Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What DM flaw has caused you to actually leave a game?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7507471" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>There are two things here.</p><p></p><p>(1) Why shouldn't an animal companion be a good thing in every circumstance? When are a fighter's hp not a good thing? When is a MU's spell slot not a good thing?</p><p></p><p>The game makes it clear that some class features are liabilities - a magic-user's spellbook is the most notorious example; a classic paladin's limitation on magic items owned is another. But nothing has ever suggested that a ranger's animal companion fits that description. The ranger in the first AD&D campaign I ever ran acquired a bear companion when she reached 10th level. It never occurred to me that the bear was meant to be a <em>problem</em> for her.</p><p></p><p>(2) Suppose the caravan was "backgrounded" against theft - how would that hurt the game? There are a million-and-one scenarios that can be played involving a caravan. You played one of them. If the caravan were backgrounded against theft, you'd play one of the other million.</p><p></p><p>I mean, there's a whole range of scenarios that are implicitly "backgrounded" at many tables - PCs don't get ambushed while urinating; captured PCs don't get raped; in FRPGs there are few encounters that bring the PCs (and thereby the players) into confrontation with the social realities of mediaeval life (I've never come across a published adventure that tackles in any serious way the infant mortality rates and life expectancy of the mediaeval peasantry). We don't deal with these things because no one finds the prospect appealing, and there's plenty of <em>other</em> stuff that <em>can</em> be dealt with. How is the sort of thing [MENTION=22779]Hussar[/MENTION] is talking about any different?</p><p></p><p>Exactly this.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7507471, member: 42582"] There are two things here. (1) Why shouldn't an animal companion be a good thing in every circumstance? When are a fighter's hp not a good thing? When is a MU's spell slot not a good thing? The game makes it clear that some class features are liabilities - a magic-user's spellbook is the most notorious example; a classic paladin's limitation on magic items owned is another. But nothing has ever suggested that a ranger's animal companion fits that description. The ranger in the first AD&D campaign I ever ran acquired a bear companion when she reached 10th level. It never occurred to me that the bear was meant to be a [I]problem[/I] for her. (2) Suppose the caravan was "backgrounded" against theft - how would that hurt the game? There are a million-and-one scenarios that can be played involving a caravan. You played one of them. If the caravan were backgrounded against theft, you'd play one of the other million. I mean, there's a whole range of scenarios that are implicitly "backgrounded" at many tables - PCs don't get ambushed while urinating; captured PCs don't get raped; in FRPGs there are few encounters that bring the PCs (and thereby the players) into confrontation with the social realities of mediaeval life (I've never come across a published adventure that tackles in any serious way the infant mortality rates and life expectancy of the mediaeval peasantry). We don't deal with these things because no one finds the prospect appealing, and there's plenty of [I]other[/I] stuff that [I]can[/I] be dealt with. How is the sort of thing [MENTION=22779]Hussar[/MENTION] is talking about any different? Exactly this. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What DM flaw has caused you to actually leave a game?
Top