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Nice. Here is the calendar I built for one of my cities (Frostcliff) and its surrounding region. It's a six-day week (named after the old gods), with 36 days in each month, called seasons. Then there are ten seasons, making a 360 day calendar. I find this best because players can relate to...

If I'm going to invest time in developing a city (or town), I really try to use a broad lens before doing anything. I ask questions about who lives there? Then I ask why? I pair it with what are the resources/geography? Then I ask, what is their history? I use other places in the realm to...

There is a difficult part you touched on - the social contract. The session zero. The real-life friendships that exist at the table. All of those can change the definition of railroading. Yet some do not want to acknowledge that. They insist there is an actual definition that can be adhered to...

We use a system that has no insight, and the game works just fine. The player, as the PC, either believes the NPC or doesn't. It's their call. I think it allows players (and nudges them) to pay closer attention to the setting and NPCs words/actions instead of having a side skill to rely on.

By masters, do you mean mechanics?

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply hiding was bad. I thought it might be to eliminate a bias towards one idea or another. Thanks for explaining.

Ok. So I assume you feel it is better to withhold the information about the game. Is this so people aren't led down a specific path of thinking? If so, I get it. But, it does seem a bit counteractive to what you are trying to accomplish. The questions I proposed attach themselves directly to a...

But they directly attach themselves to the core mechanics of a game. They are not options - they are choices that must be made. And it is definitely better to make them prior to deciding the core mechanic than after.

No offense, but I don't see how you can come up with a core mechanic without first determining what kind of game you want. Slow combat or fast combat? Modifiers or straight rolls? Universal mechanics or partial mechanics? etc.

To be fair, it was never about realism, but rather the sense of realism. There is a huge difference between the two, and everyone's line shifts as they grow in experiences.

When I did my skills, I definitely pooled many of them together. It makes so much more sense to me. My History/Religion skill is an example. If you know your history, there is a good chance you know a bit about religion too. Nature/Creature is another one. If you have studied nature, there is a...

No offense, I am not sure it's a win or lose thing. It's a situation where, I believe, the OP learned that the definition of "railroading" is broad, and it can be interpreted in many ways.

Speaking of mechanics, a long time ago we greatly enjoyed the MERP systems style of combat. It was D100, but you could take your skill and subtract a portion of it to modify any attacks against you. For example, if I had a 55% in one handed weapons, I could just use 33% of it to add to my roll...

We've been using Daggerheart for our latest campaign. The 2d12, aside from increasing critical successes (as opposed to a d20), does feel interesting. And feelings are where it's at for RPG games. The critical success mechanics, of automatically doing max damage + your normal roll of the die is...

If you design your own RPG, I really, really, really believe the idea of mechanics is attached to two very specific things: 1. The mechanics will highlight the parts of the game you want most. 2. The mechanics will be framed by your own personal biases. I have a third, but it doesn't apply to...

I am confused what that has to do with improvising a decision. You did this every week. People knew the exact question that was going to come up. So they can prepare, get ready, and have something on hand. Seeing a battlefield suddenly change dynamics and having twelve spells at your disposal...

I think the bold is an important caveat. But with a game like D&D, that has not been what I see. There are just too many variables, and even if someone pays attention closely, the dynamics of the battle can change on one player's turn. Then there is all the option you have; from which spell to...

God I have used King's Road a lot! :) As for me, I would say the most used items are: 1. Campaign world map 2. My pair of red GM dice 3. The miniature "Rosie Cusswell" 4. And I have used the book "The Gamemaster's Book of Non-Player Characters" quite a bit when prepping lately.