Recent content by GMMichael

  1. GMMichael

    Why I Hate Skills

    Sure. It seems "skilled" is in the eye of the beholder, here. Not sure which skill you're looking for, but there's skill in designing a character, skill in knowing what one has put on the character sheet and how to use it, and skill in role-playing the character in a way that maximizes...
  2. GMMichael

    Why I Hate Skills

    These problems go away when you give up the pass/fail mentality. A failed lockpicking contest doesn't mean the characters can't get through the door; it means they have to take the harder way around/through. From this angle, skills just help decide the uphill slope of a PC's current objective...
  3. GMMichael

    Why I Hate Skills

    Huh. I put locks on things because that's what the NPCs would do. And I assign a Myths and Legends difficulty to know about how cryptic that writing is. It's partially to reward a PC with a high Myths and Legends bonus, partially to know how much additional effort the PCs will have to apply...
  4. GMMichael

    RPG systems frozen in time

    Mo' money, mo' problems. Let the PCs buy whatever they want.
  5. GMMichael

    General video game discussion

    Or any Battlefield game. (I tried the free RedSec edition, and once spent about a minute and 50 rounds running around a van trying to kill someone on the other side.)
  6. GMMichael

    D&D 5E (2024) Unfreezing the Narrative

    I'm in. Hold the enemy's sword in your wound so she's unable to parry your ally's attack! Although in my game, it's more like, "she does 5 damage. What happened?"
  7. GMMichael

    D&D 5E (2024) Unfreezing the Narrative

    Not bad. If it works, keep doing it. It's easier to guarantee hits or maximize damage though. Especially on high-HP enemies. By intentionally lowering ACs ("bounding" them) WotC all but admitted that having attack and damage randomness doesn't work all that well. It makes sense to keep the...
  8. GMMichael

    Yes, 'The Algorithm' REALLY IS Like That

    But, doesn't Tide pod eating have a certain, Darwinian, benefit to it? You'll have to give us a link for this. All of my FBook profile posts regard illegal things that the FBook has done. So I have a nice set of reminders of why I shouldn't have logged in in the first place.
  9. GMMichael

    The Next TTRPG (nomenclature)

    There's the pirate-endorsed term for a real role-playing game: ARRPG.
  10. GMMichael

    The Next TTRPG (nomenclature)

    It's fair to call computer games an RPG if they resemble an RPG (even if you're not actually role-playing). But as you show, some RPGs don't even resemble other RPGs. Which makes CRPG pretty meaningless. Indeed, a quick look at Steam suggests that "RPG" is a self-applied term that can mean...
  11. GMMichael

    People can stop complaining about "historically inaccurate foods" in their RPGs now

    Thanks to a thoroughly non-medieval grocery chain, I prefer broccoli on mine. I'm not a gnome, but I'm not fully human, either. Also, I'm pretty sure that as long as there have been soldiers, there have been innovations like sandwiches.
  12. GMMichael

    Some news posts don't work: Oops! We ran into some problems.

    Yup, I'm ignored by the poster. Which makes the ENWorld front page a little less useful/interesting. :(
  13. GMMichael

    D&D General Reworking movement and positioning

    I'd go with Advantage instead of bonus damage for (2). Ultimately, this looks like it incentivizes a lot of running around instead of actual fighting. Two words: damage advantage.
  14. GMMichael

    Some news posts don't work: Oops! We ran into some problems.

    I'm getting this error for 'There Was a Magic: The Gathering RPG Being Developed at WotC And You Can Bid On The Draft For Charity." I hope not, because this site's name isn't "ENWorld RPG News and Reviews (Unless We Decided to Ignore You)."
  15. GMMichael

    Karma contest

    I'll let you know when I figure out what who-guessing is. PS: GMs don't need karma.
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