference?
Say I have these weapons, both with a +1 bonus to hit (the number doesn't matter, just that they are exactly the same in all other respects but damage):
5 damage on hit
1d10 damage on hit
IMHO all ...
27
votes
10answers
572 views
What can I include in my character's background to help the GM build a better story?
Whatever the system or the world used, what can a player add to his character background that will help the GM make the game more interesting.
Games are much more interesting with the addition of ...
15
votes
8answers
430 views
Treasure that's hard to put a price on
(We've been playing D&D, but for this answer I'm looking for a system-agnostic answer that works for a premodern setting. Let's say 1500 AD or earlier.)
Most of the treasure the party gets from ...
18
votes
4answers
280 views
How to run an encounter where PCs have different observations of the same events?
Some of the discussion in this question got me to thinking about an encounter design that sounded fun but I couldn't figure out an elegant way to pull it off:
In some situation where one or more PCs ...
13
votes
8answers
572 views
When should the DM hide a PC's hit points?
In any game with hit points (I'm thinking D&D, but any will do), is there ever a situation where the DM ought to keep track of a player character's hit points, and not reveal it to the player?
...
19
votes
9answers
580 views
How can you encourage players to portray a “realistic” reaction to in-game stressful/traumatic circumstances?
This question came to me while I was thinking about killing people in pen-and-paper rpgs.
When a character starts his career, in most systems, he is somewhat young. As an example, when you are first ...
5
votes
1answer
247 views
What point-buy systems of magic (like psionics in 3e D&D) are there? [closed]
The RPG I'm currently developing is a d20 model, skill driven rules system. The mechanics of spellcasting center around spell effects and point cost for stamina (a universal energy pool for all ...
14
votes
9answers
848 views
Randomly-generating weather for a sandbox campaign
I'm running a sandbox campaign and I've been looking for a method of randomly determining the weather for the day.
Features I'm looking for:
Low-to-medium handling time during play. Big tables are ...
21
votes
7answers
457 views
It is possible to have one player lose control of their actions (get possessed) and have the other players not know it?
One of the players in my group is getting rather fond of a very powerful and clearly evil sword that gives them great increases to strength and magical ability. As a consequence, I would love to have ...
36
votes
8answers
2k views
How do I deal with PCs who use kidnap and torture as an investigative technique?
I'm running a game in a modern setting with emphasis on the paranormal (Conspiracy X). The player characters are part of a secret government organization and are tasked with investigating & ...
21
votes
14answers
818 views
How to deal effectively with a player unable to lose?
How do you effectively handle a player that overreacts to any loss of his character (level drain, death) ?
34
votes
8answers
2k views
What ways are there to anger the PC's without angering the players?
Since I got so many good ideas on my last question, here's part 2:
What ways are there to really anger my PC's -- give them that sense of unbridled rage and fury -- without pissing the players off ...
21
votes
6answers
630 views
How can I treat old and new players fairly, without upsetting anyone?
The last time I ran a game of D&D there was a lot of tension between new players (both to the group, and D&D) and old players. It stemmed partly from oldbies not wanting their ball taken away, ...
11
votes
7answers
607 views
How do you kidnap a PC?
Here's where my group is currently at:
We are reaching the end of a campaign and we are going to be switching GM's.
I have been playing a (secretly) evil Psion who has plans to betray the party ...
14
votes
9answers
439 views
What to do when you end up duplicating another players character?
Frequently I seem to roll up characters who are the spitting image of someone else's character. Most recently I rolled up a Utility Force Wizard for Star wars: Saga edition, which matched someone else ...
17
votes
8answers
435 views
What to do when your PCs skip an important part of the story line
In the earliest stage of my new duet campaign, I thought I had "rail-roaded" the PC into the first important encounter, one that leads to a major story line for the campaign. Specifically, the PC was ...
19
votes
5answers
574 views
What sorts of things in a typical fantasy village would be made of iron?
I'd like to run an adventure where the party needs to improvise and find some sources of iron when they're in and around a small village. Cold iron plays a role in a lot of games as the bane of fey ...
16
votes
9answers
905 views
Rewards for a cancelled session?
If a referee has to cancel a session at very short notice, what rewards to the players are sensible?
For example part of a sessions exps, bennies or hero points.
9
votes
7answers
295 views
What monsters can be interesting as PCs?
I believe that the premise of the player as the monster of the game quite compelling. Vampire: The Masquerade is obviously the pioneer in this genre, and other creatures such as werewolves, ghosts and ...
33
votes
7answers
1k views
Pre-modern farming: What percent of the population is in agriculture?
I'm running a premodern setting where the characters will be involved in local administration. Assuming no magic, how many farmers does it take to support one non-farmer? Any statistics/estimates ...
3
votes
2answers
212 views
Wiki engine for D&D [closed]
I'm serching for wiki engine, preferably written on python(but is not necessary), with one specific feature - user should be able to insert the block on pages, which will be visible only for one user, ...
19
votes
12answers
852 views
Do role-playing games have to be fun?
There is a hypothesis that entertaining activities (like role-playing games) should be "fun." Quotes like "It doesn't matter, as long as you're having fun" and "The rules aren't important as long as ...
40
votes
7answers
766 views
As an unreliable player, how can I lessen the burden on my group?
I'm often unreliable, in the sense that something always seems to turn up at the last minute that draws me away from our current regular game. (It's happened before as well.)
Given that the reasons ...
7
votes
3answers
93 views
How do I, as a player transition my group from Play in Person to Play by Post?
We've just finished our 8 week slot at my local university gaming society, and I feel like events were unresolved. I'd like to transition the game into a play by post option on the society forum so we ...
16
votes
9answers
740 views
What real world skills can RPGs improve?
What real world skills can be improved by playing Role-playing games? What skills have you or others in your experience improved through gaming?
12
votes
4answers
299 views
How do DM's avoid burning out? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How do I deal with GM burnout?
Currently I am the single DM of a smallish group of irregular players. Although I enjoy DM'ing, I'm beginning to burn out and really wish ...
10
votes
8answers
445 views
Can a high charisma/social score save you from acting like a bastard?
I'm talking about PC.-vs.-NPC interaction; presumably, PC-PC interaction ignores 'social score' almost always (although counterexamples may exist).
This has been a real life 'issue' in one of my ...
14
votes
5answers
293 views
Rules for player inventions
To illustrate what I mean, let me give a quick example:
In the-dark-eye, there is a Staff Ritual named Hammer des Magus (No idea what the term is in english). Its effect is that everything ...
13
votes
3answers
279 views
Fleshing out a background and roleplaying it
I am a big fan of fleshed out, rich, interesting backgrounds, that give the feeling that the character is real. For that reason, I really like to give characters traits that everyday people have, ...
7
votes
2answers
131 views
Best practices for balancing separate enemies in an encounter?
I'd like to run a game where a Mage has killed a necromancer, who has re-animated himself and is after the mage. The mage himself is evil. The necromancer makes up the majority of the session. The ...
30
votes
9answers
683 views
How can I cut short a doomed fight?
Occasionally one of my PC's wanders off and gets himself into a battle he simply cannot win. I know the player wants to play out the battle to see if they can somehow pull it out, but it's boring for ...
12
votes
3answers
726 views
Is there a creature half dragon and half horse?
Is there a specific such creature, with a name for it and description, in any lore or game?
14
votes
3answers
235 views
How do you build rule mastery in your game?
No one likes the "rules lawyer." However, most GMs like players to know the rules. There is nothing more frustrating to have a player, or players, come to a table to play a game--that they are excited ...
2
votes
2answers
195 views
System for alignment of gods
Are there systems, apart from the classical D&D, that show the moral alignment of gods and rule the degree of matching of the gods disciples or clerics to thier deity?
I want to measure this ...
12
votes
8answers
309 views
How does one get players to explore more?
In a comment in my answer within What qualifies exploration gaming?
Javafueled commented:
It almost begs me to ask the question: How do I get players to explore more? :) – javafueled
In order ...
11
votes
9answers
800 views
Best way to use a GM Screen nowadays?
This may just be me but I like the feel of having an old school GM/DM screen up. However, between laptops, mountains of books, and more frequently having to see the battle layout, I find that within ...
6
votes
4answers
429 views
Bringing a pre-made character to the table or not; pros and cons?
Sometimes a player will have a pre-made character and bring it along to the first gaming session. Other times they will make the character at the table. Sometimes you get a mixed bag. As both a player ...
7
votes
0answers
338 views
Are there any adventures for younger children?
I have been running an Advanced Heroquest lite game for our 5 year old and he is ready for something with a bit more story and plot. Are there any adventures out there that are young children ...
22
votes
10answers
1k views
How to make magic items more interesting?
We all read about the little person finding a magical ring and the GM basing
his whole plot on that little ring. That was a cool example
of a MacGuffin.
Earthdawn has a system in which characters ...
13
votes
4answers
220 views
How can I encourage a style of play where enhancing others' fun is the most important goal?
Let's assume that we can break play styles into two categories: "selfish play," where you want to have fun, and "less-selfish play," where you want to have fun but you want everyone else at the table ...
13
votes
12answers
711 views
Why would I hire you?
I'm designing a D&D 4E campaign (set in the Forgotten Realms) for my local gaming society, which may or may not spill out into bigger things, rpg.se has given me too many ideas!
I want the party ...
9
votes
7answers
415 views
How well does “attractiveness” work as a stat?
Does attractiveness as a stat or attribute work in an RPG setting? I know it was included in oWoD, but then was trashed later on in nWoD. Why?
What effect does it have on player choices? Are they ...
9
votes
3answers
246 views
Are human characters needed in a roleplay system?
I proposed, a long time ago a setting without humans in it. Instead I'd designed a series of fairly 'alien' creatures, and I was going to set it up as Science-Fantasy (set on the moon of a brown ...
