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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 6814259" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>Technically speaking, you said "almost always" rather than "usually." The latter implies a lot more room for exceptions than the former. I might be mincing words with that, but I certainly got a different sense from your original statement than from this one.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And you can think that if you like. But when you start modifying stats (HP, AC) in the middle of combat, you are literally doing exactly the same thing as modifying a player's die rolls. It doesn't matter which side of the equation you manipulate--the effect is mathematically equivalent. And when the changes you make have tangible--if not always visible--impact on the results of player choices, the information they base their choices on, even if only approximate, is no longer reliable. Hence, as I've said before, it deeply interferes with the players' ability to <em>make informed choices.</em> The "informed" part dissolves, and at times even the "choices" part gets shaky--if you reserve the right to interrupt the connection between choices and results (even where that is mediated by dice), then in a certain sense, the only events that happen are events you <em>allow</em> to happen. The more the DM fudges, the more they're actively deciding what happens. Fudging occasionally, then, is a matter of passively deciding what will happen--you act primarily by <em>allowing</em>. Only when there is no fudging at all--when the DM <em>never</em> interrupts the connection between player choice and observed result--is it strictly true that the results of a player's choice are determined by that choice (which includes the choice to risk the involvement of dice).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 6814259, member: 6790260"] Technically speaking, you said "almost always" rather than "usually." The latter implies a lot more room for exceptions than the former. I might be mincing words with that, but I certainly got a different sense from your original statement than from this one. And you can think that if you like. But when you start modifying stats (HP, AC) in the middle of combat, you are literally doing exactly the same thing as modifying a player's die rolls. It doesn't matter which side of the equation you manipulate--the effect is mathematically equivalent. And when the changes you make have tangible--if not always visible--impact on the results of player choices, the information they base their choices on, even if only approximate, is no longer reliable. Hence, as I've said before, it deeply interferes with the players' ability to [I]make informed choices.[/I] The "informed" part dissolves, and at times even the "choices" part gets shaky--if you reserve the right to interrupt the connection between choices and results (even where that is mediated by dice), then in a certain sense, the only events that happen are events you [I]allow[/I] to happen. The more the DM fudges, the more they're actively deciding what happens. Fudging occasionally, then, is a matter of passively deciding what will happen--you act primarily by [I]allowing[/I]. Only when there is no fudging at all--when the DM [I]never[/I] interrupts the connection between player choice and observed result--is it strictly true that the results of a player's choice are determined by that choice (which includes the choice to risk the involvement of dice). [/QUOTE]
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