I've made a habit of saying "Look, [city] was a powderkeg ready to go off before we even got there." It's come up in multiple campaigns.

I'm super excited to give Barkeep on the Borderlands a go! :D

Also, this paragraph stuck out to me:

Before we take a look at Barkeep, I want to drop a few quick examples to demonstrate how tone can be affected by writing, mechanics, art, etc. I firmly believe that the tone communicated by an RPG author is inteded to be replicated by the GM. So while you could run Blades in the Dark as a sexy dating game, I don’t think that would properly reflect the game’s tone.

I absolutely agree. Burning Wheel has stuck with me for a decade and a half, even though I haven't played it yet, because it's the first time I opened a game with a clear authorial voice, and it was explicitly explaining to you not just how, but why the rules work the way they do.

Obviously that's an extremely explicit example, but it's also something that clicked for me with the -Borg games. The ratio of style to substance greatly favors style. That's not to knock the substance, but the games are light and, to be honest, pretty standard for a new-school renaissance type game. It's not that the rule book is also, separately, an art book. It's that, when the rule book is an art book, then the acts of bringing it to the table and opening it up to reference the rules become acts that set and reinforce a tone. It made me realize that all games do this, even if it's sometimes unsuccessful, or negligible.

Heck, to go back to Burning Wheel, I love the digest-sized hardcover with matte pages, because it looks and feels like a novel, and I think the game intends to create that style of play. I might join a Fabula Ultima game, and that rulebook looks and feels like a manga, which had to be intentional. It works.

So I really jive with what the author says about how RPGs should communicate their intentions, especially tone in an adventure like this. Obviously any GM will put their own spin on the performance, but hey, if they're laughing and having fun just reading through potential encounters, that's the vibe the GM is going to cultivate in turn. :)

"If you'd rather play D&D, are you willing to DM while I recharge?"

In my group, yes. :| We actually have plenty of players willing to run games.

That said, they're also willing to try out new games, so it all works out just fine. :)

Haha, thanks. I just meant that sentence at first blush, I know it's a reasonable position after that. :P

I'm not sure I'd like it, because I "got" Blades in the Dark, but realized it wasn't for me. It does what it does well, but my group and I didn't like so much the "one session, one job" paradigm, and it seemed too abstract at times. I read a comment that said narrative games are like writing with the other players, and it seemed to click. I might just not like that kind of approach, as a matter of personal preference.

But I might like DW2 more, as it incorporates more of a traditional style. That and, to be honest, I might love Blades and other FitD games with some light tweaking. I need to explore!

Unfortunately, I can't speak from experience at the table, so it's just that my impression of BW's mechanics seems more optimistic. That said, we can agree on the BITs, because the Artha cycle is the star of the show. I don't know if they're going to incorporate elements of that into DW2e, but it might just be a great direction to go.

Dungeon World was a big flop for us... and I'm excited about the next edition. :P

I think it flopped largely because we were playing it wrong. I know that sounds stupid, and you usually hear that from people making excuses when people don't like their favorite game. What I mean is that we tried to play it like D&D, and while it's clearly trying to bridge the gap between PbtA games and D&D-type games, you have to approach it a bit differently, which we didn't. Maybe I still won't like it, but I want to reevaluate it on its own terms.

I'm also a big fan of Burning Wheel productions. Burning Wheel is my favorite game I've never played, just because there are so many things I find interesting about the system, and I love the presentation. (Still trying to get a group together, though!) If DW2e takes the form of a chunky, digest-sized hardcover, I'd be thrilled.

Oh yeah. The campaign already had a lot of comedy in it (the whole cast are improvisers), and the one-off was extra silly, but there was also a log of nostalgia and genuine joy.

Somewhat off-topic:

I really enjoyed the NeoScum podcast, which is a Shadowrun actual play, but they also had a one-off side-quest in the digital world of Neopets. So I've kind of seen a Neopets RPG in practice, before this bespoke system. :P

As someone who got burnt out on D&D, all these updates just seem like rearranging deck chairs on the titanic.

"I want actual DM support, a commitment to better supplements, a working CR system, faster combat with more interesting choices, a clear creative direction..."

"How about balance tweaks to the player classes?"

Ugh. Pass. I'll just try out Pathfinder 2e next time I'm in the mood for running this style of game.

I would put these in my D&D campaign.

Three-way tie. Unfortunately there hasn't been movement on any due to personal stuff, but hopefully soon:

• Pathfinder 2e for a modern D&D-type experience. (Not to yuck anyone's yum, but I have plenty of gripes with 5e.)

• Dolmenwood. Currently awaiting delivery of the Kickstarter. For those old-school D&D vibes.

• Burning Wheel. My favorite game I've never played, even after owning the books for nearly two decades. :P But for real this time!

Fun fact/wet blanket:

Actually those are just coins, which can sometimes be triangular in the Forgotten Realms.

Interestingly (to me at least), the only specific example I found was the Sembian silver piece, or "hawk." In the image, we also see what looks like copper and gold, too, at the minimum.

Sokka, Scanlan, John Snow, Walter White - except “more based” or “less of a cuck”.

The two that stick out most to me are Sokka and Walter White.

A major part of Sokka's character arc is outgrowing his misogyny. I mean, Christ, the Kyoshi Warriors episode had him humble himself, ask to learn, and crossdress.

As for Walter White, his arc is becoming "more based" and "less of a cuck." It's also about him becoming a total monster.

There's been a lot of discourse about "media literacy," and it's frustrating that the people who most lack it, often in destructive ways, end up just dismissing the criticism out of hand, as though it's not dead-on.

I really want to get Crown & Skull! The physical book reminds me a lot of Burning Wheel, which is my favorite physical RPG book. Only I think I'd have an easier time getting Crown & Skull to the table. :P

Ooh, I'll have to keep my eye out for that. I haven't had a chance to play it, but I picked up a copy of Dragonbane, and it does a lot that I like.

I feel like 13th Age had some of the wind taken out of its sails because it came out around the same time as 5e. I wonder what it will be like this time. If 6e is a dud, they might get a bump.

And, on the flip side, there's also their total blindness to many examples of old Trek being decidedly unsubtle. They just will not address those, because to do so would completely undermine their point—and they're not interested in the truth, really. They just want their anger.

I don't know how someone can be a Star Trek fan and not get it. It's an attitude diametrically opposed to the core spirit of the franchise. How do these people enjoy a show about exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations, but they can't stand the presence of different humans?

And their recommendation engine sucks.

Netflix used to be famously good at suggesting films. Articles were written about it, and there was even a cash reward for anyone who could contribute to its performance. Then it just turned to shit.

And the funny thing is that it would have helped counteract the shrinking library. Sure, there would be fewer films on the platform, so you'd be less likely to find a specific title, but at least you could select a film Netflix recommended based on your past ratings and be fairly confident you'd enjoy it. Now? Absolutely not.

To make this extra stressful, Revivify is the only resurrection spell I allow if I'm running 5e. :)

(Okay, to be fair, that doesn't mean I ban player resurrection in heroic campaigns. I just want it to be more of an ordeal, y'know? So it has to be a quest, or require bargaining with some kind of supernatural entity, or come with a price or chance of failure, etc. I just don't want it to be "I cast the spell, or go to someone who can cast the spell and pay some gold.")

I dunno. When I was reading through PF2e, at a certain point it clicked for me that a lot of the rules actually make it easier to play a character by ear.

Take feats. There are tons, of different kinds, with different levels, sometimes with prerequisites. It seems like a lot of rules overhead, but that also means that you're not picking from the whole list every time you get one. If a player doesn't want to make a ton of choices, they can just pick one of the highest level feats they qualify for and have a pretty decent build. Maybe not optimized, but if they don't want to dig into the nitty gritty, that wasn't a priority anyway.

Plus, if a player wants to change their mind, the rules explicitly say you can swap things around. I know that works in 5e anyway by DM fiat, but still, it's nice to have a "don't worry too much" clause written in the books.

Ultimately a matter of personal preference, of course. I just think PF2e actually scales pretty well with player investment in the system, whether someone's really into character builds or just wants to follow some steps and get into the action.