Why PCs should be competent, or "I got a lot of past in my past"

[Micah Sweet]

if i had a better joke, i would've made it. i guess if we were still using 1e saves, i could've said that...

Big fan of 1e saves here.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

Big fan of 1e saves here.

i can't say i care for how they were expressed or how there's no real way for the creator of the effect to influence how hard it is, but i can definitely see the appeal in saves becoming gradually easier and easier as time goes on as opposed to just keeping up with everything else you're expected to fight.

 

[Thomas Shey]

You say that like there's a significant difference.

I think there's a pretty visible difference between everyman heroes and action heroes in many cases. Which doesn't mean there can't be muddy cases, but its not hard to have them visibly different.

 

[Umbran]

I think there's a pretty visible difference between everyman heroes and action heroes in many cases.

We were talking about "actin heroes" and "people motivated toward an adventuring life". I think "everyman heroes" are a third category.

 

[Thomas Shey]

We were talking about "actin heroes" and "people motivated toward an adventuring life". I think "everyman heroes" are a third category.

I can see the argument, but the middle case can still include a lot of what I'd call everyman heroes--in other words, people with relatively "normal" skill sets, albeit leaning into things that are adventurer-adjacent: RQ hunters have a lot of adventue-useful skills for example, but they're still just--hunters.

 

[grankless]

I always think of the story as what you remember and talk about after you have played the adventure. I don’t think about a story while I’m playing in the imagined scenario and world. The story is the result, the roleplaying creates it as a byproduct.

That's the same thing, though? Everything that happens in play is definitionally part of the story.

 

[Corinnguard]

I always think of the story as what you remember and talk about after you have played the adventure. I don’t think about a story while I’m playing in the imagined scenario and world. The story is the result, the roleplaying creates it as a byproduct.

A role-playing adventure is essentially one of those Choose Your Own Adventure stories where you and fellow adventurers get to decide on how the story goes at the end of every 'chapter'. You and your party are presented with several options during the adventure, you choose one option and then have to deal with the consequences of your choice for good or for ill.

 

[Umbran]

We are depicting peasants, daily life, and whatnot. At least, it's part of what I depict in my games.

I am sure peasants exist in your world, and are described in your games. But I'm going to guess the PCs, the focus of attention, don't remain what most of us would call "peasants" for long.

 

[Wolfpack48]

A role-playing adventure is essentially one of those Choose Your Own Adventure stories where you and fellow adventurers get to decide on how the story goes at the end of every 'chapter'. You and your party are presented with several options during the adventure, you choose one option and then have to deal with the consequences of your choice for good or for ill.

Except that the options are nearly infinite, best if not pre-defined, and chosen by the players.

 

[Umbran]

I always think of the story as what you remember and talk about after you have played the adventure.

Sure. But, broadly speaking, we don't want the play experience to be forgettable, right? We want to generate those memories?

If the story is what we remember, and we want to generate the memories, it follows that we are looking to generate the story. That makes it more than a byproduct that we ignore, but part of the intended results of play.