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

[Maxperson]

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.

A mistake.. Someone more skilled or even someone of the same skill who was on the ball, would have avoided that particular area, keeping the rope away.

 

[Campbell]

I don't think curation of options is particularly related to broader playstyle questions. I personally tend to favor curating the list of available playbooks when I run Masks, Monsterhearts, Apocalypse World, et al to have a level of thematic cohesiveness. This extends to more traditional games as well. Part of our discussions for our Wraith including drilling down to all of us being part of the Hierarchy and Grim Legion and after a discussion we decided that we should all share a tether to a local reporter and have our deaths be related to a conspiracy.

This goes beyond what is possible in setting. Having a cohesive scenario that we can all plug into and having shared themes just helps the game run better. Sometimes this part of an upfront discussion. Other times it's just part of the pitch.

Sometimes it's not even entirely up front. Like one of the common discussion items when running Monsterhearts is not having multiple mortal playbooks in place since then it can start to just feel like high school.

Note that in my group some of the curation even comes from other players. We want to make sure everyone is excited by all the characters.

 

[Lanefan]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

There is no luminiferous aether. Even if there were, by its own theoretical claims, you cannot see it if you're inside an enclosed space. That would be like saying you could see the drag on the water in your fishbowl from the Earth's motion around the sun.

Coriolis effects are (much like the Unruh effect) undetectable at human scales. They're something like one ten-millionth of the acceleration due to gravity. Many people think the Coriolis affect applies to things like bathtubs and toilets, but it doesn't (or, at least, it does but it's legit invisible beneath much more salient factors like the product design.)

Then why does water swirl the other way in the southern hemisphere?

The most noticeable Coriolis effect in everyday life is what it does to weather patterns, though most people don't realize that's why certain patterns work the way they do.

 

[Lanefan]

Because I'm talking about an actual poster's game: Lanefan's.

Errr...I think I missed something.

What did I do this time?

 

[Lanefan]

(several months later)

You have finally finished reading the manual and now know how it all works. Now you get to field all the questions your party has!

I'm a player; and while my character might be the one fielding the questions, for efficiency's sake it'll be the DM giving the answers. (one of the mage PCs who decipered and translated the manual was mine)

 

[Maxperson]

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.

Except that it's a game, not a scientific theory that is going to be published. RPGs aren't held to anywhere remotely close to the same standard you are trying to apply here.

For an RPG, working is in fact enough. The work does not need to be shown.

 

[Hussar]

I much rather have the GM narrate an outcome that make sense to me from the top of their head, than one that make no sense, but they can show me exactly what tables they used to roll up their nonsense.

I'd much rather, in a simulationist leaning game, that the DM's narration was actually connected to the fiction of the game than whatever justification they can pull out of thin air.

Funny how there appears to only be two options. The idea that the DM uses the tiny kernel of information provided by the system to build an outcome that makes sense apparently isn't simulation, but, the DM completely making stuff up with zero input from the system is.

 

[Hussar]

I would prefer for the DM to determine the species and cultures and major political organizations prior to play. I don't think those should be added by the players.

Wow. Really? I LOVE it when the players do that. Heck, my players do it all the time. It's fantastic. It means they do all the work and I just get to play with the toys they are gifting me. Why on earth would you want to stop that? My last character, for example, was a priest of Kossuth in a Forgotten Realms game. So, I made him a Thayan and then handed my DM a detailed description of the Thayan enclave in Baldur's Gate. Sure, I was using some of the FR stuff, but, the enclave, other than a single sentence saying that it existed, was entirely my own creation.

My DM thanked me very kindly and the enclave became a major element of the opening of the campaign.

 

[AnotherGuy]

It is something I tried desperately to get people to step back from.

Listen, provide soft workable alternatives and gently encourage.
i.e. Use honey

Reflect and provide examples on how allowing for player/table input has

• changed players guarded/ min-maxing ways
• made players more trusting of the GM
• allowed players to focus on roleplay and genuineness of character
• inspired more enjoyment at the table
• provided interesting material for you as GM to work with
• overall enriched the emergent storyline
• fostered a system of co-operation
  (and this is not to say you cannot have all the above and not continue to have friendly banter and competition amongst players and amongst the GM and players. Ofc you can!)

@EzekielRaiden all it takes is one idea to be used, and that is a success in itself. Try not to be militant, that does not work.

 

[Hussar]

(several months later)

You have finally finished reading the manual and now know how it all works. Now you get to field all the questions your party has!

Except that can NEVER be the answer. The player is forbidden to add anything to the game world. So, while the character knows the answers, it MUST come from the DM. Nothing about the game world can ever come from the players.

That's how this apparently works. The DM is the SOLE source of narration in the world. The players are not allowed to add any information.

This is apparently how simulation systems work.