I like stunting. I've played several systems with stunt rules, some of which give you bonuses for doing something crazy or describing it well, etc.
So I definitely want to encourage stunting in my games. However, what I saw with my last group, has put some real doubt in me about them.
One player would constantly want to attack multiple people with "a big great swing of his axe". Another would just want to tackle people and knock them down. This was with 4e. The problem is that they wouldn't select those powers; they'd pick something else, and then just want to break the mold.
The problem was that they wanted to do something like this all the time. Which worried me. Why?
Before I began playing 4e, I saw another post on this topic, where an example was given why the person was against the terrain/stunting rules. It went like this:
"Let's say your PCs are in a kitchen when a fight breaks out. So, they're fighting, and someone gets the idea to pick up an open bag of flourr and sling it into someone's face. The GM, on the spot, rules that the target is blinded by the flower. Now, the PCs carry around pouches filled with flour where every they go, throwing it in the face of their target and blinding them. Because the GM made the ruling once, then for the sake of consistency, the rule should always be the same. Now the GM has handed the players a "Blind a guy" attack without having to spend points/a feat/a spell/whatever resource PCs use."
At the time I thought that was bunk. Because a GM wouldn't let the the players get away with that. But it's not just a GM issue; it's players getting into the habit of trying to get away with a technique that, if they want to do all the time, they should have to spend a resource to do (a feat, a power, whathaveyou). Stunts are meant to be "Sudden, clever ideas, sheer luck, and exploiting the surroundings".
How do you make it clear to players they can't just get away with carrying a bag of flour for free blindness attacks? And, we're not talking about just In-game responses - to me, that's passive aggressive (and leads to frustration on both sides of the screen). How do you communicate to the players, and make it clear, without squashing their ambition to use stunts in the first place?
So I definitely want to encourage stunting in my games. However, what I saw with my last group, has put some real doubt in me about them.
One player would constantly want to attack multiple people with "a big great swing of his axe". Another would just want to tackle people and knock them down. This was with 4e. The problem is that they wouldn't select those powers; they'd pick something else, and then just want to break the mold.
The problem was that they wanted to do something like this all the time. Which worried me. Why?
Before I began playing 4e, I saw another post on this topic, where an example was given why the person was against the terrain/stunting rules. It went like this:
"Let's say your PCs are in a kitchen when a fight breaks out. So, they're fighting, and someone gets the idea to pick up an open bag of flourr and sling it into someone's face. The GM, on the spot, rules that the target is blinded by the flower. Now, the PCs carry around pouches filled with flour where every they go, throwing it in the face of their target and blinding them. Because the GM made the ruling once, then for the sake of consistency, the rule should always be the same. Now the GM has handed the players a "Blind a guy" attack without having to spend points/a feat/a spell/whatever resource PCs use."
At the time I thought that was bunk. Because a GM wouldn't let the the players get away with that. But it's not just a GM issue; it's players getting into the habit of trying to get away with a technique that, if they want to do all the time, they should have to spend a resource to do (a feat, a power, whathaveyou). Stunts are meant to be "Sudden, clever ideas, sheer luck, and exploiting the surroundings".
How do you make it clear to players they can't just get away with carrying a bag of flour for free blindness attacks? And, we're not talking about just In-game responses - to me, that's passive aggressive (and leads to frustration on both sides of the screen). How do you communicate to the players, and make it clear, without squashing their ambition to use stunts in the first place?