How ENWorld has tainted my love of D&D

[Saeviomagy]

I read rules, my brain heuristically does those power level comparisons. When I've got nothing better to do I'll think through the statistics of... stuff. D&D being number heavy in that regard is a good target for my brain to work on.

My job is at least partly based around finding those odd corner cases of numbers in a system, because I'm good at it. It's no real surprise when I pick up the same stuff in a roleplaying game.

Now, does it affect my enjoyment of D&D? Only in so far as when I pick a concept that has poor mechanical support I'm aware of it. Mind you, if I wasn't aware, I'd probably be playing characters with poor mechanical support and wondering why I was sucking.

In other ways the effect is a lot more positive. I'm not going to accidentally tpk my players with an encounter built out of needle-fang drake swarms. I'm not going to look at a rule and decide that it looks too powerful and make wild changes which don't fix the problem. I'm not going to accidentally build an infinite damage or indestructable character, or not notice when a player does the same to me.

In fact the only time that knowing the mechanics of the game interferes with enjoyment is when the mechanics don't fit how play works: but even then, I'm aware of that before the situation occurs - someone without that knowledge would just be hit in the face by the issue mid-game.

 

[roguerouge]

Thanks for sharing, but that's not at all what this thread is about.

Please read the entire message of the OP before posting critiques.

I feel like everytime I read these threads, I get to see the man-behind-the-curtain a little too well. Personally, I'd rather just believe that OZ is great and powerful.

Once again I know it's my fault. Anyone else have this experience?

So, I said that no, I didn't have this experience and said why, which was that seeing the mechanics behind the curtain of narrative helped me participate more thoroughly in the story, because it helped me avoid having my character become increasingly powerless as the plot advanced.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I find it really strange to think that knowing the rules to the game your playing somehow cheapens or lessens it - especially when the game is founded on you knowing those rules.