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<blockquote data-quote="mearls" data-source="post: 9245857" data-attributes="member: 697"><p>I don't want to quote everything, but I think you are on to something that speaks to the core issues of CR.'</p><p></p><p>Encounter balance is a tool that says, "This is what should happen when X meets Y." Yet, that runs concept to the entire point of a good TTRPG. We play to find out. If the math tells us what will happen, what is the point of playing?</p><p></p><p>That's where the emotion comes into play, as you describe it. I don't think you can math your way to a resonate, exciting encounter or adventure. Matt Mercer is a great DM because of his acting chops and charisma, not because he is awesome at math. If anything, most successful streams seem to lean much more on the DM's presentation skills than any rule set.</p><p></p><p>But, most DMs aren't Matt Mercer. They can't get where they want purely on vibes. They need help to deliver an awesome game.</p><p></p><p>IMO, a good encounter building tool should work something like sheet music. It shows you the notes to play. Each piece has a different intended effect. It lets one musician create something, then pass it along to another. You can practice a piece and over time get better at it. You can feel yourself skill up, which can fuel your desire to play more, or take on more complex pieces.</p><p></p><p>I think one of the big challenges with TTRPGs is that we really don't have that feedback loop for DMs. Competitive games have an easy mechanism for that. Someone wins, someone loses. If you want to win, you can watch tutorials, learn how to build a better deck, learn some new strategies, and so on. If you win, you know your practice paid off. If you keep losing, you can keep adjusting your strategy.</p><p></p><p>We don't have any of that in TTRPGs. We have prominent streaming DMs as a model. A beginner can watch them to learn, but to me that's expecting someone to become a better cello player by listening to Yo Yo Ma. It might help some people, but most people are just going to... listen to Yo Yo Ma and remain at their current skill level. They won't learn anything. The gap between what they can do and what they're hearing is too wide, and they're not getting a road map to help them cross it.</p><p></p><p>If we manage to make better DMing tools, ones that helped DMs skill up, then I think we have a powerful tool to grow the TTRPG community. We could create a clear improvement loop for DMs, with milestones and techniques to practice and improve, with tangible feedback at the table. It's one factor among many, but if done right it could really help.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mearls, post: 9245857, member: 697"] I don't want to quote everything, but I think you are on to something that speaks to the core issues of CR.' Encounter balance is a tool that says, "This is what should happen when X meets Y." Yet, that runs concept to the entire point of a good TTRPG. We play to find out. If the math tells us what will happen, what is the point of playing? That's where the emotion comes into play, as you describe it. I don't think you can math your way to a resonate, exciting encounter or adventure. Matt Mercer is a great DM because of his acting chops and charisma, not because he is awesome at math. If anything, most successful streams seem to lean much more on the DM's presentation skills than any rule set. But, most DMs aren't Matt Mercer. They can't get where they want purely on vibes. They need help to deliver an awesome game. IMO, a good encounter building tool should work something like sheet music. It shows you the notes to play. Each piece has a different intended effect. It lets one musician create something, then pass it along to another. You can practice a piece and over time get better at it. You can feel yourself skill up, which can fuel your desire to play more, or take on more complex pieces. I think one of the big challenges with TTRPGs is that we really don't have that feedback loop for DMs. Competitive games have an easy mechanism for that. Someone wins, someone loses. If you want to win, you can watch tutorials, learn how to build a better deck, learn some new strategies, and so on. If you win, you know your practice paid off. If you keep losing, you can keep adjusting your strategy. We don't have any of that in TTRPGs. We have prominent streaming DMs as a model. A beginner can watch them to learn, but to me that's expecting someone to become a better cello player by listening to Yo Yo Ma. It might help some people, but most people are just going to... listen to Yo Yo Ma and remain at their current skill level. They won't learn anything. The gap between what they can do and what they're hearing is too wide, and they're not getting a road map to help them cross it. If we manage to make better DMing tools, ones that helped DMs skill up, then I think we have a powerful tool to grow the TTRPG community. We could create a clear improvement loop for DMs, with milestones and techniques to practice and improve, with tangible feedback at the table. It's one factor among many, but if done right it could really help. [/QUOTE]
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