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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RFisher" data-source="post: 2329502" data-attributes="member: 3608">It is interesting how we can have seemingly opposite experiences with the same games. And, I know my gaming is more enjoyable due to conversations like this. In fact, that's why I bother. I'm not trying to convince any one that my way of playing is better. I just know that I've benefitted from reading about how others play.Re: knowing your chances & arguments: At my group's table, if you have a question about your chances of success, you just ask the DM. (Assuming he hasn't volunteered the information already.) If you disagree with his ruling, you state your case. The DM is happy for the suggestion. If he isn't persuaded, you give him the benefit of the doubt & let it drop because being DM is a hard job & we're all friends.Re: trying to play light games exactly like heavy games: When playing classic D&D, I don't care whether my PC hit with the blade of his sword, bludgeoned with the pommel, punched with his free hand, kicked, fiented, &c. I just roll my d20 & my d6 & concentrate on tactics & strategy. If you worry about things that are below the level of abstraction of the game, then either the DM will have to make up rules, you will be frustrated, or both. You have to adapt to the style of the game you are playing at the moment. (In other words, a game doesn't "suck" because it doesn't handle something it was never meant to handle.)Re: overcoming the obstacles instead of the DM: In 3e you may have less DM fiat, but the DM is still a huge factor. How well does he know the rules & the optimum strategies? How well does he know the capabilities of the monsters involved? How well does he execute on the things he does know? Two experiences of the same module under different DMs can be just as different in 3e as in lighter games.Re: DM fiat: I think there's a big difference between a classic D&D DM (a) telling you you can't run past the three fighters lined up across the 10' corridor to get to the wizard behind them & (b) improvising rules for a disarm or trip attack.In the final analysis, though, lighter games intend the DM to be a intelligent & creative living rulebook. DM fiat is the point. Inconsistency from DM to DM is the point. (No single way of playing the game is necessarily best.) Inconsistecy from situation to situation is the point. (Two similar situations are seldom identical. The DM can consider many, many more factors than rules can & still be playable.)It's a coöperative endeavor. Players should help DMs make rulings, & DM's should rely on their player's to help them make rulings. Players have to recognize that--even in 3e--DMs are only human. They may make bad decisions occasionally. It's better not to dwell on the times when you think they have.</blockquote>

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