If an NPC is telling the truth, what's the Insight DC to know they're telling the truth?

[Charlaquin]

Umm ... forums are sometimes a horrible way to communicate ideas and concepts?

I have no issue with people having different styles of play. I can only do my best to explain the way I run games I do and why. I take what I consider a "middle of the road approach".

I'll just reiterate one of my first postings on this topic. I don't get why this is such a big deal. The biggest difference is that I don't use the "ignore the dice" approach when it comes to some obstacles such as handling simple traps. I allow people to declare their action and intent as a skill check. They're even allowed to roll and give me the number. If it's not clear what they're trying to accomplish I'll ask.

That's all. It's what works for me. If I misunderstood what you were trying to say I apologize.

Just so you know, the bolded section is why you keep getting people insisting that you don’t understand their style. You keep saying that you don’t understand it, and we, in an attempt at good faith discussion, take your word for it and explain why it’s a big deal to us. Then instead of saying “ok, that’s not a big deal to me, but I can see why it is to you,” you argue against the reasons we give for why it’s a big deal to us.

I really don’t care if it’s a big deal to you. If you want to know why it’s a big deal to me, I’ll do my best to explain it. When I do so, I am not trying to convince you that you should think it’s a big deal, I don’t care whether or not you think it’s a big deal. I am only telling you the reasons it’s a big deal to me, because you asked me to.

 

[Satyrn]

What? You don't want yet another 2,000 comment thread about the minuscule yet VERY IMPORTANT differences between DMs that do things one way, and DMs that do things another way?

I mean, it's kept me off the streets, selling my body for ambien!

No, i don't really want another thread like that . . . unless there's a Realism subplot. Then I'm all in. I've got so many jokes on the topic, but Max and Lanefan were the only ones in that thread who were laughing along, I'm saving the jokes for a bigger audience.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Swarmkeeper]

I'm only in if we can work in surrealism next time.

I mean, sure, some DMs are all about TTRPGs and realism, but when was the last time you stanned for surrealism?

A few brief words are necessary to insure that the reader has actually obtained a game form which he or she desires. Of the two approaches to hobby games today, one is best defined as the surrealism school and the other as the game school.

AD&D is assuredly on adherent of the former school. It does not stress any fun (in the author’s opinion an absurd effort at best considering the topic and the subjective nature of fun!). It does little to attempt to simulate anything either. ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is first and foremost a game of surrealism.

This is not to say that where it does not interfere with the flow of the absurdities and non-sequiturs that some consideration of "fun" hasn't been attempted, but neither is a randomly annoying approach to play discouraged. In all cases, however, the reader should understand that AD&D is designed to be a bizarre and thought-provoking pastime, something which can fill a few hours or send you to endless days of medical supervision in the local asylum.

For surrealism, AD&D is unsurpassed. For fun and excitement, as a realistic simulation of things from the realm of make-believe, or even as a reflection of medieval or ancient warfare or culture or society, it can be deemed only a dismal failure. Readers who seek the latter must search elsewhere.

SAMPLE TABLE:

Mime encounters can be with dead rail stations or lively ocean currents, thus making it difficult for the party to distinguish each encounter for what it is. (In fact, the encounter could be with a sublimely drunk volcano only belching itself as a mime, a clown, or even a deflated dirigible.) You may find it useful to use the sub-table below to see which sort of mime encounter takes place:

00 – 10 Damaged king dog
11 – 25 Melting cloud
26 – 35 Fresh cheese
36 – 50 Typical non-mime
51 – 65 Saucy tart
66 – 75 Control images
76 – 85 Oblique addicted regret
86 – 90 Arithmetic shift
91 – 92 Nobler bean concussion
93 – 94 Reality studio
95 – 98 Soft machine
99 – 00 The big holder

I roll Insight, 18. Truth! How many tarts can I fit in my backpack?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'm only in if we can work in surrealism next time.

I mean, sure, some DMs are all about TTRPGs and realism, but when was the last time you stanned for surrealism?

The last campaign I was in had multiple sessions set in "The Dreaming" so, just last year, I guess.

I have to ask... the connection between 'Realism' and 'immersion' is obvious. What'd be the corresponding player-state that'd be the crowning, tenuous, achievement of Surrealism?

 

[robus]

The last campaign I was in had multiple sessions set in "The Dreaming" so, just last year, I guess.

I have to ask... the connection between 'Realism' and 'immersion' is obvious. What'd be the corresponding player-state that'd be the crowning, tenuous, achievement of Surrealism?

"Enlightenment"

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Tony Vargas]

The players would be squatting on old bones and excrement and rusty iron, in a white blaze of heat, a panorama of naked idiots stretching to the horizon. Complete silence - their speech centers are destroyed - except for the crackle of sparks and the popping of singed flesh as they apply electrodes up and down the spine. White smoke of burning flesh hangs in the motionless air, as the flesh jerks in the fire with insect agony.

Have you been re-reading The Naked Lunch?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*