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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenada" data-source="post: 8622314" data-attributes="member: 70468">In what way do you find it lacking? Sure, it’s provocative, but that was the point. I’m not sure we even disagree necessarily. You more or less <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/supposing-d-d-is-gamist-what-does-that-mean.687974/post-8622098" target="_blank">describe</a> trad D&D and finished by saying your favorite mechanics are those that drip with story potential or invoke tropes and feelings. That’s the thing I’m pointing out as part of the simulation. Perhaps it would help to use a contrasting example.In OSR play, a style with a Step On Up (or gamist) creative agenda, mechanics are deployed as a backstop. You are supposed to be using your wits to figure out the solution to the problems you encounter. If you encounter a trap, the thief might be able to roll to disable it, but it’s much better to describe how your character disables it without ever making a roll. This is known as “skilled play” or “the answer is not on your character sheet”. Sometimes, the challenges are impossible and have no prescribed solution. A 1st level party encounters a dragon and its hoard. Whatever happens next, a story will emerge from the confluence of events. If the players are smart, they might come out a bit richer.Trad wants those moments, but it doesn’t want or value the processes that create them. Again, that’s the simulation part. Why doesn’t it value those things? They get in the way of telling a story, and they undermine the sense of fairness that the mechanics are meant to ensure. If the fighter could describe how they open a trapped chest without suffering from the trap, what would be the point of even having a thief in the party? The same goes for the dragon situation. If the dragon’s there, it must have a narrative purpose. Otherwise, the GM is just railroading the players to make them figure out the right solution the GM has in mind. It’s an attack on player agency.In essence, trad wants to simulate the former experience without the “problems” (high lethality, rules getting in the way of story, poor balance, etc). I’d also add that preserving the feel of D&D is important, which is why I think it has seemingly gamist mechanics in spite of the trad style not really being about that. They’re part of the aesthetic, and they’re part of ensuring everyone’s needs as players are met during play. Like you suggested in your post, balance is about ensuring equal opportunity to contribute.</blockquote>

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