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*Pathfinder & Starfinder
In praise of the Healer Theme
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<blockquote data-quote="mlund" data-source="post: 5930926" data-attributes="member: 50304"><p>The shift is to empower the DM with options for customizing the game at the table through optional rules modules instead of <strong>Game Designers</strong> making a ton of assumptions and building a large and monolithic system. Hence the difference between Core and Modules.</p><p></p><p>There's never been a stated goal of "moving power back" from the Players to the DM. The rules could never create such a shift because no player or DM has any power that wasn't put there by group consensus. The only thing the rules can do is help manage expectations and make options easier to implement mechanically.</p><p></p><p>The most common default expectation I've ever noticed in all my years of D&D is that when someone tries to put together a game and has you design a character they aren't going to take a Sharpee to the PHB or a player's character sheet without trying to sell you on it with something other than "because I'm the DM and it's <strong>my</strong> game."</p><p></p><p>Heck, most of the time it is as simple as saying, "It's a lot of work to put this together and that feature is a giant headache to run. Can we do this instead?" That's always worked for me as a DM. But if those headaches start getting too frequent, too large, or too common between DMs at different tables I start to question things like how good a fit the game itself is or how good a fit as DM I am.</p><p></p><p>More to the thread point: If I have to ride herd over ala carte feat selections in the Core rules I think the designers made a mistake designing one or more feats.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In most well-functioning groups it isn't a binary situation. If someone objects to a limit they argue the point to the group. If a compromise or consensus can't be reached one or more people leave the group for greener pastures. I've seen cases where compromise meant the would-be DM turns in the screen and plays while someone else does the thankless heavy lifting. I've seen the rare ugly case where the DM was kicked out or stormed out because he couldn't cope with not being the boss of everyone else at the table.</p><p></p><p>Most of the time, though, people are at the table because they enjoy cooperating to play a game and they do it for fun - ergo, they tend to be a bit more agreeable than all that.</p><p></p><p>- Marty Lund</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mlund, post: 5930926, member: 50304"] The shift is to empower the DM with options for customizing the game at the table through optional rules modules instead of [B]Game Designers[/B] making a ton of assumptions and building a large and monolithic system. Hence the difference between Core and Modules. There's never been a stated goal of "moving power back" from the Players to the DM. The rules could never create such a shift because no player or DM has any power that wasn't put there by group consensus. The only thing the rules can do is help manage expectations and make options easier to implement mechanically. The most common default expectation I've ever noticed in all my years of D&D is that when someone tries to put together a game and has you design a character they aren't going to take a Sharpee to the PHB or a player's character sheet without trying to sell you on it with something other than "because I'm the DM and it's [b]my[/b] game." Heck, most of the time it is as simple as saying, "It's a lot of work to put this together and that feature is a giant headache to run. Can we do this instead?" That's always worked for me as a DM. But if those headaches start getting too frequent, too large, or too common between DMs at different tables I start to question things like how good a fit the game itself is or how good a fit as DM I am. More to the thread point: If I have to ride herd over ala carte feat selections in the Core rules I think the designers made a mistake designing one or more feats. In most well-functioning groups it isn't a binary situation. If someone objects to a limit they argue the point to the group. If a compromise or consensus can't be reached one or more people leave the group for greener pastures. I've seen cases where compromise meant the would-be DM turns in the screen and plays while someone else does the thankless heavy lifting. I've seen the rare ugly case where the DM was kicked out or stormed out because he couldn't cope with not being the boss of everyone else at the table. Most of the time, though, people are at the table because they enjoy cooperating to play a game and they do it for fun - ergo, they tend to be a bit more agreeable than all that. - Marty Lund [/QUOTE]
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