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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 8496067" data-attributes="member: 177">No.&nbsp; But it isn't like they are the boss of me.&nbsp; I am not playing the game for them.&nbsp; The author's intent is neither magical, nor binding.&nbsp; Indeed, in some cases (especially older ones) I'd question whether the work actually meets the stated intent!&nbsp; Just because they are the author doesn't actually mean they are correct about its best uses - to assume so fits the logical fallacy of &quot;argument from authority&quot;.&nbsp; In contrast to this is the fact that, with most arts,&nbsp; what people can do with or get out of the piece is often far larger than the artist's&nbsp; stated intent.&nbsp; There's far more powerful arguments than waving authorial intent around.&nbsp; But even then, those powerful arguments are best used in terms of identifiying a specific need someone has, and helping them fulfill it, not as Decree on How the Game Should Be Played.On the other hand, advice from people who don't know you or your players is often of limited utility.&nbsp;&nbsp; Which is where you fall flat - however weak authorial intent is as an argument, you aren't even the authority yourself.&nbsp; You are rhetorically beating people over the head with someone else's authority.Setting aside that such a generalization is not a universal truth, we have the fact that as a tool, D&amp;D, like most RPGs, is not a focused tool, like a hammer.&nbsp; It is a pocket knife, a multi-tool, intended to be used for a wide variety of things, in a wide variety of situations.&nbsp; It is a highly flexible tool.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 8496067, member: 177"] No. But it isn't like they are the boss of me. I am not playing the game for them. The author's intent is neither magical, nor binding. Indeed, in some cases (especially older ones) I'd question whether the work actually meets the stated intent! Just because they are the author doesn't actually mean they are [I]correct[/I] about its best uses - to assume so fits the logical fallacy of "argument from authority". In contrast to this is the fact that, with most arts, what people can do with or get out of the piece is often far larger than the artist's stated intent. There's far more powerful arguments than waving authorial intent around. But even then, those powerful arguments are best used in terms of identifiying a specific need someone has, and helping them fulfill it, not as [I]Decree on How the Game Should Be Played. [/I] On the other hand, advice from people who don't know you or your players is often of limited utility. Which is where you fall flat - however weak authorial intent is as an argument, you aren't even the authority yourself. You are rhetorically beating people over the head with someone else's authority. Setting aside that such a generalization is not a universal truth, we have the fact that as a tool, D&D, like most RPGs, is not a focused tool, like a hammer. It is a pocket knife, a multi-tool, intended to be used for a wide variety of things, in a wide variety of situations. It is a [I]highly flexible[/I] tool. [/QUOTE]

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