Rant: Why must thing always be obvious in D&D?

[Numion]

Waay old school. Very gamist.

Practical to certain degree. If I describe a herd of centaurs approaching, I wouldn't punish players if they assume them to be peaceful sylvan creatures. The characters have probably lived in that world for their lives, and it's not unreasonable to know about centaurs.

Would anyone expect people in our world, upon seeing a female lion to go "Hmm .. big housecat. I go pet it."

That's what irks me about some fantasy campaigns - different just to be different. "My halflings are nocturnal tree-dwellers with a pouch like kangaroos, nymphs are elven transvestites with webbed feet and centaurs are actually two vampires in a horse-suit. That'll teach em to make assumptions about sylvan life!!11!"

 

[Mallus]

Because nothing in D&D is now declared NPC-only.

Is the material meant to be used or not?

 

[Doug McCrae]

That's what irks me about some fantasy campaigns - different just to be different. "My halflings are nocturnal tree-dwellers with a pouch like kangaroos, nymphs are elven transvestites with webbed feet and centaurs are actually two vampires in a horse-suit. That'll teach em to make assumptions about sylvan life!!11!"

Yeah, that bugs me too. Great examples btw, very funny.

 

[Numion]

I am kind of funny with dieties in my game for example if you are a priest of a good god and your fellow party member is evil the god will not grant healing power to the priest to heal the evil member.

That's actually a good rule, IMO.

I don't even know any more why I came to the Shar worshippers 'defence'. Those who play evil characters (okay, that's not a given, you could be neutral and worship Shar) and worship evil gods usually just use it as an excuse to play jerk characters. I don't even allow it in my games, unless all players agree.

 

[Numion]

Yeah, that bugs me too. Great examples btw, very funny.

"Um, the cleric casts Remove Blindless on you, but you still can't see the 'nymph'. In MY campaign the 'nymphs' blinding beauty is not actually blinding per se, you just can't summon willpower to watch a 560 year old transvestite in full drag. Am I cool or whut?"

"Okay, you move behind the apparently rabid 'centaur' to flank. Suddenly there's a VAMPIRES HEAD sticking out of the centaurs ass, biting you, sucking blood and draining levels!!!11! Welcome to MY campaign world."

I gotta transfer my campaign from FR to MY CAMPAIGN!11!!(TM)

 

[Mallus]

You're assuming that the only interesting adventure hooks are to be had once things happen that you want to happen.

All I'm assuming is that I've got a better way to handle a player (who may or may feel a sense of entitlement, that isn't really important to me) who wants to find a Temple of Shar with a minimum of fuss.

I'd wave my narrative hand and say something like 'After many hours searching in the dead of night for the faint and on-the-verge of fading Mark of the Goddess, you discover the hidden temple. Unfortunately it's being attacked by Celestial ninja. A striking woman in a cocktail dress made seemingly from the very heart of darkness is suddenly at your side. "You're either one of us or a dead man, perhaps both". Roll for initiative'.

If the player isn't engaged by a search for the temple, then I'd make that the prelude to the action, not the action itself.

I don't find that players are lazy or feel entitled, or can't think outside of the box. What I do find is that different players enjoy different aspects of the game, and tend balk when they are forced to play through kinds of challenges they don't find interesting.

 

[Mallus]

As a player if I played a character of a secret cult I would not expect it to have a temple every place I went and I would never see it as the same as buying a sword for a fighter.

Think of it this way, characters should be able (and encouraged) to do things that reinforce/reflect their core concepts. It should be simple for a fighter to buy and kill people with a sword. Likewise, it should be easy for an evil cultist to hook up with his or her evil cult.

In your games can characters walk into any town and buy magic items?

In my current game the PC's rarely leave the largest city in the world, so the points moot.

Some things should be rare in a game.

Yes, but only if that scarcity serves a purpose.

 

[Nifft]

That's what irks me about some fantasy campaigns - different just to be different.

Your examples are obviously rhetorical, but in truth, it's good to be at least a little different, to keep things fresh. The line between "fresh spin" and "absurd ambiguity" should be pretty thick, though. Centaurs as chaotic neutral (sometimes good, sometimes evil) berserker barbarians isn't all that far-fetched.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Gentlegamer]

I think a better example of playing on the expectations of players can be found in one of the late chapters of Eyes of the Overworld. Cugel's assumption nearly costs him a crucial boat and supplies and later costs him one of his hands.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Is the material meant to be used or not?

Yes, it is. It's a god that works best as an antagonist's god, and it's in the campaign book, which is a DM's book by design.

Your absolutism isn't changing any minds.