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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BryonD" data-source="post: 5471342" data-attributes="member: 957">No, the mechanics do not control the narrative.Now, the thing is, mechanics are dumb.  They don't know if they are trying to control the narrative or not.  So it is the responsibility of the DM to keep the mechanics in line.To me, part of that is limited and considered use of random encounter tables.  There are certainyl times when they apply and they certaintly add value in giving the narrative an organic feel.  But if they are designed with "what should be in the ogre's" lair in mind, not "what EL fitting encounters should be in an ogre's lair".  If I were forcing "good fights" as defined by the game system, then you would have a point.  I don't do that.If it turns out that the party going after the CR10 Ogre Lord happens upon an EL16 group of visiting stone giants, then they will need to escape the situation, be it through diplomacy, magic, rapidly placing one foot in front of the other, whatever.  If they encounter a group of giant rats, then it may simply be a purely narrative, mood-setting encounter.  Now, to be clear, I do not use random encounter tables on a highly recurring basis, and these types of encounters (in particular the very high danger encounters) are not high probability on them.  So this conversation has turned very hypothetical.  But the point is, the mechanics will not control the narrative.Now clearly, just rolling on a table is a mechanic and if I roll rats the narrative which follows will be decidedly different than if I roll stone giants.  So one could argue that is mechanics controlling narrative.  But I think anyone who understands the point will see how that is not a meaningful conclusion.  Every item on the list has been validated against the narrative first.  The narrative is the foundation.</blockquote>

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