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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 7596482" data-attributes="member: 6785785">Yeah, I'm all for trying to understand and discuss intent rather than get caught up in semantics, but there are times when precise language can certainly matter. I think that when it comes to people describing mechanics they've added to their games as being added in order to be "more realistic", that's fine....I get what they mean. When they make such a comment, I'm not going to correct their use of the word realistic. But when they try to compare their system to another and claim "more realism" because of said mechanic, I don't think that's at all accurate. Not really what I had in mind, but it can serve as an example. I don't think that adding a base 5% chance for anyone at all to have some kind of critical fumble to really be all that realistic. A master swordsman and an untrained child have the same chance of simply dropping their sword? Now, if there's no other way to replicate such a mishap in the chosen game, then sure, go for it if that's what you want to do, and it makes things "more realistic" for the GM and players. But compared to something like difficult terrain requiring a skill check to avoid falling and similar game mechanics that can be used to replicate a mishap, I don't see the fumble on a 1 approach as being any more realistic. Especially when we can say that all the rolls that go into abdicating combat in D&D (or any game, really) are an abstraction of combat, and that such abstraction would probably allow for the occasional dropped weapon and the like. Now, I would imagine that most DM's don't tend to narrate combat in that way, but that doesn't change the fact that they could. It's all abstract, right? So we can allow for all manner of things if we like. So really, adding a specific mechanic to me is more of a preference on how to have combat play out. If a group wants to have their characters dropping their weapons with such frequency, then have at it. To me, it makes folks who are supposed to be trained combatants look inept, which doesn't seem all that realistic. ************So another example, which I think I mentioned upthread but maybe not....is how gear is tracked in D&D versus Blades in the Dark. I think having two specific systems and methods to compare will help demonstrate the issue.In most versions of D&D you have some kind of carrying capacity, and then you pre-select your gear before leaving town to go on an adventure, and you can carry gear that weighs a certain total. This pre-selection seems to very important to many, and they claim it is realistic because that's how things work in real life; you have to pack your bag before you leave. Blades in the Dark, by contrast, requires that a PC select a load size before going on a score (light, normal, or heavy) and that choice indicates how many inventory slots they have available to them for the score. Each playbook (class) has a list of available gear and each item takes up 1 or 2 inventory slots.These items need not be pre-selected before the score, though.....they can be selected as the PC needs them during the score. The character runs into a wall that needs to be scaled? He marks off his climbing gear, which uses 1 inventory slot, and then the character uses the climbing gear. He's left with 4 more inventory slots to which he can assign more gear as needed during the score. Some would argue that this is less realistic because it's decided during play. Obviously, it doesn't mirror how such things work in real life. But the flexibility is designed to replicate the PC's ability to accurately predict the kind of items that he'll need on a score. Isn't it more realistic to expect a hardened criminal who exists in a shadowy fantasy world to better be able to predict the items he'll need on a job than it would be for Average Joe from the 21st century Earth to predict that? I can see the argument either way. They are each appealing to different sensibilities. This is what makes it a matter of opinion, and therefore a matter of preference. Neither game has a "more realistic" method of dealing with character gear. I hope that helps clarify things a bit.</blockquote>

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