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That is one narrow definition of a role-playing game. For a more encompassing one, try looking into the concept of Shared Imagined Space to understand the fundamental difference between a board game and a role-playing game.

Middarmark setting book with new monsters, spells, items, etc. announced for next year.

4 days to go and 400% funding nearly reached.

Thanks for your reply here ! It may be just some bad habit left of too much time spent playing (A)D&D which is a game tryng to do everything, but I was a bit sad not to find a "travel" phase in Torchbearer, the logistics of getting to (or back from) the dungeon could be fun too ;)

At least take a look at the system (which is free) here : http://files.crngames.com/cc/tsoy2/solar_system.html, because I think it will satisfy your "no sub-system" criteria. In fact, it uses a unique "sub-system", that is "bring down the pain", which is very easy to grasp. In the book, you...

I understand, BW is designed with the idea that both the GM and the players will open the book during play. BW is also definitly a gamist-narrativist system, which I also can understand is not for everyone. I guess that Torchbearer will be more similar to MouseGuard than BW though. Have you...

Exactly why do you dislike "non-unified sub-systems ? Burning Wheel (one of the other games of Luke Crane) is (in)famous for its sub-systems, so I'm curious :)

Luke Crane (Burning Wheel) new game : Torchbearer, A dungeon crawl roleplaying game and love letter to Basic D&D. The book production is funded on Kickstarter : http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/burningwheel/torchbearer

+1, that's the first Big No-No! for me from what we know from D&D next :rant:.

Burning Wheel. Fight! is visceral. That "fate" thing is called "Artha".

Or in RPGs where the division of power between the GM and the players is less ackward than in D&D (any edition).

There is one simple of using "powerful" NPCs to save the PC's life without frustrating them : letting the player's call for them ! If Gandalf/Dumbledore/Elminster/etc. comes to the rescue when Frodo/Harry's player call on its relationship to the former (the ending of the fifth Harry Potter book...

There is worse than DMs badly imitating Ed with Mary-Sue characters, the ones trying to replicate this simulationist "roleplaying daily life is so much better than roleplaying combat" style. Player-driven is a very good thing, but I'm not sure I am seeing this in THO's reports.

+1 to Burning Wheel / Mouse Guard Shadow of Yesterday (freely available on the web)

Free RPG ? Shadow of Yesterday of course ! I'm a bit surprised to be the first to mention it, even here.

Getting to the tomb of Zuxor should be the goal, examining the baron's tapestry for clues should be a way to do it linked to the skill that is rolled. Using skill challenges to "make something the PCs have to do feel hard to achieve" is a step back to 3E philosophy "rules are the gameworld's...

IMHO, the best way to deal with powerful NPCs, especialy allies, is to put their presence in play in player's hand. Dumbledore kind of NPCs can be viewed as a real pain for many players if they are used by the DM to bully the PCs around (Gods are even worse!). Read/Watch again Harry Potter...

That's my current "learn-the-game" campaign. PCs : Eladrin Wizard (wand) Dwarf Fighter (t-h) Half-Elf Warlord (inspiring) Elven Ranger (bow) Halfling Rogue (dodger) Combat Encounter 1 (550 xp, Human Mage x1, Human Bandit x3) Was setup near a wrecked caraven, the mage was on a riding horse. It...

I think the DMG give good bundaries on what the DM is expected do to challenges the PCs (xp budget + monster level criteria, etc.); that's not where is my problem. I have more problems when the DMG says that the DM should pull his punches for fun's sake, but that's not the topic of this thread.

Hmm.. what I was really talking about is the ability to create interesting taltical situations, i.e. coming up with the good mix of monsters, terrain features and a overall idea of how they work together.