Search results

I really like your pragmatic approach to presenting information. I've been trying something similar with my dungeon, and it's interesting to see someone else's attempt at a similar problem. Also, using yards! Do you have a particular system in mind?

Yup. Also ties in with the oft-repeated theme of 'fantasy Vietnam' and Gygax's unfortunate comments about nits and lice. Naturally, not everyone plays this way, or thinks about what such play might signify if they do.

You beat me to it!

Yeah, I've had the exact same problem. I think the system can help, here, by setting expectations and by making certain approaches more or less effective. Lancer, for example, has a fairly strictly codified system for translating fictional positioning before battle into tactical advantage in...

Let me clarify something, because I think we have a misunderstanding. When I say that the Prussian officer corps had 'norms' or an 'ideology', I'm not saying that their ideas were useless and disconnected from reality. I am saying that their ideas were necessarily a form of (possibly false)...

I understand what you're saying, but I disagree. The norms of FK were absolutely not 'reality itself', since (I believe) no-one has unmediated access to reality. As you say, the common experiences and culture of the Prussian officer corps created a common understanding of how things 'should'...

The more I think about it, the more I like @UngainlyTitan 's operational vs. protagonist schema. For one thing, it has some explanatory power. Why does one of my players enjoy beating a tough enemy by 'cheating' with clever planning, while another is disappointed they didn't get a slap-down...

To be fair, Kriegspiel had a referee, as do some other wargames. What these have in common with sports is that the rules (or at least the norms of behaviour and outcome) are known to everyone. Like any other game. (As an aside, this is why I'm very skeptical of the idea of 'FKR' RPGs; either...

I might be alone in this, but I feel like the wizard should be the only full caster in a DS game. Fictionally, sorcerers (wizards) are rare and powerful, and being one means inviting a lot of danger. Thematically, true magic should have a terrible price; if being a Psion is as good as being a...

How did you handle survival in the desert? Or was that not a focus in your game? Personally, I think 5e is a bad fit for DS. Depending on what someone wants from the setting, they may find it in 5e, but I think the general lack of serious danger, poor support for wilderness adventure, and...

Regarding your first paragraph: to what extent is a rule non-structural because some people don't follow the rule? No game designer can make players do things by the book. I think there's a difference between a game that people play 'wrong' in some instances, and a game that people play 'wrong'...

I think we're operating with very different ideas of what 'structure' means, then. Particularly with the 'describe what you're doing' vs. 'push a button' split: that is one of the very first rules in the PHB. It's foundational to the game's basic play loop.

I guess the question is: how fundamental are these commonalities to the way the game is played, compared to the differences between edtions, or between tables? I think classes and levels are important commonalities, but you also have things like hit dice and attributes that are (IMO) pretty...

If I may butt in here: I think that's a tricky thing to define, though 'good design' in general can abolutely be defined. It can be true that different people can have different tastes, and that a given instance of design or artistry can be good or bad, simultaneously. In the case of RPG...

I can't know why you felt what you felt. I will say that I don't think the writers do anything to earn those emotions. I've sat through two episodes now, and it just seems that, like so much film and TV these days, RoP has the structure of emotional 'story beats', and emphasises them with all...

I get that, but it seemed like she'd already made up her mind before she left. Then she decides to jump into the ocean (and don't they have boats going the other way in this period?), which is just another way of getting to Valinor, really, except that we know she won't be allowed to die even...

I agree that it has the skeleton of good storytelling, but the details aren't there. Galadriel's obsession with Sauron, and everyone else's seeming indifference, just don't feel authentic. One the one hand, why does nobody else take the threat seriously? On the other, why is Galadriel so...

I think different people can be receptive to different things. For example, I really don't care about the 'spirit of Tolkien', but I do like a lot of Tolkien's aesthetic sensibilities, which are mostly absent from the screen adaptations. There's probably also a distinction to be made between...

Late to this party, but: I think it is possible that aesthetic facts exist. It's generally a difficult thing to argue, though, especially in support of a particular fact. Fortunately, this show was an exception: the dialogue was so wooden, the drama so forced, and the action so cliched that I...

That isn't my experience. PCs do not waltz through all fights unharmed, and I am absolutely able to apply resource pressure -- it just doesn't happen continuously in every case, which exacerbates the effectiveness of casters in general. My party is at level 15. They have access to the kinds of...