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The World of Role Playing Games and Their Systems

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Author: Tim Schuster

A dedicated player of traditional, pencil-n-paper role playing games since 1979. I've got experience playing and Gamemastering hundreds of different RPGs, and I've always been fascinated by the systems that have been developed to resolve tasks.

Transformative Storytelling

21 Jan 2022 Tim Schuster1 Comment

My daughter is a fan of all the superhero movies and shows. There's a couple that she's convinced me (at first) were worth watching, so I dove in. Yea, they were all right at first. The thing I noticed about each of them is a tendency towards the belief that if a character does not… Continue reading Transformative Storytelling

The Dog Daze are Here!

13 Dec 2021 Tim SchusterLeave a comment

The newest adventure for Mutant Epoch, DOG DAZE, has just recently been published. You can find it at Outlandarts.com. This is a massive solo adventure, written in the "choose your own adventure" style designed for a single player using 1 or 2 beginning characters. Unfortunately, I can't review it because I wanna play it too.… Continue reading The Dog Daze are Here!

I Can’t Read

27 Nov 2021 Tim SchusterLeave a comment

Role playing games have ruined traditional stories for me. I can't enjoy fiction anymore because the Author is the only one who gets to say what happens in the story. I'm not allowed to participate, unless I write my own fan fiction, and that's no solution. I don't enjoy television shows anymore unless they're brainless… Continue reading I Can’t Read

Game Balance

26 Oct 2021 Tim SchusterLeave a comment

Game balance is basically the idea that whenever an adventuring group has an encounter, they can be assured that they can win, even though they may suffer some losses. I don't believe in Game Balance. It is a ghost that everyone chases but none have captured on film. Even if it were possible to balance… Continue reading Game Balance

Does Size Matter?

22 Oct 2021 Tim SchusterLeave a comment

Get your mind out of the gutter. What I'm talking about here is the number of sides on a die. Specifically, how the number of sides on a die can affect task resolution and game play. I recently wrote a post on Traveller, and soon after I posted it I of course went off to… Continue reading Does Size Matter?

The Past of Science Fiction

10 Oct 2021 Tim SchusterLeave a comment

I've always been a huge fan of science fiction role playing games. The first one I ever played was the original "little black book" version of Traveller. Traveller really set the bar, in good ways and bad. The depth of the background, the core mechanic if 2D6+, the comprehensive yet simple starship creation, using, and… Continue reading The Past of Science Fiction

Attribute Array Alternative

30 Nov 2020 Tim SchusterLeave a comment

Most RPG's have a point buy system for character statistics or attributes, such as Strength, Endurance, etc. The names of the attributes differ from system to system, but most cover basically the same types of attributes, both physical and mental. Some systems, however, ask you to roll dice to determine the attributes. Dungeons and Dragons… Continue reading Attribute Array Alternative

Early Onset Grump

17 Jul 2020 Tim SchusterLeave a comment

This post, folks, comes from Big Joe, who previously posted an article on this site: So I have noticed that the vast majority of games these days, at least the ones people are talking about, are so different from the way they used to be as to become almost unrecognizable. Dice towers or dice rolling… Continue reading Early Onset Grump

A New Language for a New Epoch

30 Apr 2020 Tim Schuster1 Comment

We need a new language.  More specifically, we need a new name for the mangled mess of what English has become in The Mutant Epoch.  It's hundreds of years in the future, humanity has been mostly destroyed and thrown to the four winds, mutants and monsters roam the blasted wasteland, and most of the culture… Continue reading A New Language for a New Epoch

The Continuing Adventures of…

3 Mar 20203 Mar 2020 Tim SchusterLeave a comment

Happily, today I can announce that DiceMechanic.org is still here and will remain open for business for at least another year.  Due to taxes coming in, I was able to renew my WordPress account as well as the domain registration. The fear that this site was about to fold is one of the reasons I’ve… Continue reading The Continuing Adventures of…

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POSTS

  • EUREKA!
  • Momentum and Initiative
  • To Fudge or Not to Fudge
  • The Third Epoch
  • Tabletop Unlocks
  • Simultaneous Movement
  • Introducing… the Hinauri
  • Update on Podcast feature
  • Testing, testing
  • Attack of Attack of Opportunity
  • Transformative Storytelling
  • The Dog Daze are Here!
  • I Can’t Read
  • Game Balance
  • Does Size Matter?
  • The Past of Science Fiction
  • Attribute Array Alternative
  • Early Onset Grump
  • A New Language for a New Epoch
  • The Continuing Adventures of…
  • Tabletop Fiction
  • Spy Thriller Comparo
  • Adventure Game Engine
  • Time to go
  • The Time is Nigh!
  • What Dragons?
  • Unstoppable
  • Skull Nuke
  • Ubiquity ++
  • Artifacts for The Mutant Epoch
  • Fooled Again, Blast It!
  • A Different Kind of Hit Point
  • Perspective
  • MEGA Character Bundle for The Mutant Epoch!
  • Artificial Limits and Game Balance
  • Where’d this come from: The Sequel – Talislanta
  • 3 versus 4 versus 5
  • Inexplicable Fiction
  • Character Sheet Update
  • Success!
  • Upcoming TME Session
  • Full Auto – Automatic weapons fire rules for The Mutant Epoch
  • STELLERZ, The Epic NEW Space-Opera Scale Science-Fiction Role Playing Game by Expert Game Designer Tim Schuster!
  • Baby Bupu
  • The Mutant Epoch Form Fill Character Sheet
  • The Elven Races of Millenia
  • Character, or Cog?
  • Guaranteed Total Party Kill
  • Cross Gender Characters
  • The Other Shoe
  • Cornucopia
  • Compare and Contrast: The Action Table vs. The Universal Table
  • The Action Table!
  • The New Apocalypse of Gaming
  • Furtive in the Forests – The Gnome Clans of Millenia
  • The Kingdom of Metal and Stone – The Dwarves of Millenia
  • On Literacy
  • The Hin Expanse – Halflings of Millenia
  • The O.R.C. Opposed Roll Combat System Has Moved
  • The Humans of Millenia
  • The Forgotten Half-Orc
  • A Millenia Before Waterdeep
  • What is Project ShadowWatch?
  • ShadowWatch Revival
  • Progressive or Pure Chance: Another Look at Ubiquity
  • Uplifted?
  • Project Shadowwatch
  • Player, You Just Don’t Know
  • May the Force be… WTF?
  • No Game is an Island
  • A N.E.W. Hope for Sci Fi
  • The Real Fantasy Worlds
  • Almost Perfect
  • Big Joe’s Musings
  • Blast from the Future Past
  • The Realities of Torg
  • Where’d this come from?
  • One Setting, Three Systems
  • The Silverback Paradox
  • What FATE wasn’t
  • Shoulda been the first post
  • A Second Look
  • The Elephant in the Room
  • How OGL almost destroyed everything, but ended up saving me.
  • Why bother?
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