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Which version of D&D are you talking about? There are several where running into a red dragon at 1st level is perfectly acceptable under the right circumstances, and where things like XP budgets and CR don't even exist. Many folks would say XP budgets and the like are unnecessary, if not...

I’m not sure how rare bad GMs are. I’m far more concerned about bad GMing, as in instances of it, which I think are incredibly common. I mean… we’ve all mad bad calls as GMs. So whenever this kind of topic comes up, that’s the way I look at it. I’m mostly concerned about my own GMing… I want...

He’s one of my best friends, so I have a hard time imagining we’d not play together at all. Also, I didn’t say he was a bad GM. I described one bad experience. And I think that’s probably more important… we all make mistakes, as you say. He made an error in judgment. It’s not so much about the...

Yes, but taking effort to correct the situation is a different thing than a self-correcting situation. It took one of the players to speak up. It took the GM to hear them out. It took back and forth discussion. It took adjustment going forward. And my point in bringing this up isn’t even...

Actually, I set aside my PC and played one of his “NPCs” because that’s clearly what he wanted and I figured I might as well try and enjoy the game somehow. Then I proceeded to play that character in a way that wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. It definitely led us to a conversation and a...

I had a DM who provided us with “NPCs” that he “suggested” we play in favor of the PCs we had. None of us went with it… it seemed an odd request. Then as we played and we saw that everything that was happening was related to the NPCs and our PCs were simply along for the ride, it became really...

So why would you expect the GM of an Apocalypse World game to be different in this regard? And do you think players may be responsible, as well? Oh... okay, so it's not the GM it's the social contract? Or are you saying it's both? And if it's both... isn't that really just saying that it's...

This is nonsense. You did it earlier in the thread and now again. You hurl out a criticism that’s unfounded, but you couch it as “I heard this from someone” so that you maintain plausible deniability. If you’re going to make a criticism, at least have the commitment to back it up. What stops...

It was actually a part of my thesis… we were simulating falling in RPGs!

Anyone living after being struck by a boulder hurled by a giant!

I can confirm this is accurate. My buddy and I both jumped from the roof of a 5 story building. I landed and shrugged, thanks to my Master’s Degree. He only had an Associate’s and splattered all over the concrete!

Okay, cool. It sounds like you’re making a distinction between standard 5e as written and what you play. What do you do to make it more sim-focused? Do you add some rules or change some or just focus on certain things?

Olay. Which mechanics in D&D are not simulative based on your definition? Like which rules are examples of the other two types (I’m assuming you mean gamist and narrativist here, but perhaps I’m wrong?)?

I ran a Star Wars game where Luke gave in to the dark side and joined his father. They then turned Leia. The Empire continued and the Jedi were totally vanquished. This was when I was about 16 or so, so it was the West End Games edition. Most supers games I’ve run in established universes...

Okay, then to @Hussar ’s point, would you put 5e in that category?

Then by this metric, which RPGs would you say are not simulationist?

No, it’s judgment that devoting more time and effort to analysis of play leads to views that are more fully backed by analysis. There is no “narrativist vs. simulationist” angle at play. It’s just talking about thinking about play in a deep way. I don’t think anyone would challenge your...

I think you've misunderstood. @TwoSix didn't comment on play of any sort being better than another sort. It is in no way a comment that pits one style against another. It is about how deeply anyone thinks about gaming outside of play. How much they analyze what they are doing and the impact it...

You insist this is true, but it doesn’t need to be. Yeah, that’s unnecessary. There’s no need to boot any players, and I’m in a similar situation where my players are all friends of mine. Plus, I’m not sure what game there is when it all becomes freeform like that. I don’t think playing...

It’s possible to read “simulation” from the inkblot that is modern D&D. But it’s an interpretation, at most.