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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8832957" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>Pretty much, yes.</p><p></p><p>I do. Design it in the hardest-on-the-players/PCs manner, then provide options to ease it off if desired.</p><p></p><p>Rarely is a player ever going to be on board with making the game harder. Remember that - just as with any game or sport - it's in the players' overall interests to make things as easy as possible on themselves (and, in this case, their characters).</p><p></p><p>Thing is, there comes a point where the game - or any game or sport - can be ruined in the name of fun; that point being when it gets too easy to "win".</p><p></p><p>Consider world football, where a powerhouse like Spain plays a minnow like Andorra every now and then. Sure, the Spanish will think it's loads of fun winning 7-0 or 9-0 or whatever every time...but if the Spanish only ever played Andorra the game would soon become a farce from their perspective because it's just too easy. But from the Andorrans' side, knowing they're highly likely to lose in any case, they can at least find fun in it in other ways by trying to overcome the nigh-unbeatable challenge posed by Spain and taking victory from incremental progress as and when it happens.</p><p></p><p>And if Andorra were ever to win one of those games, how sweet it would feel.</p><p></p><p>The same principles hold true in D&D. If it's too easy to "win" - and by this I mean overcoming the various challenges posed by and in the game - then winning loses its appeal and becomes ho-hum. Ho-hum is bad, as it's a very short step from there to outright boring, and boredom with a game will kill it faster than anything else will.</p><p></p><p>Hence, the game IMO has to be set up to be challenging, and carry a real risk of "loss".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8832957, member: 29398"] Pretty much, yes. I do. Design it in the hardest-on-the-players/PCs manner, then provide options to ease it off if desired. Rarely is a player ever going to be on board with making the game harder. Remember that - just as with any game or sport - it's in the players' overall interests to make things as easy as possible on themselves (and, in this case, their characters). Thing is, there comes a point where the game - or any game or sport - can be ruined in the name of fun; that point being when it gets too easy to "win". Consider world football, where a powerhouse like Spain plays a minnow like Andorra every now and then. Sure, the Spanish will think it's loads of fun winning 7-0 or 9-0 or whatever every time...but if the Spanish only ever played Andorra the game would soon become a farce from their perspective because it's just too easy. But from the Andorrans' side, knowing they're highly likely to lose in any case, they can at least find fun in it in other ways by trying to overcome the nigh-unbeatable challenge posed by Spain and taking victory from incremental progress as and when it happens. And if Andorra were ever to win one of those games, how sweet it would feel. The same principles hold true in D&D. If it's too easy to "win" - and by this I mean overcoming the various challenges posed by and in the game - then winning loses its appeal and becomes ho-hum. Ho-hum is bad, as it's a very short step from there to outright boring, and boredom with a game will kill it faster than anything else will. Hence, the game IMO has to be set up to be challenging, and carry a real risk of "loss". [/QUOTE]
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