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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
The Importance of Randomness
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<blockquote data-quote="Dannager" data-source="post: 5823303" data-attributes="member: 73683"><p>In what way does this "free" the Dungeon Master? If anything, resorting to randomness removes from the DM the element of control over the way the game world interacts with the PCs.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In what ways are random encounters preferable to non-random encounters? The players will not know the difference (unless you roll the random encounter dice in front of them, but why would you do that?), and non-random encounters allow you to tailor the encounters to the situation without being caught off-guard as the DM.</p><p></p><p>Random encounters are supposed to be a tool for DMs who would prefer not to spend time preparing encounters. They don't actually offer anything beyond convenience.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't think these require much skill. At most, they require some rough, easily-applied guidelines.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Creativity also spurs creativity. In addition, the DM can easily appear unpredictable to the players without actually being unpredictable to himself. Random encounters make things unpredictable for <em>both</em> the players and DM.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is some really backwards thinking.</p><p></p><p>"D&D should have random encounters, because they actively discourage the DM from being invested in a particular plot!"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dannager, post: 5823303, member: 73683"] In what way does this "free" the Dungeon Master? If anything, resorting to randomness removes from the DM the element of control over the way the game world interacts with the PCs. In what ways are random encounters preferable to non-random encounters? The players will not know the difference (unless you roll the random encounter dice in front of them, but why would you do that?), and non-random encounters allow you to tailor the encounters to the situation without being caught off-guard as the DM. Random encounters are supposed to be a tool for DMs who would prefer not to spend time preparing encounters. They don't actually offer anything beyond convenience. I don't think these require much skill. At most, they require some rough, easily-applied guidelines. Creativity also spurs creativity. In addition, the DM can easily appear unpredictable to the players without actually being unpredictable to himself. Random encounters make things unpredictable for [I]both[/I] the players and DM. This is some really backwards thinking. "D&D should have random encounters, because they actively discourage the DM from being invested in a particular plot!" [/QUOTE]
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The Importance of Randomness
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