Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 7205236" data-attributes="member: 6688937">That's not quite what &quot;dissociated&quot; means, I think: &quot;Dissociated mechanics can also be thought of as mechanics for which the characters have no functional explanations.&quot; From <a href="http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/17231/roleplaying-games/dissociated-mechanics-a-brief-primer" target="_blank">here</a>. Although I should point out that I don't buy into the concept very much myself, I feel it falls apart the closer you look at it.So a 100HP Fighter takes a 16 point &quot;hit&quot;. Its completely within (Gygax's) reasoning then to narratively describe this mechanical outcome as a complete miss (barring other factors like poison that introduce other mechanical complications.)* In fact, this can happen 6 times for that fighter without worry, but the 7th time, is suddenly a deadly matter. Now, the player notes this, because a number on the sheet tells him that he has only 4 HP left. How does the character note this when all he sees are his attacker's swing going wide?...can you feel how much luck you have at any given time? how about divine favor, if you believe in that sort of thing? Skill?....does the fighter lose &quot;skill&quot; as the fight goes into round number 7? Why? How is his skill in avoiding this hit any different from the oft-derided-as-&quot;dissociated&quot; ability to trip or CaGI an opponent in 4e? (or Alexandrian's one-handed catch possibility?) Does he suddenly forget how to dodge or deflect the blow?** I submit that if the Fighter's max HP is only 31, rather than 100HP that the situation is precisely the same as Alexandrian's one-handed catch example. Its just a little....squishier...mathematically. AFAICT, the only substantive difference is in how familiar people are with HP. *This makes the &quot;to hit&quot; roll dissociated as well, (especially with 1 minute rounds) since the roll has no directly associative event in the gameworld.**If &quot;exhaustion&quot; plays a part in your response...why doesn't the Fighter lose HP when running across the room, or jumping or climbing, or marching all day? Why do Old-school character's not have more HP as soon as they wake up?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ratskinner, post: 7205236, member: 6688937"] That's not quite what "dissociated" means, I think: "Dissociated mechanics can also be thought of as mechanics for which the characters have no functional explanations." From [URL="http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/17231/roleplaying-games/dissociated-mechanics-a-brief-primer"]here[/URL]. Although I should point out that I don't buy into the concept very much myself, I feel it falls apart the closer you look at it. So a 100HP Fighter takes a 16 point "hit". Its completely within (Gygax's) reasoning then to narratively describe this mechanical outcome as a complete miss (barring other factors like poison that introduce other mechanical complications.)* In fact, this can happen 6 times for that fighter without worry, but the 7th time, is suddenly a deadly matter. Now, the player notes this, because a number on the sheet tells him that he has only 4 HP left. How does the character note this when all he sees are his attacker's swing going wide?...can you feel how much [I]luck [/I]you have at any given time? how about [I]divine favor[/I], if you believe in that sort of thing? Skill?....does the fighter lose "skill" as the fight goes into round number 7? Why? How is his skill in avoiding this hit any different from the oft-derided-as-"dissociated" ability to trip or CaGI an opponent in 4e? (or Alexandrian's one-handed catch possibility?) Does he suddenly forget how to dodge or deflect the blow?** I submit that if the Fighter's max HP is only 31, rather than 100HP that the situation is precisely the same as Alexandrian's one-handed catch example. Its just a little....squishier...mathematically. AFAICT, the only substantive difference is in how familiar people are with HP. *This makes the "to hit" roll dissociated as well, (especially with 1 minute rounds) since the roll has no directly associative event in the gameworld. **If "exhaustion" plays a part in your response...why doesn't the Fighter lose HP when running across the room, or jumping or climbing, or marching all day? Why do Old-school character's not have more HP as soon as they wake up? [/QUOTE]

Verification