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What do you do when players say "we go north" but their characters don't have the "Keen Mind" Feat or Navigation Equipment?
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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7352044" data-attributes="member: 45197"><p>Hiya!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I can see where you are coming from, but you are making a lot of assumptions. The biggest is that you are assuming that a 'game world' (say, Greyhawk) has people that do a lot of travelling. I'd hazzard a guess that for the vast majority of people in Greyhawk, for example, never go more than a dozen kilometers (call it, 8 miles) from their home/town. There is simply no need, and it is too dangerous. They would never need to know where the 'north star' is. They would be familiar with local landmarks which they would use to get around. They may know where North is because of this. But teleport that person 1000 kilometers in some random direction and they'd be totally lost in all likelyhood.</p><p></p><p>I'm an "old skool" DM. I put MUCH more weight towards the Players decisions than their PC's. I do this simply because otherwise, why bother having Players say anything? I mean, if I, as DM, am assuming that every PC knows how to navigate, how could I ever say something like "You travel north for couple days then realize you are lost" with a straight face? I've just basically "decided" that they get to where they were going all the times before...but now I just "decided" they suddenly got lost? Some groups would have no problem with this sort of DM'ing. More power to them. But for me and my players...they would feel...hmmm...."railroaded".</p><p></p><p>My players will ask if their PC might know something that they don't. If I say something that they figure they wouldn't know (they as in themselves, the Players), but that one/some of their PC's might, they bring it up. I usually then either decide, or ask for some kind of roll. They also may ask for a roll as a sort of 'modifier' to their decision/choice. So a player may say "Ok, Tallfellow will gather up some sturdy sticks, some moss, rocks, and then hack off some branches from the pine trees and use that to make a shelter. Like a lean-to or something. He's got Survival as a skill, and he is a halfling ranger", and I'll ask him to make a roll. His PC will make a lean-to shelter, but depending on the roll, it will be either barely functional, expertly crafted, or somewhere in between. The main point being that the Player decides what and how his character is going to do something...in stead of me just 'assuming' the PC is/can do it.</p><p></p><p>As I said... I'm old skool. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>^_^</p><p></p><p>Paul L. Ming</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pming, post: 7352044, member: 45197"] Hiya! I can see where you are coming from, but you are making a lot of assumptions. The biggest is that you are assuming that a 'game world' (say, Greyhawk) has people that do a lot of travelling. I'd hazzard a guess that for the vast majority of people in Greyhawk, for example, never go more than a dozen kilometers (call it, 8 miles) from their home/town. There is simply no need, and it is too dangerous. They would never need to know where the 'north star' is. They would be familiar with local landmarks which they would use to get around. They may know where North is because of this. But teleport that person 1000 kilometers in some random direction and they'd be totally lost in all likelyhood. I'm an "old skool" DM. I put MUCH more weight towards the Players decisions than their PC's. I do this simply because otherwise, why bother having Players say anything? I mean, if I, as DM, am assuming that every PC knows how to navigate, how could I ever say something like "You travel north for couple days then realize you are lost" with a straight face? I've just basically "decided" that they get to where they were going all the times before...but now I just "decided" they suddenly got lost? Some groups would have no problem with this sort of DM'ing. More power to them. But for me and my players...they would feel...hmmm...."railroaded". My players will ask if their PC might know something that they don't. If I say something that they figure they wouldn't know (they as in themselves, the Players), but that one/some of their PC's might, they bring it up. I usually then either decide, or ask for some kind of roll. They also may ask for a roll as a sort of 'modifier' to their decision/choice. So a player may say "Ok, Tallfellow will gather up some sturdy sticks, some moss, rocks, and then hack off some branches from the pine trees and use that to make a shelter. Like a lean-to or something. He's got Survival as a skill, and he is a halfling ranger", and I'll ask him to make a roll. His PC will make a lean-to shelter, but depending on the roll, it will be either barely functional, expertly crafted, or somewhere in between. The main point being that the Player decides what and how his character is going to do something...in stead of me just 'assuming' the PC is/can do it. As I said... I'm old skool. :) ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]
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What do you do when players say "we go north" but their characters don't have the "Keen Mind" Feat or Navigation Equipment?
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