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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 4013397" data-attributes="member: 467">While I disagree with many of your other assessments (but I do think they were well expressed) I wanted to zero in on this one in particular simply because in all the bluster about &quot;Quest Cards&quot; I think the actual &quot;Quest Mechanic&quot; gets lost and people don't consider what it means and how it impacts play, particularly as it relates to the subject of this thread:The first part of the &quot;quest mechanic&quot; is, as you suggest, no different than the way the game has traditionally been played: the PCs do this thing and get this reward for doing it.&nbsp; However, the similarity ends there and transfers power away from the DM and to the players because that &quot;thing&quot; the PCs are doing and the reward (in-game or meta-game) for doing it physically transfer (perhaps on a card, perhaps not) from the DM to the players.&nbsp; Once the &quot;card&quot; is handed over, so too is the DM's ability to adjudicate the quest handed over, as is his ability to manipulate the quest, its rewards or its details.&nbsp; Now the players are holding the &quot;card&quot; that says &quot;Stop BBEG's plans and gain 1000gp and 1000xp&quot;.&nbsp; The tool of the DM to motivate the players to engage his adventure has become a weapon in the hands of the players against the DM's rightto judge whether the PCs did what they were supposed to do in a manner consistent with the game being played.&nbsp; With &quot;card&quot; in hand, the PCs can go KoDT on the local village just to get to the bad guy and still have a concrete backing for receiving their reward.This is, of course, a worst case scenario, but it is illustrative of the kind of transfer of power I am talking about and the possible conflicts that can arise because of that transference.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 4013397, member: 467"] While I disagree with many of your other assessments (but I do think they were well expressed) I wanted to zero in on this one in particular simply because in all the bluster about "Quest Cards" I think the actual "Quest Mechanic" gets lost and people don't consider what it means and how it impacts play, particularly as it relates to the subject of this thread: The first part of the "quest mechanic" is, as you suggest, no different than the way the game has traditionally been played: the PCs do this thing and get this reward for doing it. However, the similarity ends there and transfers power away from the DM and to the players because that "thing" the PCs are doing and the reward (in-game or meta-game) for doing it physically transfer (perhaps on a card, perhaps not) from the DM to the players. Once the "card" is handed over, so too is the DM's ability to adjudicate the quest handed over, as is his ability to manipulate the quest, its rewards or its details. Now the players are holding the "card" that says "Stop BBEG's plans and gain 1000gp and 1000xp". The tool of the DM to motivate the players to engage his adventure has become a weapon in the hands of the players against the DM's rightto judge whether the PCs did what they were supposed to do in a manner consistent with the game being played. With "card" in hand, the PCs can go KoDT on the local village just to get to the bad guy and still have a concrete backing for receiving their reward. This is, of course, a worst case scenario, but it is illustrative of the kind of transfer of power I am talking about and the possible conflicts that can arise because of that transference. [/QUOTE]

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