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<blockquote data-quote="Majoru Oakheart" data-source="post: 6178045" data-attributes="member: 5143">I can't answer for him.&nbsp; However, I can explain what I think he meant.&nbsp; I'm perfectly happy if people like D&amp;D so much that they insist of attempting to run games it wasn't meant to run using its rules.In the same way that I'm perfectly happy if a bunch of people get together in a backyard and play football in a 20ft x 20ft area using a cardboard box instead of a football.&nbsp; It won't really resemble football in any way that I'd recognize...but if people are having fun playing their football variant, then let them have fun.On the other hand, if these same people start petitioning the NFL to change their rules so football is played with a cardboard box because they destroyed theirs and it isn't easy to find a cardboard box of the right size and weight to play their game anymore, I say &quot;No, that's now how football is played.&nbsp; I'm happy that you found a variant that made you happy....but please don't mistake your variant for the original game.&quot;Horror is kind of hard to quantify.&nbsp; Can you make people scared or run an adventure with a horror theme in D&amp;D?&nbsp; Sure.&nbsp; Can you run a game where all the PCs spend their time running and screaming because ghosts are chasing them and they have no idea what to do about it like most horror movies?&nbsp; Unlikely.&nbsp; D&amp;D characters are armed with magic items, spells, and supernaturally powerful fighting techniques.&nbsp; They beat up ghosts without difficulty.&nbsp; They kill the boogie man and banish him to another dimension where he's never heard from again.Ravenloft had to add its own set of house rules to encourage this sort of behavior.&nbsp; Over the years, it's prevented a bunch of spells from working correctly, it's created insanity and fear rules, it's given evil way more power to make it more frightening and done a number of other things to try to encourage a horror setting.The fact that it needed house rules for this sort of things just proves that the D&amp;D rules aren't well suited for this sort of game.&nbsp; Even WITH those house rules, I found that most Ravenloft games didn't end up having the horror atmosphere that it was supposed to have.&nbsp; Mostly because the D&amp;D rules don't work well with horror.Are there people out there using it for horror?&nbsp; Sure.&nbsp; People can work AROUND any problem.&nbsp; All you have to do is ignore or change a bunch of rules and you can make it work perfectly.&nbsp; Some people are so used to ignoring and changing rules that they barely know what the original rules for D&amp;D are.&nbsp; Some groups barely use rules at all and play games closer to Improv Acting than D&amp;D.&nbsp; When you aren't even using the D&amp;D rules at all, it's easy to make nearly anything work.But that isn't D&amp;D supporting those concepts, it's the individual groups having written their own game that supports it using D&amp;D as a basis.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Majoru Oakheart, post: 6178045, member: 5143"] I can't answer for him. However, I can explain what I think he meant. I'm perfectly happy if people like D&D so much that they insist of attempting to run games it wasn't meant to run using its rules. In the same way that I'm perfectly happy if a bunch of people get together in a backyard and play football in a 20ft x 20ft area using a cardboard box instead of a football. It won't really resemble football in any way that I'd recognize...but if people are having fun playing their football variant, then let them have fun. On the other hand, if these same people start petitioning the NFL to change their rules so football is played with a cardboard box because they destroyed theirs and it isn't easy to find a cardboard box of the right size and weight to play their game anymore, I say "No, that's now how football is played. I'm happy that you found a variant that made you happy....but please don't mistake your variant for the original game." Horror is kind of hard to quantify. Can you make people scared or run an adventure with a horror theme in D&D? Sure. Can you run a game where all the PCs spend their time running and screaming because ghosts are chasing them and they have no idea what to do about it like most horror movies? Unlikely. D&D characters are armed with magic items, spells, and supernaturally powerful fighting techniques. They beat up ghosts without difficulty. They kill the boogie man and banish him to another dimension where he's never heard from again. Ravenloft had to add its own set of house rules to encourage this sort of behavior. Over the years, it's prevented a bunch of spells from working correctly, it's created insanity and fear rules, it's given evil way more power to make it more frightening and done a number of other things to try to encourage a horror setting. The fact that it needed house rules for this sort of things just proves that the D&D rules aren't well suited for this sort of game. Even WITH those house rules, I found that most Ravenloft games didn't end up having the horror atmosphere that it was supposed to have. Mostly because the D&D rules don't work well with horror. Are there people out there using it for horror? Sure. People can work AROUND any problem. All you have to do is ignore or change a bunch of rules and you can make it work perfectly. Some people are so used to ignoring and changing rules that they barely know what the original rules for D&D are. Some groups barely use rules at all and play games closer to Improv Acting than D&D. When you aren't even using the D&D rules at all, it's easy to make nearly anything work. But that isn't D&D supporting those concepts, it's the individual groups having written their own game that supports it using D&D as a basis. [/QUOTE]

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