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Why BIND Rules Don't Allow Players to Go for the Eyes
(a story about spreadsheet failure) I’ve considered changing BIND’s ’to-hit’ system to let players ‘go for the eyes’ (or a headshot, or otherwise decide to attempt a vitals shot), and decided against it. My reasons sit below, but expect lots of boring numbers. You have been warned. (or just skip to the conclusions)
Read MoreNew Handouts
BIND’s maps have their numbers and comments applied by its writing tool, LaTeX. This makes handouts really easy, because the same map can present different layers to different people.
Read MoreDungeons Need More Space
The dungeon ecosystem doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I think Tolkien has a fix.
Read MoreNo Introduction Necessary
It’s been commented that BIND has no introduction, saying ‘what is a roleplaying game?’, and I don’t think it needs one.
Read MoreMinified vs Minimalist Rules
Tiny rulebooks are all the rage, and it’s great. The game of go has (arguably) 3 rules. Chess has a dozen rules. Monopoly has that little booklet-thing which nobody reads. RPGs often have 400 pages of rules without counting an adventure module, and often lack proper indexing. This hobby is mad, and the backlash against that madness feels refreshing.
Read MoreSpreadsheets are Great
Whenever I’m unsure about a rule, I pull out a basic spreadsheet, and start populating numbers.
Read MoreAlways Say the Target Number
A player rolls the dice, and the table watches the result, like a roulette ball bouncing about. Rothgar has a +4 to make the jump, but the chasm demands a Target Number (TN) of 12.
Read MoreReal Time Passing Between Games
RPG Vloggers chatting about Gygax note on real-world time-synchronization have got me thinking about really using this rule. In case you haven’t heard the idea - Gygax demanded that every day which passes in the real-world, one day passes in the game. The troupe starts and ends their games somewhere safe, like a tavern in town.
Read MoreSystem Realism Matters
A hundred paces down the dark tunnel, you see dozens of goblins dancing round a fire and singing about eating anything that moves.
Read MoreI Want Realistic Dragons
Weighing into an ancient (or at least senile) fantasy debate, I’d like to go back a step. The debate usually goes like this:
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