D&D DMing is not playing chess against the players!!

[Nifft]

I'm only plaing D&D until I can reach 8th level and learn REAL magic powers!

Do you have a Wisdom penalty, by any chance?

I got REAL magic powers at 4th level.

Cheers, -- N

 

[wayne62682]

I'm inclined to agree with this. While for the players I strongly advocate optimization (not to the point of munchkinism though), from what I've seen monsters are already usually stronger than players in almost all regards. Monsters should be played appropriately to what they would do. If it makes story sense for the monster to summon, then it should be summoning. If not, then it shouldn't just because it CAN summon. Does that make sense?

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Dannyalcatraz,

As in, he's DMing the NPCs consistent with their nature, but without an eye towards "beating the players" (which, as DM, he could do at any instant)- so the NPCs are probably not going to have metaknowledge of Party tactics (unless there's an in-campaign reason for them to do so); they won't have a ready counter to each and every possible thing the party can do.

aye, exactly!


Ariosto,
lol yes I agree "Lighen up and have FUN!" is the best rule


Doug
Dragon mag 1979
damn, man! are the the Saruman of D&D?!
(meant in good way: encyclopeadic knowledge +5!)
but good point. Touche'!

I just see more of it now in the 4th ed discussions though. I love the tactics of 4th ed, I just dont' see 'em as "the whole of the" game.

On traps, i never EVER put them in "just for the sake of it" apart from on a fun/psyhco adventure, hehe
To me what kind of blinking lunatic would put a trap next to their WC, eh? Oh Count Repugsive goes for a whizz when he's blind drunk and gets skewered by his Pit Trap of Proctologist's Delight +5, eh?!

nah, no NPC with half a brain will use a trap anywhere near him, without damn good reaosn and an easy way to bypass it, or ensure it never hits him!
So only places like say a crypt meant ot keep people out to stop releasing an imprisoned fiend, would be riddled with traps.
Otherwise only alarm traps, net traps, ones triggered by magic, imprisoning traps (like part of the corridor rotates flipping you into a cell) and so forth would be used.
Maybe with a special lethal trap that you can easily avoid as a last ditch safety, or say a magic misisle shooting turret/device to keep wandering critters out

 

[Scribble]

Do you have a Wisdom penalty, by any chance?

I got REAL magic powers at 4th level.

Cheers, -- N

But... But... Ms. Frost told me I wouldn't be ready until 8th level!


I think there is room for multiple ways to use the rules of D&D to promote whatever you find the most fun, and I think WoTC should do it's best to find ways to promote each of those styles.

I think the "problems" arise because we tend to feel the very rules themselves somehow promote one style over the other.

 

[UniversalMonster]

Regardless of how people game, here's some DMing tips that I think are applicable:

1. Try to get your DMing turn done as quickly as possible. When people complain about chess-match Dming, often it's really just how long the DM spends staring at the table before he does anything.

2. Be decisive even when it isn't in your favor. If you say "the orc charges and attacks this guy in the back!" and a player says "Cool, I had him marked, so I get a free attack on him.." DONT take your move back. Just suck it up and drive on.

The fact is, some players have cool stuff that only triggers when you make a "tactical error", so don't worry too much about making mistakes. It's not you, it's just some monsters.

 

[Umbran]

In time, those unchallenged line of thoughts evolve, get coopted by other people, then by game designers, and end up influencing the game to such an extent

Nice posit, but not a whole lot of proof that internet discussion influences game design in that manner. Designers who weigh such things heavily, and don't recognize that internet discussions still only represent a fraction of their market are... well, not worth what they're getting paid, and that is apt to show in their products.

But also aside the point - my point isn't about, "unchallenged lines of thought". My point is about, "getting narked" (as in annoyed). Those other people have just as much right to play the game as they like is as you have to the game as you like it. Getting annoyed at them for it is rather like getting annoyed at someone for liking anchovies on their pizza when you don't care for them.

...that you're just left with a simple choice: play a game that does not reflect your own inclinations and play style, or leave it behind for good.

I'm not much for having a single game and sticking to it for all eternity to begin with, so the idea that one might need to occasionally switch games, or play something not currently supported by a publisher, does not seem to me to at all be a major tragedy that we ought to work to avoid.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Nice posit, but not a whole lot of proof that internet discussion influences game design in that manner. Designers who weigh such things heavily, and don't recognize that internet discussions still only represent a fraction of their market are... well, not worth what they're getting paid, and that is apt to show in their products.

Too much attention paid to internet ramblings is a bad thing but so is too little. Purely by the numbers, vocal gamers on the internet are certainly a minority of the market. The value of praise from that one voice or the cost of criticism can reach way beyond the original source to a larger audience.

Gaming fans on the internet may be few in number but individually each is mightier than a dozen casual gamers, almost gaming Spartans as it were.

Fans who care enough to spend time online discussing these things represent more than just the products that they buy themselves. Dedicated gamers will be the ones most likely to run demos at game stores, actively recruit new players, and inform the less connected members of the gaming community about products and the hobby in general since the majority doesn't go online to find out for themselves.

If designers are not paying attention to what the most active fans are saying then it is a mistake IMHO.

 

[Scribble]

Fans who care enough to spend time online discussing these things represent more than just the products that they buy themselves. Dedicated gamers will be the ones most likely to run demos at game stores, actively recruit new players, and inform the less connected members of the gaming community about products and the hobby in general since the majority doesn't go online to find out for themselves.

Or they're just bored at work.



That said I don't think they should be ignored, just they don't get any higher status simply for posting online.

I also don't really agree with the idea of letting gaming styles you disagree with go "unchallenged" is a bad thing.

More then likely your challenge isn't going to convince anyone your way is the better way- It's most likely just going to annoy the people who disagree with you


Play the game however you want- the only bad/wrong way to play D&D is by forcing yourself to play it in a way you don't find fun.

 

[ExploderWizard]

That said I don't think they should be ignored, just they don't get any higher status simply for posting online.

Oh certainly not worthy of VIP status or anything. The vocal die hard fans don't deserve special treatment but failing to acknowledge their influence at all is unwise.

I also don't really agree with the idea of letting gaming styles you disagree with go "unchallenged" is a bad thing.

More then likely your challenge isn't going to convince anyone your way is the better way- It's most likely just going to annoy the people who disagree with you


Play the game however you want- the only bad/wrong way to play D&D is by forcing yourself to play it in a way you don't find fun.

Remaining silent about products that you would like to see changed/improved or offered at all is the surest way to make sure that change never happens.

 

[Nifft]

But... But... Ms. Frost told me I wouldn't be ready until 8th level!

Stay Frosty.

I think there is room for multiple ways to use the rules of D&D to promote whatever you find the most fun, and I think WoTC should do it's best to find ways to promote each of those styles.

I think the "problems" arise because we tend to feel the very rules themselves somehow promote one style over the other.

In this case, it wasn't even that ... the guy who started the thread was upset that people were trying to figure out if the game's math works out from the monster's standpoint.

Cheers, -- N