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Mythbusters: Reality Or Dramatic? What Do You Allow In Your RPGS?
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<blockquote data-quote="Marius Delphus" data-source="post: 5135948" data-attributes="member: 447"><p>Time for the <em>girdles of giant strength</em> story.</p><p></p><p>Once upon a time, my 2E game got a little out of control with Strength-enhancing magical items. In short, every PC had one.</p><p></p><p>Now, I got a little frustrated by this. The players had a lot of fun, and combat tended to go very quickly, but it really ate at me that I wasn't able to challenge this party in combat. (This frustration disappeared, of course, when I played and my co-DM took the reins. Trashing great wyrm red dragons in under four rounds can be fun, after all.)</p><p></p><p>At one point*, I took out my frustration on one poor player who decided to punch open a very heavy, fortified, locked, and barred set of double doors. I dutifully rolled a couple dice and dolefully informed the player that his character had shattered his hands, wrists, and forearms, and his elbows now bent both ways. (When the player protested, I relented and allowed his character to open the door using a different method.)</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 9px"> * Later, I took out my frustration on all the players by having an over-the-top powerful NPC steal all the items.</span></p><p></p><p>I still think of that moment as a rookie mistake. No, a <em>girdle of giant strength</em> does not make a character Superman (who'd quickly destroy his own body if he ever tried anything you see in the comics without his invulnerability).</p><p></p><p>But the more important question is this: what's the difference between comic-book reality, action-movie reality, and roleplaying-game reality?</p><p></p><p>For my money, it's more fun if the answer is "in an RPG, you roll dice." I've watched many an action movie and thought in terms of skill checks, rolls to hit, and so forth, and you know? It works. So I'd have to say give me dramatically appropriate over real-world disappointing. Give me an attack roll and some damage, and we'll see if you manage to part that rope. Forget that it's essentially impossible in real life.</p><p></p><p>And if I ever cite "Mythbusters" for reasons why something won't work in a <em>Dungeons & Dragons</em> game, make sure I'm laughed at heartily, will ya? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marius Delphus, post: 5135948, member: 447"] Time for the [I]girdles of giant strength[/I] story. Once upon a time, my 2E game got a little out of control with Strength-enhancing magical items. In short, every PC had one. Now, I got a little frustrated by this. The players had a lot of fun, and combat tended to go very quickly, but it really ate at me that I wasn't able to challenge this party in combat. (This frustration disappeared, of course, when I played and my co-DM took the reins. Trashing great wyrm red dragons in under four rounds can be fun, after all.) At one point*, I took out my frustration on one poor player who decided to punch open a very heavy, fortified, locked, and barred set of double doors. I dutifully rolled a couple dice and dolefully informed the player that his character had shattered his hands, wrists, and forearms, and his elbows now bent both ways. (When the player protested, I relented and allowed his character to open the door using a different method.) [SIZE=1] * Later, I took out my frustration on all the players by having an over-the-top powerful NPC steal all the items.[/SIZE] I still think of that moment as a rookie mistake. No, a [I]girdle of giant strength[/I] does not make a character Superman (who'd quickly destroy his own body if he ever tried anything you see in the comics without his invulnerability). But the more important question is this: what's the difference between comic-book reality, action-movie reality, and roleplaying-game reality? For my money, it's more fun if the answer is "in an RPG, you roll dice." I've watched many an action movie and thought in terms of skill checks, rolls to hit, and so forth, and you know? It works. So I'd have to say give me dramatically appropriate over real-world disappointing. Give me an attack roll and some damage, and we'll see if you manage to part that rope. Forget that it's essentially impossible in real life. And if I ever cite "Mythbusters" for reasons why something won't work in a [I]Dungeons & Dragons[/I] game, make sure I'm laughed at heartily, will ya? :) [/QUOTE]
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