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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8217489" data-attributes="member: 42582">I don't think you're questing for realism. You made that clear upthread.But I think the idea of &quot;rules-as-physics&quot; that you described isn't really being upheld if we have to make up ad hoc stories like &quot;dragon turtles do not prefer to eat their prey alive&quot; in order to reconcile the mechanics with the fiction.A consistent feature of D&amp;D is various sorts of monsters with special abilities that (i) add zest and (ii) add challenge. This fits with your 3 above. I think it puts pressure on your 1 and 2, because the consistency of the fiction is being compromised in order to achieve 3.It's like a pit that only opens when someone prods 8 to 10 feet in front of it. This can be a fine challenge in a D&amp;D-type game, but it's absolutely nonsense from any perspective on the fiction that looks for coherence or a verisimilitudinous world.The same is true of the super-tetanus pits, the ziggurat room, etc in White Plume Mountain.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8217489, member: 42582"] I don't think you're questing for realism. You made that clear upthread. But I think the idea of "rules-as-physics" that you described isn't really being upheld if we have to make up ad hoc stories like "dragon turtles do not prefer to eat their prey alive" in order to reconcile the mechanics with the fiction. A consistent feature of D&D is various sorts of monsters with special abilities that (i) add zest and (ii) add challenge. This fits with your 3 above. I think it puts pressure on your 1 and 2, because the consistency of the fiction is being compromised in order to achieve 3. It's like a pit that only opens when someone prods 8 to 10 feet in front of it. This can be a fine challenge in a D&D-type game, but it's absolutely nonsense from any perspective on the fiction that looks for coherence or a verisimilitudinous world. The same is true of the super-tetanus pits, the ziggurat room, etc in White Plume Mountain. [/QUOTE]

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