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
Meta - Forums About Forums
Archive-threads
WIR S1 Tomb of Horrors [SPOILERS!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!]
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: 5655465" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>My answer to this is that it is a feature of the era, that tends to produce compromised design.</p><p></p><p>An analogy: on a number of recent "problem player" threads, some posters have suggested that (i) the problem player might be encouraged to be less troublesome if s/he had information XYZ, and therefore (ii) the GM should permit an INT or WIS check to learn XYZ.</p><p></p><p>My response to these suggestions is, if the information is so worthwhile getting into the hands of that player, then why make it hostage to a d20 roll. The GM should just tell them XYZ!</p><p></p><p>But the intuition that many feel, to have an INT or WIS check, is still there. I think it comes in part from a simulationist mentality - the GM can't tell the <em>player</em> something unless it correlates to some successful process of reasoning in the fiction, which would be modelled by the successful stat check - and in part from a gamist mentality - the GM shouldn't be giving the players anything worthwhile for free. They have to earn it, if only by being lucky.</p><p></p><p>These habits of thought are deeply ingrained in many, and go back to the roots of the game. I suspect that similar ways of thinking may underlie the ToH's presentation of the poem. The more modern approach - if it will enhance the game for the players to know it, then just tell them (and if necessary, contrive the fiction to make sure the PCs know too) - just wasn't around back then.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 5655465, member: 42582"] My answer to this is that it is a feature of the era, that tends to produce compromised design. An analogy: on a number of recent "problem player" threads, some posters have suggested that (i) the problem player might be encouraged to be less troublesome if s/he had information XYZ, and therefore (ii) the GM should permit an INT or WIS check to learn XYZ. My response to these suggestions is, if the information is so worthwhile getting into the hands of that player, then why make it hostage to a d20 roll. The GM should just tell them XYZ! But the intuition that many feel, to have an INT or WIS check, is still there. I think it comes in part from a simulationist mentality - the GM can't tell the [I]player[/I] something unless it correlates to some successful process of reasoning in the fiction, which would be modelled by the successful stat check - and in part from a gamist mentality - the GM shouldn't be giving the players anything worthwhile for free. They have to earn it, if only by being lucky. These habits of thought are deeply ingrained in many, and go back to the roots of the game. I suspect that similar ways of thinking may underlie the ToH's presentation of the poem. The more modern approach - if it will enhance the game for the players to know it, then just tell them (and if necessary, contrive the fiction to make sure the PCs know too) - just wasn't around back then. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Meta - Forums About Forums
Archive-threads
WIR S1 Tomb of Horrors [SPOILERS!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!]
Top