Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Creativity?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8926195" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>I don't really take a vote generally. This is usually what happens when some kind of disagreement occurs (using an invented example):</p><p>[SPOILER="Example discussion"]<strong>Bard:</strong> "I use my arcane duelist skills* to reflect the spell back at its source!"</p><p><strong>GM (Me): </strong>"Hmm...your blade skills can do an awful lot, but that sounds like a pretty major power up. How are you intending to do that? Walk me through the process."</p><p><strong>Bard:</strong> "Well...we know my blade was made by air genies, and air is all about redirecting. And it has the ability to call back the feather-bladed knives, right? I figure I'm manipulating that magic in a new direction, 'calling' the spell back to its source."</p><p><strong>Spellslinger**:</strong> "Sounds legit to me."</p><p><strong>Me:</strong> "Okay, so what's the most important part of this for you: not getting hit by the spell, or sending the spell back to its source?"</p><p><strong>Bard:</strong> "Hmm. I'd <em>like</em> both, but if I had to pick one...probably sending it back."</p><p><strong>Me:</strong> "Alright--I'm willing to consider that a sort of stunt you're performing, a blend of Arcane Art† and your new Duelist abilities, but it's going to take all your concentration to pull off, and if you fail the spell is going to <em>really</em> hurt. If you roll extraordinarily well, you'll learn something about this--the start of a brand-new Technique that no one else has. Is that worth the risk to you?"</p><p><strong>Bard:</strong> (thinks for a long moment) "Y'know what? Screw it. Yeah, that's worth the risk. With an elaborate flick of my wrist, I bat the spell's energy away, carried on winds of magic back to its source."</p><p><strong>Me:</strong> "Sounds like a plan. Roll that beautiful dice footage.††"</p><p><strong>Bard:</strong> "Alright...<em>(rolls)</em> ...crap, that's a 7. Can't even boost that up with [the Battlemaster's] help."</p><p><strong>Me:</strong> "You've got the right <em>idea</em> about how to deflect magic, but you're still new and this was incredibly spur of the moment. The magical wind from your sword has been hooked into the spell--you can send the spell back to its source, but it will take your sword with it; or you can keep your sword, and the total power of the spell will fall exclusively on <em>you</em> and no one else. Your choice.‡"</p><p><strong>Bard:</strong> "Eugh, I don't like <em>either</em> of those...and I'm the <em>healer</em>..." [audibly agonizing] "...I let my sword go. It's the safer bet."</p><p>[Fight proceeds from there]</p><p></p><p>*A multiclass the Bard has picked up.</p><p>**Think artificer/gunslinger hybrid. A wizard with medieval pistols.</p><p>†The way DW Bards do magic; they don't have discrete spells, and instead get a move that defines what kinds of spell effects they can make.</p><p>††A joke, if one can even call it that, which I make frequently.</p><p>‡A partial success (roll total is 7-9) often works like this; this specific thing is inspired by the <em>Defy Danger</em> move: "On a 7-9, you stumble, hesitate, or flinch: the GM will offer you a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice." This is an ugly choice.[/SPOILER]</p><p>At no point was this a <em>vote</em>, per se. The player asked for something, I was skeptical; the player said what they wanted, and another player chimed in that it made sense to them. I gave it a fair hearing, and then asked what was <em>really important</em> to the player. They made a choice, and I took that and made something that sounded, to me, like a tempting offer for the part they really cared about. They took it, rolled the dice, and then had to deal with the consequences of the offer, good and bad.</p><p></p><p>This characterizes the <em>vast majority</em> of formal "gameplay" (as in, triggering rules) discussions for our game. The majority of discussions-in-general are usually one of us being a huge nerd, or someone asking a question about the situation or setting and us working through finding the answer. Again, this is a completely invented example, none of this has actually happened, but it certainly <em>could</em> happen now that the Bard has developed magical fencing skills.</p><p></p><p>In <em>genuinely</em> every case, for over four and a half (pushing five) years of mostly-weekly play, we've resolved every single disagreement like this. Other than out of laughter or shock (or for RP purposes), nobody even raises their voices. The player lays out what they want, I give it a fair hearing and make an offer (or just accept, because sometimes I have zero problems with what they want!) If I make an offer, they either accept it and we move forward, or they make a counter-offer/tweak/request. I can't think of a time when the player's counter-offer wasn't generally acceptable. The longest such a conversation might run is ten minutes, and that would be an <em>extremely</em> involved multi-step negotiation. Usually it's over within a minute or two.</p><p></p><p>We do this all the time. I've never once had any issues that resulted in an impasse. I don't see any reason why I would suddenly run into one <em>now</em> after nearly five years of play.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It's not a matter of pretending. I've <em>genuinely</em> never had the kinds of conflict you describe. Even in games where I've been a player, the only conflicts that have come close to what you describe are rare and, as far as I can remember, always the result of miscommunication, misunderstanding, or one specific player being malicious.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Alright. I'm willing to drop the subject as well.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8926195, member: 6790260"] I don't really take a vote generally. This is usually what happens when some kind of disagreement occurs (using an invented example): [SPOILER="Example discussion"][B]Bard:[/B] "I use my arcane duelist skills* to reflect the spell back at its source!" [B]GM (Me): [/B]"Hmm...your blade skills can do an awful lot, but that sounds like a pretty major power up. How are you intending to do that? Walk me through the process." [B]Bard:[/B] "Well...we know my blade was made by air genies, and air is all about redirecting. And it has the ability to call back the feather-bladed knives, right? I figure I'm manipulating that magic in a new direction, 'calling' the spell back to its source." [B]Spellslinger**:[/B] "Sounds legit to me." [B]Me:[/B] "Okay, so what's the most important part of this for you: not getting hit by the spell, or sending the spell back to its source?" [B]Bard:[/B] "Hmm. I'd [I]like[/I] both, but if I had to pick one...probably sending it back." [B]Me:[/B] "Alright--I'm willing to consider that a sort of stunt you're performing, a blend of Arcane Art† and your new Duelist abilities, but it's going to take all your concentration to pull off, and if you fail the spell is going to [I]really[/I] hurt. If you roll extraordinarily well, you'll learn something about this--the start of a brand-new Technique that no one else has. Is that worth the risk to you?" [B]Bard:[/B] (thinks for a long moment) "Y'know what? Screw it. Yeah, that's worth the risk. With an elaborate flick of my wrist, I bat the spell's energy away, carried on winds of magic back to its source." [B]Me:[/B] "Sounds like a plan. Roll that beautiful dice footage.††" [B]Bard:[/B] "Alright...[I](rolls)[/I] ...crap, that's a 7. Can't even boost that up with [the Battlemaster's] help." [B]Me:[/B] "You've got the right [I]idea[/I] about how to deflect magic, but you're still new and this was incredibly spur of the moment. The magical wind from your sword has been hooked into the spell--you can send the spell back to its source, but it will take your sword with it; or you can keep your sword, and the total power of the spell will fall exclusively on [I]you[/I] and no one else. Your choice.‡" [B]Bard:[/B] "Eugh, I don't like [I]either[/I] of those...and I'm the [I]healer[/I]..." [audibly agonizing] "...I let my sword go. It's the safer bet." [Fight proceeds from there] *A multiclass the Bard has picked up. **Think artificer/gunslinger hybrid. A wizard with medieval pistols. †The way DW Bards do magic; they don't have discrete spells, and instead get a move that defines what kinds of spell effects they can make. ††A joke, if one can even call it that, which I make frequently. ‡A partial success (roll total is 7-9) often works like this; this specific thing is inspired by the [I]Defy Danger[/I] move: "On a 7-9, you stumble, hesitate, or flinch: the GM will offer you a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice." This is an ugly choice.[/SPOILER] At no point was this a [I]vote[/I], per se. The player asked for something, I was skeptical; the player said what they wanted, and another player chimed in that it made sense to them. I gave it a fair hearing, and then asked what was [I]really important[/I] to the player. They made a choice, and I took that and made something that sounded, to me, like a tempting offer for the part they really cared about. They took it, rolled the dice, and then had to deal with the consequences of the offer, good and bad. This characterizes the [I]vast majority[/I] of formal "gameplay" (as in, triggering rules) discussions for our game. The majority of discussions-in-general are usually one of us being a huge nerd, or someone asking a question about the situation or setting and us working through finding the answer. Again, this is a completely invented example, none of this has actually happened, but it certainly [I]could[/I] happen now that the Bard has developed magical fencing skills. In [I]genuinely[/I] every case, for over four and a half (pushing five) years of mostly-weekly play, we've resolved every single disagreement like this. Other than out of laughter or shock (or for RP purposes), nobody even raises their voices. The player lays out what they want, I give it a fair hearing and make an offer (or just accept, because sometimes I have zero problems with what they want!) If I make an offer, they either accept it and we move forward, or they make a counter-offer/tweak/request. I can't think of a time when the player's counter-offer wasn't generally acceptable. The longest such a conversation might run is ten minutes, and that would be an [I]extremely[/I] involved multi-step negotiation. Usually it's over within a minute or two. We do this all the time. I've never once had any issues that resulted in an impasse. I don't see any reason why I would suddenly run into one [I]now[/I] after nearly five years of play. It's not a matter of pretending. I've [I]genuinely[/I] never had the kinds of conflict you describe. Even in games where I've been a player, the only conflicts that have come close to what you describe are rare and, as far as I can remember, always the result of miscommunication, misunderstanding, or one specific player being malicious. Alright. I'm willing to drop the subject as well. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Creativity?
Top