Martial Dailies - How so?

[Lord Xtheth]

Except you can't simply decide when your next shot will be an "at-the-buzzer 3-pointer" attempt. Nor can you just decide when you are going to swing the club and try for an Eagle. And if you could decide when to use your Knockout Punch for the day, winning a boxing title would be as easy as winning initiative.

Think of it more exostentially. These are the Characters, We have no idea (as other characters) wheter or not the players of said characters chose to use said ability. Just like how in the game, the other characters don't automatically know that you can only do it once in a while.

As for the boxing refference, I seem to remember Mike Tyson doing that very thing, walking in, throwing one punch, and winning.
So yes, it does make sence.


More examples:
Bruce Lee: How many times did he jump on someones back in a day? Once
Wrestling: Unless the "story" calls for it, finishing moves are only used once
Kill Bill: The 5 point palm exploding heart technique: Once
300: Hucking a non-magical spear and wounding a God: Once
Troy: Shooting an arrow into a god-like beings ancle: Once

there are far too many examples of the way things are seen in todays world that can justify per-day abilities, maybe you should look harder... Or did you use that ability on somthing elce today?

 

[GnomeWorks]

Think of it more exostentially. These are the Characters, We have no idea (as other characters) wheter or not the players of said characters chose to use said ability. Just like how in the game, the other characters don't automatically know that you can only do it once in a while.

I disagree. When you use a per-day ability, it is quite clear that you can only do it once a day, because you fail every other time.

When the wizard casts sleep, you know that he won't do that again until he's had a rest to study his spells. The same sort of knowledge applies to martial dailies: every other character knows that the fighter can only do his awesome triple-damage hit once in a great while, and he needs a long rest before he can do it again. This is not existential knowledge, this is not metagaming: the characters recognize and understand these limitations.

there are far too many examples of the way things are seen in todays world that can justify per-day abilities, maybe you should look harder... Or did you use that ability on somthing elce today?

Everything you just listed was a part of the entertainment industry, which doesn't always do a good job of modelling reality. I do not want my games to mimic movies or television, which are often over-the-top - I want them to be a reasonable, simulationist abstraction of a fantasy world.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

I want them to be a reasonable, simulationist abstraction of a fantasy world.

Then stop trying to do that in D&D which has NEVER done that well.

 

[GnomeWorks]

Then stop trying to do that in D&D which has NEVER done that well.

*sigh*

I am not trying to make 3.5 or 4e a simulationist game. I realize that they do not easily lend themselves to that type of game. I am fine with that. I am trying to take the parts of these systems that I like, find simulationist rationalizations for them, and use them in a homebrew system.

 

[marune]

*sigh*

I am not trying to make 3.5 or 4e a simulationist game. I realize that they do not easily lend themselves to that type of game. I am fine with that. I am trying to take the parts of these systems that I like, find simulationist rationalizations for them, and use them in a homebrew system.

D&D was never a good "simulationist" game, if "in-game linear cause to effect rules" is what you mean by "simulationist".

Levels, HPs, classes and XP are strong metagame concepts that have been part of every D&D edition.

If you want to build such kind of "simulationist" game, use Riddle of Steel and/or Burning Wheel and remove the narrativist layer (Spiritual attributes / Artha).

 

[GnomeWorks]

D&D was never a good "simulationist" game, if "in-game linear cause to effect rules" is what you mean by "simulationist".

I'm alright with some amount of abstraction, but that is the general idea.

If you want to build such kind of "simulationist" game, use Riddle of Steel and/or Burning Wheel and remove the narrativist layer (Spiritual attributes / Artha).

No.

I know exactly what I want in a game system, and I have a pretty good idea of how to get there. The elements of 3.5 and 4e that I like are solid starting points.

 

[marune]

I know exactly what I want in a game system, and I have a pretty good idea of how to get there. The elements of 3.5 and 4e that I like are solid starting points.

You seem to be designing your system bottom up instead of top down, that is a really bad idea IMHO.

Can you clearly explain to us what is the goal of the game you are trying to build ?

 

[LostSoul]

That doesn't facilitate simulationism at all, IMO - this is heading into narrativism. Now you are subject to DM fiat.

My thinking was that the DM, playing "the world", is the one who can say, "Now, the conditions are right." I don't think that kind of DM authority aids narritivism at all - I think it takes away chances for players to make thematic statements.

 

[drjones]

A wizard did it.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

The only way I can reconcile it is the same way as Fallen Seraph says above. A daily power represents the player's opportunity to take over the story for a moment and say "The foe my character is fighting is in position for the Triple Dragon Strike of Doom." Then the character performs the Triple Dragon Strike of Doom. As far as I can tell, the decision to use a martial daily power is a player decision, not a character decision.


Unless the golfer can decide before playing a hole that he will get an Eagle, then the analogy is not a very good one.

an Eagle is when a golf is 2 strokes under par on a hole. Basically, it is a very well played hole

The player is not the golfer. The character is the golfer. The golfer doesn't get to decide when he gets the eagle. The player playing the golfer gets to decide when the golfer has a chance to get an eagle, and then rolls the dice to see if he pulls it off.