Evolved forms of D&D variants

 - I wonder if certain versions of D&D represent the evolved forms of certain approaches to the game.

- These forms developed over extensive playtesting, and deliberately fixed issues their predecessors had.

- B/X D&D, now most clearly expressed in Old School Essentials, seems to be the evolved form of OD&D and Holmes Basic D&D.

- Pathfinder 1e is obviously the evolved form of D&D 3e / 3.5e, but perhaps less obviously the evolved form of AD&D 1e and 2e, trying to cover every possible situation with a rule, and providing the flexibility 2e kits offered.

- Dungeon Crawl Classics seems to be the evolved form of the random tables which proliferated in zines, and could be added to any edition.

Surprisingly OSR feel of Pathfinder Card Game

 - Was tempted to buy the new Pathfinder Adventure Card Game to play with my kids, with the fail-safe of being able to play solo.

- Love the story driven scenarios, and the fact you can level your adventurer cards up as you play.

- Surprisingly OSR feel due to strong fantasy tropes, resource management and deadliness.

- Pathfinder Adventures game on Android / Steam a nice way to learn, though it uses the previous am edition of the game.

- I've lost as many times as I've one both on the tabletop and online, which increases the interest for me.

- Bad play is punished, though good play not a 100% guarantee of success.

Cugel the Clever and Vancian Magic

 - Recently finished reading Jack Vance's Eyes of the Overworld, which follows the adventures and misadventures of Cugel the Clever on his Oddysey home.

- Cugel is an unscrupulous rogue, whose wit saves him from a variety of terrible fates, often damning his companions.

- Though not a wizard, he is able with some difficulty to learn some simpler spells, given access to the written spells.

- The description of magic is very evocative, with the words of incantations being excruciatingly hard to learn, desperate to get out, and liable to punish the tiniest mistake in pronunciation.

- So while early versions of D&D took the "cast and forget" part of Vancian spellcasting, the unpredictability of the magic is much better embodied in systems which allow for spell failure results, such as DCC and Mörk Borg.

Eclectic worldbuilding

 - It always struck me that Greyhawk was a setting which allowed Gygax to pitch troops of different historical periods against each other.

- I used to consider this a weakness, but then I heard an interview with the lead designer of Pathfinder, who said they made Golarion as "a world to have adventures in".

- Then I wondered if this was the right approach after all, it is certainly what The Dark Eye authors did with their Aventurien setting, right down to the name.

- After all RPG settings are primarily places for PCs to do things.

Solo scenarios to teach the game

• I'm a fan of solo scenarios to teach rules, there's nothing like learning by doing.
• The ones I've done (in approximate order of publication are).
• The one from the the D&D Red Box (Mentzer).
• The one from the D&D 1991 Black Box.
• This one was embedded in a more thorough tutorial, which deserves its own post.
• "All in a Night's Work" from the GURPs 3e Basic Set
• The one from the Starfinder Beginnner Box (though this one is pretty minimalistic).
• And the one from the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, which also slowly introduces character generation. 
• I guess they're an extension of the ubiquitous (and also useful) example of play idea, which goes right back to OD&D.

Opposed Rolls

• I'm not a fan of opposed rolls.
• Especially opposed dice pool rolls!
• The worst example has to be Exalted, where after countless rolls the result is that nothing happens.
• To give White Wolf their due, they did fix this in NWoD/Chronicles of Darkness, making all modifiers apply to the pool before rolling.
• Things have bogged down when I played Fate due to opposed Attack / Defense rolls too.
• Conversely, I love the fact that in DCC there is a fixed DC for the Thief's Sneak Silently skill based on conditions, not an opposed perception roll.
• I think there are two basic problems with opposed rolls:
• Increasing the number of times dice need to be rolled.
• The rule of averages meaning as a net result nothing happens.

Dice Pools

• I really dislike dice pool mechanics!
• Results seem weirdly unpredictable.
• Things are made worse if target number is high (e.g. 6 on d6 in Coriolis).
• And better if low (e.g. often 4+ on d6 in Hero Kids).
• Overall I prefer d20 or 3d6 (The Fantasy Trip, GURPS).
• Maybe because the probabilities are easier to intuit.

Mörk Borg Review

• Initially I felt it was pretentiously arty.
• In the end I love it - it does a great job of syncing presentation, content and setting.
• Loads of random tables which back up the feel of the setting.
• Mechanic for bringing on the end of the world.
• Rules-wise it's a very slimmed down d20 system with metagame 'omens'.
• Players (almost) always roll.
• DC 12 is standard, only modified in the case of especially strong/weak opponents.
• Simple and deadly crit and fumble mechanics.
• Omens allow rerolls, damage reduction, max damage etc.
• Options to play classless or with very flavourful classes (Fanged Deserter, Heretical Priest).
• The included adventure Rotblack Sludge is a fascinating compact starter dungeon.
• The website has loads of free content, including a character generator.
• Pretty good sheets on Roll20.

Hero Kids Review

• Brilliant premise - kids solve troubles closer to home whilst parents off adventuring.
• Generally I like "setting as a reason to do stuff".
• My nine year olds hooked from outset.
• Very well supported with adventures, which  all have maps and paper standee miniatures.
• Colouring them can be an additional parent child activity.
• Uses dice pools and opposed rolls, which I am generally against, but seems to work OK here.
• Maybe as target numbers are low, and ties broken in favour of attacker / child.
• No official levelling rules, though I've been doing it ad hoc.

About

• My thoughts about tabletop RPGs as they come to me.
• Only the main ideas.
• Open to everything (from OSR to story games, D&D from 0e to 5e).
• All opinions are my own on the day.
• My opinions can and will change.
• What are your opinions right now?