Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Do You Use Your RPG Rules as Written?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Skepticultist" data-source="post: 7376348" data-attributes="member: 6898719"><p>I hate to tell you this, but even with context that sounds pretty bad. You acknowledge that the rules are there to give the players an ability to assess risks and rewards, but then at the same time you say you throw out the rules and just wing it based on what's "cool," and that you may rather arbitrarily apply the rules or not apply them based on whether it's "cinematic and cool."</p><p></p><p>As a player, statements like this terrify me, because what you <em>actually</em> mean is that I, as a player, can't actually assess risks and rewards, and that rather than playing to the rules, I'm playing to the whims of the GM. Should I try to get the high ground? In a consistent system that grants a consistent high ground bonus, then yes, I should always be trying to get and maintain the high ground (which is exactly what you'd do in a real fight). But when playing against the whims of the DM, you can't ever really know if your tactics are sound, because one day gaining the high ground might amuse the DM, or it might bore him, and you aren't going to know until after you try.</p><p></p><p>There really is no way of discerning a "good idea" from a "coin flip" from a "bad idea" when the rules change based on the DM's whims or what he or she find personally entertaining and amusing.</p><p></p><p>Also, this isn't a slam on you, but literally every single DM who has ever told me that they reward players for "cinematic" gameplay has killed my characters when they tried to do anything cinematic (usually trying to drop on monsters from above and plunging my sword into them). Often by suddenly and thoroughly applying all of the rules (at least the ones that grant negative modifiers) and forcing multiple difficult rolls to succeed. The term "cinematic" is extremely vague, and my experience is that many DM's say "cinematic" when they mean "I will let you do really cool, amazing things, but only when I consider it dramatically appropriate and in line with how I imagine this story playing out, but if you try to do anything amazing and cool that disrupts my pre-planned storyline, I WILL KILL YOU DEAD."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Skepticultist, post: 7376348, member: 6898719"] I hate to tell you this, but even with context that sounds pretty bad. You acknowledge that the rules are there to give the players an ability to assess risks and rewards, but then at the same time you say you throw out the rules and just wing it based on what's "cool," and that you may rather arbitrarily apply the rules or not apply them based on whether it's "cinematic and cool." As a player, statements like this terrify me, because what you [I]actually[/I] mean is that I, as a player, can't actually assess risks and rewards, and that rather than playing to the rules, I'm playing to the whims of the GM. Should I try to get the high ground? In a consistent system that grants a consistent high ground bonus, then yes, I should always be trying to get and maintain the high ground (which is exactly what you'd do in a real fight). But when playing against the whims of the DM, you can't ever really know if your tactics are sound, because one day gaining the high ground might amuse the DM, or it might bore him, and you aren't going to know until after you try. There really is no way of discerning a "good idea" from a "coin flip" from a "bad idea" when the rules change based on the DM's whims or what he or she find personally entertaining and amusing. Also, this isn't a slam on you, but literally every single DM who has ever told me that they reward players for "cinematic" gameplay has killed my characters when they tried to do anything cinematic (usually trying to drop on monsters from above and plunging my sword into them). Often by suddenly and thoroughly applying all of the rules (at least the ones that grant negative modifiers) and forcing multiple difficult rolls to succeed. The term "cinematic" is extremely vague, and my experience is that many DM's say "cinematic" when they mean "I will let you do really cool, amazing things, but only when I consider it dramatically appropriate and in line with how I imagine this story playing out, but if you try to do anything amazing and cool that disrupts my pre-planned storyline, I WILL KILL YOU DEAD." [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Do You Use Your RPG Rules as Written?
Top