Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="buzz" data-source="post: 3173917" data-attributes="member: 6777">In this context, probably "Provides more than a simple die mechanic plus GM fiat as a resolution system." I.e., the mechanic gets me to an end result rather than merely informing a GM call.E.g., A Jump mechanic that determines DC based on distance attempted is probably a good candidate for "robust." A Jump mechanic that set no fixed DC, but advised that a high roll would be good and a low roll bad, would not be something I'd call robust.I'd also argue that any mechanic that allows for meaningful input on the part of the player/GM would qualify as "robust." I.e., the player or GM can make choices that matter. A system that involves me rolling a die and then negotiating with the GM as to the result isn't what I'd call robust; there's no concrete way I can influence that roll other than lobbying the GM. Some people love this style of play, but it's so rules-irrelevant that I'd have a hard time using a word like "robust" to describe the associated systems.That's pretty much my core issue with Mearls' idea. The DM has such a big hand in determining what the roll means, that I feel like, as a player, I'm not doing much other than rolling my d20, adding my attribute, and hoping the DM is feeling generous tonight.The key thing to remember is that, in my mind, it's not an issue of "simple" vs. "complex." The Pool RPG, e.g., is only a page of rules or so, but I'd qualify it as "robust," because the basic rule covers all possible in-game actions without resorting to putting all the authority in the hand of one player and then hoping for the best.Anyway, the D&D we have now provides a very interesting tactical game. Make any important subsystem too tactically uninteresting (e.g., "roll and hope"), and you detract from  the game experience. Seeing as there are so many other RPGs that provide the "rules-lite," non-tactical experience, I don't see why people have to keep pushing for D&D to do the same thing.(Gentlegamer, it is entirely possible that "robust" is as meaningless as "lite" or "crunchy." However, we know for a fact that RPGs come in varying degrees of "rules quantity," so there's obvious some grounds for finding a word or words to refer to this quality. "Relevant points of contact" is probably a better, if more awkward, way to phrase it.)</blockquote>

Verification