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Confirm or Deny: D&D4e would be going strong had it not been titled D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 6605172"><p>I have to agree with death being about as exciting a stake as you can have in a game. I've played in games with other stakes (or where the threat of death just wasn't that big a specter due to the focus or premise) and those are fine. I have no problem with that stuff. But death is the ultimate stake in my opinion. Especially in games where returning from the dead is either an impossibility or more of a challenge. </p><p></p><p>The distinction Zak is making between interesting result and interesting stake is definitely useful. Being pro-death on the table as an interesting stake doesn't mean you are opposed to interesting results as well. You can have both, and when you remove death as a possibility, for me at least, it drastically reduces the excitement of the game. </p><p></p><p>Personally I like having lots of stakes on the table. I don't think D&D has ever really been that game though (and I don't think 4E really did anything to make it that game either). But the there has always been enough of a blank canvass with D&D you can make it that if you want to. There has always been the difficulty in D&D of how you cut off someone's arm for example. It can certainly happen. If the players strap down an NPC and cut off his arm, his arm is gone for sure. It was just never one of those things that the system really allowed to organically arise during combat. You either had to wing it or it simply didn't come up.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Guest 85555, post: 6605172"] I have to agree with death being about as exciting a stake as you can have in a game. I've played in games with other stakes (or where the threat of death just wasn't that big a specter due to the focus or premise) and those are fine. I have no problem with that stuff. But death is the ultimate stake in my opinion. Especially in games where returning from the dead is either an impossibility or more of a challenge. The distinction Zak is making between interesting result and interesting stake is definitely useful. Being pro-death on the table as an interesting stake doesn't mean you are opposed to interesting results as well. You can have both, and when you remove death as a possibility, for me at least, it drastically reduces the excitement of the game. Personally I like having lots of stakes on the table. I don't think D&D has ever really been that game though (and I don't think 4E really did anything to make it that game either). But the there has always been enough of a blank canvass with D&D you can make it that if you want to. There has always been the difficulty in D&D of how you cut off someone's arm for example. It can certainly happen. If the players strap down an NPC and cut off his arm, his arm is gone for sure. It was just never one of those things that the system really allowed to organically arise during combat. You either had to wing it or it simply didn't come up. [/QUOTE]
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Confirm or Deny: D&D4e would be going strong had it not been titled D&D
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