NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libramarian" data-source="post: 8014881" data-attributes="member: 6688858">I think the extent to which B/X refereeing is passive is perhaps being exaggerated here. When running my B/X game I do generally wait for the PCs to come to the challenge (i.e. it's a sandbox), but in resolving them I'm often guided by a sense of what would make it most satisfying for the players; I'm not always strictly following my notes or extrapolating based on a sense of realism. Classic D&D of course has many gonzo elements that are not really conducive to a purely realistic approach.An example from a recent session: in an evil wizard's library the party find a reference to the word "Fahoorth". Later in the dungeon, they come across NPCs trapped in cages with bars made of a magical chitinous substance. "Fahoorth" is the password that causes the cage bars to part. I realize the players won't get this without a clue. I wait until the characters happen to say words with "Fuh", "Hoo" or "Th" sounds, and narrate that the bars quiver, seemingly in response to certain sounds being spoken. After much guessing and repetition, a player remembers the password and triumphantly announces it. I could have anticipated this and predetermined the clue, but I didn't feel like I was out of bounds in doing it on the fly.The party are now escorting the prisoners back to town and I'm playing the prisoners' leader as annoyingly haughty. She could become a useful contact but I'm trying to goad the PCs into abandoning her. Again I'm guided by a sense of challenge, rather than simulation; I didn't have any notes beforehand about her personality. (I also just enjoy the subversive aspect of making powerful NPCs hard to deal with, whereas in most fantasy RPGs progressing the story is all about finding the quest-giver, hearing their info dump and then doing their bidding.)</blockquote>

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