D&D General DM Authority

[jasper]

If you're telling a story about something that happened, you are recounting that story. It was a story as it happened.

Jasper, "every one get me initiative"
Marcus, "Next week I going to bring a Mark 2 Unearthed Arcana Ironman warlord who is the son of my two pcs.
Bill, " -1 I hate cleric builds.
Charlie, " Why are adding more minis Jasper? The adventure path only calls for 4 hobgoblins at this location."
David, " I going to the bathroom, skip me if I not back."
Marcus, "Bring me a coke on the way back."
Adam, "Make it a Sprite for him that his 3 dose of the good stuff this hour."
Bill, "Any seen Wonder Woman 1984 yet"
Charlie, "Why are you using orcs instead of hobgoblins Jasper"
Jasper, "Forgot to pull them from the collection. BEEP 4 again on the monsters initiative."
******

 

[Maxperson]

Nope. But it’s just semantics at this point. You understand what I mean and I understand what you mean.

I don’t find semantics to be particularly worthwhile debates and so I’m out.

I’m honestly amazed that anything happens in the world as the internet is filled with 99% of its arguments based on semantics. Maybe the written word and the spoken word is processed by our brains a bit differently.

Maybe.

There needs to be a "Semantics Fallacy," though. Definitions are critical to communication and understanding, so to dismiss/end an argument citing semantics really isn't a valid response.

 

[Maxperson]

Jasper, "every one get me initiative"
Marcus, "Next week I going to bring a Mark 2 Unearthed Arcana Ironman warlord who is the son of my two pcs.
Bill, " -1 I hate cleric builds.
Charlie, " Why are adding more minis Jasper? The adventure path only calls for 4 hobgoblins at this location."
David, " I going to the bathroom, skip me if I not back."
Marcus, "Bring me a coke on the way back."
Adam, "Make it a Sprite for him that his 3 dose of the good stuff this hour."
Bill, "Any seen Wonder Woman 1984 yet"
Charlie, "Why are you using orcs instead of hobgoblins Jasper"
Jasper, "Forgot to pull them from the collection. BEEP 4 again on the monsters initiative."
******

So if we remove the clutter that isn't game play, we have "The door down the hall flew open and 8 Hobgoblins stormed out towards the party. Holyone the Cleric was caught with his pants down(metaphorically) and was slow to react."

Not the best story, but it was created in that moment.

 

[FrogReaver]

Maybe.

There needs to be a "Semantics Fallacy," though. Definitions are critical to communication and understanding, so to dismiss/end an argument citing semantics really isn't a valid response.

I don’t think so. When it gets to the point where it’s obvious that both parties disagree on the definition then how is it determined which party is objectively right about the definition? I mean definitions are just common uses of words right? They change and fluctuate over time in living languages. They have different connotations in different areas. I don’t see anyway to get around that problem.

the best we can do is talk it through till we understand the root of our problem is different definitions. That we can do that proves communication is working. But who gets to determine which definition is correct when people disagree on it?

 

[FrogReaver]

So if we remove the clutter that isn't game play, we have "The door down the hall flew open and 8 Hobgoblins stormed out towards the party. Holyone the Cleric was caught with his pants down(metaphorically) and was slow to react."

Not the best story, but it was created in that moment.

‘Maxperson is arguing about the definition of story on the internet.’ Is that a story as well?

 

[prabe]

‘Maxperson is arguing about the definition of story on the internet.’ Is that a story as well?

It sounds distressingly like at least part of a writing prompt, though.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Different people have different things that break their "immersion" and no game is perfect for any playstyle. It's close to the top of my list for this style IME of trying many systems, especially when taking into account other factors. People's reaction to preferences of others is often "if you like x, then you would have the most fun in a game with Maximum X." but that obviously isn't true. Everything is just a spectrum and once a bar is reached other priorities become more important.

D&D (without some options in the DMG or from elsewhere), doesn't expect players to make changes to the world, particularly once play has begone, like a lot of games. So, it avoid a massive obstacle for the style of play I was referencing.

I am kinda curious what you think is baked into the system that would cause problems for these players though?

If I was playing for world versimillitude, a number of the mechanics would jar me out pretty regularly, including level variable hit points and the deliberate vagueness of what a strike means (there are also some problems with how the magic works there). Yes, I'm realizing that there are ways to rationalize these as abstractions, but overly high-order abstractions that if looked at close seem to state counterfactuals are not things I'd find would reinforce that.

 

[Oofta]

If I was playing for world versimillitude, a number of the mechanics would jar me out pretty regularly, including level variable hit points and the deliberate vagueness of what a strike means (there are also some problems with how the magic works there). Yes, I'm realizing that there are ways to rationalize these as abstractions, but overly high-order abstractions that if looked at close seem to state counterfactuals are not things I'd find would reinforce that.

The mechanics have to be simplified for a game. In addition, the game is implementing action movie logic because it's more fun. Reality? We'd have to have charts that show how much damage armor absorbed, how much cumulative damage the armor had taken, account for strains, sprains and bruises. Then throw in lasting effects, infections, permanent injuries or ones that take months or even years to recover from along with cumulative damage.

Oh, add in that adventurers are in a ludicrous number of deadly fights. I don't think it would be a very fun game. Of course what breaks immersion for one person is going to vary for others.

 

[Maxperson]

If I was playing for world versimillitude, a number of the mechanics would jar me out pretty regularly, including level variable hit points and the deliberate vagueness of what a strike means (there are also some problems with how the magic works there). Yes, I'm realizing that there are ways to rationalize these as abstractions, but overly high-order abstractions that if looked at close seem to state counterfactuals are not things I'd find would reinforce that.

On the bolded part, the opposite is true for me. Not all fighters with a 16 con are going to be identically hard to kill off with regard to hit points. Variable hit points is a more realistic system than static hit points.

 

[Mannahnin]

And I the same. Some of my players take extensive notes during our games. Some are even recording me. And when I read some of their notes, it feels like a novel right off the bat. As a former litterature and ESL teacher (now a power engineer) some of their notes would make really good short novels. But a football/baseball game? Nope. No can do. Not without heavy modifications to make it at least a bit tolerable in reading.

I don't think that's really true, though. One could easily write a dramatic story of a football game.

You would focus on at least a couple of players, and write about their internal thoughts and feelings. You'd contextualize the struggle of this particular game within the context of, for example, the league standings, any historical rivalry between the teams, any reasons for grudges among the players (did Ronaldo get a red card for fouling McKesson last time these two teams met? Is McKesson looking for revenge?), etc. The basic elements of drama are there, and are many of the same ones announcers use to hype up the game and increase excitement and audience engagement.

I do think RPGs lend themselves a bit more easily to being converted into a dramatic story, but that's in part because of the subject matter; our characters are usually participating in scenarios based on either pulp adventure stories or epic fantasies.

Of course, a dry retelling of an RPG game session focusing on the mechanical details of combat would be no more intesting a tale than a recap of a football game that just focused on the scores and key statistics.