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Jon Profile picture
Jon
@RunAGame
RPG blogger, nerd, nonprofit development, dad. I mostly use twitter to talk about running tabletop RPGs. He/him. My views are my own, not my employer's.
Oct 5, 2018 • 27 tweets • 5 min read
Information skill check frames time. Thread in 3... 2.... 1... Many RPGs have information skills. You know, like "Knowledge: The Planes" or "Arcana" or "Occult" or whatever. These are "know information about the thing" skills.

But also "Sense Motive," "Gather Information," "Investigate," and "Perception." These are "find the thing" skills.
Sep 28, 2018 • 23 tweets • 5 min read
The initiative thread got unrolled, too. So I'll use this as an opportunity to talk about running away.

Running away from a conflict is absolutely essential to a lot of styles of RPG play. It's common in real-life violent conflicts. But it's also nearly impossible in initiative. That's because every character gets the same amount of time to do everything, as if they were all acting in turn, but also simultaneously. When you act in turn, you act with full knowledge of the other parties' actions on previous turns.
Sep 27, 2018 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
Initiative means every party in a combat acts exactly as often as every other party. In reality, this isn't how fights work, from a schoolyard brawl that gets you sent to the principal to trench warfare. It's *fair* from a game perspective, but not realistic or cinematic. Yeah, screw it. Let's thread this.

Fair makes sense in a tactical board game. But does it make sense for a tabletop RPG?
Sep 13, 2018 • 22 tweets • 4 min read
RPG Combat Gamerunning Thread

Today let's talk about a technique I learned to use to make combat more exciting.
1/ This is a simple trick, but it keeps all the players engaged, keeps the stakes sharp, and focuses the action more like a story than a board game.
2/
Jun 1, 2018 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Thread! Blades in the Dark's Position and Effect are useful for almost *every* RPG from #dnd to #FateCore because you consider not how HARD something is but how RISKY it is and how EFFECTIVE it could be. 1/ Position is the level of danger. In BitD the Positions are Desperate, Risky, and Controlled. Position communicates the possible complications. Desperate=*Real* bad if you fail. Controlled=Pushes you to a riskier position if you fail. Risky=Consequences, but not catastrophic. 2/