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<blockquote data-quote="HeapThaumaturgist" data-source="post: 2791183" data-attributes="member: 12332">Was the author traumatized by GMs as a child?&nbsp; There seems to be an open hostility toward the GM in the text of the game itself, the pitch text of the game, and the defense of the game from both author and supporters.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Don't get me wrong.&nbsp; I think the concepts presented are interesting ones, and perhaps important ones.&nbsp; Statistically, with a single die rolled for the mechanic, probability suggests that as the PCs are the focus of the game, mathematically improbable things will eventually happen to them and, all things equal, half of those improbable moments will be detremental.&nbsp; Fully 10% of the time, even!To portray this as actively hostile on the part of the GM, though ... ...It's important, and bears highlighting, but I think it would make a great sidebar in the DMG ... as opposed to suggesting that players should call out the GM as a cheater who desires no more than to cram probability down their throat and conspire to destroy their character/player goals.Taking 10 is a new mechanic that, I think, grew out of a problem I ran into a lot in the early 80s ... GMs calling for rolls for everything (sounding familiar?) ... I've honestly talked to people who've had the GM call for rolls for dodge when crossing near-empty suburban streets ... with disasterous results, of course.&nbsp; Take 10 is now a rule.&nbsp; Not only is there a &quot;don't call for rolls all of the time&quot; clause in the DMG, but there's even a &quot;just assume average on non-story-critical rolls&quot; mechanic added in there.&nbsp; Not because GM fiat destroys the fundamental underpinnings of RPGs themselves, but because some people did the math and alot of people did the playtesting.And the survey said that given constant rolling there's an ever increasing chance of rolling a failure.&nbsp; What we do about that, though ...--fje</blockquote>

[QUOTE="HeapThaumaturgist, post: 2791183, member: 12332"] Was the author traumatized by GMs as a child? There seems to be an open hostility toward the GM in the text of the game itself, the pitch text of the game, and the defense of the game from both author and supporters. :) Don't get me wrong. I think the concepts presented are interesting ones, and perhaps important ones. Statistically, with a single die rolled for the mechanic, probability suggests that as the PCs are the focus of the game, mathematically improbable things will eventually happen to them and, all things equal, half of those improbable moments will be detremental. Fully 10% of the time, even! To portray this as actively hostile on the part of the GM, though ... ... It's important, and bears highlighting, but I think it would make a great sidebar in the DMG ... as opposed to suggesting that players should call out the GM as a cheater who desires no more than to cram probability down their throat and conspire to destroy their character/player goals. Taking 10 is a new mechanic that, I think, grew out of a problem I ran into a lot in the early 80s ... GMs calling for rolls for everything (sounding familiar?) ... I've honestly talked to people who've had the GM call for rolls for dodge when crossing near-empty suburban streets ... with disasterous results, of course. Take 10 is now a rule. Not only is there a "don't call for rolls all of the time" clause in the DMG, but there's even a "just assume average on non-story-critical rolls" mechanic added in there. Not because GM fiat destroys the fundamental underpinnings of RPGs themselves, but because some people did the math and alot of people did the playtesting. And the survey said that given constant rolling there's an ever increasing chance of rolling a failure. What we do about that, though ... --fje [/QUOTE]

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