DM ex Machina: New Column from Ari Marmell

[JoeGKushner]

Hell, I didn't know there was a first column. Thanks for pointing it out!

 

[Hawke]

Definitely made me think about one benefit skill challenges have over combat... in combat your goal is to defeat the enemy and move on. IT's not necessarily a branching element within itself. Too often, I think I've run skill challenges with a similar mindset - they need to complete it to move on or suffer a penalty (different path if they fail, yes, but it ends up being two possibilities).

Really, the system can be setup so there are multiple success and failure paths depending on what skills are used and in what order. A superior challenge would place players in a mindset where they may choose to use a skill they aren't as good at or one they know will have a higher DC if the outcome they're seeking is more along that path.

Hmmm! Thanks for getting my gears turning about a subject I figured most articles would be rehashes of other opinions printed several times before - you brought something new.

 

[delericho]

Good article.

I find myself wondering if the fixed Skill Challenges are presented this way to make them easier for new DMs to design and run, where a more skilled DM might naturally switch to a more freeform method by default.

I don't think this is a bad thing - there are some aspects of 4e that strike me as being intentionally newbie friendly, in a way that 3e never really was (and, indeed, neither was 2nd Edition). 4e seems to be the first edition for quite some time to deliberately aim at bringing in new players (including new DMs), and that's a good thing. IMO, of course.

In addition to more general feedback--which I'm always grateful for--I'd like to know if folks are happier with the footnotes between paragraphs, as I've done here. Does that make them easier to read than they were in the prior column?

To be completely honest, I found that the footnotes didn't add anything to the article, and were actually a distraction. As such, I would consider removing them entirely.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I like footnotes if they are a humorous interjection.
I think if they are just to explain something, figure out how to work it inside the text itself.

I think I prefer footnotes at the bottom of the text.

 

[Voadam]

In addition to more general feedback--which I'm always grateful for--I'd like to know if folks are happier with the footnotes between paragraphs, as I've done here. Does that make them easier to read than they were in the prior column?

On the front page it has the footnotes at the end. I read it there and did a lot of the scrolling which was annoying and broke up the rhythm of reading the paragraphs.

I prefer them after the paragraph as in the link at the beginning of this thread but the article text should be bigger than the footnotes as it is on the front page, otherwise the eye tends to go first to the bigger text. The broken up link one has the footnotes show up really big for me while the article text is small, which reverses where I want my eyes to focus.

 

[Mouseferatu]

but the article text should be bigger than the footnotes as it is on the front page, otherwise the eye tends to go first to the bigger text. The broken up link one has the footnotes show up really big for me while the article text is small, which reverses where I want my eyes to focus.

*blink*

That's really odd. I formatted the article so that the main text is bigger than the footnote text, and that's how it's showing up on my browser. Are you using a peculiar skin or browser?

 

[RangerWickett]

One possibility is being neglected, though I'm not sure people will figure out where the footnote points to¹.

 

[Voadam]

*blink*

That's really odd. I formatted the article so that the main text is bigger than the footnote text, and that's how it's showing up on my browser. Are you using a peculiar skin or browser?

I've got this browser (internet explorer) set to make website text look really big. Some things though are not affected, such as the text in most thread posts here which seem to be at a fixed size and didn't change after the browser switched settings, but others get blown up huge, such as the text on the news page as well as sigs in forum posts. It sounds like the browser is only able to blow up the footnotes in your blog entry but not the main text.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I've got this browser (internet explorer) set to make website text look really big. Some things though are not affected, such as the text in most thread posts here which seem to be at a fixed size and didn't change after the browser switched settings, but others get blown up huge, such as the text on the news page as well as sigs in forum posts. It sounds like the browser is only able to blow up the footnotes in your blog entry but not the main text.

Yeah, since the main text of the entry is the same as the default text of the forums, I guess it makes sense that they're not being affected while the footnote text is.