Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8998719" data-attributes="member: 6785785">There's no implication there. D&D's prep is meant to limit the players. It can also inspire, but a big part of what it does is it determines what is possible and what is not. Look at the example islands in the book. They're three pages each, with the same format and components. I would say that the D&D scenarios that have been prepared that fit in three pages or less are exceedingly rare. There are some one page dungeons out there, that's true, so it's certainly possible, though they tend to be very simple. But it's far from the standard. They're not hidden in the sense that the answer is not known ahead of time. The mystery is a question that the Strife Player poses to the players and then the answer is determined through play. It's not something that the Strife Player knows and doesn't share with the players. None of the information in an island entry consists of details known to the Strife Player that they will not share with the other players. There is no hidden information. There's a reason that the Strife Player is designated as a player as well. All the players, including the SP, are playing to find out. There is no pre-existing story, it emerges through play.  From Page 137 of the physical book:MYSTERIESWhat questions do the characters and trials raise? Highlight a few for the Strife Player to answer in play. In an island write-up, we call these questions mysteries. A good mystery is a loaded question. Include a partial answer with the question, and ask if maybe it's true. Infuse the questions with a strong point of view to help the Strife Player form their own thoughts- either supporting your hypothesis or rejecting it with it's easier to customize when you have something to work with. This is all the book says about mysteries. Then it offers some examples in the islands included. Looking at them, none of them privilege information for the Strife Player. Really? Your summary didn't really support that. In Agon, pages 136 and 137, the text offers the following steps to "Creating an Island". <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Concept</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Characters</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Conflicts</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mysteries</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Special Rewards</li> </ul>What five steps would you say these align with in D&D? And where can I find them laid out so plainly on a two-page spread? Once I determine all these details, will they all fit on one to three pages? Sure, but then you're running D&D in a way that's not really supported. Generally, some kind of dungeon map and the contents of the five rooms and dimensions are needed because so many of the rules interact with that... ranges, area of effects, movement, etc. You can come up with this on the fly, yes, but that's not really described at all in the texts. I can wing Agon to use even less prep, too.In a Wicked Age is one of the games that inspired Agon. Though it does use a different method to prepare for play, it's intentionally low-prep. It specifically states this in the text several times. D&D is not a game people typically cite as low prep, and it's not claimed at all in the text. In fact, the opposite is true. They often cite how much work and effort the DM has to put in, but assure the reader that it can be very satisfying. Yes, it's very easy to grasp. It also seems very easy to prep and run. It was designed intentionally to be so.</blockquote>

Verification