Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Legends & Lore: Roleplaying in D&D Next
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 6164317" data-attributes="member: 6688937"><p>The first paragraph has been adequately responded to.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Your first example with minor changes sounds just like typical D&D combat without mentioning the damage numbers. The second, with minor changes, could be from either system. These example prove nothing because you're choosing to make them unequivalent. Namely, you're choosing to ignore the character sheet descriptors for first, but not for the second (presumably D&D):</p><p></p><p>I roll 23 to hit.</p><p>AC 26. You miss.</p><p>He rolls 26 to hit.</p><p>AC 24. He hits and does damage.</p><p></p><p>I'm gonna try to pin him with webbing... 23 with a d10 effect die.</p><p>He rolls a 21 and is immobilized.</p><p>He spends his round attempting to get out. He makes a 22 with a d12 effect die!</p><p>I got a 19, he breaks out. I'm going to use Wall Crawling and a Swingline to put myself "Up a few stories and out of reach"...16 with a d8 effect die. </p><p>Doom Pool rolls an 8, so you make it.</p><p></p><p>And that second example skips how the players would need to build dice pools using their players traits. For example, when pinning the enemy Spiderman's character might say "I'm going to try to pin him with webbing so that's d8 Solo, d8 Weapon for the webs with a bonus d6 and step up the effect die from my webbing's <em>Grapple</em> SFX, and I'm a Combat Expert d8. What the heck, I'll say 'Welcome to my parlor, Mr. Fly.' to get another d8 from my Wisecracker distinction." </p><p></p><p>Note that he <em>might</em> say that. If you're building your dice pool directly <u>in front the other players at a table</u>, you probably don't need to announce every little thing. You could just collect your dice and roll. If someone challenged "where'd you get a d10 effect die?" you'd explain it "my SFX with webbing" just like in D&D you might answer a "why are you rolling d12 damage" with "my weapon does d12 vs Large creatures."</p><p></p><p>The real difference here is that MHRP (like FATE and many other modern rpgs) has a universal method for handling complications to the standard attrition of combat points. These rules almost universally rely to some extent on the common sensibilities of the players to adjudicate. D&D still has multitudinous factors and minor rules to handle all of these things individually and explicitly. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Most of the Youtube videos I've seen seem to be people learning or trying out the system. Often, it seems to my eyes, that they are confirming how the rules work, rather than getting permission from the GM. Additionally, the medium requires a slowing of play. Of course, I would expect folks, even in person, to check with their fellows and make sure that they aren't being jerks when they are unsure of their thinking. That happens in almost every game I've every played, even some board games! I will say that I haven't been able to play as much MHRP as I'd like, but I'd imagine this speeds up quite a bit when the players are as familiar with each other and the system as they are in the typical D&D group (if there is such a thing.)</p><p></p><p>The other two points don't make much sense to me. If an enemy disarms your D&D character, does that imply that you need to check with the DM for permission to use your other weapon/ability? Doesn't it just make sense that you'd need to take action to respond to that? Is a rule that states the exact details of what it means to be disarmed actually needed or helpful? The last point just sounds like a player who either doesn't understand the character or is just being contrary. I'm confident that we all are familiar with players who try to weasel things out of their character abilities regardless of system.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't feel the story itself has any onus to describe the mechanics. The players may need to adjust the narrative to reflect mechanical results...which can be good and bad, heaven knows HP have created their share of narrative nonsense. If the narrative is constantly strained by having to adjust to nonsensical results of the mechanics or narrative sensibilities regularly causes the mechanics to be ignored, then the mechanics are the issue.</p><p></p><p> RPG Mechanics very rarely actually describe what is happening in a story sense, especially given your requirements of doing so after removing any descriptors attached to the mechanics in question. Take conditions in 4e. They may describe mechanically to how the minis are allowed to move or how the controllers of those minis must adjust future rolls, but <em>they have no explicit connection</em><em> to the story side</em> and cannot. Such descriptors are left to the players, and are essentially irrelevant to the numbers. Is the figure slowed because you have injured its ankle, hit it with some kind of cold spell, or entangled it in vines...dunno unless you know the player's description of the power that was used <em>when it was used</em>. That connection is no different from getting a complication in MHRP, with the exceptions that the effects of the complication are <em>only</em> meaningful in the context of the narrative (there is no such thing as a "blank" or "undescribed" d10 complication) and a clever player might turn a complication into a bonus for an action for a Plot Point. (I'm "covered in ice" d8? Great! I'm gonna use the ice slide down the slope like an otter and try to hit those goons like ninepins.)</p><p></p><p>Beyond that, the only substantial difference between the MHRP and D&D mechanics I detect is that the D&D mechanics can also be viewed in a "story-free" way as only modifying abstract numbers and movement of pieces on a game board (with varying success dependent on edition). I do not find that property a sufficient justification to claim that they are therefore better connected to story or narrative than MHRP's mechanics.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ratskinner, post: 6164317, member: 6688937"] The first paragraph has been adequately responded to. Your first example with minor changes sounds just like typical D&D combat without mentioning the damage numbers. The second, with minor changes, could be from either system. These example prove nothing because you're choosing to make them unequivalent. Namely, you're choosing to ignore the character sheet descriptors for first, but not for the second (presumably D&D): I roll 23 to hit. AC 26. You miss. He rolls 26 to hit. AC 24. He hits and does damage. I'm gonna try to pin him with webbing... 23 with a d10 effect die. He rolls a 21 and is immobilized. He spends his round attempting to get out. He makes a 22 with a d12 effect die! I got a 19, he breaks out. I'm going to use Wall Crawling and a Swingline to put myself "Up a few stories and out of reach"...16 with a d8 effect die. Doom Pool rolls an 8, so you make it. And that second example skips how the players would need to build dice pools using their players traits. For example, when pinning the enemy Spiderman's character might say "I'm going to try to pin him with webbing so that's d8 Solo, d8 Weapon for the webs with a bonus d6 and step up the effect die from my webbing's [I]Grapple[/I] SFX, and I'm a Combat Expert d8. What the heck, I'll say 'Welcome to my parlor, Mr. Fly.' to get another d8 from my Wisecracker distinction." Note that he [I]might[/I] say that. If you're building your dice pool directly [U]in front the other players at a table[/U], you probably don't need to announce every little thing. You could just collect your dice and roll. If someone challenged "where'd you get a d10 effect die?" you'd explain it "my SFX with webbing" just like in D&D you might answer a "why are you rolling d12 damage" with "my weapon does d12 vs Large creatures." The real difference here is that MHRP (like FATE and many other modern rpgs) has a universal method for handling complications to the standard attrition of combat points. These rules almost universally rely to some extent on the common sensibilities of the players to adjudicate. D&D still has multitudinous factors and minor rules to handle all of these things individually and explicitly. Most of the Youtube videos I've seen seem to be people learning or trying out the system. Often, it seems to my eyes, that they are confirming how the rules work, rather than getting permission from the GM. Additionally, the medium requires a slowing of play. Of course, I would expect folks, even in person, to check with their fellows and make sure that they aren't being jerks when they are unsure of their thinking. That happens in almost every game I've every played, even some board games! I will say that I haven't been able to play as much MHRP as I'd like, but I'd imagine this speeds up quite a bit when the players are as familiar with each other and the system as they are in the typical D&D group (if there is such a thing.) The other two points don't make much sense to me. If an enemy disarms your D&D character, does that imply that you need to check with the DM for permission to use your other weapon/ability? Doesn't it just make sense that you'd need to take action to respond to that? Is a rule that states the exact details of what it means to be disarmed actually needed or helpful? The last point just sounds like a player who either doesn't understand the character or is just being contrary. I'm confident that we all are familiar with players who try to weasel things out of their character abilities regardless of system. I don't feel the story itself has any onus to describe the mechanics. The players may need to adjust the narrative to reflect mechanical results...which can be good and bad, heaven knows HP have created their share of narrative nonsense. If the narrative is constantly strained by having to adjust to nonsensical results of the mechanics or narrative sensibilities regularly causes the mechanics to be ignored, then the mechanics are the issue. RPG Mechanics very rarely actually describe what is happening in a story sense, especially given your requirements of doing so after removing any descriptors attached to the mechanics in question. Take conditions in 4e. They may describe mechanically to how the minis are allowed to move or how the controllers of those minis must adjust future rolls, but [I]they have no explicit connection[/I][I] to the story side[/I] and cannot. Such descriptors are left to the players, and are essentially irrelevant to the numbers. Is the figure slowed because you have injured its ankle, hit it with some kind of cold spell, or entangled it in vines...dunno unless you know the player's description of the power that was used [I]when it was used[/I]. That connection is no different from getting a complication in MHRP, with the exceptions that the effects of the complication are [I]only[/I] meaningful in the context of the narrative (there is no such thing as a "blank" or "undescribed" d10 complication) and a clever player might turn a complication into a bonus for an action for a Plot Point. (I'm "covered in ice" d8? Great! I'm gonna use the ice slide down the slope like an otter and try to hit those goons like ninepins.) Beyond that, the only substantial difference between the MHRP and D&D mechanics I detect is that the D&D mechanics can also be viewed in a "story-free" way as only modifying abstract numbers and movement of pieces on a game board (with varying success dependent on edition). I do not find that property a sufficient justification to claim that they are therefore better connected to story or narrative than MHRP's mechanics. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Legends & Lore: Roleplaying in D&D Next
Top