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Taking the "Dungeons" out of D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 8084618" data-attributes="member: 177"><p>Yes, well, the things we <em>NEED</em> are like, oxygen, water, food. Beyond that, we are not all going to agree on what "need" really means. We don't actually <em>NEED</em> all the combat rules either. Have you tossed them out yet? No? Why not?</p><p></p><p>How about "should have", rather than "need"? You <em>should have</em> robust rules for the areas of play that you want the players to engage in. If you want them to swing swords and spells around in fights, you should have robust rules for that. And lo and behold, we have those.</p><p></p><p>If you want the players to engage with politics, social positioning, war, and interpersonal relations, you should have robust rules for that and... in D&D, we don't. We have hand-waving. There should be ways for them to plan tactics and have special abilities around persuasion and intimidation, for example. In general there should be feats and class abilities that relate to these areas of play. There should be rules for use of resources on larger scale than small squad battles. And so on.</p><p></p><p>If you don't have those rules, the players cannot reliably form cogent plans. The rules are their handles on how the game functions. If you don't give them rules, then they start to play the GM's personal quirks and tendencies as a set of rules. However, the GM's operation is generally a black box, which can be frustrating and unsatisfying. </p><p></p><p>Our rules systems help assure that players have reasonable and interesting things to do within the context of whatever the action is, which effectively helps make sure everyone gets a bit of spotlight time. No rules? Unless the GM is <em>very attentive</em>, the bulk of play is apt to go to the most personally persuasive player, which is kind of bogus. The GM should have tools that help them organize play in a way where spreading the action comes out of the process of play.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 8084618, member: 177"] Yes, well, the things we [I]NEED[/I] are like, oxygen, water, food. Beyond that, we are not all going to agree on what "need" really means. We don't actually [I]NEED[/I] all the combat rules either. Have you tossed them out yet? No? Why not? How about "should have", rather than "need"? You [I]should have[/I] robust rules for the areas of play that you want the players to engage in. If you want them to swing swords and spells around in fights, you should have robust rules for that. And lo and behold, we have those. If you want the players to engage with politics, social positioning, war, and interpersonal relations, you should have robust rules for that and... in D&D, we don't. We have hand-waving. There should be ways for them to plan tactics and have special abilities around persuasion and intimidation, for example. In general there should be feats and class abilities that relate to these areas of play. There should be rules for use of resources on larger scale than small squad battles. And so on. If you don't have those rules, the players cannot reliably form cogent plans. The rules are their handles on how the game functions. If you don't give them rules, then they start to play the GM's personal quirks and tendencies as a set of rules. However, the GM's operation is generally a black box, which can be frustrating and unsatisfying. Our rules systems help assure that players have reasonable and interesting things to do within the context of whatever the action is, which effectively helps make sure everyone gets a bit of spotlight time. No rules? Unless the GM is [I]very attentive[/I], the bulk of play is apt to go to the most personally persuasive player, which is kind of bogus. The GM should have tools that help them organize play in a way where spreading the action comes out of the process of play. [/QUOTE]
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