D&D General [rant]The conservatism of D&D fans is exhausting.

[zakael19]

How can one abuse authority that is absolute? Absolute authority permits you to do anything. That is what makes it absolute!

Well, D&D 2024 tells the DM that they should ensure changes are fun for the table and discussed with the players. So you know, that’s a nice step towards formalizing the idea of “consider what and why you’re doing things and what your players think.”

 

[Lanefan]

Do you take a similar approach to your GMing...?

When it comes to not showing my work and not always knowing how I do what I do (largely because I can't be bothered to think about it in any real depth): yes.

The result - a fun, fair, sometimes challenging game, run honestly in a consistent setting on a consistent basis - is the only thing that matters in the end.

What more do I need?

 

[Lanefan]

They are quite literally never, ever subjects of the DM. If I commanded you to go to the store and bring me back 3 ribeye steaks, would you have to do it?

No.

If I commanded you to remake your peace wanting elf wizard as CE Murdery Smurf, would you have to do it?

Possibly yes, depending on the table. And if the player refused, all it'd take would be a well-placed Helm of Alignment Change in the character's first encounter and you've got the same result.

I mean, there seem to be loads of "no evil characters" tables where if I rolled up CE Murdery Smurf I'd be commanded to change it to something else; which is exactly the same as your example only going the other way.

If you refused and I commanded one of the other players to execute you, do you think that would happen?

No.

But you might be able to, by various means, command one of the other characters in the fiction to execute the peace-loving Elf.

A DM has many roles simultaneously: facilitator, manager, designer, referee, commander, narrator, player, host (usually), maybe one or two others I've missed; and while some DMs may overdo it on one or more of these roles, most don't - or at least try not to.

 

[Lanefan]

When I first sat down to play, back in 1982, there was a sign tacked to the outside of the DM's screen:

"THE DM IS GOD. ABIDE OR DIE."

Even then, if the analogy holds up, gods can be prayed to and sometimes those prayers will have an influence.

And it must have worked out OK, seeing as I'm still playing with that same DM today (literally - next session is in about 5 hours).

====================

As for faster-than-light travel: it's been right there in D&D since day one and nobody's batted an eye. Teleport is the most common example; inter-planar or inter-world gates and summonings are another. Clearly, magic has solved the light-speed barrier.

 

[bloodtide]

This seem like such a common problem that there should be some solution to it - but I cannot remember actually seeing any. The same technique for indicating nothing interesting is (likely) going to come out of nesting up the staff CV could be used to flag hyperspace or runes or dragon flight as not worth pursuing?

The solution is simple enough: up the fantasy fiction of you game to Eleven.

Too many DMs are stuck in the boring real world stance. Whatever the game setting, they have the view point of "it is almost exactly like our Earth, but more boring".

When the players are in a fantasy setting "almost just like Earth" and the DM says "oh no bandits are attacking the halfling apple groves", few players care.

Have a fantasy world nothing like Earth and the DM says "The WellSpring(drink one drop and permanently gain 100 hit points) is under attack by bandits", a lot more players will jump up and want to rush over and do something.

If a person can't ever find a DM that runs a game they enjoy and they try several? Perhaps it's not an issue with the DM.

I keep a running semi active group or two on various media of local DMs. One thing we do is player reports, where a DM can warn others about a player. It is a long list. Still players will show up and try the same tricks or exploits or cheats. But they don't get far....

 

[Faolyn]

Is the idea that these are subtly trying to hint that this is not prepared, while still giving the players an opening to pursue it if they so want. That is, a valid and prefered response to these GM sentences are "never mind, we'll try something else"?

In that case guess that could work, though a bit subtle and underhanded for my tastes. I think I would have prefered something more direct. However going full timeout and meta seem a bit heavy handed as well, so maybe this approach might be better..

I don't understand how the first one is subtle or underhanded, since it blatantly says "I don't have anything prepared for here."

You can, of course, combine these two approaches. "I haven't figured it out yet. What do you think the tavernkeeper did to get such staff?"

 

[The Firebird]

Well, here the difference is that hyperspace travel is a long-established part of the setting. If the players wanted to jump instantly, they would either know they can (along with knowing if and how it's risky), or they are creating a brand new way to jump to hyperspace.

I had in mind A New Hope as an RPG. All the players know is that hyperspace is used to travel between planets, until the moment of truth during their escape. Then the specifics are established.

 

[Hussar]

Sorry, I am just not very familiar with the history. I'll try to take a look at those games you listed.

So am I correct in that your definition of "simulation" is based on your observation of games that came out in the past few decades, rather than some authority figure or academia?



I am not at all familiar with FKR (sorry for my ignorance). I did a search for "FKR TTRPG" and got Free Kriegsspiel Revolution. Is that the right one?

I don't believe there are any "authority figures" who are dictating definitions from on high. And, frankly, it would be a fallacy to quote them anyway. Appeal to authority and all that. But, yes, my definition comes from the fact that every single sim-leaning game in the past 50 years follows the same criteria, and, if you remove that criteria - that the mechanics must provide some information about how the result was achieved - then there is nothing to differentiate a sim leaning game from any other game.

FKR is Free Kriegspiel, yes. And FKR requires an expert judge in order to work. Otherwise, it's just calvinball. Same as any other human judged simulation.

 

[Hussar]

The die roll also represents skill. We aren't all at the same level of skill every moment of every day. We can tired, distracted, just not on top of our game, hungry and a host of other variables that impact the skill of the person making the attempt.

How does my skill make the rope fray and cut? That's an interesting representation of me being hungry. I'm hungry, so, I don't climb as well and my rope breaks or the rocks crumble? Huh.

You don't think that's a bit of a stretch? I would think that the dice represent ALL the random variables. Environmental, situational, whatever. And thus, the skill check can obviously cause physical changes in the game world which are unrelated to the skill of the person being checked.

 

[Hussar]

Except most of the time I didn't know and-or couldn't explain how I did it, I just did it. Trying to explain it or write it down would be a hopeless endeavour as doing so would throw off my train of thought.

Maybe that's why I always found essay writing to be a complete and utter waste of time.

Meh - if I understand it, that's good enough for me.

Being factually correct is enough. If someone doesn't accept it, I'm under no obligation to explain. The same evidence is available to everyone.

And thus, you failed to understand basic scientific method. The whole point of making you "show your work" is because that's the fundamental underpinning of ALL science. Being able to get the right answer without being able to show your work is useless. That's alchemy, not science.

There's a reason you fail students for this. Getting the right answer is not the point of the exercise and you've very much misunderstood the lessons you were taught.