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
Respect Mah Authoritah: Thoughts on DM and Player Authority in 5e
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="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 8437985" data-attributes="member: 6696971"><p>Question for you:</p><p></p><p></p><p>If you're that Ranger on that boat and you want to protect that little girl and you have the suite of following two abilities (I'm not going to put any numbers to it, just theme), you don't know anything about the HP/abilities of the little girl and the tentacles, how do you make an informed decision:</p><p></p><p>COVERING FIRE - You buy time for your target to move nearby. Any mook that approaches the target you protect or attacks them in melee is slain.</p><p></p><p>KILL THE THING - Do a bunch of damage to the big thing!</p><p></p><p></p><p>If you don't know any of following:</p><p></p><p>(a) the tentacles are classified as mooks</p><p></p><p>(b) the mook tentacles don't share the monster's HP pool</p><p></p><p>(c) the little girl's father is actually capable of protecting here (mechanically capable...not just I'm a dad with an oar capable)</p><p></p><p>(d) how cover rules work at all (if you do COVERING FIRE, she's either moving to her father for protection or taking cover behind the fishing gear)</p><p></p><p>(e) that the girl is also a mook (therefore guaranteed 1 hit 1 kill vs perhaps having 4 hp and dealing with a tentacle that does 1d6+1 damage so she survives on a 2 or less)</p><p></p><p></p><p>If you know none of that stuff...how are you acting as an informed agent? How are you navigating that decision-point? In the menu of possible moves you can make based on inferences or meta-inferences (eg how HPs work or how genre tropes should impact play), there are plenty of ways this could go wrong. </p><p></p><p>A very simple one is "I'm shooting the tentacles nearby with my bow so I can protect the girl....OH THEY SHARE THE 80 HP POOL OF THE MONSTER YOU SAY (after action resolution is done and the gamestate has changed not an inch...the little girl is in the exact same perilous threat she was in prior to your move but you were hoping that you would take out the 2 tentacles threatening her)...WELL EFF ME...and the little girl I guess..."</p><p></p><p>If you don't have those crucial mechanical inputs (tentacles are mooks and as long as you hit they're donezo and you've bought time for the father/little girl/you to get to the raft), how are you not mostly flying blind? The agency-arresting prospects become significant and many/most decision-point become fraught with potential EFF ME AND THE LITTLE GIRL outcomes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 8437985, member: 6696971"] Question for you: If you're that Ranger on that boat and you want to protect that little girl and you have the suite of following two abilities (I'm not going to put any numbers to it, just theme), you don't know anything about the HP/abilities of the little girl and the tentacles, how do you make an informed decision: COVERING FIRE - You buy time for your target to move nearby. Any mook that approaches the target you protect or attacks them in melee is slain. KILL THE THING - Do a bunch of damage to the big thing! If you don't know any of following: (a) the tentacles are classified as mooks (b) the mook tentacles don't share the monster's HP pool (c) the little girl's father is actually capable of protecting here (mechanically capable...not just I'm a dad with an oar capable) (d) how cover rules work at all (if you do COVERING FIRE, she's either moving to her father for protection or taking cover behind the fishing gear) (e) that the girl is also a mook (therefore guaranteed 1 hit 1 kill vs perhaps having 4 hp and dealing with a tentacle that does 1d6+1 damage so she survives on a 2 or less) If you know none of that stuff...how are you acting as an informed agent? How are you navigating that decision-point? In the menu of possible moves you can make based on inferences or meta-inferences (eg how HPs work or how genre tropes should impact play), there are plenty of ways this could go wrong. A very simple one is "I'm shooting the tentacles nearby with my bow so I can protect the girl....OH THEY SHARE THE 80 HP POOL OF THE MONSTER YOU SAY (after action resolution is done and the gamestate has changed not an inch...the little girl is in the exact same perilous threat she was in prior to your move but you were hoping that you would take out the 2 tentacles threatening her)...WELL EFF ME...and the little girl I guess..." If you don't have those crucial mechanical inputs (tentacles are mooks and as long as you hit they're donezo and you've bought time for the father/little girl/you to get to the raft), how are you not mostly flying blind? The agency-arresting prospects become significant and many/most decision-point become fraught with potential EFF ME AND THE LITTLE GIRL outcomes. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Respect Mah Authoritah: Thoughts on DM and Player Authority in 5e
Top