Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Daztur" data-source="post: 9442606" data-attributes="member: 55680">Thanks for the refresher, I haven't played AW in a while and most of my experience with an AW-style game has been The Warren, which is an absolutely incredible game based on Watership Down that uses a stripped down version of AW-world rules exceptionally well. It's also the best horror RPG I've ever played.OK, enough rambling about rabbits, lets get back to Command. I had a lot of fun playing AW and I can totally see why someone would prefer it to D&D, but for me it just scratches a different itch than D&D and gets into the You Can Have Any Color You Want As Long As It's Black issue I raised waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in my OP.-Punch someone in the face: Going Aggro.-Stab them with a rapier using finesse and daring wit: Going Aggro.-Hack them apart with an axe while raging: Going Aggro.-Cast a damaging spell at them: Going Aggro.So a lot of the differences that matter in D&D get abstracted away in AW. That's good game design and it works for AW but it's not what I want for D&D. My very favorite part of D&D is to use Player (not PC) wits to figure out a creative solution to a problem and then try to get into some Cunning Plans/Harebrained Shenanigans to make that creative solution work while things descend into chaos.That's just not the emphasis of AW so it scratches a very different itch from D&D for me.All for all of the "rules don't say" bits you have a choice between either:1. Abstracting away the differences between the different words so it's more one size fits all (the AW solution).2. Only allowing a few words (the 5.5 solution). This works well for a more tactical focus.3. Writing up voluminous rules for how to parse every possible verb (I don't think anyone wants this solution).4. Have the DM make a bunch of naughty word up within certain parameters.Some people on this thread have gone over the downsides of #4 in extreme detail. Those downsides exist but I just think that for a game that scratches the itch that I want D&D to scratch for me the downsides of #1-3 (especially 3) outweigh the downsides of #4. Many people on this thread have agreed with me, many have disagreed with me. That's fine. I'd like D&D to be enough of a compromise that there's enough of #4 to make me happy but not so much that other people are overwhelmed.Now everything obviously shouldn't be "the DM will now make naughty word up," personally I find the amount of a burden illusions place on the DM to be a bit much and I'd like their scope to be narrowed.But "the DM will now make naughty word up" has always been an important part of RPGs and always will. There are always different things that the DM will make up and that's what makes RPGs special, you have a human brain making decisions for what happens, not just a set of rules. Now how much scope the DM has to make naughty word up (rightly) varies from game to game, but every game will have it, often in different areas and expressed in different ways.I know my preferences aren't going to be everyone's preferences. But my preferences are my preferences and they make me happy. I freaking love it when a player breaks out a bizarre use of Command that totally turns a scene on its head that I never thought of. There is literally nothing in D&D that I like better than that kind of creativity. For other people it's a hassle, for me it's the main reason I play D&D a lot and not just Indie games all the time (which I also love, just for different reasons).People who don't see eye to eye with me on that have a lot of run playing RPGs, just in a very different way than I do. But I'm not going to give them money to make D&D rules for me, since those rules won't appeal to me. That's why I'm using Command as a pretty simple and easy litmus test for D&D-ish rules that appeal to me. Let's check Pathfinder 2e: <a href="https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1470&Redirected=1" target="_blank">Command - Spells - Archives of Nethys: Pathfinder 2nd Edition Database</a> Nope, fails the litmus test. There I just saved myself a whole bunch of time reading review of PF 2e. Let's check out Shadowdark: "You issue a verbal command to one creature in range who can understand you. The command must be one word, such as "kneel." The target obeys the command for as long as you focus." Hey, this one might be worth checking out. Saves me a whole lot of time.</blockquote>

Verification