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<blockquote data-quote="bloodtide" data-source="post: 9404559" data-attributes="member: 6684958">The handwaving prevents skilled play, and also complex play.&nbsp; If the characters just always have whatever items they need and are always experts, then this takes the whole Exploration Teir of play to just about Zero.&nbsp; A big part of exploration is survival.&nbsp; Without it, your just on a Disney Tour.&nbsp; There is also the big problem that if you handwave it all the time....well, there will be times when you don't want to hand wave it.&nbsp; Like for a nice plot where the characters loose their winter gear and get trapped at a snow lodge.&nbsp; In the handwave game that can never happen because as soon as the characters step out side they just &quot;have&quot; all the best winter travel gear ever. Anything gear really only has one big thing going for it: It allows games to skip over everything to get to combat quicker.&nbsp; So the characters start the day----SKIP----oh look a monster to fight.My favorite part about this in most games is the cherry picking.&nbsp; The DM and players will randomly decide what is &quot;cool&quot; and what you can randomly say a character packed.&nbsp; A potion of healing? A potion of life?&nbsp; Oh, no...you can't have a character remember to pack those.&nbsp; Oh, but a crowbar or a saw....oh, sure every character remembers to pack those.&nbsp; Of course they only &quot;remember&quot; that they packed them when they suddenly need them.&nbsp; And if they might have a need for them, you think they might have packed them.As I've said before, a big part of many Old School gaming is pages of equipment.&nbsp; The characters start off with a bunch of stuff they got in town, but then as the adventure rolls on, each character picks up items.&nbsp; Characters are always looking for items that they might be able to use.&nbsp; And the DM, by carefully detailing most places, will give the character's lots of chances to use all that equipment.&nbsp; MacGuyvering was very common.It already is.A high ability score character will act like the player.&nbsp; So unless the player can act like a high ability score character...well, the character will just be played as the player.&nbsp; Arnzo the wizard would never buy a &quot;book of powerful magic&quot; from a goblin in an alley for just 1000 gold.....but Bob the Player who works at the Zippy Clean car wash will fall for that.Sure I do, I'm a Historian.&nbsp; But anyway....Now your description is accurate for some peasants, in some parts of Europe, at a set time or two.&nbsp; Of course, most RPGs are not exact recreations of Earth History.&nbsp; And the average person living in the America's in 1300 sure knew how to hunt and fish.&nbsp; And the same is true in a lot of places world wide in 1300.&nbsp; Really, nearly everyone&nbsp; before the 20th century had to know basic survival....just to live.&nbsp; Sure there where lazy aristocrats, drone peasants and clueless people....but everyone else had to know how to survive.&nbsp;&nbsp; Only in some places.&nbsp; The world is a big place.As the typical Western European Dark Ages does not make for a great setting for adventure....you can see why games like D&amp;D go for more a 17th century America setting.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="bloodtide, post: 9404559, member: 6684958"] The handwaving prevents skilled play, and also complex play. If the characters just always have whatever items they need and are always experts, then this takes the whole Exploration Teir of play to just about Zero. A big part of exploration is survival. Without it, your just on a Disney Tour. There is also the big problem that if you handwave it all the time....well, there will be times when you don't want to hand wave it. Like for a nice plot where the characters loose their winter gear and get trapped at a snow lodge. In the handwave game that can never happen because as soon as the characters step out side they just "have" all the best winter travel gear ever. Anything gear really only has one big thing going for it: It allows games to skip over everything to get to combat quicker. So the characters start the day----SKIP----oh look a monster to fight. My favorite part about this in most games is the cherry picking. The DM and players will randomly decide what is "cool" and what you can randomly say a character packed. A potion of healing? A potion of life? Oh, no...you can't have a character remember to pack those. Oh, but a crowbar or a saw....oh, sure every character remembers to pack those. Of course they only "remember" that they packed them when they suddenly need them. And if they might have a need for them, you think they might have packed them. As I've said before, a big part of many Old School gaming is pages of equipment. The characters start off with a bunch of stuff they got in town, but then as the adventure rolls on, each character picks up items. Characters are always looking for items that they might be able to use. And the DM, by carefully detailing most places, will give the character's lots of chances to use all that equipment. MacGuyvering was very common. It already is. A high ability score character will act like the player. So unless the player can act like a high ability score character...well, the character will just be played as the player. Arnzo the wizard would never buy a "book of powerful magic" from a goblin in an alley for just 1000 gold.....but Bob the Player who works at the Zippy Clean car wash will fall for that. Sure I do, I'm a Historian. But anyway.... Now your description is accurate for some peasants, in some parts of Europe, at a set time or two. Of course, most RPGs are not exact recreations of Earth History. And the average person living in the America's in 1300 sure knew how to hunt and fish. And the same is true in a lot of places world wide in 1300. Really, nearly everyone before the 20th century had to know basic survival....just to live. Sure there where lazy aristocrats, drone peasants and clueless people....but everyone else had to know how to survive. Only in some places. The world is a big place. As the typical Western European Dark Ages does not make for a great setting for adventure....you can see why games like D&D go for more a 17th century America setting. [/QUOTE]

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