Role-playing Games Stack Exchange
Role-playing Games Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
158
votes
22 answers

How do you help players not focus on the rules?

Background — My Group's Gaming Style When I GM, I run games loosely from a rules standpoint, and do not feel bound to adhere to what the rulebook says when it doesn't make sense in a given situation. I adapt things to fit the game-world reality over…
mxyzplk
  • 175,309
  • 30
  • 437
  • 660
156
votes
5 answers

Is there a maximum attainable beard thickness?

This other question asks if attuning to a Belt of Dwarvenkind grants the following benefit (and literally nothing else): you have a 50 percent chance each day at dawn of growing a full beard if you're capable of growing one, or a visibly thicker…
aroth
  • 1,573
  • 2
  • 9
  • 13
154
votes
26 answers

Players skipping side quests just to have a laugh at the DM

Something that's happening frequently at my table recently is that the players are making choices deliberately to waste my preparation. If they see something that obviously took some preparation that they can skip, they'll skip it on purpose and…
Manner
  • 5,373
  • 6
  • 32
  • 49
151
votes
9 answers

Can I begin roleplaying if I'm visually impaired?

I've been reading about RPGs for a long time, and I'm extremely interested in trying it... But I'm afraid to start because I'm visually impaired and have to use a screen reader to navigate a screen. RPGs seem very complicated and I think I'd really…
Visually Impaired
  • 2,781
  • 2
  • 11
  • 11
151
votes
14 answers

Betrayed by my GM; how can I respond?

I was introduced to D&D three months ago and really delved into the world. I had so much fun creating my character and tried very hard to roleplay him differently from myself. I did my very best to play him as the stoic man I envisioned. His biggest…
user9623
  • 1,383
  • 2
  • 9
  • 4
150
votes
14 answers

Who created the idea of Experience Points?

The idea of XP in all its many forms has been around for quite some time. What designer had the idea of quantizing success and advancement through a numerical method? What game was it for? The critical element here is innovating beyond a score:…
Brian Ballsun-Stanton
  • 104,048
  • 20
  • 271
  • 465
149
votes
18 answers

How can I find other RPG players?

I'd really like to learn how to play pen-and-paper RPGs. I know that it takes a few players to actually sit down and play, but I'm not at all sure where to find more gamers. How do I find existing groups to join?
George Stocker
  • 1,599
  • 2
  • 12
  • 11
146
votes
11 answers

Can you drink a potion one-handed underwater?

I have a player who wants their PC to drink a potion underwater while one-handed, and as a DM I'm not sure how to rule it. Ask for a Dex check? What DC? Is it even possible? I couldn't find anything in the books about using potions underwater in the…
L..
  • 1,553
  • 2
  • 9
  • 7
142
votes
9 answers

How to stop players from making the game X-rated

After 30 years, a few of my friends and I finally managed to get together and play D&D. We've managed to play 2hrs once a week for the last 6 weeks. I unfortunately ended up being the DM. My problem is that the players, in spite of being given an…
The Lost Kitten
  • 3,409
  • 7
  • 20
  • 27
141
votes
17 answers

What can I do when I accidentally gave out an overpowered item?

In our last game, the players worked their way through a series of fiendish traps into a high security vault, where they recovered a Staff of the Magi. After the game I looked at the stats, and realized that (oops!) the staff is massively…
Benubird
  • 2,733
  • 2
  • 13
  • 16
137
votes
5 answers

Are peoples' competencies really as flat in D&D 5e as its math suggests?

Bounded accuracy is a major feature of the new system. It promises that bonuses to rolls won't grow too much throughout a character's career. And indeed, a first-level fighter would have an apex skill of about +5 (Strength +3, proficiency +2),…
Magician
  • 14,792
  • 5
  • 51
  • 86
134
votes
3 answers

What are the big differences among the D&D editions?

I've been out of the loop for a while, and I used to play AD&D 2nd ed, but today I find there are a lot of different versions that have fairly different gameplay. Can anyone summarize the really big differences, the ones (maybe top three?) that are…
gbjbaanb
  • 2,865
  • 2
  • 22
  • 14
133
votes
9 answers

New girl gamer in our D&D group is causing weird tension - what to do?

I'm concerned because a new player just joined our D&D 5e group and is super flirty with all the male players (both in person and as her character - she's a bard). And the problem is that she's changed the whole vibe of our gaming group. We used to…
MsGreen
  • 1,257
  • 2
  • 9
  • 9
132
votes
9 answers

What's the point of long, empty hallways in dungeons?

Many dungeons—published and homemade—often contain a multitude of long, empty passageways between rooms. For example, my DM is running "The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan" from Tales from the Yawning Portal (and he still is—no spoilers!), and in the…
Icyfire
  • 63,564
  • 19
  • 228
  • 324
130
votes
11 answers

Given powerful low-level Clerical healing, how can sick, crippled or otherwise unhealthy people exist?

In my attempt to make a more harsh, uncaring setting, I’ve hit a stumbling block in terms of the ease with which even low level Clerics can treat the poor and the sick: A 1st-level Cleric can bring most commoners back from the brink of death (Cure…
abza
  • 2,379
  • 2
  • 11
  • 14
1
2
3
…
99 100