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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 9384933" data-attributes="member: 7030042">The example you give doesn't really strike me as having much to do with the concept of "rule of cool", and more of a problem of "spotlight hogging", or at least a related player misdemeanour.I mean, "being up high on pillars [...] and jump[ing] onto the back of a dragon" seems pretty darn cool, whereas, to be honest, pole vaulting just doesn't seem all that "cool" in the context of heroic fantasy gameplay.Assuming you aren't presenting an uncharitable read of the situation, the DM seems to be allowing the pole-vaulting player to achieve the same effects as the climbing-and-jumping player with no consideration for how the uncool pole-vaulting negates the effort of the cool jumping-on-to-a-dragon's back.Of course, it's possible you're not accurately representing the situation used in your example. Is the pole-vaulting character amazingly strong with proficiency or even expertise in Athletics, for instance? That makes their trick far more plausible in a game aiming to emulate heroic fantasy.[HR][/HR]All that is to say that it's not clear to me that your framing for "rule of cool" presents an actual at-the-table problem with the concept itself.Your subsequent lines of discussion again don't seem to have much to do with the "rule of cool" at all, except insofar as it is representative of a style of gameplay that:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You just don't seem to care for;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Is now predominate, or seemingly predominate, in D&D;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Might even be said to be the default style of the game.</li> </ul>That's fine, as far as it goes, but it doesn't follow that there is an actual problem with the game or with the culture of play at many a table that needs solving: that you don't care for heroic or casual gameplay norms is fine, but it doesn't mean there's something wrong with those norms.[HR][/HR]In another thread, <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/some-mechanisms-often-ported-from-the-old-days-are-putting-the-incentives-in-the-wrong-place-blog-post-discussion.701851/post-9231712" target="_blank">I mentioned some key differences</a> between classic dungeon-crawling play and heroic adventure play. Here's a topical quote (at least IMO):Likewise, casual power-fantasy-enabling play doesn't even care about balancing risk versus reward. In that kind of play, you're just trying to kick the door down and beat up the monsters of the week. This kind of play is especially suited for "rule of cool" since it's often closest to trying to emulate genre tropes from pulpy heroic fantasy or action-adventure stories, where the heroes win and look good doing it. Were I a DM of a game espousing these norms, I would say "no" when a player's proposal is going to make gameplay less enjoyably escapist for the table writ large first, and then secondarily look to matters of in-fiction plausibility.Of course, a lot of casual power-fantasy-enabling play does incorporate some of the dilemmas, hard choices, and the like of heroic adventure play, because setbacks and defeats can be part of the fun. (For instance, it's enjoyable watching the rebels forced on the back foot in The Empire Strikes Back! Luke's defeat isn't just an unpleasant-but-necessary part of his development that audiences have to sit through and endure: it's a positively enjoyable moment we can relish.)A good summary of all of that is:and[HR][/HR]The bottom line is that different norms of play are going to value different things in gameplay. It seems abundantly clear that you espouse a certain set of gameplay norms. Fair enough! What is generating pushback is that you are, or at least are coming across as, trying to suggest those norms are "objective standards" of good D&D gameplay, which is manifestly not the case.</blockquote>

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