Search results

And as some else mentioned, he described the sound of them as a "freight train". I can forgive him a few lapses given the work as a whole and the role it played in the genre. As to whether firecrackers really require gunpowder, I'd say he left that vague enough it isn't required. I'd point more...

Yes, if the players simply have not experienced a game where the ref expects more from them, then the ref should demonstrate what he expects to them. That was essentially behind my earlier comment (in this thread IIRC) that as I ref, I'm fine with having to train my players, by training meaning...

The main problem I have with mixed-genre is not the genre mixing per-se but how it is handled as premise. Premise to me requires setting the ground rules that the rest of the game/movie/book will follow. This has two elements to it: consistency and the ground rules themselves. Too much of...

I forgot about that one. That's a big one for me as well.

Just because other's did it as well doesn't make it a good idea... :p

Yes... a rather ill-chosen metaphor! :confused:

Fair enough and apologizes to pawsplay if I offended.

I doubt it was intentional (just venting earlier :)). It probably was management pushing development too hard but geeze, I remember thinking when they annouced this "I hope they don't screw this transition up," fearing exactly an under-featured, buggy release. And what do we get? Wouldn't have...

That's an interesting historical perspective and perhaps there is a disconnect between one of the games creator's view on the matter and how most of the players view it but Gygax’s world preferences are hardly sacrosanct. If many players don’t like science fiction with their fantasy and they run...

As other's have noted a proper answer the questions would take a lot of work, and maybe some spreadsheets :p Answering the spirit of the question (I hope), I've never played or ref'd with a rigid schedule. We cover the interesting stuff and leave the rest off-scene. So no bodily functions...

I agree. Was surprised to see the old scenario where the players explored a down spaceship rating so high. Reminds me of the old Might and Magic games where a perfectly reasonable fantasy game always ended up wondering into alien blasters and space ships. I guess the creators of the series had...

I'd have to agree that the present value is low. The CB fiasco is just mindboggling. If I had anything to do with WOTC (and I've managed at the exec level), I would fire both the program manager and the marketing manager of this product and find someone with a clue. It is likely they were...

The "Head Chipper!" It dates back many years (9-10) to a time when a sodden ref (me) asked a six year old to "pick a creature out of the figure cabinet". He picked out a demon with a vorpal axe (per the Monster Manual; the figure was supposed to be a specific demon, forget which one). Said...

They haven't been eliminated from any D&D system I am aware of. I know 4E has some fairly elaborately described ones in supplements such as Open Grave. I love the concept but use them very rarely (on average on every 2-3 campaigns) because, to me, if they are intelligent, they should be...

It's a bit of both for us. Most of my group seems to find a satisfying evening one with some interesting fights and some meaningful roleplaying (meaning, while roleplaying just to be in character is fun, my group tends to prefer roleplaying in the service of advancing a goal- convincing someone...

I agree. This in the end comes down to GM and play-group style. In an ideal case, the GM has done such a nice job setting up the world, both background and hooks, and the players are so proactive and engaged that the players drive the story without much impetus from the ref (beyond the setup...

I like that sort of puzzle. It can take a lot of time to setup but it seems a "softer" puzzle to me, where they could potentially go back for more information and the puzzle aspects are tightly integrated into story. Much less jarring than some of the more classic puzzles and some players might...

Yes, but do you have your RPG people bouncing around with low gravity? :p

I make sparing use of them. I just finished off an arc with a very complicated puzzle but it was for completely "side" purposes. They pursued it simply for greed and revenge. This is my first true puzzle in many years (as opposed to just difficult decisions to make). I'm leery of them in...

If it is a detailed setting as you say than the likely issue is that they don't really understand the setting; it hasn't been presented to them in a manner that matters for them. It might be too abstract or perceived as a lot of detail to slog. You may have shortened your text for the forum...