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I wish D&D could have been more heroic
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<blockquote data-quote="JohnBrown" data-source="post: 630471" data-attributes="member: 2243"><p>Hey Edena,</p><p></p><p>I hope your doing well. My question is what do you mean by heroic? After reading your first post, I got the impression from your examples your looking for a more romantic version of heroic. Fighting against overwhelming odds, sacrificing one’s life to save their comrades, etc. Most of your examples also share a sense of grandeur, as well. </p><p></p><p>If that is what you are looking for, then everyone is right in saying that it depends on the people you are playing with. Those things only happen if the players and DM allow and/or encourage them to happen. That would be the “role” in role-playing. Even then (at least in my experience) those times that are truly memorable are just as much the work of serendipity as they are of planning. Like everything thing else in life, truly great moments happen when you least expect them. The only thing you can do is to keep putting yourself in positions where serendipity works in your favor. In other words, keep playing long enough, with enough different people, and something great will eventually happen. </p><p></p><p>Some of your examples also seem to lend some credence to Saeviomagy point above. If these sorts of character traits are common amongst your characters, keep this in mind: The supporting characters in works of fiction aren’t flesh and blood people. They get along, or at least put up with, the quirks of the main character because they are written that way. </p><p></p><p>For example, early on in her gaming career, a player in my group wanted to make her dwarf deathly afraid of large bodies of water. She thought that was an interesting character trait. I pointed out to her during a one-on-one discussion that she just limited the whole party to the types of adventures that they could go on (no aquatic adventures) and how the party could travel (no boat trips). Was this what she wanted to do? She hadn’t thought of if it like that, and while keeping the trait she played it a lot less debilitating. You can’t always expect other people to share your same vision and a little compromise will go a long way in giving everyone a chance to act heroically. I have seen the abuse of the phrase “but that’s how my character would behave” break-up more games than I can count.</p><p> </p><p>D&D heroism is also in the eye of the beholder. In my opinion at least, it is just as heroic when “roll” players plan and execute a surgical strike against their opponents. Straight “core” classes and abilities used, but not abused, to the best of their ability. As both a DM and a player, those times where it was done well were just as enjoyable, just as memorable, and just as “heroic” as any heavy role-playing session.</p><p></p><p>D&D offers both types of heroism, and in my opinion, too much of either is a bad thing. The best D&D games aren’t just pen-and-paper Diablo, nor are they Amateur Thespian Workshop. Perhaps, if you are not finding the grandeur you seek, simply trying to find the pleasure in another style of play might be the answer, at least until something more to your liking comes along.</p><p></p><p>All of that said, if you are having problems finding a game, and you ever move to St. Louis, you can always join mine. Currently, my players are heading off to Frost Giant Jarl’s pad to lay some much-needed smack down. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>Nice talking to you again,</p><p></p><p>John</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JohnBrown, post: 630471, member: 2243"] Hey Edena, I hope your doing well. My question is what do you mean by heroic? After reading your first post, I got the impression from your examples your looking for a more romantic version of heroic. Fighting against overwhelming odds, sacrificing one’s life to save their comrades, etc. Most of your examples also share a sense of grandeur, as well. If that is what you are looking for, then everyone is right in saying that it depends on the people you are playing with. Those things only happen if the players and DM allow and/or encourage them to happen. That would be the “role” in role-playing. Even then (at least in my experience) those times that are truly memorable are just as much the work of serendipity as they are of planning. Like everything thing else in life, truly great moments happen when you least expect them. The only thing you can do is to keep putting yourself in positions where serendipity works in your favor. In other words, keep playing long enough, with enough different people, and something great will eventually happen. Some of your examples also seem to lend some credence to Saeviomagy point above. If these sorts of character traits are common amongst your characters, keep this in mind: The supporting characters in works of fiction aren’t flesh and blood people. They get along, or at least put up with, the quirks of the main character because they are written that way. For example, early on in her gaming career, a player in my group wanted to make her dwarf deathly afraid of large bodies of water. She thought that was an interesting character trait. I pointed out to her during a one-on-one discussion that she just limited the whole party to the types of adventures that they could go on (no aquatic adventures) and how the party could travel (no boat trips). Was this what she wanted to do? She hadn’t thought of if it like that, and while keeping the trait she played it a lot less debilitating. You can’t always expect other people to share your same vision and a little compromise will go a long way in giving everyone a chance to act heroically. I have seen the abuse of the phrase “but that’s how my character would behave” break-up more games than I can count. D&D heroism is also in the eye of the beholder. In my opinion at least, it is just as heroic when “roll” players plan and execute a surgical strike against their opponents. Straight “core” classes and abilities used, but not abused, to the best of their ability. As both a DM and a player, those times where it was done well were just as enjoyable, just as memorable, and just as “heroic” as any heavy role-playing session. D&D offers both types of heroism, and in my opinion, too much of either is a bad thing. The best D&D games aren’t just pen-and-paper Diablo, nor are they Amateur Thespian Workshop. Perhaps, if you are not finding the grandeur you seek, simply trying to find the pleasure in another style of play might be the answer, at least until something more to your liking comes along. All of that said, if you are having problems finding a game, and you ever move to St. Louis, you can always join mine. Currently, my players are heading off to Frost Giant Jarl’s pad to lay some much-needed smack down. :D Nice talking to you again, John [/QUOTE]
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