Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A GMing telling the players about the gameworld is not like real life
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 7581344" data-attributes="member: 16814"><p>Well... because "hits" and "hitpoints" are abstract respresentations. Taking the gnoll's hit doesn't imply taking a spear to the gut, it make mean a glancing blow, a scratch, a last second dodge, a block with more effort than expected, etc, etc. Whether you can defend against the gnoll's attack is something a fighter should know, roughly speaking. I think this is a case where not thinking broadly enough about the fictional outcomes is causing issues.</p><p></p><p>If you ask me, based on my oersonal past thinking, it's because players aren't supposed to know what's in the GM's notes. Thise secret notes are where the fun is, or so I believed, and not knowing made the game better, or so I believed. Then, one year, I realized that I can tell my players absolutely everything and they'll still find ways to screw it up most entertainingly. So, I now pretty much tell my players what's what with statblocks. I play online these days, and so post the entire rules text from statblicks when an ability is used and provide resistances and immunities pretty freely. The challenge isn't guessing the monster abilities, it's being pressed anyway even though you know.</p><p></p><p>Between being open about abilities and using the no death unless the players agrees rule, I've really been able to up the danger factors. The players take more risks, and I don't pull punches. Both sides are more free to engage the fiction without having to worry about who knows what.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 7581344, member: 16814"] Well... because "hits" and "hitpoints" are abstract respresentations. Taking the gnoll's hit doesn't imply taking a spear to the gut, it make mean a glancing blow, a scratch, a last second dodge, a block with more effort than expected, etc, etc. Whether you can defend against the gnoll's attack is something a fighter should know, roughly speaking. I think this is a case where not thinking broadly enough about the fictional outcomes is causing issues. If you ask me, based on my oersonal past thinking, it's because players aren't supposed to know what's in the GM's notes. Thise secret notes are where the fun is, or so I believed, and not knowing made the game better, or so I believed. Then, one year, I realized that I can tell my players absolutely everything and they'll still find ways to screw it up most entertainingly. So, I now pretty much tell my players what's what with statblocks. I play online these days, and so post the entire rules text from statblicks when an ability is used and provide resistances and immunities pretty freely. The challenge isn't guessing the monster abilities, it's being pressed anyway even though you know. Between being open about abilities and using the no death unless the players agrees rule, I've really been able to up the danger factors. The players take more risks, and I don't pull punches. Both sides are more free to engage the fiction without having to worry about who knows what. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A GMing telling the players about the gameworld is not like real life
Top