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DMing philosophy, from Lewis Pulsipher
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<blockquote data-quote="Ahnehnois" data-source="post: 6312781" data-attributes="member: 17106"><p>I struggle to imagine how the same person could fulfill both roles, though, and not have some crossover between the two. That is to say, how can you be sure that your basic extrapolation is not in some way influenced by whatever advance knowledge and opinions you may have had about this scenario?</p><p></p><p>That's kind of the distinction that I'm getting at though. Existing independently and interdependently are completely different things.</p><p></p><p>All true to an extent. However, part of player skill is trying to figure out the game workings. That is to say, determining the mechanical level of challenge posed by a scenario or the probability of success of an action. Obscurity increases this element of skill.</p><p></p><p>Well, yes. I totally get that this kind of DM metagaming; creating an in-game scenario to serve his own ends, can be a problem. The thing is that the original quote described a situation that may or may not arise from that kind of intent. I would not assume that all attempts to steal, sunder, or otherwise remove an item from a PC's control are examples of DMs trying to remove problematic items.</p><p></p><p>This stuff just happens sometimes. In combat, removing an opponent's valuable item makes tactical sense. Out of combat, stealing valuable things makes financial sense if you can get away with it.</p><p></p><p>I do agree that if the DM has a problem with the players' capabilities, an in-game bitch slap is probably not the appropriate solution, on a variety of levels. To me, the real issue is the intent, not what is happening in the game world. Almost any action can be appropriate, or inappropriate, depending on the context.</p><p></p><p>It becomes more challenging with illusions. I distinctly recall an early scenario where we went through a chase with a villain and finally caught up with him to find out that he was a figment. It felt like all the effort and mechanical choices we'd made to get to that point were meaningless, and it seemed like the DM was jerking us around. Why play out the scenario of a chase if there was nothing to catch?</p><p></p><p>Conversely, I suspect that the DM was refereeing correctly by leading us to believe that the illusion was real. So the implications of that type of situation in this context are unclear to me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ahnehnois, post: 6312781, member: 17106"] I struggle to imagine how the same person could fulfill both roles, though, and not have some crossover between the two. That is to say, how can you be sure that your basic extrapolation is not in some way influenced by whatever advance knowledge and opinions you may have had about this scenario? That's kind of the distinction that I'm getting at though. Existing independently and interdependently are completely different things. All true to an extent. However, part of player skill is trying to figure out the game workings. That is to say, determining the mechanical level of challenge posed by a scenario or the probability of success of an action. Obscurity increases this element of skill. Well, yes. I totally get that this kind of DM metagaming; creating an in-game scenario to serve his own ends, can be a problem. The thing is that the original quote described a situation that may or may not arise from that kind of intent. I would not assume that all attempts to steal, sunder, or otherwise remove an item from a PC's control are examples of DMs trying to remove problematic items. This stuff just happens sometimes. In combat, removing an opponent's valuable item makes tactical sense. Out of combat, stealing valuable things makes financial sense if you can get away with it. I do agree that if the DM has a problem with the players' capabilities, an in-game bitch slap is probably not the appropriate solution, on a variety of levels. To me, the real issue is the intent, not what is happening in the game world. Almost any action can be appropriate, or inappropriate, depending on the context. It becomes more challenging with illusions. I distinctly recall an early scenario where we went through a chase with a villain and finally caught up with him to find out that he was a figment. It felt like all the effort and mechanical choices we'd made to get to that point were meaningless, and it seemed like the DM was jerking us around. Why play out the scenario of a chase if there was nothing to catch? Conversely, I suspect that the DM was refereeing correctly by leading us to believe that the illusion was real. So the implications of that type of situation in this context are unclear to me. [/QUOTE]
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