GURPS 3E had an amazing number of supplements on the most bizarre subjects, and I wonder what your favorite among them is.

My own nomination is for GURPS Y2K, which was published (of course) in 1999. It was basically a collection of essays on how to end the world (or at least human civilization) in style, and furthermore served as an introduction to survivalist/prepper communities.

Have you ever done a map using a GIS (Geo-Information System) framework?

And if so, what would you tell someone who is contemplating such a thing with no prior practical experience of such systems?

I love the setting of Brancalonia. I love the humor, I love the folklore, and I am currently learning Italian in evening classes to boot, so this is basically a perfect mix.

But I do not love that the authors picked D&D 5E as the rule system for this setting. Don't get me wrong, I find D&D 5E perfectly acceptable for heroic fantasy campaigns (and, in fact, I am running such a campaign right now). And I can understand this choice from a business perspective - it makes a lot of sense to tie your setting to the most popular RPG system out there.

However, Brancalonia PCs are not supposed to be great heroes, but fairly unimpressive never-do-wells. The rules deal with this by capping character level at 6, but I feel that this leaves the PCs with too little room to grow and removes much of the proper D&D experience. I'd rather use a rule system that was intended for weaker protagonists, rather than trying to distort D&D into something that is not.

So, what alternate system would you use for Brancalonia?

While GURPS is still one of my favorite RPG systems, I have to admit that I haven't paid much attention to it in the last few years - my local gaming group is absolutely uninterested in using this system, and my new side business of translating German folk tales has left me with far less time for recreational RPG reading.

But I am curious - what new and exciting stuff has come out for the system in the last few years?

That things rarely go according to plan is part of running an RPG. The players will surprise you, and often this is entirely fine - in fact, it might result in a more memorable experience and a better game.

But sometimes, things go off the rail in a bad way - and you, as a GM, did not see it coming until it was too late, resulting in disaster and a non-fun experience for all concerned.

And contemplating some of my past mistakes, I am curious about your biggest GMing regrets. What went wrong, and what would you have done differently if you had the opportunity for a do-over?

Is it just me, or is the "Pass without Trace" spell widely overpowered?

I mean, D&D 5E is generally constructed in a way that even small bonuses to rolls make a huge difference. Proficiency bonuses start with +2 and rise to a maximum of +6, while magical weapons give a maximum of +3.

So what in Avernus possessed the designers to allow a second-level spell to give a whooping +10 to Dexterity (Stealth) checks? For a group, no less (as long as they stick close to each other)? This is going to be extremely hard for guards and lookouts to match.

The PCs are likely are going to try to get into a safehouse of the local thieves' guild in the next two sessions. The setting is Ptolus, using the D&D 5E rules.

The safehouse in question is in a lower middle class region on the surface, but it has another entrance to the vast dungeon systems beneath the city. This, in itself, is not unusual - the bedrock on which the city stands is filled with tunnels and long-forgotten vaults. But while most house owners just try to brick those passages over, the thieves' guild actually uses these passages for their business dealings.

And I need some ideas on both what might be inside the premises, and what kinds of systems they use to secure the safehouse. The PCs will likely be coming from the "dungeon" side, and this is the kind of city where criminals expect inconvenient adventurers to pop up in all sorts of places.

I've already determined that the location includes:

• a vampire ally of the guild
• some cells for prisoners who get interrogated for information
• a bunch of drugs for resale

Any other ideas? The party consists of four 8th level characters, if this helps.

Okay, I am going to say it: What's with all the Nazeem hate?

I mean, sure, he is a slightly obnoxious snob. And I am not going to judge any Skyrim player too harshly who decides to pickpocket him.

But when you search for him on YouTube, there is a sheer endless list of videos where players kill him. Is there any other NPC in the game who gets murdered by Skyrim players as often as Nazeem, and so enthusiastically? Outside of the Dark Brotherhood questline, that is - and I am not so sure even about those.

Maybe, just maybe it's because he is the first "uppity black man" the player is likely to encounter who doesn't worship the ground that a scruffy adventurer who just entered town walks upon.

Contemplate this, and maybe don't murder Nazeem on your next playthrough. Just a thought.

#racism

While the Player Core has straightforward prices for what it costs to hire someone to cast a spell, I've always struggled with what it would cost to hire ritual casters.

After all, rituals have rather big differences from ordinary spells:

• They take a lot longer to cast
• They usually require multiple casters
• Unlike with most spells, success is not automatic (and the more casters you need, the more difficult it will be to succeed)

So how do you price hiring NPC ritual casters? It would make the most sense to scale their daily fee depending on their skill bonus, but what is appropriate here?

And do they get paid for "time and material", or do they only get paid for successfully casting the ritual? The latter is far easier to calculate, while the casters will require a considerable "risk premium" for their service, and they might refuse to even make the attempt if the ritual is particularly difficult.

What are your thoughts on this?

Let's share some fantastic, bizarre, and weird real world locations that would make perfect fodder for #ttrpg !

My own contribution is "Christ of the Abyss", a bronze statue of Jesus that was deliberately sunk into the ocean off the coast of Italy in 1954. Two other statues were cast from the same mold later on, and sunk at Grenada and Florida.

I find the very concept of religious statues being sunk into the ocean fascinating - and, of course, in fantastic worlds people might have an easier time visiting such statues. Perhaps they have acquired some magic that allows them to breathe water for some time, or perhaps they are naturally amphibious. Or natural water breathers - perhaps there is some trade deal with surface dwellers where land-based religious items are created for aquatic civilizations that they cannot manufacture themselves.

What other such weird locations do you know of?

Biomes - environments that fall into a certain category - are a great way to set the atmosphere for a specific adventure. We all know of deserts, forests, swamps, mountains, and so forth, and each of these biomes have their own iconic adventures and adventure sites.

But the real world is full of obscure, unique environments that aren't known to many people - let alone #ttrpg players, which makes them a great option to bring variety to a game - and fantasy and science fiction has come up with all sorts of further biomes that aren't known on Earth. So what are your favorite obscure biomes?

Personally, I am fascinated by so-called "Cloud Forests" ever since I heard of the concept. They are usual tropical or subtropical forests which, due to their geographic locations, are shrouded in fogs for much of the year. In RPG settings, forests often hide many dangers due to their low visibility - and so does fog. It's two great tastes that go well together!

Share some cool historical details you've learned that just beg for inclusion in an RPG!

My contribution is the Man Engine, a sort-of mining elevator I learned about when I visited the Mining Museum in Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the Harz Mountains in Germany, where this contraption was invented.

Basically, early in the 19th century the mines in the Harz Mountains were the deepest in the world at the time, with the Samson Pit in Sankt Andreasberg reaching a depth of 800 meters. This meant that the miners had to spend one hour climbing down the mine until they reached their place of work - and two hours climbing up again, carrying their pit lamps in one hand the entire time.

And, unfortunately, this was considered unpaid commuting time, not paid work time - so three hours each day were gone climbing those damn ladders. It became so bad that some miners even asked if they could simply sleep down there - in the damp, humid air, at the permanent 8°C of the deep underground.

But then a foreman and a mechanic hit on an alternative. You see, all those mines needed massive pumps to keep the groundwater out of the mines (a detail that is curiously neglected in most portrayals of mine-themed fantasy dungeons). These pumps consisted of a series of parallel, oscillating wooden beams.

And the innovation was that they installed small wooden platforms on these beams. In this way, instead of climbing, the miners could simply step back and forth between the platforms, using their vertical oscillation to get up or down (they still needed to hold their pit lamps in one hand, though). And thus, the travel time was cut down to a mere 20 minutes in each direction - a saving of 2 hours 20 minutes each day!

Needless to say, I absolutely must use this technological marvel if the PCs explore some dwarven mining complex...

So, what cool historical tidbits do you know that would make for awesome #ttrpg fodder?