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What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
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<blockquote data-quote="kamosa" data-source="post: 1419868" data-attributes="member: 1037"><p>I would draw a distinction between a tough game and a "grim and gritty" game.</p><p></p><p>Tough games are where the players know they can't win every fight and that they won't face challenges that only try to drain their resources. They know that kicking down the door might be a death sentence, so they look for other ways to solve the adventure.</p><p></p><p>"grim and gritty" has usually had a completely different conitation. It has meant you are powerless. You can't avoid being railroaded into the GM's plots, because, it is a gritty world where you have no allies and you have no tools that will avoid the pitfalls of their world.</p><p></p><p>The sad thing is that most GM's that say they want "grim or gritty" or "low magic" think they are really accomplishing something great by running a lame game. I've seen more pompus GM's that think they are great because they had the "courage" to ban Magic Missile. </p><p></p><p>Their arguements all tend to boil down to "D&D would be great, if the players just didn't do anything and just followed my awsome story and plot." </p><p></p><p>I'm not saying low magic is neccessarily bad, to each his own, really. It just always seems to be an excuse to justify running a lame game. When I meet a new GM, if they start out with "I run low magic" my alarm bells go off and I start marking the exits.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kamosa, post: 1419868, member: 1037"] I would draw a distinction between a tough game and a "grim and gritty" game. Tough games are where the players know they can't win every fight and that they won't face challenges that only try to drain their resources. They know that kicking down the door might be a death sentence, so they look for other ways to solve the adventure. "grim and gritty" has usually had a completely different conitation. It has meant you are powerless. You can't avoid being railroaded into the GM's plots, because, it is a gritty world where you have no allies and you have no tools that will avoid the pitfalls of their world. The sad thing is that most GM's that say they want "grim or gritty" or "low magic" think they are really accomplishing something great by running a lame game. I've seen more pompus GM's that think they are great because they had the "courage" to ban Magic Missile. Their arguements all tend to boil down to "D&D would be great, if the players just didn't do anything and just followed my awsome story and plot." I'm not saying low magic is neccessarily bad, to each his own, really. It just always seems to be an excuse to justify running a lame game. When I meet a new GM, if they start out with "I run low magic" my alarm bells go off and I start marking the exits. [/QUOTE]
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