Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="aramis erak" data-source="post: 8863144" data-attributes="member: 6779310">That's often only doable with the coöperation of the focus players.QFT, but there's a corollary:When the GM asks for feedback, give it.When the GM asks for a decision, make it and share it.I'll add one:Learn where the line is between enough and too much.It's easy to work with too little - just add more in play.When you've got too much, especially backstory, the GM is far more likely to ignore the whole shebang.Likewise, too much detail in describing actions often leads to, &quot;no, you instead wound up&quot; and other uncomfortable retcons. (Especially in Trad play.) For actions, limit yourself to the method, not the effect, and state the effect desired separately &quot;I swing my sword at him, ...&quot; (method),&quot;... in hopes a hit to the sore spot impairs his fighting.&quot; (effect desired stated as a goal not an action) &quot; And it's far better than &quot;I slam my sword into his ribs&quot; - why? Because it leaves room for all 5 classic failure modes - simple miss, miss due to target action, hit for no effect, hit for partial effect, missed but got partial effect. Those could look like:Simple miss: &quot;But you misjudged your reach&quot;Miss due to foe: &quot;But he sees it soon enough to dodge.&quot;Hit for no effect: &quot;your swing isn't dead on, and seems to have hit his armor instead.&quot;Hit for partial effect: &quot;You hit him, but not as hard as needed, causing him a bit more damage but not enough to impair him&quot;Miss for partial effect: &quot;Your swing is a bit shy, but he's out of position now.&quot; (Lesser penalty appropriate)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="aramis erak, post: 8863144, member: 6779310"] That's often only doable with the coöperation of the focus players. QFT, but there's a corollary: When the GM asks for feedback, give it. When the GM asks for a decision, make it and share it. I'll add one: [B]Learn where the line is between enough and too much.[/B] It's easy to work with too little - just add more in play. When you've got too much, especially backstory, the GM is far more likely to ignore the whole shebang. Likewise, too much detail in describing actions often leads to, "no, you instead wound up" and other uncomfortable retcons. (Especially in Trad play.) For actions, limit yourself to the method, not the effect, and state the effect desired separately "I swing my sword at him, ..." (method),"... in hopes a hit to the sore spot impairs his fighting." (effect desired stated as a goal not an action) " And it's far better than "I slam my sword into his ribs" - why? Because it leaves room for all 5 classic failure modes - simple miss, miss due to target action, hit for no effect, hit for partial effect, missed but got partial effect. Those could look like: Simple miss: "But you misjudged your reach" Miss due to foe: "But he sees it soon enough to dodge." Hit for no effect: "your swing isn't dead on, and seems to have hit his armor instead." Hit for partial effect: "You hit him, but not as hard as needed, causing him a bit more damage but not enough to impair him" Miss for partial effect: "Your swing is a bit shy, but he's out of position now." (Lesser penalty appropriate) [/QUOTE]

Verification