Aus_Snow
First Post
Ugh. Hell, no.Other people's opinions?
Exactly the sort of RPG experience I don't want any part of.
Ugh. Hell, no.Other people's opinions?
I guess this gets back to my other post about meta gaming.
How do the characters, not the players, but the characters, know what they want?
Are they all well versed in the arcanum of the world?
Honest question for those who say if they want specific items that the characters know about they must question for them.
And... I'm not trying to be snarky here, why couldn't a player give a GM a wish list and during a bar stay find out, in game, where the item in question is?
That's almost a potato/tomato thing no? Where's the real difference between the player going, "Here's a wish list of items I'm interesting in and will be looking for in downtime including going to bars, etc..." and the character just going to bars etc... and doing it? It would seem that the former gives the GM more set up time.
And... I'm not trying to be snarky here, why couldn't a player give a GM a wish list and during a bar stay find out, in game, where the item in question is?
I wasn't claiming that was what wish lists were; I was simply pointing out that there's more to questing for an item than making a skill check or two. The difference between a wish list and questing for an item is that, in the latter case, you have to actually go quest for the item. (Or sub-quest, or side-plot, or something.) You set out with a purpose, face challenges and beat them, and accomplish your purpose. With a wish list, you happen across the item in the course of your regular adventuring. You don't do anything with the goal of finding the item; it just kind of pops up when the DM feels like giving it to you.
To me, at least, there's no fun in that. It's just, "Ah, there's that item I put on my wish list. Whaddaya know?" It's the worst of both worlds. I knew stuff from that list was going to show up eventually, so I don't get the lottery-win thrill of "Holy CRAP! Look what this guy had!" But I have no control over when it shows up, so I also don't get the sense of accomplishment that comes from "At last, my quest is complete!"
This change is primarily due to three things
As DM - giving out items that I think are cool only to have players forget they have them, want to trade for something else, or plain don't think they are as cool as I do cause I misread their preference.
Does the resistance come from fear of making magic items special? I've seen some posters not that they will not use wish list and only have monsters/enemies use items that are useful and pondering how exactly that works if items on the wish list would be... yeah, useful.