Dr. Strangegame (or How I Learned to Stop GMing and Abuse my Players with Dice)

Rolling dice is fun, there is no doubt about that. At our gaming table, I’m “that guy” with a dice-bag made of the bottom half of a pair of cutoff jeans from when I was in 5th grade.  It contains over 1 pound of dice, including a thirty- and hundred-sider. I remember with glee both…

The Cathedral and the Scaffold: Using (and not using) Balance in your Game

A few weeks ago, I made some glib comments about “balance” and how GMs should just “forget it.” This advice is less-than-helpful because it almost wholly lacks nuance. Today, I hope to expand my “forget balance” comment by providing advice that may well extend far beyond the realm of gaming. The Cathedral and the Scaffold…