NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 8371984" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!Not a system for me...particularily the "Difficulty 0" that seems to be that a Player gets to just "make shitaki mushroom sandwiches" and hand them to the DM to eat. The...:That sort of "built in system for the Players" just rubs me the wrong way for my gaming style. Don't get me wrong, I have ZERO problem with a system that has something like this...but it shouldn't be based on any sort of "dice roll" or "difficulty 0" type mechanic. The reason is simple; it pushes the DM to limit PC 'control' in an, imho, sort of underhanded way. I mean, if I don't want the PC's to completely destroy an NPC's "secret" on a whim...I'll just not tell them to make any Difficulty 0 checks. This is, effectively, the DM saying "naaa...not gonna let you for...reasons".NOW, before everyone flies off the handle, as I said I'm NOT opposed to the concept. I just like to see it as a more "absolute, out of my hands completely" affair. Sounds contradictory, huh? But let me explain: With a Difficulty 0 method, I'm CHOOSING to let the players make it or not. I am the one in control of their narrative choice...but it also makes me feel like I'm 'cheating' if I don't allow a Diff-0 check/roll. The Players are under the illusion of being able to 'influence the story'. ... ... For me, an "absolute" system is better. One that outright gives players "4 Fate Points" that they can use at any time to ignore an dice roll or substitute a choice for a roll, or a system that gives the players "Drama Cards" (Masterbook has this; "Plot Deck"...taken from TORG, more or less, iirc). A player gets a set amount at the beginning of the game. If they don't use them, they can get "XP" (at least in my game) at the end of the session, or keep them. Or they can use them anytime they want during the session. I have no say in it. They use it whenever and I figure out a way to implement it into the story/combat/situation.That I like! A lot! <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    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I don't WANT to be ultimately "in control" of if a Player gets to 'gain story points'. To tempting to, ahem, 'game the system' to control the Players choices. I still remember once playing Star Frontiers and using the Masterbook cards and plot cards; during a fight with gangsters in an industrial part of a big city on Morgaine's World. The PC's were...not doing wall and bad guy reinforcements were on the way...and a player who LOVES combat whipped out a Plot Card! (unusual for him). What was it? Well, a "PC's family member shows up", basically. O_O I had his sister show up as one of the gang member reinforcements. <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="😈" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f608.png" title="Smiling face with horns    :smiling_imp:" data-shortname=":smiling_imp:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" /> He loved it! It made for a sudden change of game play...the PC's suddenly were now wondering what to do....why was she here? How did she get here? That, all because I, as GM had NO SAY in if a Player could/couldn't do something. Anyway, that's my 2¢.^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

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