A library community center.
Okay. Are many of these players young? There seems to be some maturity issues, so I’m trying to understand.
It is a very common thing said by the bulk of players.
Sure. We we toss around vague words to cover vague concepts, everything sounds great.
I don’t think that the idea of actuons mattering in an RPG is vague at all. This is why I’m struggling with the question. There seems to be two things going on; the players are saying that when what they’re really trying to say something else, and you genuinely seem unsure what it means.
Both of those are surprising to me.
Of course, we it gets down to specifics it all falls apart. This is why I asked for more specific examples.
So NOT in my game.....forget about MY game. In OTHER games this happens. So for example a player "wanting their actions to matter" has a character that attempts to open a door. The character finds the door locked, so the player whines about "actions matter" . And what does the DM do....other then alter game reality and tell the player they win D&D forever?
I don’t know what “alter the game reality” means. You say it a lot, but it’s really not clear. I mean… game reality gets altered all the time. There’s a live goblin… the fighter hits it for 14 points of damage and it dies. The evil wizard casts a fireball and the barbarian fails his save, and he drops to zero hit points. These are examples of altering the game reality, and they’re always happening.
So what are you actually saying?
As for examples, I can offer some from a game of Stonetop I just ran tonight.
The PCs are on a journey to Three Coven Lake to meet with the hillfolk tribe called the Myst Walkers. They need information about a Hdour, a corrupted shaman from another tribe who has been causing trouble for the PCs and their town.
It’s a long journey of many days. As the PCs reach the flatlands, they need to follow the river to the south. I explain to them that they can continue right beside the river, but it will bring them into the open. They'll be easily seen from afar. Or they can stick to the woods, which will make them less noticeable, but will take longer.
It’s a pretty basic choice, but their decision will matter. It’ll affect what may happen to them, and the length of their journey. They opt for the open fields by the river. We roll to see if any events occur and a warband for another tribe, the Red Spears, comes upon the PCs.
I ask them if they want to try and flee to safety or if they stand their ground. One of the PCs is of Hillfolk lineage so he asks of he knows anything about the Red Spears. I tell him to make a Know Things roll. He gets a success, so I tell him that the Red Spears are the largest tribe in the flatlands, and they’re gifted horsemen and warriors, but are not typically hostile without cause.
The PCs then decide to hail the riders and seek parley. The PC who made the roll got advantage from the successful Know Things roll, and he rolled another full success. The Red Spears greeted them warmly and offered to share a meal with them.
Other games and other GMs might have done this differently. I recently played in a 5e game where I decisions didn’t really matter. Our characters were on our way back to our hometown when we came across some bandits. Our bard tried to convince them not to mess with us. The GM called for a Persuasion roll. He didn’t share the DC. The player rolled an 18. The bandits attacked.
It felt like the fight was a foregone conclusion. That our actions didn’t matter, the game was going to go the way the Gm wanted it to go.
Players wanting their actions to matter is a pretty clear thing.
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