50
votes
"Does It Break Anything" Questions
Yes, these questions are fine.
No, actually, they are more than fine—they are literally exactly the sort of thing that makes RPG SE have value.
We are supposed to be a community of experts who can ...
- 357k
44
votes
How can I ask a good homebrew review question?
1. State what you want to achieve, and why you want a review.
In order to give you feedback on whether your material is functioning well at its purpose, we need to know what that purpose is. Please ...
38
votes
Is it better to use or not use personal pronouns? Specifically, "I" in questions and "you" in answers?
There's no problem whatsoever with using “I” and “you” in answers. There just isn't—we do it all the time and have done for years. People frequently come here with a question of “Can I do this?” and ...
- 36.6k
37
votes
Accepted
Are questions about escape games on topic?
We accept questions about LARPs (live action roleplaying games), as discussed in Are questions about LARPs on topic?.
Escape puzzles would be off topic here, however. Most escape games do not have ...
- 176k
34
votes
Accepted
Is it reasonable to ask a question that you don't actually need an answer to?
Our help center advises:
You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face.
Generally if you're not actually experiencing a particular problem it will be ...
- 36.6k
32
votes
Accepted
"Update: here's how it worked out...." Where does it go?
Assuming that this update is offering something new and useful, “how I did it” is an answer. That is, quite frequently, exactly the sort of answer we expect from everyone else who answers the question....
- 357k
32
votes
Are questions about Warhammer 40k Lore on-topic?
I’m gonna go ahead and just say “yes”
Warhammer 40k is a campaign setting for an RPG. It’s also the setting for a bunch of other things, which means you could reasonably ask about it on SF&F or ...
- 357k
29
votes
Accepted
What to do when an edit guesses the system being used rather than waiting for the querent to clarify?
It's not appropriate to edit based on a guess. Make the OP clarify the question themselves.
Why? Because we're also trying to train new users on how to use the site. And worst case, you bait people ...
- 176k
29
votes
What to do when an edit guesses the system being used rather than waiting for the querent to clarify?
Don't guess
It's up to the asker to tag the question with the correct system. In the case of a new community member who doesn't yet understand this responsibility, it's up to the community to ...
- 192k
29
votes
Accepted
Is there a rule or guideline stating that each post should only ask a single question?
A hard and fast "follow this to the letter" rule is unnecessary and counterproductive. Instead we apply principles of site design which we've learnt through years of experience are the best way to ...
- 53.4k
29
votes
Why are my questions being downvoted?
I've pulled up each of the questions you've posted that have gotten negative scores overall [at the time that I'm writing this post]. Those are
Can you enchant player characters' prosthetics ...
- 52.9k
27
votes
Accepted
Is it acceptable to add the [dnd-5e] tag to questions about D&D Beyond?
The dnd-beyond tag (or otherwise describing D&DBeyond in the question) should be treated as equivalent to the OP stating "I'm playing D&D 5e"
For the simple reason that D&DBeyond ...
- 79.7k
26
votes
Is it reasonable to ask a question that you don't actually need an answer to?
No.
Please don't. Experience shows us question seeding ends up poorly. Because the poster doesn't actually have the problem, they are unable to really answer questions about it or clarify. Then ...
- 176k
26
votes
Are "is this balanced" questions on-topic?
I don't have a strong opinion on whether they're on-topic or not, but they often go like this:
Question: Is X balanced?
Answer: No, here's what would need to change for X to be balanced.
(Here's ...
- 145k
26
votes
Why doesn't this site allow opinion-based side questions?
Not just rules
Just to get that misconception out of the way first: this isn’t a rules site. We handle many types of questions, so long as they can, in theory, have a “best” answer. We allow answers ...
- 244k
23
votes
Accepted
Etiquette for revisiting an old question
No question is too old to answer, and there's no stigma against giving a good answer even if it's to your own question!
As counter-intuitive as it may seem, the Stack Exchange isn't really about ...
- 53.4k
23
votes
Keep my homebrew stuff secret in order to avoid biased answers
I've cleaned up the comments on your question.
The benefit of mentioning the ring is homebrew is that, if you don't, people will respond going "wait, there's a ring that lets me do that!?" and go ...
- 36.6k
23
votes
Accepted
What to do if I can't manage to find a suitable and accurate title for my question?
Put the best title you can think of and wait for someone to edit it
I know you said you don't want to do exactly that, but it's how the stack format works. Many (if not most) questions get their ...
- 4,023
23
votes
Accepted
Should we close questions where the asker is looking to double check their understanding of basic rules?
This category of question is on topic.
Stack Exchange's Q&A doesn't just take the form of question and answer. It also takes the form of problem and solution. This principle is why our topicality ...
- 36.6k
22
votes
Can our tag-prompt nudge toward including system?
Something like this tag placeholder might work well:
tag which game you're playing, if any (such as: dnd-5e, world-of-darkness), max 5 tags
This requests the single most important thing to know: ...
- 36.6k
22
votes
Accepted
How to vote on bad questions asked on someone else's behalf?
When someone asks a question they're taking on ownership of it. Functionally it's their question. Consider an extreme case: someone's got dozens of genuinely bad questions. This isn't great for our ...
- 36.6k
21
votes
Heavy edits to get a question reopened that change the fundamental underlying question
Heavy provisional edits that try to be faithful to the original question are warranted if the author is asked if they approve. Often, it is best done only after the question is already closed.
What ...
- 244k
21
votes
Why are my questions being downvoted?
I'll put my hand up as having downvoted a fair number of your questions, and generally not for the reasons provided by the other answer you've gotten to this question. While I can't speak for everyone,...
- 145k
21
votes
Convince me I shouldn't stop visiting RPG.SE
I don't intend to try to convince you to stay. That's your personal choice and I'm not going to tell you whether or not spending time on this site is is a wise use of your time because I am not you ...
- 95.3k
20
votes
Are questions about specific people's campaigns on topic?
This question should 100% definitely be on topic, but that doesn't mean every story-identification that has anything to do with RPGs should.
One heuristic I've seen referenced on a few meta posts for ...
- 12.8k
20
votes
Accepted
What do I need to do to not get upvoted, completely inappropriate Fate Core answers on my FATE 2.0 questions?
NAA flags are appropriate for answers that have been accidentally made for the wrong game. If you're concerned that the problem might not be obvious to the mod handling the flag, as usual you could ...
- 244k
20
votes
Is it better to use or not use personal pronouns? Specifically, "I" in questions and "you" in answers?
If OP chooses "I", you are in no position to challenge that
There is a thing about editing: you shall only edit, if it improves the post.
Some common reasons to edit are:
to fix ...
- 45.6k
19
votes
Can a question about what makes a good session 0 be made on-topic?
I'm going to disagree very slightly and say that it's not so much that "what's a good session 0?" is too opinion-based, it's that it's too broad. The point of session 0 is to establish expectations ...
- 16.3k
19
votes
Are questions about rule intent on topic? [2018]
Yes, they are on topic and should be left open.
Designer intent can be found on blogs, interviews, lectures, conference presentations, and more.
This logic of restricting designer questions is flawed. ...
- 12k
19
votes
Accepted
Answering own questions
Answering your own question when you've found the answer is fine, and even encouraged: there's even a badge for it! The Ask Question page has an “Answer your own question” checkbox available for a ...
- 36.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible