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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 6066073" data-attributes="member: 63">Rule Zero is not itself sufficient for a game. I get what you're saying, but personally I want the game to provide more examples. You use the examples to balance the improvisation. Right now, if I look at the dragon stats and other monsters and all the various basic rules, then extrapolate from there how to resolve "it tries to bite you, hold you in its mouth, and shake you," what do I base my decision on?Well, look at creatures that can grapple as part of an attack, like the behir or marillith. Their attacks spell out the grapple. A glabrezu has pincers, but it doesn't grapple. A giant frog has a bite attack that grapples. There's an option for giant lizards to have clamping jaws, which increases the monster's level by 1. So okay, I can make a dragon with clamping jaws, which bumps it up to level 15. If I just want a normal dragon to grapple on a bite -- or to stomp with a claw attack to pin a creature to the ground -- or to parry an attack with its wing, or catch a sling stone in its teeth, or thwack its tail against the wall to collapse part of the cave on the halfling, . . . are there guidelines for how much damage that should do? If it can claw/claw/bite, what about clamp-bite/tail slam the cave/throw a boulder with its claw?And hey, okay, assume I'm familiar with the earthquake spell and can guess how damaging a crushing ceiling ought to be. Cool, the game gives me the options to synthesize all these rules. But I still think that a published game owes the people buying it more interesting gameplay without requiring the players do all the work to bring the fun. (And a playtest of a game that will eventually be released ought to provide similar value.)</blockquote>

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