NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 6232398" data-attributes="member: 59082">I agree. If players feel that the DM is overstepping then there needs to be an agreement that they can say so. For better or worse, DM are people too - and not all are mature. I played with one guy some years ago who was mad that I had actually rolled 18/00 Strength - the only time I ever did so, or was aware of anyone doing so. He quickly dispatched my 1st level fighter via two giant scorpions. He was a real prick in other ways, too!This was a problem with 4e combat - the Grind for which numerous DMs resorted to "illusionism." Eventually folks started houseruling to give monsters less HP and more damage output, but even then the pace could be wonky.There's an element of logic in seeing something as black and white that has more nuance than that. It isn't just a matter of preference to think that a bag of 10 apples is basically the same as a bag of 40 apples, or a touch versus a ton of mustard von the sandwich ruins it if you don't like mustard.We didn't actually have a specific house rule. It was just that I would sometimes embellish things with description and added effects. So in a sense the "house rule" was that I had freedom to do so. Sometimes a critical miss would result in a dropped weapon; sometimes it would result in a possible hit on an ally (with another roll, of course), depending upon the situation and location of the characters. The point being, it was up to my judgment. It wasn't about me being power-hungry or a jerk, but augmenting the drama.A lot of those examples I used up thread, or in the OP - e.g. hand-drawn animation versus CGI. I think the point of the "something" is that it isn't easily identifiable or definable...and I think that's part of the point, that as soon as you define or identify, you lock it in. "It" is an opening in consciousness, an imaginative aperture that is closed, or at least narrowed, the more "technology" intrudes. I've used both words throughout the thread.I think its both - player-type (and cognitive style) and system, which facilitate different types and styles to greater or lesser degrees. But as Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message. Technically guns don't kill people, people kill people through their intention, but guns are made to kill living organisms, including people, so the "message" is inherent in the "medium." The system (medium) and play experience (message) are, if not synonymous, then certainly entwined.Maybe I misunderstand what you mean but I would never want to give players knowledge of the outcome - talk about destroying drama! Maybe I don't get what you mean?I'm wondering if anyone ever came up with "improvised powers" - some kind of system where a player determined intended effects based upon a power/level/AEDU type grid, then roll for it. Sounds complicated but maybe worthwhile once up and running.</blockquote>

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