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What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
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<blockquote data-quote="Bendris Noulg" data-source="post: 1435178" data-attributes="member: 6398"><p>Which would be why I play d20 Fantasy games and not D&D... D&D is too limited in scope.</p><p> </p><p>See, the <em>only</em> difference between an RPG and a written tale is in the main characters. In a written tale, the author has complete authoritative control over <em>everything</em>. In an RPG, the GM has complete authoritative control over everything <em>except the main characters</em>. Yes, this makes the creative process of the tale <em>different</em> than a one-author novel, but that doesn't make it any less a tale. Just look at the Story Hours; these are game sessions transcribed into written form after play has occured, being examples of exactly what I'm talking about here, and many of them have exactly the same kind of features I've indicated and that you are calling irrelevant to game play.</p><p> </p><p>Really, the only difference I see between high and low is how the ends are achieved. In a low magic game, it's through the rarity, unavailability, and unsurity of magic. In a high magic game, it's through trumps, one-up-manship, and fiat. I mean, as a player, I'd rather work harder to gain something <em>later</em> that will almost always function, than to have something practically given to me early that can be trumped over half the time in an escalating arms race with the GM. As a GM, I'd rather reduce character power over-all in order to focus on story, plot, and setting, rather than being forced by high magic rules to <em>waste</em> my time calculating which trumps have to be put in place to keep the PCs powers in check for a given adventure or scenario, allowing my players to focus on role-play and adventure goals instead of trying to one-up me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bendris Noulg, post: 1435178, member: 6398"] Which would be why I play d20 Fantasy games and not D&D... D&D is too limited in scope. See, the [i]only[/i] difference between an RPG and a written tale is in the main characters. In a written tale, the author has complete authoritative control over [i]everything[/i]. In an RPG, the GM has complete authoritative control over everything [i]except the main characters[/i]. Yes, this makes the creative process of the tale [i]different[/i] than a one-author novel, but that doesn't make it any less a tale. Just look at the Story Hours; these are game sessions transcribed into written form after play has occured, being examples of exactly what I'm talking about here, and many of them have exactly the same kind of features I've indicated and that you are calling irrelevant to game play. Really, the only difference I see between high and low is how the ends are achieved. In a low magic game, it's through the rarity, unavailability, and unsurity of magic. In a high magic game, it's through trumps, one-up-manship, and fiat. I mean, as a player, I'd rather work harder to gain something [i]later[/i] that will almost always function, than to have something practically given to me early that can be trumped over half the time in an escalating arms race with the GM. As a GM, I'd rather reduce character power over-all in order to focus on story, plot, and setting, rather than being forced by high magic rules to [i]waste[/i] my time calculating which trumps have to be put in place to keep the PCs powers in check for a given adventure or scenario, allowing my players to focus on role-play and adventure goals instead of trying to one-up me. [/QUOTE]
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