Recent content by Mort

Out of curiosity, what's the age range? I tend to game with people over 40. Heck I'm the second youngest in my current group and I'm 51. Maybe that's the confound. Though I didn't remember what you describe being a thing when I was younger either (though that was mostly before 5e, of course).

I apologize, the fact that you were specifically talking about short rest abuse WAS lost somewhere in there for me. That said, a standard short rest is an hour. Taking one ALL the time still has serious narrative issues. That's been discussed to death so I'll just leave it at that. But I'm...

What I was specifically thinking about was the (2014) DMG advice in Chapter 3 creating adventures: 2. Determine the Villain’s Actions and 5. Anticipate the Villain’s Reactions Both of these depend on narrative consequences. If the players ignore the villains actions (in the discussion at...

The biggest one was the one you quoted right after me, and other posts from that poster.

You have people, in this very thread, who discount the DMG guidance. Who say the encounter math is ALL that matters. And any attempt to go beyond it is unfair limiting of the players.

These are the "only" options if we assume that each encounter is its own self contained unit. And if so, there are plenty of solutions, heck 4e basically solved it. Personally I like the conundrum, the give and take of thinking - yes we could easily overcome this encounter, but should we? What...

But how would Mearls know about that? Not like he was a named author on the book or anything!

The disconnect seems to be: There are some who believe narrative consequences are not "true" consequences and that players can just ignore them. That players are not exploiting the system, but playing as intended (by resting whenever mechanically optimal). Because the DM doesn't have the...

You're right, I think we're going in circles.

The DM is IN NO WAY blocking player action/limiting player agency. The group can rest if the wish, but there are logical consequences for doing so. When they rest, time passes. Are you honestly advocating that the PCs operate inside some kind of time stop where, when they rest, the world...

Yes, as I originally said, For the players to be properly challenged (assuming that's what the group actually wants, many don't), the DM must (and must know how to) control the pace of play. This isn't railroading or fiat, it's running the game and game management. Your position seems to be...

It matters because the players want to complete the quest. If they don't, why exactly are they playing? This, again, assumes complete disengagement for the game and the setting. If this is the case, why are the players even playing? How are setting incentives not "credible incentives?" You are...

Of course the players have to "choose to care," Player engagement is absolutely key in any gaming experience. System design can certainly help in rewarding players engagement. But you seem to be saying it can force it? That the system can force the players into better system engagement and...

You've completely lost me. I just don't understand. The players are presented with the choice of failure of their objective if they choose to fully rest. If the objective is important to them, they'll power forward, if not they'll rest. So the point is to make sure they actually care about the...

I'm sorry, but who the heck are you playing with? My players absolutely care if their objectives fail - that's one big reason they are playing the game. They also understand consequences resulting from their actions. I've never DM'd for or played in a group that just simply "didn't care." Why...