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

[Janx]

We're talking campaigns styles not one adventure where the PCs are busy for 5 straight hours. But even of the published adventures very few of them are like this.

as has come up in the plot threads, I have played in campaigns with very little down-time for PCs. Being in dangerous territory, with things to get done, leaves very little time for other pursuits.

I know rechan is just poking fun at this, ala Murphy's Rules. So I know he's not overly distraught over the problem.

One good reason RPGs tend to work the way they do (XP that can be spend to increase any skill, not just the ones you used) is that tracking skill usage individually would take more work. On a computer, it is trivial, as seen in ElderScrolls. But then, in Elder scrolls, i can max out my sneak skills with a rubber-band and a dark corner...

As some have suggested, it is assumed PCs practiced in down-time, for any skill increase that didn't see use. Obviously, that's an assumption, but one you have to make if you want to keep verisimulitude.

Got read my recent blog articles for not nit-picking rules, and spreading XP over time. They address what rechan is talking about, to some extent.

 

[Raven Crowking]

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

Cheers, -- N

My experience is that most women prefer men who can last longer than that, but YMMV.

 

[Pseudopsyche]

Well, I think we've all noticed that D&D is a game, not a scientific theory. During a fight IRL, you don't really have the luxury of moving 60 feet while your enemies stand still. IRL, you rarely go from full effectiveness (positive hp) to unconscious with no intermediary states. Undoubtedly real-life self-improvement is continuous, not discrete (level-based).

That said, I'll take the OP in the spirit of a momentary pause to acknowledge the silliness inherent in all games that reflect real life. Bishops don't always move in 45-degree angles. You don't go around everywhere breaking open other people's chests the way you do in so many console RPGs. I'm not really a thimble that owns a hotel on Broadway.

Maybe this reminder is a valuable one. D&D is a game. Share how you've had fun with it, but let's not get too worked up over how other people choose to play a game.

 

[Rechan]

The only reason I have my "grundies in a bunch" is because people are taking this way more seriously than I am.

Does Jerry Senfield have to deal with people being realistic and precise when he makes a funny observation?

 

[Mark]

The only reason I have my "grundies in a bunch" is because people are taking this way more seriously than I am.

Does Jerry Senfield have to deal with people being realistic and precise when he makes a funny observation?

I didn't see the part of your post about airline food.

 

[Crothian]

The only reason I have my "grundies in a bunch" is because people are taking this way more seriously than I am.

Does Jerry Senfield have to deal with people being realistic and precise when he makes a funny observation?

Jerry has the advantage of being funny. What you are getting is the internet version of "Get off the stage" and your being heckled.

 

[fuzzlewump]

Jerry has the advantage of being funny. What you are getting is the internet version of "Get off the stage" and your being heckled.

If it's a free comedy club, maybe one should just walk out and go to the thousands more on the street, rather than booing and heckling? But, hey, if it's not against the rules who am I to judge?

 

[Starfox]

The best comedy always has a base in serious issues.

 

[Jhaelen]

99% of all XP systems are completely dissociated from the game world. (The exception would be the RQ-style systems where using a skill or practicing a skill gives you the opportunity to improve it, but those are the rare fruit on the RPG tree.)

Hmm. Well, Runequest is different from most game systems in that it doesn't use xp of any kind. It _only_ uses checks to mark skills that have been used successfully and can therefore be increased faster than if you just invested the time to train in them.

There are quite a few systems, though, that use xp but only allow raising skills that have seen use. Actually, all systems I'm currently playing or have played recently (with the notable exception of D&D) do this: Ars Magica, Earthdawn, Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye).

Actually, I think D&D is the odd one out here.

 

[roguerouge]

Sort of like how everyone ASSUMES that in an RPG, people use the bathroom. But even when you explore dungeons, you never find latrines or bedrooms. Even in published modules.

OT: Paizo APs have bathrooms and waste pits. And wasn't Gary Gygax fond of hiding little treasures in latrines? Or was that intestinal tracks?/OT