ttrpg players settled on the idea that social mechanics don't work only because ttrpg designers are rarely socially adept enough to understand what they are modeling
give me a social etiquette manual or mirror for princes or closest equivalent, I can make it into mechanics
See? They think that social mechanics "abstract away" social interaction. They're picturing 'social combat' or 'I roll a check' rather than like, reaction rolls or 'people always believe your lies for 1d6 hours without counter-evidence, 1d6 minutes with'
Noir works how it does because it is a post WW2 story
every male character is a recently returned veteran with PTSD & intensive combat skill, the cops & criminals would have proudly died for each other like a year ago so its super fucked up when they fight, those involved in crime on either side are failing to reintegrate into civilian life
The weird thing about women is because the women didn't go to war, so a good relationship with a good woman represents a path back towards civilian life.
They're all drinking so much because they have PTSD
The protagonists are alienated & down on their luck cause they're vets
Sep 15, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
That is not the first autistic character in D&D. Even if you're not, you've probably played at least one character that essentially is.
+ minimal social skills
+ special interest in murder, treasure, arcane power, or god
+ responds to anything out of place with extreme concern
@DanArndtWrites Playing along with you, though, clearly there are a lot of people who think the same way as me. My top tweet is me ratio-ing wired magazine about this exact thing.
So, from the perspective of me and other people who think this is true, we see these sorts of statements as 1/x
Mar 17, 2022 • 18 tweets • 3 min read
I saw the old 'D&D is colonialist' idea again.
This idea is kind-of true, but also not really? The implied world of old D&D is much much weirder than that, though Wild West stories and American history were influences on D&D.
Here's a thread:
You can do math on the random encounter tables and so on to figure out that the game world has a lower population density than most places for most of recorded history -- about 2/3rds of wyoming. This matters.
HP is bad in almost every TTRPG in which it is used.
Here's a thread on why I believe this, and addressing common counter arguments.
1/7
HP lacks tactical depth.
Being in a bad position in a fight should tactically and narratively mean that you change tactics. Needing to do this is what makes underdog wins in fights interesting.
100 HP is the same as 1 HP. Your options aren't (usually) different.
2/7
Mar 12, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Submissions have continued to come in for this, and there are still 18 days left to write your own!
"Inside you'll fine eight monsters designed for Swords & Wizardry but easily convertible to your old-school rules of choice. Additionally, there is half a dozen bizarre magic items to add to your campaign."
Here's a thread of some thoughts I have on the concept of Pirate OSR.
I know it's a gimmick, but: 1 retweet of this tweet is 1 opinion I'll add to the thread.
1. Everyone wants to make naval combat rules that simulate every part of naval combat in detail. This is terrible, because naval combat is not human scale, and no one at the table has a good idea of how it works. It should be mostly out of the PC's hands, like my one roll combat.
