August Twenty Second

(I Keep Hovering About Six Days Behind)

Prompt: Which RPG Is The Easiest For You To Run?

Those I’ve run extensively before. 🙂

At this point, Pathfinder and similar D20 derivatives are in the lead, followed by Hero System… even though it’s been a while since I’ve ran it, I’ve done it so much that it’s fairly instinctive. (Caveat: Haven’t run 6e yet.)

Two things help tremendously:

• Well-done digital tools for character creation and worldbuilding, especially if they’re good for creating things other than individual PCs. I like custom NPCs and unique monsters, and I like systems which define things in considerable detail. This can mean, in the absence of such tools, being forced to take shortcuts or make approximations in the name of time, which undermines the point of using a high-crunch system in the first place.
• Players who know the rules. When you’ve got quite literally a half-dozen thick rulebooks filled with character options, it is not possible for the GM to know them all, or their interactions, or their caveats. I should not have to know how your half-dragon paladin/fencer can combine his smite evil, his breath weapon, and his panache abilities in an iterative attack against an evil outsider. You have to know that and be honest about how it works.