D&D General What is the worst piece of DM advice people give that you see commonly spread?

[EzekielRaiden]

It would also not be all that much different from our theories of physics.

Yes, it would.

This is what I'm trying to tell you, as someone trained in the field. It would be EXTREMELY different from our theories of physics. Worlds apart--almost literally! For several reasons. Physics is not exclusively made of empirical observation. It also contains mathematical physics, which prescribe parts of how things must behave regardless of what we puny humans observe or don't observe.

 

[Oofta]

Yes, it would.

This is what I'm trying to tell you, as someone trained in the field. It would be EXTREMELY different from our theories of physics. Worlds apart--almost literally! For several reasons. Physics is not exclusively made of empirical observation. It also contains mathematical physics, which prescribe parts of how things must behave regardless of what we puny humans observe or don't observe.

The math and theories don't prescribe anything. Theories don't make things happen they are our best guess (backed up by experimental proof) of why thing happen.

The world doesn't care how we simulate it, even if our simulations are fairly accurate. We have a pretty good understanding of the way things work at the level we interact with. Quantum level? Not so much. High level interactions of galaxies? Also a little fuzzy with numbers we just plug in, things we invent like dark matter, that may or may not "exist" but we need them so that our observations make sense. Our understanding of gravity at the galactic scale may just be wrong.

Would those theories be modified in a world where magic and supernatural exist? Of course. It's no more relevant to the game than the theory of atoms that describe why I can sit on this chair. All I care about is that the game simulates that reality close enough, realistically enough that my totally made up imaginary universe makes sense and is consistent.

Of course this is all talk about imaginary world that only exist in our minds. Just explaining why I don't have a problem viewing the D&D world as reality + magic and supernatural. People are going to picture it in their minds that way anyway because that's how the mind works.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

All I care about is that the game simulates that reality close enough, realistically enough that my totally made up imaginary universe makes sense and is consistent.

I called that exact thing groundedness, and you argued.

There is no further point in discussing it. You have literally re-produced my own argument as a claim that my argument is wrong.

 

[Oofta]

I called that exact thing groundedness, and you argued.

There is no further point in discussing it. You have literally re-produced my own argument as a claim that my argument is wrong.

Okay ... I have no idea what you're talking about. All I was saying was that theories don't make things happen. Groundedness is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to make believe. But if it makes you happy to claim victory, go for it.

 

[overgeeked]

My ideal magic system would be highly chaotic... not so easy to achieve successfully in TTRPG.

Same. I think the closest contenders for me are DCC RPG and WFRP2E. Especially if you add in the Net Libram of Random Magical Effects.

 

[SteveC]

"You say it, you do it!"

So many problems come from this. As the GM you are in charge of the characters senses in the game, you're the portal to the game world. Any time a character does something stupid or lethal because they didn't understand what the scene looked like or what the consequences would be ... no, just no.

GMs who just jump on things that should be clear in the minds of anyone who was actually in a scene, let alone a trained warrior/wizard or some other expert, especially in a lethal environment just really bother me.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Just accept D&D does not do grounded, and embrace the silly, then all your cares go away.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Just accept D&D does not do grounded, and embrace the silly, then all your cares go away.

Sir, this thread is for the worst DM advice, not the best.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Sir, this thread is for the worst DM advice, not the best.

Next thing you know, someone will start giving good advice like "communicate with others," "solicit feedback and sincerely heed it," and "be open-minded about others' preferences, even if you don't share them."

We certainly can't have any of that sense!

Another piece of infuriating advice, this one straight from the developers (IIRC Mearls specifically), was to ignore both a character's modifiers AND whatever target numbers, and just look at the die. Is it high double digits? It works. Single digit? Whatever they were doing, it fails. In the middle? Decide what you think would be most interesting and roll with it.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Another piece of infuriating advice, this one straight from the developers (IIRC Mearls specifically), was to ignore both a character's modifiers AND whatever target numbers, and just look at the die. Is it high double digits? It works. Single digit? Whatever they were doing, it fails. In the middle? Decide what you think would be most interesting and roll with it.

Suddenly everything about the blighted concept of Bounded Accuracy becomes clear. They really do want the dice to be more important than anything else.