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A GMing telling the players about the gameworld is not like real life
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<blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 7559535" data-attributes="member: 85870"><p>It's funny, I was going to make a similar comment about how D&D often feels at-odds with itself when it comes to realism. Some of its mechanics are clearly trying to present real-world analogues; some of them are much more . . . inscrutable, shall we say?</p><p></p><p>Arguing about realism in TTRPG play generally is an interesting, if occasionally contentious topic of theoretical conversation.</p><p></p><p>Arguing about realism in D&D specifically feels like cognitive dissonance. I mean, if you squint your eyes and turn your head just so, I suppose you could kind-of, sort-of argue that there's hints of realism in D&D, especially the 3.x line and its treatment of basic skill task resolution. But you'd have to ignore huge swaths of its inner workings to claim that it's simulating "the real world" in anything but the broadest sense.</p><p></p><p>So what, then, are proponents of realism actually wanting D&D to be more realistic about?</p><p></p><p>Combat? Exploration? Social encounters? Basic skill checks? What the core attributes mean relative to the real world? The social/economic ramifications of rampant, widely available magic?</p><p></p><p>If it's purely just combat, the easiest solution is to play something else. </p><p></p><p>P1: "I want to play a super-realistic combat version of D&D! Why can't D&D be more realistic?"</p><p></p><p>P2: "Well, there's just so many compromises and holdovers from old war games, and the whole hit points / armor class thing, the lack of realistic wound modeling, the list goes on . . . ."</p><p></p><p>P1: "I don't care about any of that, just, why can't D&D be better at modeling an actual one-on-one sword duel? How hard can it be?"</p><p></p><p>P2: "Have you considered GURPS, or Mythras, or Runequest, or Riddle of Steel?"</p><p></p><p>P1: "No, because I want to play D&D!"</p><p></p><p>P2: ......</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="innerdude, post: 7559535, member: 85870"] It's funny, I was going to make a similar comment about how D&D often feels at-odds with itself when it comes to realism. Some of its mechanics are clearly trying to present real-world analogues; some of them are much more . . . inscrutable, shall we say? Arguing about realism in TTRPG play generally is an interesting, if occasionally contentious topic of theoretical conversation. Arguing about realism in D&D specifically feels like cognitive dissonance. I mean, if you squint your eyes and turn your head just so, I suppose you could kind-of, sort-of argue that there's hints of realism in D&D, especially the 3.x line and its treatment of basic skill task resolution. But you'd have to ignore huge swaths of its inner workings to claim that it's simulating "the real world" in anything but the broadest sense. So what, then, are proponents of realism actually wanting D&D to be more realistic about? Combat? Exploration? Social encounters? Basic skill checks? What the core attributes mean relative to the real world? The social/economic ramifications of rampant, widely available magic? If it's purely just combat, the easiest solution is to play something else. P1: "I want to play a super-realistic combat version of D&D! Why can't D&D be more realistic?" P2: "Well, there's just so many compromises and holdovers from old war games, and the whole hit points / armor class thing, the lack of realistic wound modeling, the list goes on . . . ." P1: "I don't care about any of that, just, why can't D&D be better at modeling an actual one-on-one sword duel? How hard can it be?" P2: "Have you considered GURPS, or Mythras, or Runequest, or Riddle of Steel?" P1: "No, because I want to play D&D!" P2: ...... [/QUOTE]
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