Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6513211" data-attributes="member: 42582">I think the question then becomes, on what basis ought the GM to form a view that an approach completes the task with certainty, or alternatively may or may not complete the task?In a system like DitV, Dungeon World, Marvel Heroic RP or (as I play it, and as&nbsp; [MENTION=6696971]Manbearcat[/MENTION] has elaborated it upthread) 4e, the GM makes this decision by reference to considerations of genre and narrative pacing. These are so-called &quot;subjective DCs&quot;.In a system like Rolemaster or RuneQuest or 3E, the GM makes that decision based on his/her best understanding of the causal processes unfolding in the gameworld (which is what Manbearcat called &quot;gameworld physics&quot; or something similar). These are so-called &quot;objective DCs&quot;. (The objectivity isn't a metagame property - the GM's decision may well be subjectively driven. The idea is that the DCs represent an &quot;objective&quot; gameworld which is an object of exploration by the players. Luke Crane explains this very well in his GMing advice for Burning Wheel - which is a slightly unusual mixture of &quot;say yes&quot; on genre/pacing grounds, but then &quot;objective DCs&quot; if the GM elects not to say yes.&nbsp; [MENTION=6776133]Bawylie[/MENTION] seems to me to be advocating a similar approach upthread.)I think 5e defaults to objective DCs - the GM works out if things work or not by imagining the ingame situation, not by thinking about the dramatic pacing of the situation (which exists at the table, but not in the gameworld).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6513211, member: 42582"] I think the question then becomes, on what basis ought the GM to form a view that an approach completes the task with certainty, or alternatively may or may not complete the task? In a system like DitV, Dungeon World, Marvel Heroic RP or (as I play it, and as [MENTION=6696971]Manbearcat[/MENTION] has elaborated it upthread) 4e, the GM makes this decision by reference to considerations of genre and narrative pacing. These are so-called "subjective DCs". In a system like Rolemaster or RuneQuest or 3E, the GM makes that decision based on his/her best understanding of the causal processes unfolding in the gameworld (which is what Manbearcat called "gameworld physics" or something similar). These are so-called "objective DCs". (The objectivity isn't a metagame property - the GM's decision may well be subjectively driven. The idea is that the DCs represent an "objective" gameworld which is an object of exploration by the players. Luke Crane explains this very well in his GMing advice for Burning Wheel - which is a slightly unusual mixture of "say yes" on genre/pacing grounds, but then "objective DCs" if the GM elects not to say yes. [MENTION=6776133]Bawylie[/MENTION] seems to me to be advocating a similar approach upthread.) I think 5e defaults to objective DCs - the GM works out if things work or not by imagining the ingame situation, not by thinking about the dramatic pacing of the situation (which exists at the table, but not in the gameworld). [/QUOTE]

Verification