D&D General Alternate thought - rule of cool is bad for gaming

[Lanefan]

So the party at low level has a move of 12" and are facing monsters with moves of 24." Given that the monster isn't just going to sit there while the party runs, how is the group going to get away?

I didn't say anything about the group getting away.

All it takes is one character getting away and the game-campaign can continue. Seen this happen a dozen times or more over the last 40+ years, both as player and DM, where just one or two survivors pick up the pieces and carry on.

 

[Lanefan]

As I've noted before, if the encounter is on mostly flat plains (a couple random trees or bush doesn't help much) or non-dune desert, and the opponents are either faster than you are or have long range missile weapons, the fact you can technically run isn't liable to mean much.

Fair point, though IME combats on wide-open plains are fairly rare.

Even then, though, Invisibility is only a 2nd-level spell...

 

[Micah Sweet]

As I've noted before, if the encounter is on mostly flat plains (a couple random trees or bush doesn't help much) or non-dune desert, and the opponents are either faster than you are or have long range missile weapons, the fact you can technically run isn't liable to mean much.

This is why one should be careful of combat encounters on Planet Bowling Ball.

 

[Remathilis]

A DM who won’t TPK a party based on their random encounter roll is a DM who lacks the courage of their convictions.

Eh. There are times the PCs have been through a long adventure, are low on resources, or had particularly bad dice rolls, and are seeking to return to the rest point to regroup next session and that random encounter is going to be the hair that breaks the campaign's back. A wise DM might look at the group who is tired (in game and out) and opt to ignore the encounter rather than grind their PCs down they are at their lowest.

Unless you are a slave to the dice. Then you place a powerful foe or group of foes in front of a worn out group and prepare for the slaughter. Then you tell the group to have new PCs ready for next session.

 

[Oofta]

I didn't say anything about the group getting away.

All it takes is one character getting away and the game-campaign can continue. Seen this happen a dozen times or more over the last 40+ years, both as player and DM, where just one or two survivors pick up the pieces and carry on.

So ... the wizard doesn't have to run faster than the dragon they just have to run faster than the dwarf?

 

[Oofta]

This turn of the conversation reminds me why I've never used random encounters. There are potential encounters, encounters they may be able to avoid. But truly random? Nah.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Fair point, though IME combats on wide-open plains are fairly rare.

Even then, though, Invisibility is only a 2nd-level spell...

Its not like plains are that uncommon in general; to the degree people don't see them that often in the D&D-sphere its because so many people's ideas of terrain are very Western European-centric.

And Invisibility only helps if you have it, which may not be the case of anyone present.

 

[Thomas Shey]

This is why one should be careful of combat encounters on Planet Bowling Ball.

See my comment above. Its not like what I described doesn't exist in fairly large amounts in a number of places such as the Western and Central U.S.

 

[Thomas Shey]

This turn of the conversation reminds me why I've never used random encounters. There are potential encounters, encounters they may be able to avoid. But truly random? Nah.

Its not a bad tool as long as you keep the nature of the encounters within a reasonable range. OD&D outdoor encounters were often some serious trash, but that's because the higher end problems could happen too easily in some area.

 

[Eric V]

I'm currently running 13th Age online through Maptool and Skype. As I recall, you're familiar with 13th Age so you know it tends to be, at least by the standards of the D&D-sphere, relatively transparent about a lot of opponent information, in part because without some of it, making decisions about talent, power and spell use can be basically an almost meaningless decision. So people tend to know things like hit points and some other odds and ends normally.

I'd decided a while back I was going to use dice roll macros for the last couple games I ran. This means that what I'm generating is quite visible to players, and in practice they can at least see the attack bonus of the opponent too.

I have found this surprisingly freeing. I don't even try to do on-the-fly fudging any more; if I mess something up, I tell them and we just fix it. I may conceal some things in set-up, but once the dice are flying, everyone sees about 95% of what's going on, and I don't miss being able to finesse that at all.

This exactly our 13th Age group, including Maptool, though we use Discord, not Skype.

Really no need to hide that kind of stuff.