Silverblade The Ench
First Post
or at least, I don't think it should be
Several threads on the WOTC forums in past few months have really narked me off big time
I like 4th ed, but I do not like this kind of thought process I hear in relation to playing it (or any edition):
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the point being, that the person thinks that the DM should metagame as the DM, running NPCs as efficiently as possible, to defeat the PCs...without caring about RPing the NPCs at all, or for the over all fun of the game.
Me, as DM, I've always considered it my job to:
a) Have fun with my *friends*
b) Work with them to make a great story, adventure, game...all that makes a great D&D roleplaying session
c) Run the NPCs as believably as possible. Not to "Win", not to TPK, but to run 'em as realistically and fun as I can. Sometimes that does mean slaughtering the PCs, but, hey, that's what the NPCs wanna do, not me!
DM can always "win" if he wants...but who wants to play with that kind of DM?!
D&D is a roleplaying game, not chess. I do not HAVE to obey methodical, limiting rules of how the critters react.
Game rules limit choices of combat actions, but how the critters behave is MY job and my job isn't to metagame and "beat" the players, damn it!
I'm very happy to roll a dice at random and decide that one NPC runs in fear of the PCs carnage...or a drow psion is super smart and gets the drop on the party...or the drow psion is stoned out of his head from Lolth worship and reacts slow...that the party slip a mickey into the Lolth ceremony...or get caught up in it as they fail a save...con one set of enemies to fight another one, etc
these kind of things add random spice, fun, humour, fear and, believability!
If a mind flayer decides not to do the logical thing that would get the best way to "win", like say, stun the melee PCs with their low Will defences, but instead, he goes hammer and tongs for the party's wizard cause he's HUNGRY for fresh high quality brains...lol...
that enhances the game, even if tactically, it's not the best move to use it's mental powers on a high Will defence character.
But it's a good surprise, and scares the pants off the wizard's player, muaha!
If a critter has several options, I'll pick the one I think best suits the critter's mentality/needs at the time, or roll a dice for sheer randomness.
Tus, well organized, skilled units like duergar and drow are absolute nightmares to fight. I'll throw in taacticla stuff, add in reinforcements etc.
More chaotic and/or dumb critters will do stupid stuff, like ignore a fighter's mark to get at...whoever annoys it the most. Not work together.
But sometimes they do really unexpected and dangerous stuff, like try to push you off a cliff in a suicidal attempt (getting a bonus to hit but also dying in any event!)
In the case from the WOTC forums, a summoned minion is a "new enemy", in my view, how the NPCs will react is entirely up to the DM's imagination of the NPCs and what the summmons is.
Scarecrows being terrified of a summoned fire elemental, hehe yeah that works.
Orcs seeing a "Big blob with tentacles" as a threat so leap to the attack cause both are dumb, sure.
But a drow may realize that killing the summoner is more efficient and is thus willing to risk a few hits to close up to the caster, for HIM that is a good tactical decision...or he maybe just let someone else take the risk!
I may even have him skewer another drow...well, social advancement, spider-queen style, hehe
Now, I understand the "Encounter" type of games are more about keeping it simple for quick fun battles, that is ok
But I, personally, do not play D&D, to run Warhammer 40k or whatever.
Playing D&D purely for tactics would suck the heck out of the game, why not just go play "Heroquest" instead, then, eh? no need to make complex characters...
Obviously I know folk can play however they wish, but...you know what I mean? :/
Why the heck limit yourself to playing such a wonderfully rich game, in such a damn limiting way?
Being a DM you really have to work at it, so that at the end of the night, your pals go "Gawd DAMN that was fun!", even if the party died...but amidst a sea of bodies, and the foe broke upon their bloody shore of steel and fire!
Or sometimes they get lucky, make out like bandits, get all the lucky breaks, 'cause it can happen, and it's not a bad thing, either.
In general, my players know that behaving stupidly will get their PCs killed PDQ!
I like tough encounters...but ones that can be made much easier by good tactics, RPing or whatever.
sometimes though, a berserk, unexpected charge IS the right thing to do in a fight, hehe
My players taught me that one and they were right, the unexpected is often surprising.
I know 4th ed has brought in more tactical stuff on the tabletop, but is this "D&D as chess" more of a recent thing?
Why would anyone want to DM that way?!
Or am I a dinosaur?
Several threads on the WOTC forums in past few months have really narked me off big time
I like 4th ed, but I do not like this kind of thought process I hear in relation to playing it (or any edition):
Whoops! Browser Settings Incompatible
the point being, that the person thinks that the DM should metagame as the DM, running NPCs as efficiently as possible, to defeat the PCs...without caring about RPing the NPCs at all, or for the over all fun of the game.
Me, as DM, I've always considered it my job to:
a) Have fun with my *friends*
b) Work with them to make a great story, adventure, game...all that makes a great D&D roleplaying session
c) Run the NPCs as believably as possible. Not to "Win", not to TPK, but to run 'em as realistically and fun as I can. Sometimes that does mean slaughtering the PCs, but, hey, that's what the NPCs wanna do, not me!
DM can always "win" if he wants...but who wants to play with that kind of DM?!
D&D is a roleplaying game, not chess. I do not HAVE to obey methodical, limiting rules of how the critters react.
Game rules limit choices of combat actions, but how the critters behave is MY job and my job isn't to metagame and "beat" the players, damn it!
I'm very happy to roll a dice at random and decide that one NPC runs in fear of the PCs carnage...or a drow psion is super smart and gets the drop on the party...or the drow psion is stoned out of his head from Lolth worship and reacts slow...that the party slip a mickey into the Lolth ceremony...or get caught up in it as they fail a save...con one set of enemies to fight another one, etc
these kind of things add random spice, fun, humour, fear and, believability!
If a mind flayer decides not to do the logical thing that would get the best way to "win", like say, stun the melee PCs with their low Will defences, but instead, he goes hammer and tongs for the party's wizard cause he's HUNGRY for fresh high quality brains...lol...
that enhances the game, even if tactically, it's not the best move to use it's mental powers on a high Will defence character.
But it's a good surprise, and scares the pants off the wizard's player, muaha!
If a critter has several options, I'll pick the one I think best suits the critter's mentality/needs at the time, or roll a dice for sheer randomness.
Tus, well organized, skilled units like duergar and drow are absolute nightmares to fight. I'll throw in taacticla stuff, add in reinforcements etc.
More chaotic and/or dumb critters will do stupid stuff, like ignore a fighter's mark to get at...whoever annoys it the most. Not work together.
But sometimes they do really unexpected and dangerous stuff, like try to push you off a cliff in a suicidal attempt (getting a bonus to hit but also dying in any event!)
In the case from the WOTC forums, a summoned minion is a "new enemy", in my view, how the NPCs will react is entirely up to the DM's imagination of the NPCs and what the summmons is.
Scarecrows being terrified of a summoned fire elemental, hehe yeah that works.
Orcs seeing a "Big blob with tentacles" as a threat so leap to the attack cause both are dumb, sure.
But a drow may realize that killing the summoner is more efficient and is thus willing to risk a few hits to close up to the caster, for HIM that is a good tactical decision...or he maybe just let someone else take the risk!
I may even have him skewer another drow...well, social advancement, spider-queen style, hehe
Now, I understand the "Encounter" type of games are more about keeping it simple for quick fun battles, that is ok
But I, personally, do not play D&D, to run Warhammer 40k or whatever.
Playing D&D purely for tactics would suck the heck out of the game, why not just go play "Heroquest" instead, then, eh? no need to make complex characters...
Obviously I know folk can play however they wish, but...you know what I mean? :/
Why the heck limit yourself to playing such a wonderfully rich game, in such a damn limiting way?
Being a DM you really have to work at it, so that at the end of the night, your pals go "Gawd DAMN that was fun!", even if the party died...but amidst a sea of bodies, and the foe broke upon their bloody shore of steel and fire!
Or sometimes they get lucky, make out like bandits, get all the lucky breaks, 'cause it can happen, and it's not a bad thing, either.
In general, my players know that behaving stupidly will get their PCs killed PDQ!
I like tough encounters...but ones that can be made much easier by good tactics, RPing or whatever.
sometimes though, a berserk, unexpected charge IS the right thing to do in a fight, hehe
My players taught me that one and they were right, the unexpected is often surprising.I know 4th ed has brought in more tactical stuff on the tabletop, but is this "D&D as chess" more of a recent thing?
Why would anyone want to DM that way?!
Or am I a dinosaur?
