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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 4029088" data-attributes="member: 5100">I'm tempted to say we can end the conversation right there because I cannot believe that anyone honestly believes that.  But your further statements intrigue me.I can accept the idea that you use the RAW, without house rules -- or, at least expect more work if you tweak things.  I can also accept the notion that things aren't always optimized for the PCs or GM fiat.  Those are all perfectly reasonable notions in context of a game.What I'm stuggling with are your pronouncements about "fate" and so on.  What qualifies as "tailored for the purpose of climactic combat or to please the theme of the story?"  The latter bit especially interests me.  If taken to an extreme, it means that a random "dungeon" generation tool should be used for all adventures, just to ensure the appropriate lack of bias.  I can't imagine that you're advocating that, though.So, are you talking philosophic themes or worldbuilding themes (cultures, etc.)?  If the former, would you say that RPGs are a wholy inappropriate vehicle for such exploration, or just D&D?  For example, Promethean: the Created is designed to explore the notion of what it is to be human (i.e. humanity).  Is that a fool's errand, or is the ability (assuming good design) of Promethean to handle that theme one of the things that separates it from D&D?If the latter, just how would you handle the in-game explanations for the society in which the characters live, their allies, and their enemies?  Take the NPC I asked you to create earlier.  I gave you free reign with the rules, but the impression I got was that he was somehow out-of-bounds because he didn't neatly fit into a generation tool.  The history I gave fit into the RAW, so far as I am aware.  I didn't qualify class and the race was human.  For items, I didn't say "psionic" and you could have rolled standard and used some of the variants (tokens for potions, etc.) from Complete Arcane or even some stranger items from MIC (a book you recommended).  What was wrong with that sort of generation goal?For that matter, if fate determines the locations and motivations of the NPCs, how do you decide whether there is a war?  I don't recall seeing those tables in the books.  For that matter, do you randomly roll alignment for the necromancer in the crypts?  Or do you roll to see if, maybe, it's a monk/bard instead of a necromancer?At what point do you stop looking to tables and actually design an adventure, draw a map, or decide, well, anything?</blockquote>

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