@ethanschoonover Every so often I see some YouTube video about some brilliant new idea someone's had that they've started to use in D&D, and I'm like, there's an entire genre of games going back twenty years based on that idea. Like, I'm glad you're being more creative with D&D, but do you seriously never look at other games?
@foolishowl it's honestly like if there were people who said they loved film but had only ever watched marvel movies.
@ethanschoonover It's most frustrating when I'll hear people talk about D&D and how it's so much more than dungeon crawls and sword and sorcery fantasy. Because, that's exactly what it is, and it's good at what it does, but it sounds like you really want to do something else and would be happier with one of thousands of other games that help you do what you actually want to do.
I used to follow some authors and podcasts (that I can't remember the names of now...) where they explored different tabletop games and discussed things like how the mechanics of the rules would impact the meta game. What sorts of conflicts naturally emerge. What behaviors are rewarded. How well do the encounters balance between class types. Are there mechanical advantages to encourage solving problems without fighting. What tools are provided to the GM to highlight the kinds of interactions the party likes. It was interesting to really dive into the meta theory of game design and highlight what makes a good game for the types of stuff the party wants to do.
@JessTheUnstill @ethanschoonover There was a sort of first wave of "theory" about TTRPGs in the 90s, sometimes now mocked for being pretentious, but it has led to an ongoing community of discussion about theory and practice that really does influence game design and play styles.
So part of what's strange to me is that it feels like half the TTRPG world has all this discourse going on, and the other half seems completely unaware of it.
@foolishowl @JessTheUnstill @ethanschoonover marketing is more effective than it ought to be :/
@ireneista @JessTheUnstill @ethanschoonover That's part of it. And I think a lot of people do a fair amount of work to make D&D work for them and don't want to make the switch.
Like, you ever find a tool that easily solves a problem you'd been handling in a convoluted way, and you feel disappointed?
Oct 13, 2026, 11:16 PM@JessTheUnstill @foolishowl I produced a ttrpg theory podcast for a while (RPG xray, offline now) and have thought about doing it again for sure.
Oct 13, 2026, 11:17 PM