Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf 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 Nest
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, OSR, & D&D Variants
*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!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
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, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Should this be fixed
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="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 5577435" data-attributes="member: 6668292"><p>What is being put forth to me is equivalent consequences for actions in a game. This has not been specified or reduced to "only actions that are pertaining to the theme" and even if it were, my post above addresses my feelings on this (I disagree). </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Let me preface this by saying that while this is solely my personal opinion, I'd wager an educated guess that not only my players would agree with me, but most of the other people I tend to speak with to with some regularity.</p><p></p><p>To me, at least, these sorts of decisions being piled up one after another will result in a devalued sense of what they should be.</p><p></p><p>I've "played" a game like this before with my group that we called "ethics board" with no dice or other mechanical system. They were presented with ethical dilemmas, and they decided what they thought the right course of action was. I decided the outcome based on those decisions, and we either addressed it more in-depth if their decision drew complications, or we moved on to a new dilemma. In this game, which we played a handful of times, the players felt less and less emotionally invested in the dilemmas, specifically because of their frequency. The first dilemma was extremely satisfying to play through, though the repetition of such important decisions drew the mystery out of it. It lessened their emotional attachment to the world they were a part of (which included characters and a setting as well).</p><p></p><p>Additionally, the pure time dedicated to each dilemma near the beginning of the game was such that if these decisions were made with the same fire initially elicited from the players, then the game would crawl to such a halt that the mechanical representation would become essentially subsystems that distracted from the main theme of a game.</p><p></p><p>This is, again, just my take on things. Could this be done successfully with the right group of people? Sure, it probably could be. I wouldn't recommend it, though.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, as someone who pretty much loathes story-driven fantasy games, I cannot agree that my style can possibly accept players as any type of author. I believe strongly in character-driven fantasy games, where the actions of PCs determines the story, but the idea of story every trumping the mechanics with any regularity rubs me the wrong way to such a degree that were I to be informed that a game would be using this method within a fantasy setting, I'd simply skip the game altogether.</p><p></p><p>Now, in other games and settings, I'm okay with the story coming first. I play Mutants and Masterminds on occasion. When I do play, I find it is much more fulfilling to attempt to play in the vein of comics or shows than it is to play with just the power mechanics in a setting while sticking to the rolls trumping story. Of course, a game like M&M has rules built in that allow that level of narrative control (hero points and the one GM fiat), and that suits that style well.</p><p></p><p>In a game like D&D, I don't personally find this to be the case, and I'd much rather see what sort of interesting story emerges from character actions (with appropriate consequences) rather than see what type of story I can help create via character actions. I think there's a subtle but world-changing difference there.</p><p></p><p>As always, though, this genre allows both of us to have fun, and that's pretty amazing. I'm glad we can both enjoy ourselves so thoroughly, and be so passionate about our preferences. Play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>EDIT:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I really do appreciate your wording here. Thank you for being considerate.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>See, as I said above, I'm against story-driven games. In this sort of situation, I'd think of this specific demon's motivations, and have him act on those. If that means he goes to a village to massacre the inhabitants, I'd have him pursue that action. If that means he is currently satisfied and returns to the abyss, than I'd have him pursue that action.</p><p></p><p>I will not determine what would make the best story, and then pursue that fiction. To me, that bends the believability of the game too much for my taste, and it rubs me the wrong way. In another type of game, however, it's what I'd expect, and what my players would expect as well.</p><p></p><p>I think I'm approaching the themed campaign differently than you or Hussar might be, as I don't look at it from the fiction-first scope that you seem to. I look at it from the individual-first scope, and that colors my views quite differently (but not objectively better by any means).</p><p></p><p>Again, I'm glad we can talk about such things so civilly, and both enjoy the hobby even with our individual tastes. Play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JamesonCourage, post: 5577435, member: 6668292"] What is being put forth to me is equivalent consequences for actions in a game. This has not been specified or reduced to "only actions that are pertaining to the theme" and even if it were, my post above addresses my feelings on this (I disagree). Let me preface this by saying that while this is solely my personal opinion, I'd wager an educated guess that not only my players would agree with me, but most of the other people I tend to speak with to with some regularity. To me, at least, these sorts of decisions being piled up one after another will result in a devalued sense of what they should be. I've "played" a game like this before with my group that we called "ethics board" with no dice or other mechanical system. They were presented with ethical dilemmas, and they decided what they thought the right course of action was. I decided the outcome based on those decisions, and we either addressed it more in-depth if their decision drew complications, or we moved on to a new dilemma. In this game, which we played a handful of times, the players felt less and less emotionally invested in the dilemmas, specifically because of their frequency. The first dilemma was extremely satisfying to play through, though the repetition of such important decisions drew the mystery out of it. It lessened their emotional attachment to the world they were a part of (which included characters and a setting as well). Additionally, the pure time dedicated to each dilemma near the beginning of the game was such that if these decisions were made with the same fire initially elicited from the players, then the game would crawl to such a halt that the mechanical representation would become essentially subsystems that distracted from the main theme of a game. This is, again, just my take on things. Could this be done successfully with the right group of people? Sure, it probably could be. I wouldn't recommend it, though. Well, as someone who pretty much loathes story-driven fantasy games, I cannot agree that my style can possibly accept players as any type of author. I believe strongly in character-driven fantasy games, where the actions of PCs determines the story, but the idea of story every trumping the mechanics with any regularity rubs me the wrong way to such a degree that were I to be informed that a game would be using this method within a fantasy setting, I'd simply skip the game altogether. Now, in other games and settings, I'm okay with the story coming first. I play Mutants and Masterminds on occasion. When I do play, I find it is much more fulfilling to attempt to play in the vein of comics or shows than it is to play with just the power mechanics in a setting while sticking to the rolls trumping story. Of course, a game like M&M has rules built in that allow that level of narrative control (hero points and the one GM fiat), and that suits that style well. In a game like D&D, I don't personally find this to be the case, and I'd much rather see what sort of interesting story emerges from character actions (with appropriate consequences) rather than see what type of story I can help create via character actions. I think there's a subtle but world-changing difference there. As always, though, this genre allows both of us to have fun, and that's pretty amazing. I'm glad we can both enjoy ourselves so thoroughly, and be so passionate about our preferences. Play what you like :) EDIT: I really do appreciate your wording here. Thank you for being considerate. See, as I said above, I'm against story-driven games. In this sort of situation, I'd think of this specific demon's motivations, and have him act on those. If that means he goes to a village to massacre the inhabitants, I'd have him pursue that action. If that means he is currently satisfied and returns to the abyss, than I'd have him pursue that action. I will not determine what would make the best story, and then pursue that fiction. To me, that bends the believability of the game too much for my taste, and it rubs me the wrong way. In another type of game, however, it's what I'd expect, and what my players would expect as well. I think I'm approaching the themed campaign differently than you or Hussar might be, as I don't look at it from the fiction-first scope that you seem to. I look at it from the individual-first scope, and that colors my views quite differently (but not objectively better by any means). Again, I'm glad we can talk about such things so civilly, and both enjoy the hobby even with our individual tastes. Play what you like :) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Should this be fixed
Top