Just off the top of my head, you could give them a flaw that, while it doesn’t make them any less cunning, it does let the players see what’s happening.

Method 1: Gloating. What is the point in being a genius if nobody ever notices? When the villain has the party on the ropes, have them point out moments of the plan that the party could have noticed but didn’t. Maybe they wait to give the shopkeep the bounty until the party can see it happen, just so they know.

Method 2: Worse minions. The plan is amazing, but the people carrying it out aren’t quite as discrete as the villain. Maybe the security make a little noise as they stalk the party, and there are moments where the players could spot them.

Either way, the players will know something is up, and might have an opportunity to use this new information to turn the tables on the villain (“might” and “opportunity” being the key words there).

I don’t think I’d call D&D a consistently great base to start from, honestly. For certain settings and genres, yeah, but others are seriously harmed by trying to make it fit a fantasy adventure system. Mysteries and heists are forced to include a lot more gratuitous fight scenes just to balance all playstyles, for example.

Similarly, I worry that using d20 as a one-size-fits-all will reinforce comfort zones than expand them. Why would a person play the Star Wars FFG system (which I prefer) when they can play the Star Wars d20 system instead and not have to learn new rules? And if you’re making a new system, then you clearly need to include six core stats, because RPGs have six core stats in them, right?

D&D isn’t bad, nor is homebrewing D&D for a new setting. D&D as an assumed foundation of all RPGs can be a serious issue.

What’s truly funny is that this isn’t the first time this happened. 4th edition had WotC bamboozle third party creators by fiddling with the OGL, and third party creators responded by making a rival to D&D. They called it Pathfinder.

Then you look a little further afield and you see a massive indie TTRPG community that I have to assume had an influx of new designers who only found out about it due to the OGL incident.

Genesys. Technically. I’ve played the Star Wars FFG system that eventually became Genesys (and loved it), but I haven’t played Genesys itself. I even own the Genesys dice, but I lack anyone else to roll them with.

Did you think, though? I get that you didn't read the article, but you at least had to have read the other guy's comment that explained it to you already. I don't know why you insist on me telling you this information for the third time.

For what? The article is right there and someone already summed it up for you. If you're not going to engage with the basic subject of conversation, then leave the conversation. Especially if everyone else already left.

You didn't read the article, did you?

• It is possible, and he explained how in only 3 steps.
• He does not want the storyline intact. He recommends the opposite.
• He adapts to get a scenario, not a script. The finish line is the objective. The route doesn't matter.
• He referenced adapting Lord of the Rings in a previous article and linked to it, so you picked a bad example.

Everything else you said was just irrelevant.

It's the system for when you want to roleplay literally everything ever. And if they don't have a rule the story would need, they just figure one out.

I would recommend the podcast Film Reroll to anyone who wants to see this in action. They start from the point of the movie, then let dice rolls and in-character improv decisions reshape the story. That's how Jafar fell in love with Aladdin, Dorothy rained dragon fire upon the armies of Oz and James Bond died.

This is the worst timeline.