Recent content by Lanefan

No. Mechanics aren't required if the DM is acting in good faith. Yes, just like it's mind control if an NPC succeeds vs a PC. I trust them to act in good faith absent any of those mechanics, and hope I've earned the same trust in return when it comes to running my NPCs. As such, I see no...

It's not mind control to hit my character with a sword but - unless the blow puts me down for the count or worse - it is mind control to tell me how I react to the pain that hit causes. Physical vs mental. We have to abstract the physical side of any RPG (a bit less so in a LARP), and thus the...

In fairness, I've DMed and played with one or two players who seemed constitutionally incapable of doing anything the least bit gonzo, and always tried their best to analyze down to the best/most optimal option. Great for their characters' survival odds, awful for the entertainment value. :)

That's a new one on me, but then the whole world of fanfic is a land in which I don't tread so this doesn't surprise me any. That's a different motive than I have. I'm not here to "give them a chance to shine", I'm here to provide the opposition and challenges and obstacles and if they happen...

Neither am I. :) When someone posts some direct-quoted rules text and that text says X, it's not my fault if I read it as saying X even though the writer may have intended it to be read as saying Y. And this goes right back to day one; Gygax was guilty of this on a far too frequent basis and I...

Nah - if it's remote, I'm out. But get us together in a pub sometime and hells yeah, count me in. Even if we didn't actually play anything, the discussion and arguments would be increasingly epic per beer consumed! :)

While I agree with your point about mechanics being more neutral, I detest rules that work one way for PCs and another for NPCs. I'm a hard-liner in the "it works the same for everyone" camp as I see the PCs as being, at their root, inhabitants of their setting just like everyone else and thus...

With the bolded, I agree. I don't need mechanics to force me to do it. It doesn't play nice with the "no companion left behind" types, but that's no concern of mine. :) Here we've really only got two choices in the end: 1 - rely on player-side good faith, or 2 - take away quite a bit of...

It's the logical flip side to success being defined as all or nothing, in games where "success must always be fully honoured" is a hard-coded guideline.

So, someone who doesn't like something is supposed to just bow out quietly rather than speaking in opposition to that which they don't like? Sorry, but that ain't how discussion works.

My experience with 4e skill challenges comes from the first 4e DMG and from converting some 4e modules to run. Seeing what was put forward as skill challenges in the modules really left me wanting, as I saw tons of opportunity being skipped over for some more detailed play and, thus, more...

Agreed. My issue with such rules is that they're asymmetrical; that they apply to NPCs but not to PCs. Sultion: take those rules out completely so they don't apply to anyone.

How do you square that with Manbearcat's "firehose of adversity" that he often mentions as an aspect of play? 'Cause yes, the way the words read it comes across as the PCs are never supposed to get a moment's respite, which is why those games come across as being stressful to play. As from the...

And we also want their peril to be reduced. As it's not our production to control, we can't do that with a movie or novel; as GMs running games, however, we can. It's a temptation we have to resist; and the easiest means for doing so is to be a detached neutral arbiter rather than a fan of...

When I see "be a fan of the characters" my first thought is that it's quietly advising the GM to, when the chips are down and a character's under serious threat, pull your punches or fudge things such that the character scrapes through; as opposed to just letting the dice fall where they may...