"Just House Rule It" and the New DM

[Reynard]

So I'm not sure this "house rule it" deal will impact new DMs a whole lot, if at all, esp. as house-ruling/adjudicating is likely to take place mostly out of combat. As to how it will affect the VTT, well, it'll cause absolute havoc if people are actually modifying rules, but I daresay the VTT doesn't LET you modify rules, indeed, I'll be faintly surprised if it even lets you bring in non-standard monsters.

I don't think the VTT is supposed to adjudicate anything. There's no link between, say, the dice roller and action resolution that I am aware of. Unless someone knows something more specific, I would wager that it is in fact little more than a virtual tabletop. Of course, you are probably right about monsters in one sense: there'll be no customized minis to put on the VTT.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Funny, the new game I joined just last week (incidentally the first time I've ever played D&D outside of Baldur's Gate/Torment/Icewind Dale) had a metric truckload of house rules.

All which I agreed with immediately! The SRD is a bloated abomination and the DM had trimmed a lot of the cruft, though not enough by my standards, naturally.

Which, of course, indicates that YOU are already quite familiar with the rules to the point where you know just where you like them to be changed and thus not quite who I was talking about. You're not just an average stranger getting together with others to play. Believe it or not, not everyone becomes THAT deeply involved in the rules (don't be misled into thinking so by spending a lot of time hanging out on message boards discussing the RAW and house rules.)

I repeat - a certain level of consistency IS important so that when strangers get together to play, or we discuss the workings of the game we don't have to first list tons of house rules to get people to understand what we're trying to accomplish in our particular games. It is useful, perhaps even necessary, to have a COMMON basis of rules from which to diverge.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I don't think so. The intent, as I understand it, is to simply allow people to move their minis around in a virtual environment, not actually resolve actions.

But that in and of itself opens up the community. Clubs, game days and conventions have traditionally been the ways in which otherwise isolated players interact. The VTT, if it works right, will change that. there'll be a lot more interaction between isolated players and groups. I guess what I am wondering is does that imply a need for a greater deal of consistency -- or at least suggest that those games that hew closer to the GAW (game-as-written) will be more successful and therefore bolster the GAW? Or, will a greater exposure to more varied interpretations/house rules create a community that is in fact more open to variation -- not just in theory, but in actual play?

I know that most people don't take part in the overall "gaming community", due in large part I think to general physical isolation. But the intent with 4E is obviously to open up that community through the internet -- Gleemax, DDI -- so there'll be less isolation.

I think it is an interesting question and worth considering, as a member of a larger "gaming community" - not just on messageboards, but by DMing at conventions and game days and the like.

I get the feeling that the DDI will provide me with a larger base of players from which to choose, and therefore a greater number of players who will accept my campaign setting and house rules without complaint. Not that my game is particularly idiosyncratic, but there are few players in my area. If you want to play in my game, you first need to read my wiki and see if you like what's written there. That's true if you're going to play in my basement, or in front of your computer.

 

[Reynard]

I get the feeling that the DDI will provide me with a larger base of players from which to choose, and therefore a greater number of players who will accept my campaign setting and house rules without complaint.

A greater number, quite possibly, but that doesn't necessarily translate to a greater ratio. I'm really not making an assertion, by the way, I just think it is an interesting consequence (intended or not) of having a VTT and embracing the "social network" idea for D&D. My gut says that those hewing closer to the RAW will have an easier time of staffing their tables, but I don't really have any evidence for that.

 

[Felon]

A lot of responses to issues folks have with changes in 4E, from mechanics to flavour, are some form or another of "just change it."

By all means, cite some examples.