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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LurkAway" data-source="post: 5760382" data-attributes="member: 6685059">What I've learned in the past 40 pages:I'm playing chess, and my opponent complains that knights don't move in L-shapes, that it's totally unrealistic. Do I say:1) "This is an abstract game, I don't imagine a knight moving in L-shapes, because it's not a real or imaginary knight, it's a game piece"2) "Obviously, the knight trots the horse forward a few paces and then pulls hard on the reins to turn the horse right or left"I hope that if we can agree on anything, it's that #1 is essentially the correct answer for chess. Therefore, it is not well-intentioned to play devil's advocate, play with the other guy's mind, or waste time on trivial rationalizations. Nods to realism are irrelevant to chess.Of course, D&D isn't like chess. The importance of the metagame abstractions or the "realness" of the fiction is what you make of it.Still, if #1 is more in line with one's playstyle, then I don't want to argue with someone who has already staked their position on #1. I think it is the wrong angle to come from, and wastes each other's time and energy.That's the easy way that I can agree to disagree with someone. But let's say that two boys are playing chess and both are imagining a duel. Boy A imagines a story that fit the rules -- L-obsessed knights and walking castles and queens who are faster and mobile than fat slow kings. Boy B sees that as kooky and bending over backwards, and wants rules (by default or by flexibility) that are consistent with more "realistic" stories.To me, with bards insulting skeletons to death, I really thought I had finally found the 'Aha!' riposte to make my case once and for all. Nevertheless, others clearly enjoy the challenge of coloring inside the lines provided.So what I've learned is that arguing about what is "realistic" in the fiction is to always be talking past each other. Decide first if D&D rules should nod to realism or D&D fiction must nod to the rules or a compromise of sorts. The rest will follow more naturally. (And I won't need any more analogies).</blockquote>

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