Recent content by TheFindus

Three questions: 1. If the roll does not determine the outcome, why let him roll in the first place? 2. Do you use this method if the rogue is of high level and the orc guard is of lower level (say a 4 level difference)? 3. Do you use this method with any other character skill, say swordfighting...

Wow! None of my fellow Germans could have invented a more detailed system requiring more administrative work. ;) Just: Wow!

In my opinion XP can be seen as a reward or a pacing device. The people I play with use it as a pacing device. However, on a practical note, I know about discussions regarding individual XP after a session. I have experienced them firsthand. So the DM passes out different XP to different...

I feel the same way. I agree.

I understand all that, but how often does that really happen? And is this rare incident reason enough not to give XP for any PC who cannot be played (properly) because the player is missing a game? This is what I do not understand. This technique does not save you from people who are unengaged...

Here is what I do not understand: a student in high school can only participate a very limited number of times verbally in class because there are other students. In D&D there is a limited amount of magic items that need to be tried out. How does any DM calculate the involvement in such things...

I find this very interesting and have a couple of questions regarding this thing: 1. What constitutes "taking risks"? Taking part in combat? Being the first to climb a huge cliff? Does not everybody in your group participate in combat, the most risky operation of the game? And is the fighter in...

While individual progression of a PC is part of an RPG, the use of XP is not. There are plenty of RPGs out there that do not use the XP system of D&D. I also do not think that it is correct to say that without (highly) individualized XP players have "no real control" and "characters are [...]...

When I DM, I let players change their PCs without a penalty. They have to give a believable reason why the PC would leave with everybody else who is playing. The new character has to be introduced believably. If this cannot be achieved because the PC is crucial to something that the PCs want to...

XP as a pacing mechanism work independent of the kind of play, whether this is AP-type, sondboxy or "Story Now". I would say that in most games people want to experience leveling up on a regular basis (whatever "regular" means to the table) and fighting against tougher, more interesting...

To me, the question about giving PCs XP if the player does not show up has different aspects. First there is the question about what XP are: a reward, as many posters have said, or rather a pacing mechanism. XP lead to leveling up, so the PC gets better, hits harder, casts more spells, knows...

I do not think that this is much of a problem on a challenge level. So the player plays a PC that has a very high Passive Perception and Passive Insight value. His PC detects hidden things and detects lies and motivations. Now, in the novels, the reader is amazed by what Holmes detects that...

In my experience, 4E combats can last 2 hours or so. I would guess a lot of them last 90 minutes, depending on the setup. I have never played a combat that lasted 6 hours, so I cannot say anything about it. There are 6 PCs in the group I play with. When we played with only 4 PCs combats did not...

You can most certainly play that way. But a character meets the setting all the time during play. I cannot think of a meaningful roll in play that only affects the PC. Any roll also affects the setting. So what you are saying means that a DM can roll the dice for a player at any time, really...

What would be harder for you, the DM, in this group to pull off without secret rolls? And what would you plans look like? If I understand you correctly, you would succeed at pulling it off without the secret rolls? What makes it harder? It is very important to discover what one finds fun in...