"How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Do a dungoen crawl."

[Rechan]

So what do you propose, having to grind your skills?

No! I'm not saying it's a PROBLEM. Just FUNNY.

 

[Vorput]

Music soothes the savage beast.

 

[Mark]

Well, that sounds to me more like an assumption after the fact.

Nope, not really. The questions arises when you receive the skill points as to what you did with your off time (nobody I've known RPs the full 24/7 life of their character) and as you place the skill points, the question is being answered. There's no rule requiring points only be spent only in areas displayed at the gametable precisely for that reason. It's a pretty easy concept to grasp and for obvious reasons it's understood.


As to requiring the RPing of latrine use, let us know how that goes over at your games. I've never heard of such a thing being regularly required as an RPing facet but I suppose you must have some interesting take on it to do so. Do many of your players turn up their nose at the idea?

 

[Wiseblood]

I must have misunderstood the OP. I thought Rechan meant skill levels in games.
FWIW Runequest has a practice sort of mechanic. You roll d% agains skills that you have used during an adventure if you beat your skill % your skill level goes up. When your skill level starts to approach 100% it gets harder to improve and you don't get better at the stuff you never use.

 

[Wik]

"Practice? We're talking about practice? Not a game...practice!"

The quote went something like that. In any game I guess you could spend a session ever now and then with the players practicing their skills, and trying out new spells that they don't have access to yet. Heck, it might even be fun. But there is a reason practice rules were eventually dropped from the game. People didn't like them and they didn't use them.

This is a game, it is not a realistic portrayal of anything. THere are plenty of things in the game that are silly when you break them apart and look at them for realism. But if this is really a problem for you then as DM change it and fix it. But I don't think it is a problem for anyone.

He acutally said "practice" thirteen times. Which always cracks me up.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

That's not what your high school was like?

Yeah, that's why I never scored with the cheer quad captain. She never dated below 16th level. Pfff, what a prima donna.

 

[Rechan]

Nope, not really. The questions arises when you receive the skill points as to what you did with your off time (nobody I've known RPs the full 24/7 life of their character) and as you place the skill points, the question is being answered.

Except that assumes there's even off time at all! Many time sensitive games don't even allow down time. If you're for instance spending all your time in the underdark, trying to not be noticed, you can't exactly whip out your tuba and go to town.

And the speed with which you can level, there may not be times. I've seen PCs who leveled in one go, from one end of the dungeon to the other. One can't exactly practice Profession (Sailor) while killin kobolds.

The point being it's a handwave to avoid this discussion.

 

[Crothian]

Except that assumes there's even off time at all! Many time sensitive games don't even allow down time.

What is a sensitive game?

Some of these things are just gaming style and not related to the game being played. I always allow for down time in my campaigns. 23 straight weeks of being in the underdark fighting for one's life at all moments is boring to me. There are games out there (to get away from D&D the only game you seem to want to talk about) that one has to use the skill they want to improve. There are a few games were the only way to improve skills is to use it and the more you use it the better the chance the skill improves.

 

[Nifft]

Yeah, that's why I never scored with the cheer quad captain. She never dated below 16th level. Pfff, what a prima donna.

You can't blame a girl for preferring a man who can attack four times in six seconds.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Mark]

What is a sensitive game?

I think that's one where the Rechan insists you didn't practice your tuba so he can make fun of the character. It's kinda funny that someone would set up a ridiculous premise and then get his grundies in a bunch over receiving rational answers. Anyway, at least the rules allow for such explanations even if the OP wants to pretend they don't. Is this actually a not-so-subtle edition war thread?