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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5484917" data-attributes="member: 2067">Affecting things other than creatures with your abilities shouldn't be so strange that it requires "every contingency planned for." It's really something quite basic to do in a game of imagination. "I have a sword, so presumably, I can cut the rope," shouldn't force the DM to weigh the possible balance effects of cutting every rope in every combat that the party comes to. "I blast my enemies with frigid ice, so, presumably, I can keep my beer cold" is in the same boat. "I burn my enemies with fire, so I can start a campfire," should be the same way. But requiring the DM to judge each of those situations individually means that the DM is being asked quite a bit. Some sort of rule or guideline would help immensely in smoothing out play. Do you have ways that your DMs have judged this that you find especially good? How have you judged this in the past? I'm asking this as much for when my turn comes up DMing as I am for my current slightly newbie DM (whose fears and concerns are very valid!). I would like to see the party avenger and paladin illuminating dark corridors with the light of their deities, and cutting furniture to ribbons, and otherwise causing chaos on the battlefield with the things that are there. And I want them to feel free to do it without asking me first in each situation if it's OK that they do that. Because for me, it's a hassle to say "Yes, of course," each time. I just want it to happen. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I think that's exactly what the DM now is afraid of, and I certainly don't want to inflict that on her. I don't want to have to make her make judgement calls about how much rain fell in the region in the last month, how dry those pine needles are, how far the fire is likely to spread, and the ramifications thereof just because I cast Fireball. It might be a little realistic, and my character would certainly be amused, but I don't think it would make her job fun, and that means it's not something I really want to do. If she has an extended adventure planned in sylvan woods, I don't want my booms to result in "Well, the ancient Eladrin city has been burned to the ground thanks to your level 1 fire at-will, and the adventure is over." <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> I also don't want her to have to hand-wave it, "Well, the fire WOULD have burned down the eladrin city, but, um, magic, a wizard did it, shut up shut up play my adventure." But there's gotta be a middle ground between "The forest burns like California" and "The only things you can burn are specifically designated creatures that are there for you to burn." The first is too much realism, messing with the DM's fun, the second is too little, making me feel metagame instead of role-playing game, when my character's central motive is to light stuff on fire. I'm trying to see where people have put that middle ground, to see what I might yoink. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Hmm....not a bad idea, offering to take damage if I fail. We still have the issue of asking the DM to make a bunch of judgement calls, but this might help her feel like there's some balance going on. How would you use Page 42 to cover some typical examples of interactive terrain? Maybe if I had some examples, I could envision how to raise the issue to my DM (or how to formulate specific powers for doing this thing). Yeah, that's a problem...but I get the impression that a DM isn't just going to want to let players do this on a regular basis. It's kind of a ramp-up in power form what I think 4e assumes as the defualt. I guess maybe if you make it something that enemies can do, too, or something that damages/affects creatures regardless of allegiance, maybe that'll balance it out? Hmm...</blockquote>

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