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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8506247" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>The narration here is immaterial. It's the whole "HP as Meat" argument with a funny pair of glasses. Nothing in D&D combat even remotely suggests any sort of narration other than living or dead.</p><p></p><p>I attack an opponent with a shield and miss by 1. Did I hit the shield or not? The rules are absolutely silent here and "you miss" is the only narration that is possible based on the facts. </p><p></p><p>And, frankly, this is true of virtually any rules interaction in the game. Unless the rules interaction comes with a direct narrative effect - you jump and jump forward 12 feet - virtually nothing in D&D actually even suggests a narration. I would argue that it's almost impossible to use the mechanics of D&D to come up with a coherent narration without bending over backwards to fill all the holes left by the mechanics.</p><p></p><p>Good grief, this was lauded as a feature of most editions of D&D because when the mechanics get directly tied to narrative, people lost their poop. Much of the hoopla and verbiage over 4e is a direct reaction to exactly what you are arguing for here. And because 5e has backed away so far from most of 4e's narrative approach, trying to leverage the DM to fill in the gaps is a fools errand. </p><p></p><p>In other words, if I can narrate some result in any fashion I see fit - such as a successful hit that does not drop an opponent, or a miss for that matter - and it makes absolutely no difference to the game, you cannot argue that narration is important.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8506247, member: 22779"] The narration here is immaterial. It's the whole "HP as Meat" argument with a funny pair of glasses. Nothing in D&D combat even remotely suggests any sort of narration other than living or dead. I attack an opponent with a shield and miss by 1. Did I hit the shield or not? The rules are absolutely silent here and "you miss" is the only narration that is possible based on the facts. And, frankly, this is true of virtually any rules interaction in the game. Unless the rules interaction comes with a direct narrative effect - you jump and jump forward 12 feet - virtually nothing in D&D actually even suggests a narration. I would argue that it's almost impossible to use the mechanics of D&D to come up with a coherent narration without bending over backwards to fill all the holes left by the mechanics. Good grief, this was lauded as a feature of most editions of D&D because when the mechanics get directly tied to narrative, people lost their poop. Much of the hoopla and verbiage over 4e is a direct reaction to exactly what you are arguing for here. And because 5e has backed away so far from most of 4e's narrative approach, trying to leverage the DM to fill in the gaps is a fools errand. In other words, if I can narrate some result in any fashion I see fit - such as a successful hit that does not drop an opponent, or a miss for that matter - and it makes absolutely no difference to the game, you cannot argue that narration is important. [/QUOTE]
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