D&D 3E: the Death of Imagination?

[Tom Cashel]

After DMing 3E for a few years (and playing RPGs for 20), I’ve been wondering…just what is wrong with it? If they’ve done so much work to make it “balanced” and playable, why has it become such a drag now that the PCs have reached 10th level? Why do I dread game sessions? Why do my players annoy me? Why do their characters annoy me? Here’s what I’ve decided:

3E is the equivalent of totalitarianism. The Dictatorship of the Rules.

Someone got it into their head that darn it, we need to make these rules consistent! Everything must dovetail, no contradictions will be tolerated. All eventualities encountered in play will be covered by the rulebooks (soon to be Revised, don’t let’s forget), the FAQ, and the Sage.

Now, that’s all fine and good. A ruleset that works, and remains consistent to itself, is nothing to scoff at.

But the DM is now completely obsolete.

There was a time when DMing was fun! We could improvise, we had to make judgements about things, because the rules couldn’t possibly cover everything that would happen in a game. Once upon a time, the DM was allowed to use his/her imagination to decide what would happen when that fireball went off, or whether a given admixture of those spells would cause havoc, or to add an interesting NPC to the game.

But now…

The DM has been reduced to a mere clerk. Numbers are the rule. You spend your entire game session consulting rules (because that’s the 3E motto: a rule for EVERYTHING!), consulting the FAQ, consulting the Rules Forum, ad nauseum. Players are encouraged to min/max (cf. “Power Plays” in the PH). It is no longer a contest of PCs versus The Challenge; it is a contest of who knows the rules better.

So let me state it clearly:

D&D 3E stunts the imagination.

In the name of “more options,” they have created a massive house of cards that is destined to fall.

Get ready for D&D 4E—each book will be 629 pp. and everything that can happen during gameplay will be covered by a rule.

Have fun spending your game session looking them up…I’ll be over here playing White Wolf games (silly as they may be in their own way), and using my imagination in a collaborative way with players.

 

[Dave Blewer]

This is a common creature who's latin name is Trollicus Goadicus

 

[Piratecat]

You're wrong, wrong, wrong. My group is more creative and more imaginative than ever, and our game nowadays rocks onwards at high speed. I'm not sure you should blame something on the game that might be endemic to your personal group.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

This is a common creature who's latin name is Trollicus Goadicus

I don't think it is a troll, but I wonder if we should start a forum for those who want to complain about 3rd edition.

SD

 

[Dave Blewer]

I don't think it is a troll, but I wonder if we should start a forum for those who want to complain about 3rd edition.

On reflection I think that you may be right that this isn't actually a troll, but I really can't see how any set of rules be they 3E, Palladium, Storyteller can kill imagination...

My kids can turn a game of snap into a spirited battle between good and evil...

 

[Sagan Darkside]

Re: D&D and the Death of Imagination

The DM has been reduced to a mere clerk. Numbers are the rule.

Either you should let someone else dm or try to find a different game, but I think you will find yourself disappointed wherever you go.

I have yet to find this problem.

And trust me, I dislike dm'ng with a passion, but I am the one stuck doing it.

However- 3rd edition is almost a savior sent from the heavens. For other rpg's, I had to rely on the one company for books to generate/inspire ideas.

Now- I have a huge list of companies I can draw from. I can finally design a campeign I want to play without writing a notebook of houserules. Instead, I can pick, choose, and nudge the parts of the supplements I like into one campeign.

I can now spend my time writing adventures! Thank you d20 companies!

Out of all the complaints.. "too many options" is one of the sillier ones. Learn how to say "no". Learn to work with your players so it is not a competition of who knows the rules better.

Learn that an option is an option- not a necessity in disguise.

SD

 

[hong]

Re: D&D and the Death of Imagination

There was a time when DMing was fun! We could improvise, we had to make judgements about things, because the rules couldn’t possibly cover everything that would happen in a game. Once upon a time, the DM was allowed to use his/her imagination to decide what would happen when that fireball went off, or whether a given admixture of those spells would cause havoc, or to add an interesting NPC to the game.

Behold! I summon the infinite wisdom of _Robin's Laws of Good Gaming_:

When a player activates one of the crunchy bits on his character sheet, control of the outcome shifts from the GM to the rulebook. Crunchy bits are typically written to work in a certain detailed and highly specific way. Where a TV writer might fudge the detailed workings of a main character's signature ability according to the demands of the current storyline, players expect the GM to fairly interpret the rules as laid out in the book. As characters progress in power and gain ever more potent crunchy bits, the GM's flexibility in setting up obstacles to challenge them becomes increasingly constrained. ...

Rules sets in which crunchy bits predominate give power to the players.

Some rules curtail the power of the crunchy bit. This can be done in various ways. A system can offer a wide variety of crunchy bits, while sharply limiting the number of them available to any one character. It can present the ability descriptions in a vague and general manner that keeps the power of interpretation firmly in the GM's hands. ...

Rules systems that limit the impact of crunchy bits give power to the GM.

While we, as GMs, might naturally prefer games which give us the greatest flexibility, we have to remember that players like to have power, too. One of the many factors behind Dungeons and Dragons' enduring popularity is the way in which its power balance favors the players.

There is no one ideal power balance between players and GM. The best balance varies according to the composition of your group, because the need for player power depends on play style.

It sounds like you're getting burned out because your players want too much power and you don't like it. Which happens. But that has nothing to do with imagination, or lack thereof. Because I don't have any trouble exercising my imagination in D&D, and even with a relatively rigid ruleset, I can find ways to surprise my players on a fairly regular basis (I think).

Have fun spending your game session looking them up…I’ll be over here playing White Wolf games (silly as they may be in their own way), and using my imagination in a collaborative way with players.

... and note that you've solved your problem by resorting to the classic ruleset that curtails crunchy bits. Have fun!

 

[Piratecat]

*blink* I didn't expect to find anything insightful in this thread. I was wrong. I'm also going out and buying Robin Laws' book. Wow, that's good stuff.

 

[hong]

*blink* I didn't expect to find anything insightful in this thread. I was wrong. I'm also going out and buying Robin Laws' book. Wow, that's good stuff.

Well, you _did_ tell me to Rachel it down.


Rachel

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

Our 7th level characters recently were caught in the crossfire of a Pit Fiend and a Balor in a floating castle in the Astral Plane that was held together by the mental will of a mind flayer. There are no rules to cover such a situation, so the DM made stuff up.

A couple of months ago I vistited a friend and played a henchman in a game where tunnels were magically collapsing and appearing under the party's tower. There are no rules to cover such a situation, so the DM made stuff up.

The last adventure I ran was a political adventure that took place at a joust. There were no party or NPC deaths. All the motivations of the NPCs were not in the DMG so I made stuff up.

I won't get into the individual player characters special abilities (not covered in the rules) or backgrounds as that would take too much time.

Sorry Tom. I'm not with you on this one.