D&D General Playstyle vs Mechanics

[Micah Sweet]

Way to miss the metaphor. Good job, well done!

Sorry. I'm a pretty literal guy.

 

[Emerikol]

Sure, but I wasn't speaking specifically about OSR; I was speaking to the playstyle of heavy DM authorial voice over the pre-prepped setting, and the game being focused on exploration of that setting.

Heavy setting prep is common in the OSR, but certainly not a requirement.

Well it's 90%. Even DMs who do a lousy job of it are trying for it. It's one of the major goals of OSR play. There are others.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well it's 90%. Even DMs who do a lousy job of it are trying for it. It's one of the major goals of OSR play. There are others.

Yeah. I see sandbox and at least fairly heavy prep as going hand in hand.

 

[Emerikol]

Yeah. I see sandbox and at least fairly heavy prep as going hand in hand.

Absolutely. Sandbox enables the DM to handle the level of detail he wants for the campaign.

 

[tetrasodium]

Sure.

But it's like being a rock music fan. 25, 30 years ago it was everywhere. But you can't turn on a Top 40 station now and expect to hear it.

Likewise, if you're searching for a group of detailed setting enjoyers, be prepared to do some filtering.

Rock stations are pretty common here. In the event you live in some weird dead zone there is stuff like sirius with over 30 rock channels before getting into the subvarieties like [channelname] workout/party/deep cuts.

While I certainly find it harder to fill a table for a nond&d game than showing up to AL/D&D night at a FLGS & setting down a tabletop display or rolling out a battlemat across an empty table... It very much seems that the FLGS I frequent had much more difficulty rebuilding it's stable of AL GMs to run a GM hostile game after covid shattered & broke up the critical mass of GMs, they had recovered in the last few years but are still below the number & skill of pre-covid GMs reliably showing up week afterweek last I heard.

Sure, but I wasn't speaking specifically about OSR; I was speaking to the playstyle of heavy DM authorial voice over the pre-prepped setting, and the game being focused on exploration of that setting.

Heavy setting prep is common in the OSR, but certainly not a requirement.

That d&d night above pretty much got off AL & switched to something of a collaborative westmarches type thing, 5e being fairly resistant to the GM as anything but a service [provider was a big factor in reluctance to resume after things started reopening. Most of us still run games (public or private), it's just that d&d5e is less represented across those games.

 

[TwoSix]

Rock stations are pretty common here. In the event you live in some weird dead zone there is stuff like sirius with over 30 rock channels before getting into the subvarieties like [channelname] workout/party/deep cuts.

Sure. To be clear, I didn't say rock music is no longer accessible. I'm simply saying as a genre, it has relatively little impact on current developments within mainstream music, other than as a source of inheritance.

Rappers are the new rock stars.

 

[Oofta]

I never once in my post said anything about "how I want" to play.

And whose authority was I even appealing to?

And who did I tell they were playing wrong?

I'm just....puzzled.

You stated that people that follow the rules of the game are only doing so because of a "20th century atavism" that only as a "tangential relationship to how people play".

You started off fine. Everyone should play the way they enjoy. I agree.

But then you follow up with calling the playstyle a "20th century atavism". Atavism? I will admit it is in the running for the $20 word of the day so I had to look it up. From Merriam Webster dictionary, the best definition I can find for someone who supports the style:

an individual or character that manifests atavism : throwback​

He was a magnificent atavism, a man so purely primitive that he was of the type that came into the world before the development of the moral nature.​

- Jack London​

Basically saying that people only support DM as the author of the world because we're a relic of the past.

Then you go on to assert that the playstyle "only has a tangential connection to how most modern groups play". Yet the rules of D&D as printed in the 21st century continue to support the DM as author of the world. It's pretty clear in the 2024 DMG (underline added).

Embrace the Shared Story. D&D is about telling a story as a group, so let the other players contribute through the words and deeds of their characters. Encourage players to engage by asking them what their characters are doing.​

​

It is not some archaic callback to the past to limit player control to their characters. It's the basic assumption of the game and has been during it's most successful years ever. Now, either huge swathes of players are ignoring that advice and the advice of every other D&D core book or you have no basis for your statement about "most modern groups".

So you're making a false appeal to authority. Calling people that follow the guidance in the book solely because we're throwbacks to ancient days is not exactly putting those people in a positive light. Then you talk about modern groups which generally means more enlightened ideas to double down on it.

So I call a spade a spade. If I'm totally misunderstanding your position feel free to explain.

 

[Aldarc]

Sure. To be clear, I didn't say rock music is no longer accessible. I'm simply saying as a genre, it has relatively little impact on current developments within mainstream music, other than as a source of inheritance.

Rappers are the new rock stars.

Also increased focus on single artists, typically pop, instead of bands.

 

[tetrasodium]

Sure. To be clear, I didn't say rock music is no longer accessible. I'm simply saying as a genre, it has relatively little impact on current developments within mainstream music, other than as a source of inheritance.

Rappers are the new rock stars.

Dunno, I took the brightline down to see BabyMetal back on 11/6 because rob zombie gave them a fairly public defending a few years ago & thought it was a pretty awesome concert even with the language barrier making their songs about as understood as the average Ramstein song.

 

[soviet]

​

It is not some archaic callback to the past to limit player control to their characters. It's the basic assumption of the game and has been during it's most successful years ever. Now, either huge swathes of players are ignoring that advice and the advice of every other D&D core book or you have no basis for your statement about "most modern groups".

Don't the rules associated with D&D's 'most successful years' give players the ability to decide when their character is lucky, when they're inspired, and all the player-authored worldbuilding background traits that we were talking about?