The Death Cookie

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #28: Do you have any house rules when you game? What are they, and why do you use them? If not, why not? (Courtesy of Atlas Games. Visit them at www.atlas-games.com)

Not sure if it counts as a house rule, but when Leighton Connor mentioned how he usually handles combat during a panel we did at GenCon last year, I realized that I do something similar: minor combat scenes usually last about 3 rounds, regardless of how well the players roll or how many hit points the bad guys have; major combat scenes last until all the characters have had a chance to do something cool or until somebody succeeds at a really cool last-ditch effort/"finishing move." Otherwise, my only house rule is that anyone who quotes Monty Python without very good reason loses Yum Yums.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #29: What does the word "gamer" mean to you? Is that different than what other people seem to think it means?

Someone who games. I usually assume it means tabletop gamer, even though more and more it gets used without qualification to refer to computer/console gamers.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #30: What lessons have you taken from gaming that you can apply to your real life?

Unless there's an apocalypse or invasion from another reality, a bunch of interesting facts that will never be useful. Occasionally you get insights on group dynamics and personal interaction, but those come from any situation where you're working with other people to accomplish something so they aren't really unique to gaming. Now running a game company, on the other hand...

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #27: If you were an Ent, what kind of Ent would you be? Or, what other NPC creature would you be? Why? (Courtesy of Atlas Games. Visit them at www.atlas-games.com)

I haven't played D&D since the mid-90s, but back then I only remember one kind of Ent. This must be some kind of 3rd or 4th Edition thing. Oh, wait, this is a take-off on the old Barbara Walters "what kind of tree would you be?" thing. Only instead of a tree, it's an Ent, because those are like talking trees in Tolkein. So it's kind of like gaming humor, right? What's next, Atlas, are you going to start quoting Monty Python? I mean, you're the guys who produced Over the Edge, Pandemonium, Unknown Armies, Lunch Money, Spammers, and a lot of other great games. And this is the best you could come up with? I'm not angry, just disappointed.