Erik Schmidt

4,321 reputation

1129

bio	website	learntabletoprpgs.com
	location	Santa Cruz, CA
	age	45
visits	member for	2 years
	seen	2 hours ago
stats	profile views	83

I've been playing tabletop RPGs since the early '80s. While I cut my teeth GMing AD&D, Gamma World, Aftermath!, RuneQuest, and Shadowrun, these days I play and GM a wide variety of games, including Eclipse Phase, Dungeon World, Call of Cthulhu, and various flavors of Fate.

	4,321 reputation	bio	website	learntabletoprpgs.com	visits	member for	2 years
1129 badges		location	Santa Cruz, CA		seen	2 hours ago

summary answers questions tags badges favorites bounties reputation activity

94 Comments

suggestions reviews revisions comments badges posts accepts all

1d	comment	What is the “upcoming source book” mentioned in Shadowrun 4 FAQ? Given that SR5 is due this year, it looks like SR 4 has reached the end of the road, and that promised supplement won't see the light of day, at least for SR 4.
2d	comment	How do I learn to become a good GM? +1 for "Do, and learn from doing."
May 15	comment	How do I, as a DM, help a girl integrate into a group of all male role-players? Thanks for the edit, @SevenSidedDie
May 15	comment	How should GM deal with 'standing orders'? +1 for pointing out that standing orders can have negative as well as positive effects. Real-world example: armies understand that you can be focused on speed or on security, and that any movement technique is either a middle-ground compromise or a conscious decision to favor one over the other. Moving faster will wear out your body faster; moving with heightened security will wear out your mind faster.
May 15	comment	Effects of Horror Corruption You may want to check out Horrors: An Earthdawn Sourcebook by none other than Robin D. Laws - amazon.com/Horrors-Earthdawn-Sourcebook-Robin-Laws/dp/…
May 14	comment	Collection of custom Apocalypse World moves, with feedback? Barf Forth Apocalyptica is working now.
May 1	comment	What system would best capture the style and feel of TMNT mechanically? Side note about the TMNT game from Palladium. It came out in 1985, and was one of the first TMNT licensed products, featuring illustrations from Eastman and Laird. It's a great glimpse into that era in gaming. - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles#Merchandise
Apr 30	comment	What RPG systems are Designed for a “Traditional” Call of Cthulhu Scenario This does seem like a request for a list of Cthulhu-related RPGs, without any actual recommendations. It seems like you're asking for some Googling, rather than specific recommendations based on actual experience.
Apr 19	comment	Making magic “magical” re: magic/technology, when technology works, nobody ever pays it any mind, but when technology acts odd or fails, people start treating it as if the inner workings are arcane and unknowable. "Reboot it, maybe that will work!"
Apr 19	comment	Making magic “magical” The only time I've ever really felt like the magic my character was using was "magical" came in a Burning Wheel game. My character's attempt to save the day wound up frying the one NPC that could help our party. Everything went horribly awry. It was great.
Apr 11	comment	Why do D&D Paladins Have to Be Lawful Good? Whether DeVarque's widely-accepted assumption that the paladin derived from Three Hearts and Three Lions is accurate or not, it seems to have caught on with the current D&D design crew at WotC. Here's Mike Mearls: "Writers like Poul Anderson (trolls, paladins), Roger Zelazny (planar travel and worlds), and Michael Moorcock (law and chaos as opposed forces) all played big roles." Source: amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/03/…
Apr 10	comment	At what point did polyhedral dice become part of D&D? I'm confused by this: "...Chainmail was the first published wargame... ." The Wikipedia article you cite refers to Rules for the Jane Naval Wargame as the first published miniatures war-game, and several board wargames came out before Chainmail.
Apr 9	comment	How to motivate players without the promise of gold and XP? In his answer @BESW hints at this: the question seems fairly specific to D&D/d20, given that outside that group many games use other mechanisms for character advancement.
Apr 4	comment	Looking for a Space marine RPG similar to Starship Troopers (the Novel) @wraith808 I hear you re: the armor, which is at the heart of the tactical action in the books. That said, I doubt it would be too time-consuming to create stats for powered infantry armor, the tac-nukes, etc.
Apr 2	comment	What do I do with a dissonant player? The Same Page Tool is an excellent way to bring a group together with a clear understanding. I didn't mention it (and thanks for introducing me to the other two posts) because I suspect that the player in question may already believe that he's being picked on. Normally a group discussion is absolutely the way to go, but it may be that too much water has already slipped under the bridge in this particular case, and he'd feel attacked. Regardless, I don't envy @FallenAngel. This is a tough situation.
Mar 29	comment	Games based on Eclipse Phase's world and/or system Thanks. I think the key is not lack of interest in the question. It's just that you're asking for something "well developed, relatively successful, and - in your own experience - well playable," that doesn't yet seem to exist. I just received the new Fate-based Nova Praxis, which uses a somewhat similar setting. You might find that worth exploring.
Mar 25	comment	Is there a place where I can get good Pathfinder building maps? Is this specific to Pathfinder? If you can broaden it to fantasy RPGs in general you might get more input.
Mar 19	comment	Modern or future polar horror adventure The Rucka/Lieber graphic novels Whiteout and Whiteout: Melt are excellent sources of information about the environmental hazards of the Antarctic, and could be mined for story hooks and NPC inspiration. Beyond that, they're both tight, well-drawn stories.
Mar 14	comment	What is “RPG Theory?” @LitheOhm Well, we are in the realm of theory, so you may be seeking a concreteness that just does not exist.
Mar 12	comment	What is role-playing, and where do I start? It is admittedly difficult to pare down to just a few words, and while I've attempted to be clear that the styles used in play != specific games, I also wanted to help newcomers understand that all rules are not the same. I've seen more than a few comments in various discussion boards that essentially say, "use whatever rules you like, because the rules don't really matter" which is baffling to me. The tricky bit thus far has been getting feedback from newcomers (as opposed to veteran gamers, who of course have many opinions).