D&D 5E On rulings, rules, and Twitter, or: How Sage Advice Changed

[mrpopstar]

lawful good paladin is a trope, sure, but it's not one that's defining for any particular genre -- unless we're really getting somewhere niche. D&D as a game doesn't change if you excise lawful good paladins, although your particular enjoyment might. It's still very recognizably D&D without LGPs.

I'd be rather comfortable in saying that they're not very far from D&D in core play loops and concepts. Did all of the games you've encounter feature the GM as the primary arbiter of the rules, to the point that it's the GM that invokes them, selects the particulars of any mechanics, and gets to say what the outcomes are?

I'd say all of the others intervene on the freedom of the game master by introducing fiddly bits that exalt dice and uncertainty.

Well, look at that. I had forgotten those. Upon rereading, I see why -- it's just a list of prices and duration of construction. What's the difference between an abbey and a small keep? How much they cost and how long they take to build. Could be the exact same building. Dunno. This is an example of a "rule" that 5e presents that is really just another prompt to ask the GM what they think. It's why I say 5e's core mechanic is "the GM decides."

Information on the average size of an abbey, or further detail on the skilled and unskilled hirelings working in an abbey would be helpful!

 

[Ovinomancer]

I'd say all of the others intervene on the freedom of the game master by introducing fiddly bits that exalt dice and uncertainty.

An interesting statement. From the player's point of view, which is more uncertain -- guessing what the GM is going to allow or looking at a mechanic where they know what their chance of success would be?

The only wrong answer to that question, by the way, is failing to acknowledge the answer varies for everyone. If you're only approaching the concept of gaming from this point of view, then your view is very narrow. Personally, I have a strong distaste for the elevation of the craft of the GM. The GM isn't more important in a D&D game, the GM has more responsibility to the other players. Privilege, not right.

 

[mrpopstar]

An interesting statement. From the player's point of view, which is more uncertain -- guessing what the GM is going to allow or looking at a mechanic where they know what their chance of success would be?

The only wrong answer to that question, by the way, is failing to acknowledge the answer varies for everyone. If you're only approaching the concept of gaming from this point of view, then your view is very narrow. Personally, I have a strong distaste for the elevation of the craft of the GM. The GM isn't more important in a D&D game, the GM has more responsibility to the other players. Privilege, not right.

I agree that being a Dungeon Master is service work!

 

[Ovinomancer]

I agree that being a Dungeon Master is service work!

Not at all what I said, and I'm not sure how cool I am with that comparison. I'll take it as unintentional poor phrasing.

 

[mrpopstar]

Not at all what I said, and I'm not sure how cool I am with that comparison. I'll take it as unintentional poor phrasing.

Service work in the community/giving sense, not the servant/server sense.

 

[tetrasodium]

Service work in the community/giving sense, not the servant/server sense.

GMs often continue to be a GM because they enjoy the fun of being a GM. 5e books& much of the 5e era wotc may not seem to give much if any consideration to the GM as someone who is having fun running D&d rather than some kind of servant with needs to be dismissed for something more important like player desires but "service work" is very much the wrong universe of description for what the gm does

 

[Ovinomancer]

Service work in the community/giving sense, not the servant/server sense.

Yeah, I got that, I'm just not going to put "playing a game" on the same level as good service work, like being an AA sponsor or helping the handicapped. Or even picking up trash alongside the road. This probably goes to my dislike of the aggrandizement of the GM role. I'm almost always the GM when D&D is played in my group, but I very much dislike the idea that GMs are more important than players.

 

[mrpopstar]

GMs often continue to be a GM because they enjoy the fun of being a GM. 5e books& much of the 5e era wotc may not seem to give much if any consideration to the GM as someone who is having fun running D&d rather than some kind of servant with needs to be dismissed for something more important like player desires but "service work" is very much the wrong universe of description for what the gm does

Yeah, I got that, I'm just not going to put "playing a game" on the same level as good service work, like being an AA sponsor or helping the handicapped. Or even picking up trash alongside the road. This probably goes to my dislike of the aggrandizement of the GM role. I'm almost always the GM when D&D is played in my group, but I very much dislike the idea that GMs are more important than players.

Well, I give a Sunday every month to running games at libraries, conventions, gaming stores, youth organizations, and/or hospitals, and have done so for almost 20 years, so, for me, there's a component of my hobby that's service work.

Anything to help people escape their situation and themselves, if only for a couple hours, I'm in.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Well, I give a Sunday every month to running games at libraries, conventions, gaming stores, youth organizations, and/or hospitals, and have done so for almost 20 years, so, for me, there's a component of my hobby that's service work.

Anything to help people escape their situation and themselves, if only for a couple hours, I'm in.

That service is not part of being a GM, that's part of organizing an activity. If you did board games or badminton, same as far as service goes. Again, I dislike putting GMing on a pedestal.

 

[mrpopstar]

That service is not part of being a GM, that's part of organizing an activity. If you did board games or badminton, same as far as service goes. Again, I dislike putting GMing on a pedestal.

How does any of that put anyone on a pedestal? There's nothing glorified about giving your time. It's not about you, it's about who you're sharing it with.

And it was an exclamation made mostly in jest, funny because it's not at all enjoyable every single moment as the Dungeon Master.

Honestly, you will argue literally anything.