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Message: <blockquote data-quote="OB1" data-source="post: 6811806" data-attributes="member: 6796241">I'd like to rebut this with my own video game illustration <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> In Metal Gear Solid 5, you are basically in an open world where you can run around and have "random" encounters with the enemy.  Once you accept a mission, however, you are in a discrete subchapter of the story with a very specific goal.  You decide how Snake will approach that mission, whether going in with guns blazing or by carefully studying the enemy, then using stealth and subterfuge to accomplish the objective.  If you take the  non direct approach, a mistake (ie failed skill check) may launch you into a combat situation, that could lead to other guards being called in.  The enemies also react to the tactics that you employ, so that if your a fan of sniping from a distance, they will start to put their own spotters and snipers around bases to counter that tactic.Now there is no question that while MGS5 is open world, it's mission structure is also very linear in that you can't affect where the story is going.  But what I'm most interested in here is using the idea of the discrete mission structure for the adventuring day of a D&D party.  So as a DM, I may let my players go for some time in an open world, exploring and interacting, but once they decide on a quest or mission that they are interested in, I slip into a highly structured adventuring day challenge.  Unlike MSG5, if they fail this challenge they don't get to hit reset and try again, instead, the world moves on and they have to deal with the repercussions.  But it is in these missions that I try to adhere as closely as possible to the 6-8 encounter and daily XP budget rules, because I want to challenge the party and have a real chance that they may not succeed.  The more encounters the party is able to avoid fighting, the better their chance at accomplishing their primary objective.  There may also be side objectives that come up to tempt them into additional encounters that don't help them towards their primary, but offer other rewards.All of this, in turn, allows my players to very much dictate the pace of play.  They can wander around the world for session upon session, getting into a random fight here and there, exploring the world and interacting with NPCs to create friends, allies and enemies, but when they get it in their head that they have to help the Halfling Monks of the Risen Sun on Paradise Island fight off the impending Giant invasion, it's time for more structure to resolve that specific scenario.</blockquote>

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