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<blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 6372882"><p>To this point I was thinking that instead of several smaller, weaker encounters to drain resources, those fights would essentially be folded into the "boss fight". So instead of the big-bad having a couple of minions, he has a dozen, or can summon more when needed. </p><p></p><p></p><p>I do think there is a place for "lots of little encounters" and "a few big encounters" and a suitable mix in between. I just feel like it's terribly underhanded to create those many little encounters with the intent of essentially kicking the players while they're down with a difficult big-bad at the end. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Well yes and the "running gag bad guy" who somehow manages to defeat the players but never kills them, or is somehow defeated by the players but is never killed, there's a measure of plot armor going here beyond simply depleting resources before engaging the players. I find it somewhat insulting if, when the fight comes down to it, the party has nothing left and the villain has nothing left and so they just whack on each other for a bit until someone gets bored and runs away again. </p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm sorry, but I have no desire to debate <em>realism</em> in a <strong>fantasy</strong> setting with goblins, elves, fireballs, dragons and what have you. I'm not going to address this point again.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I feel like this response is responding to someone else. I don't recall making any points that anything you wrote would address. I get the feeling that you're arguing with some kind of self-entitled player who is demanding you to run the game in a manner in which you usually do not. That was not the perspective I was writing from, nor were any of those things the points I was making. Perhaps you should re-read my post, consider that I was writing from my perspective as a <strong>DM</strong>, <em>not</em> a player and how I feel about my games.</p><p></p><p>A great deal of your argument once again hinges on the concept of a "living world", and while I said I wouldn't address this point further I will state the following and after that it may be best that we do not continue the discussion.</p><p>The world is not alive any more than the paper it is written on. Someone created it to function in a particular manner when properly operated. Without an operator, it neither lives nor functions, it simply <em>is</em>. Generally speaking the DM is the operator. The puppet-master may be well hidden and there may be many complex systems between them and the player, but without the operator, there is nothing. So yes, at the end of the day it is always DM fiat, whether he chooses to hide that behind the roll of a die on a random table, or behind the veil of "DM say-so" is largely immaterial.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sunseeker, post: 6372882"] To this point I was thinking that instead of several smaller, weaker encounters to drain resources, those fights would essentially be folded into the "boss fight". So instead of the big-bad having a couple of minions, he has a dozen, or can summon more when needed. I do think there is a place for "lots of little encounters" and "a few big encounters" and a suitable mix in between. I just feel like it's terribly underhanded to create those many little encounters with the intent of essentially kicking the players while they're down with a difficult big-bad at the end. Well yes and the "running gag bad guy" who somehow manages to defeat the players but never kills them, or is somehow defeated by the players but is never killed, there's a measure of plot armor going here beyond simply depleting resources before engaging the players. I find it somewhat insulting if, when the fight comes down to it, the party has nothing left and the villain has nothing left and so they just whack on each other for a bit until someone gets bored and runs away again. I'm sorry, but I have no desire to debate [I]realism[/I] in a [B]fantasy[/B] setting with goblins, elves, fireballs, dragons and what have you. I'm not going to address this point again. I feel like this response is responding to someone else. I don't recall making any points that anything you wrote would address. I get the feeling that you're arguing with some kind of self-entitled player who is demanding you to run the game in a manner in which you usually do not. That was not the perspective I was writing from, nor were any of those things the points I was making. Perhaps you should re-read my post, consider that I was writing from my perspective as a [B]DM[/B], [I]not[/I] a player and how I feel about my games. A great deal of your argument once again hinges on the concept of a "living world", and while I said I wouldn't address this point further I will state the following and after that it may be best that we do not continue the discussion. The world is not alive any more than the paper it is written on. Someone created it to function in a particular manner when properly operated. Without an operator, it neither lives nor functions, it simply [I]is[/I]. Generally speaking the DM is the operator. The puppet-master may be well hidden and there may be many complex systems between them and the player, but without the operator, there is nothing. So yes, at the end of the day it is always DM fiat, whether he chooses to hide that behind the roll of a die on a random table, or behind the veil of "DM say-so" is largely immaterial. [/QUOTE]
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