Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
15 Minute Workday Myth?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 3848758" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I've GMed a Rolemaster game that came very close to this, as the PCs (all spell-users) teleported in (to the enemy stronghold/ruined castle/ancient pyramid/etc), did whatever it was that they were there to do until their power points were nearly all spent, and then teleported out again.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Likewise - although the bit about "not being tired" doesn't work in RM because spell-users all have mediation skills that allow them to recover PPs.</p><p></p><p>But after a while it gets a bit contrived. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Agreed. The real issue is a metagame and mechanical one, not a plot one: the <em>players</em> want to play their characters (in the game I am referring to, these were wizards and warrior-wizards of 20th level or so) and that means casting spells. Once the PCs run out of spells to cast, naturally enough the players choose for them to take those actions in-game which reset them to the point where they are, once again, able to do what the players want to do with them.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I gather that you mean <em>in-game</em> time pressure - after all, at the game table the situation itself generates pressure not to waste time on boring stuff.</p><p></p><p>It is true that if the <em>PCs</em> don't care about time, they are likely to do things carefully (which, mechanically, equals Taking 20) - <em>provided that</em> this doesn't cost too much time at the game table. Even with starndard operating procedures it can get a bit tedious playing out this particular style of dungeon crawl.</p><p></p><p></p><p>This also has the potential to make for tedious play.</p><p></p><p>And assuming that it doesn't swallow up too much time at the table, the upshot seems to be that from time-to-time the player of the Rogue gets the thrill of making a Disable Device check, or the party as a whole gets the thrill of finding a secret door or a treasure cache. That is certainly one way to play D&D, but I suspect that it is no longer the most common way. Even back in the early 80s (or late 70s?), when Lewis Pulsipher published a Dragon article offering tips for this sort of play, he got a lot of hostile responses in the letters pages from proponents of other play styles. So I don't think it offers any sort of general solution to the problem of the 15-minute working day.</p><p></p><p>I'd prefer a solution which works by allowing players to play their PCs as they conceive of them <em>whether or not their PCs are rested</em>. This doesn't necessarily mean no fatigue penalties: but a tired fighter (with, say a -2 penalty to all rolls) is still a fighter, whereas a sleepy wizard with no spells left is not a wizard at all.</p><p></p><p>This would also not be a general solution - for example, it would make it impossible to play a 1st-ed style wizard. But at least it would be a solution that actually tackles what seems to me to be the cause. And, after all, the game can't be all things to all people.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 3848758, member: 42582"] I've GMed a Rolemaster game that came very close to this, as the PCs (all spell-users) teleported in (to the enemy stronghold/ruined castle/ancient pyramid/etc), did whatever it was that they were there to do until their power points were nearly all spent, and then teleported out again. Likewise - although the bit about "not being tired" doesn't work in RM because spell-users all have mediation skills that allow them to recover PPs. But after a while it gets a bit contrived. Agreed. The real issue is a metagame and mechanical one, not a plot one: the [i]players[/i] want to play their characters (in the game I am referring to, these were wizards and warrior-wizards of 20th level or so) and that means casting spells. Once the PCs run out of spells to cast, naturally enough the players choose for them to take those actions in-game which reset them to the point where they are, once again, able to do what the players want to do with them. I gather that you mean [i]in-game[/i] time pressure - after all, at the game table the situation itself generates pressure not to waste time on boring stuff. It is true that if the [i]PCs[/i] don't care about time, they are likely to do things carefully (which, mechanically, equals Taking 20) - [i]provided that[/i] this doesn't cost too much time at the game table. Even with starndard operating procedures it can get a bit tedious playing out this particular style of dungeon crawl. This also has the potential to make for tedious play. And assuming that it doesn't swallow up too much time at the table, the upshot seems to be that from time-to-time the player of the Rogue gets the thrill of making a Disable Device check, or the party as a whole gets the thrill of finding a secret door or a treasure cache. That is certainly one way to play D&D, but I suspect that it is no longer the most common way. Even back in the early 80s (or late 70s?), when Lewis Pulsipher published a Dragon article offering tips for this sort of play, he got a lot of hostile responses in the letters pages from proponents of other play styles. So I don't think it offers any sort of general solution to the problem of the 15-minute working day. I'd prefer a solution which works by allowing players to play their PCs as they conceive of them [i]whether or not their PCs are rested[/i]. This doesn't necessarily mean no fatigue penalties: but a tired fighter (with, say a -2 penalty to all rolls) is still a fighter, whereas a sleepy wizard with no spells left is not a wizard at all. This would also not be a general solution - for example, it would make it impossible to play a 1st-ed style wizard. But at least it would be a solution that actually tackles what seems to me to be the cause. And, after all, the game can't be all things to all people. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
15 Minute Workday Myth?
Top