Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Ranking the Pillars of Play
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="jmartkdr2" data-source="post: 8475709" data-attributes="member: 7017304"><p>Now for the big long answer: I don't like the three pillar model at all. After all, it's not a revealed truth of gaming in general, it's a design philosophy for 5e DnD.</p><p></p><p>I think there should be two pillars: Dungeons and Dragons</p><p></p><p>Dungeons is the interesting, exciting, mysterious, and treasure-filled locations where adventures can happen: yes, caves and castles, but also forests and deserts and mountains and elemental planes and fey wilderness and the pits of Hell - and cities large and small and small out-of-the-way villages and caravans and circuses and really anywhere w=something that could be called an 'adventure' could take place. By thinking of settings this way, you can focus your mind on making them <em>good for adventure</em> - which means more than traps and tunnels, but also means there are absolutely traps and tunnels and all the other fun things to find.</p><p></p><p>Not that there shouldn't be safe places to rest - but these only serve the game through the contrast they provide.</p><p></p><p>Dragons are the weird, dangerous and occasionally evil beings you find along the way - but most importantly, they're not there to fight and there not there to talk to: both of those things (and sneaking around and running away) are clearly options to try. It should have a statblock - but it should also have listed motivations and assets and everything else the dm needs to roleplay the creature set up (or at least suggested) ahead of time. Some might lend themselves very heavily to a certain approach (you can't negotiate with golems) but you should also plan in terms of multiple means of interaction.</p><p></p><p>I got the idea form the intro to Zipperon Disney's YouTube video on exploration. It's a throwaway line, but it stuck with me.</p><p></p><p>(The downtime pillar wouldn't be a pillar on its own - it would be set up in relation to how it can support doing dungeon stuff.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jmartkdr2, post: 8475709, member: 7017304"] Now for the big long answer: I don't like the three pillar model at all. After all, it's not a revealed truth of gaming in general, it's a design philosophy for 5e DnD. I think there should be two pillars: Dungeons and Dragons Dungeons is the interesting, exciting, mysterious, and treasure-filled locations where adventures can happen: yes, caves and castles, but also forests and deserts and mountains and elemental planes and fey wilderness and the pits of Hell - and cities large and small and small out-of-the-way villages and caravans and circuses and really anywhere w=something that could be called an 'adventure' could take place. By thinking of settings this way, you can focus your mind on making them [I]good for adventure[/I] - which means more than traps and tunnels, but also means there are absolutely traps and tunnels and all the other fun things to find. Not that there shouldn't be safe places to rest - but these only serve the game through the contrast they provide. Dragons are the weird, dangerous and occasionally evil beings you find along the way - but most importantly, they're not there to fight and there not there to talk to: both of those things (and sneaking around and running away) are clearly options to try. It should have a statblock - but it should also have listed motivations and assets and everything else the dm needs to roleplay the creature set up (or at least suggested) ahead of time. Some might lend themselves very heavily to a certain approach (you can't negotiate with golems) but you should also plan in terms of multiple means of interaction. I got the idea form the intro to Zipperon Disney's YouTube video on exploration. It's a throwaway line, but it stuck with me. (The downtime pillar wouldn't be a pillar on its own - it would be set up in relation to how it can support doing dungeon stuff.) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Ranking the Pillars of Play
Top