How do you know? Did you actually read the article or what?? 😉

So you’re looking for discussions like: Is Gandalf a wizard, sorcerer, or cleric? Which level are his spells?

Sounds like fun. 😄

You cannot really separate setting and system. For example, the D&D system uses Vancian magic. That isn’t how magic works in Lord of the Rings. So you cannot „see Lotr through the lens of the D&D system“.

Youtube interview of Mercer about the Hope-Fear mechanic.

I had no chance to try it myself.

Compared to Dungeon World, the Hope/Fear counters are a difference.

I’m not sure where they got it from. To me it seems somewhat like Fate points.

What is PbtA? Well, the Baker’s definition:

“Powered by the Apocalypse” isn’t the name of a kind of game, set of game elements, or even the core design thrust of a coherent movement. (Ha! This last, the least so.) Its use in a game’s trade dress signifies ONLY that the game was inspired by Apocalypse World in a way that the designer considers significant, and that it follows our policy wrt others’ use of our creative work.

Is Daggerheart inspired by Apocalypse World? I think so: Meguey Baker co-authored Apocalypse World and the post-apocalyptic “Motherboard” campaign frame in Daggerheart. I would be surprised if Mercer would not have credited PbtA somewhere. If Darrington Press would like to, Meg and Vincent would probably approve with the “PbtA” stamp.

It doesn’t use the “2d6+stat” role mechanic but that is not essential just like all the other game mechanics.

I’m sorry. This is probably not very helpful. Maybe a more precise answer could be given if you ask how it diverges from “Dungeon World” or some other PbtA game you know.

It seems to me like all the Youtubers actually agree: This Daggerheart license is not as bad as OGL but there are some parts which raise concerns.

It isn’t a problem for now but imagine a future where someone big (like Hasbro or Disney or…) buys the rights to Daggerheart and wants to extract more money from the IP. Having experienced WotC, the TTRPG community is sensitive about it, so it seems appropriate to demand some more explanation from Darrington Press.

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On a scale of 0 (no clue what they are doing) to 10 (there is a master plan with a hundred steps), how strategic is Critical Role?

My guess would be around 3. This is mostly „seems like a cool idea, let’s do it“ without much of a plan.

At EnWorld is a list.

In one word: politics.

More words from here:

Domain-level play is an old term for giving RPG characters political power in the form of ”domains” they control, be those guilds, corporations, or part or all of a sovereign nation. Historically, Dungeons and Dragons campaigns would eventually see the characters having enough wealth and influence to purchase a stronghold, which would give them not only a base of operations but also a parcel of land to see over. Once the characters were officially nobles in this way, a whole new area of storylines could open up, involving courtly intrigue as well as broader politics. At a default level this would insert characters onto a bigger political stage, but it was both possible and for some palatable to start changing the course of politics in the world in which the game took place.

It looks like a dingy old library. The librarian is actually a genie using mind-control-illusion on everybody but the wizard.

It is a really busy lab where assistants move stuff and build things 24/7. Everybody as an alarm-switch-gadget.

The Eternal Vault is intended for long term storage: Only creatures can get out. No thing, no gear, no spells. The wizard strips naked whenever he needs to look something up in there.

If you want to watch some videos, I can recommend the Goobertown Hobbies Youtube channel. Here a video on paint pigments and here his Getting Started tutorial.

“Alignment” as in “lawful good” or “chaotic evil”?

I’d say “neutral evil” because the Drow are traditionally “neutral evil” and they tremble under the tyranny of the spider queen, Lolth.

I would assume the fact that the group of player characters, the crew, has mechanics like a character. Interaction with other crews becomes the faction game.

Not quite a review in the traditional sense: Dan Felder‘s podcast The GM‘s Guide reviews his self-made campaign and how he made it. As a professional game designer, he brings quite some depth to it.

Dread is commonly recommended but I haven’t tried it myself yet.

Trophy is another one. Listening to their podcast, I found it creepy indeed.

Apocalypse World, the PbtA origin, uses harm.

However, in the “message from the designers” it says “moving away from HP and damage dice in favor of conditions”. Both the designers used “conditions” in their previous games (Chasing Adventure, Against the Odds), so I would assume they plan to reuse that.

From Chasing Adventure:

Conditions represent wounds, exhaustion, frustration, curses, and more negative effects that afflict a PC as they adventure. They often occur when Moves mention ‘harm’ or ‘blows’, or similar.

When a PC receives a condition, they choose one of their stats and write down the fictional reason for the condition (the PC chooses both of these). Some especially formidable dangers can inflict multiple conditions at once.

When a PC makes a roll using a stat that has a condition, that roll has Disadvantage, but also gives them 1 XP after the roll is resolved (see the Level Up Move on Page 16).

When a PC’s last stat gains a condition, they Crumble. Conditions can be healed when you Settle In, when you use items like Supplies, or through special Moves or abilities. See the Peripheral Moves on Page 16 for more details.

Example Conditions

• STR - Weakened, Nauseous
• DEX - Dizzy, Shaky, Stunned
• WIS - Confused, Exhausted, Blinded
• INT - Dazed, Forgetful, Concussed
• CHA - Scarred, Grumpy

We have been in session 5 of a Mausritter campaign.

Three mice and a hireling ventured beyond the big gate to figure out what happened to the legendary city of Amberfount (actually “Funkenquell” as we play in German). At the end of the last session we just reached the top of the clockwork tower to free Ari (cliche female mouse in distress) and encountered an old techno-necro-mouse with time-magic powers who rules over the swarm of cockroaches we justed passed.

One of the three heroes managed to flank the evil one and hurt him, while the others where slowed down and then had to defend against roaches coming from behind. The necro-mouse got to give a little bad-guy monologue and fell down the tower like a Disney villain.

Meanwhile the roaches managed to kill one of the heroes though! With the overlord gone, they accepted a truce and the remaining mice got to carry their dead comrade out. With a ceremonial push-into-the-well that was the end of that character.

I found it rather hilarious that the GM actually tried to give us opportunities to revive the dead hero. However, we failed all dice rolls and were too skeptical after previous necro-shenanigans. Also, the player was fine with losing his character.

After some discussion, we decided to try a new meta-rule: If your character dies, you become the GM next session. Let’s see how that will play out. The campaign will take a break over christmas.