How do the D&D design team play D&D?

[Family]

How do the D&D design team play D&D?
Has anyone had a chance to play with them?
Do they play fast and loose, do they fight over "design intent" and rule wording? Are they tactical, social, rules lawyers, glory hogs, DMs?
Who brings the snacks, who has stories that tangente the night? Are any of them dice supersticious? Min/maxers?

 

[Scott_Rouse]

How do the D&D design team play D&D?
Has anyone had a chance to play with them?
Do they play fast and loose, do they fight over "design intent" and rule wording? Are they tactical, social, rules lawyers, glory hogs, DMs?
Who brings the snacks, who has stories that tangente the night? Are any of them dice supersticious? Min/maxers?

I use dice, roller skates, nitrous oxide, some of that mud they use on baseballs, an opossum (stuffed-not live), a pen (pencils are weak), Crown Royal, one of those big foam cowboy hats, vintage barbies, and pointy elf ears.

My game style is way more gamist than simulationist.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I use dice, roller skates, nitrous oxide, some of that mud they use on baseballs, an opossum (stuffed-not live), a pen (pencils are weak), Crown Royal, one of those big foam cowboy hats, vintage barbies, and pointy elf ears.

My game style is way more gamist than simulationist.

Weird, you play it almost exactly like me, except I'm a big simulationist.

"With your Taxidermy check, you can stuff that halfling about as well as this opossum is stuffed."

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I use dice, roller skates, nitrous oxide, some of that mud they use on baseballs, an opossum (stuffed-not live), a pen (pencils are weak), Crown Royal, one of those big foam cowboy hats, vintage barbies, and pointy elf ears.

My game style is way more gamist than simulationist.

You know, I can almost hear various posters sharpening their knives and going "Aha! That's why 4e turned out like this! It's all The_Rouse's fault!"

Personally I feel the emphasis on pens are what's killing the game, but YMMV.

 

[CharlesRyan]

How do the D&D design team play D&D?
Has anyone had a chance to play with them?
Do they play fast and loose, do they fight over "design intent" and rule wording? Are they tactical, social, rules lawyers, glory hogs, DMs?
Who brings the snacks, who has stories that tangente the night? Are any of them dice supersticious? Min/maxers?

I played with Rob Heinsoo a couple nights ago: Read about it here.

Rob (as might be expected) is exceedingly well versed in the rules, but not slavish in following them to the letter. Example:

Excited player: [describes creative solution to tactical problem that involves many steps and probably could not be pigeonholed into a standard-move-minor action sequence]

Rob: "That's creative and interesting. I'll let you attempt it."

Player: "And then for my minor action. . . ."

Since he was running the game, I can't comment too much on his play style (and back in my Renton days, I only ever played with him in playtests, so I don't have any additional insight), but as a DM he was colourful and animated and came up with some pretty interesting encounter challenges. He was definitely not afraid to kill characters (though he didn't manage to do so), but that may have had to do with the fact that it was a one-shot and not a campaign.

In my experience with other members of the D&D design team, with regards to dice superstition, social or tactical play, glory hogging, etc., I'd say all of the above. They're pretty much gamers like everyone else, and they run the gamut of play styles.

 

[arscott]

Some clues can be gathered from the PvP/Penny Arcade podcast.

It's pretty clear that Chris Perkins isn't a stickler for rules (for example, Binwin ought to have taken damage from Jim Darkmagic's Scorching Burst spell in the first episode).

 

[Zulithe]

seconding arscott's post. the Penny Arcade podcasts give you a good idea. Chris Perkins is the man.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Mearls as a GM is evocative, story oriented and very skilled at setting a scene that pulls me into immersion. And this was at a slapped together combat demo.

 

[CharlesRyan]

Chris Perkins is the man.

Chris is one of the most amazingly creative DMs I've ever encountered. (It's one of my great regrets that I never played in one of his games when I was in Renton, though he did play in one of my campaigns for several years.)

He also has astoundingly good handwriting, and is an incredible cartographer, even when it comes to drawing maps freehand on an unlined white board (even drawing in the grid lines by hand). Some of the maps from his after-hours office campaigns were left up on the conference room white boards for weeks--they were too much works of art to be erased!

 

[Thaumaturge]

I use dice, roller skates, nitrous oxide, some of that mud they use on baseballs, an opossum (stuffed-not live), a pen (pencils are weak), Crown Royal, one of those big foam cowboy hats, vintage barbies, and pointy elf ears.

My game style is way more gamist than simulationist.

.sig'd.

I don't suppose I could catch a game with you at GenCon, could I? I'll bring the Crown Royal, cowboy hats, and opossum (living or stuffed).

Thaumaturge.

Seriously.