I've read your books Jon. The answer is "the 7th ring of hell".

masks of nyarlathotep (7e boxed sets). do I have plans to run this in the next 2 years? no. do I have time to read it? no. do I still want it? yes.

They're really good fun!

Sad day for British values

Gross

On DCC, I've played it a couple of times at cons where I don't mind a bit of zaniness with my beer. Its gonzo and not something I'd run myself but if you can get a GM who can harness that energy in the group it can be silly fun.

Do Americans not know they're already using Arabic numerals?

I'm struggling to find space in that niche for anything but Dragonbane atm. Maybe I'm in a honeymoon period with that system and eventually I'll try some Shadowdark (I did back the recent Western Reaches KS).

All the Borg clones have put me off the original a bit. Feels like a fad.

I wouldn't go that far... I think they have their pluses especially when introducing people to a game or running one-shots in a tight time frame (as I often do).

Its just they need taming.

Just like early D&D groups, new players on VTTs need to learn to describe their actions!

2) Hard limit on automation in key scenes; I’ll roll in the open, out loud.

3) Regularly ask players sensory questions: what are you noticing, fearing, hoping? Make the VTT a sketch, not the whole painting.

10/10

1) Always describe the scene & intent before touching the map. No one moves a token until they’ve said what that looks like in the fiction. If someone just says “I move here + attack”, I gently ask, “Cool, how?” 9/10

So I’m trying to drag the camera back into our heads and I’m weirdly optimistic: this stuff fixes fast once you name it. A few things that help me (as GM) keep the fiction in front of the UI: 8/10

None of this means VTT toys are bad! They’re powerful, they help with accessibility, and they can look cool as hell. The problem is when they quietly replace spoken description instead of supporting it. 7/10

Some systems actively shove you that way: Pathfinder, 5E, anything with a million stacking modifiers and widgets. But I’m starting to see the same drift even in Free League style games that should breathe more. 6/10

And then there’s the prep: hours sunk into perfect line-of-sight, lighting, soundboards, macro automation. It looks amazing, but at the table it still feels like a cheap CRPG that can’t quite decide if it’s a story. 5/10

I’ve had combats where the only “roleplay” was the VTT log updating: damage here, condition there, aura template slapped down. Table chat almost silent. Might as well be playing a slightly janky PC tactics game. 4/10

I’ve been in games where 80% of the session is just… moving tokens. Click, drag, roll. No one says what their blow looks like, or how the room changes, or what it feels like to be there. Just numbers and lights. 3/10

It’s like props & minis at the table: brilliant seasoning, terrible main course. If the minis are the only way anything is described, it stops feeling like a world and starts feeling like pushing plastic around a board. 2/10