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Gygax on Realism in Game Design
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<blockquote data-quote="D'karr" data-source="post: 6010261" data-attributes="member: 336"><p>But that is the beauty of an RPG. In D&D specifically, the basis for the rules are tied directly to the adjudication of the DM. The DM is the person that can, and should, inject into the game whatever level of "realism" the game needs at his table to remain fun.</p><p></p><p>If the DM decided that the arrow to the chest was going to be lethal if you did not follow the guard, he could.</p><p></p><p>Gygax's rail against realism is not against the vision of the DM. It's against the "vision" of the rules. He didn't provide realistic rules. He made workable rules. Realism, he left entirely at the mercy of the DM.</p><p></p><p>I think that is the legacy of Gygax. The rules are simply guidelines and the DM does not have to follow any rule that will "break" HIS game. The responsibility of <strong>providing</strong> a workable set of rules was put on the game. The responsibility to <strong>keeping</strong> the game "fun" was put on the DM. And the tools were given to the DM to do so. The rules are workable and abide by certain genre (high fantasy) conventions. The DM needs to decide what works, and doesn't at his game. If the situation you put the players in is not going to follow those specific genre conventions, then the DM needs to bend/break the rules to accommodate his vision. In essence, Gygax gave you, the DM, "carte blanche" to disregard anything provided by the rules that does not work at "your" table.</p><p></p><p>That is and will always be the genius of Gygax.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>-</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="D'karr, post: 6010261, member: 336"] But that is the beauty of an RPG. In D&D specifically, the basis for the rules are tied directly to the adjudication of the DM. The DM is the person that can, and should, inject into the game whatever level of "realism" the game needs at his table to remain fun. If the DM decided that the arrow to the chest was going to be lethal if you did not follow the guard, he could. Gygax's rail against realism is not against the vision of the DM. It's against the "vision" of the rules. He didn't provide realistic rules. He made workable rules. Realism, he left entirely at the mercy of the DM. I think that is the legacy of Gygax. The rules are simply guidelines and the DM does not have to follow any rule that will "break" HIS game. The responsibility of [B]providing[/B] a workable set of rules was put on the game. The responsibility to [B]keeping[/B] the game "fun" was put on the DM. And the tools were given to the DM to do so. The rules are workable and abide by certain genre (high fantasy) conventions. The DM needs to decide what works, and doesn't at his game. If the situation you put the players in is not going to follow those specific genre conventions, then the DM needs to bend/break the rules to accommodate his vision. In essence, Gygax gave you, the DM, "carte blanche" to disregard anything provided by the rules that does not work at "your" table. That is and will always be the genius of Gygax. - [/QUOTE]
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