D&D General D&D isn't a simulation game, so what is???

[pemerton]

ToTM vs grid is just a preference.

As @Hussar pointed out, it also has a significant impact on the process and outcomes of play. In that way, it's different from (say) a preference for tokens over miniatures.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I am not TotMing that everyone over 5ft has 'squat dance' as their base movement to fit into the 5ft cubes the world is still made up of.

This is a vast improvement to everything but gnomes.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Again I find myself seeing that presentation matters so much more than substance.

If square fireballs tip you over, then how do you reconcile the fact that 5e is meant to be played theatre of the mind?

If the inaccuracies of a square fireball are a problem imagine how wildly inaccurate TotM play is. No one can possibly accurately track the relative positions of five PCs, a pet and a dozen bad guys round by round.

TotM play is one long exercise in (summons @Ovinomancer) fudging constantly. Whether something is in an area of effect has far more to do with the mood of the DM than anything else.

And let’s not forget that TotM was the baseline assumption before 3e and it wasn’t until 4e that the game defaulted to battle map play.

If anything 4e is actually a more accurate simulation, at least as far as representing the physical positions of combatants, than any other version of Dnd.

When you use "fudging" to mean "makes a call," it devalues any use of the term because making a call is what has to happen, while fudging -- which using a mechanic and then choosing a different (non-mechanical) outcome because you don't like the result AND usually keeping this secret from other participants -- doesn't ever have to happen.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Its a consistent position. I have some serious trouble understanding how you ever saw D&D as a great tool for the job, but at least what you want is coherent.

The most popular system that everyone you know wants to play is the best tool for the job.

 

[Ovinomancer]

The most popular system that everyone you know wants to play is the best tool for the job.

Um, no. Good argument that the system everyone wants to play is probably one you should play, but that doesn't mean it's the best tool for a given job. If I want to run a murder mystery, 5e is pretty not great at this. Certainly not the best tool for the job! But it is the most popular RPG.

 

[Oofta]

As @Hussar pointed out, it also has a significant impact on the process and outcomes of play. In that way, it's different from (say) a preference for tokens over miniatures.

I never said otherwise. Just that I prefer using a grid. The flexibility to choose along with what options to use was a good choice for the game.

 

[Vaalingrade]

When you use "fudging" to mean "makes a call," it devalues any use of the term because making a call is what has to happen, while fudging -- which using a mechanic and then choosing a different (non-mechanical) outcome because you don't like the result AND usually keeping this secret from other participants -- doesn't ever have to happen.

Pretty sure they meant fudging in the sense of 'make an approximation' or 'on the fly adjustment'.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Um, no. Good argument that the system everyone wants to play is probably one you should play, but that doesn't mean it's the best tool for a given job. If I want to run a murder mystery, 5e is pretty not great at this. Certainly not the best tool for the job! But it is the most popular RPG.

A tool you can't convince your friends to use is not a good tool for all practical purposes.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The most popular system that everyone you know wants to play is the best tool for the job.

I'd say the system everyone you know is willing to play that actually suits your needs is. D&D was the most popular game around when I quite it decades ago, but I still found plenty of people willing to play other things. Now, if you're in one of those benighted areas that's not true, that's definitely a problem, but I'm afraid I still can't help but think most incarnations of D&D have been a pretty crappy tool for the job even if they're one you were forced to; the difference between OD&D and D&D5e in its degree of simulationism are pretty much trivial in how much the differ; it seems like making a great degree out of a little.

(Which is not to say you aren't permitted to feel that way; I'm just saying how it looks from where I sit).

 

[Thomas Shey]

A tool you can't convince your friends to use is not a good tool for all practical purposes.

Neither is one that's poor enough its not giving you what you want. Obviously you disagree here, but if the only choice I had after a while was OD&D, I'd just have given up; it wasn't really any good on either of the grounds I cared about.