The Guards at the Gate Quote

[I'm A Banana]

Would anyone like to rewrite that to make it more inclusive of other playstyles? Guess I can try...

As a Dungeon Master, you need to focus on the fun! If your group loves flower picking but hates fighting orcs, bypass the orc camps and skip to the meadows! Groups that hate tracking rations and water won't enjoy a survival game! Groups that love big dramatic fights will love fighting dragons! If you're not having fun doing it, don't do it! Focus on the fun!

Still sounds a little manic (almost like a toy commercial), but it certainly doesn't sound WRONG anymore.

As the OP said, if the guards at the gate are a situation, then you don't gloss over it. You run a skill challenge, or a combat, or whatever.

Of course, not every DM runs a game that is a constant string of goal-focused challenges. And many don't pre-determine if guards at the gate are a "situation" or not. And new DMs need to be aware of both of these methods of playing, since it's something they might enjoy, too. It's pretty bad advice just to categorically say these things are not fun, period.

I think most want to engage the game in a more meaty fashion than that

Personally, I think it's a failure of a game system when exploration ISN'T meaty. Endless corridors of dungeon SHOULD be interesting in a game called Dungeons & Dragons.

Don't faff around. Don't make your players faff around. Cut to the chase.

The DM isn't the sole arbiter of what "faffing around" is, and if the players at the table derive endless volumes of enjoyment from doing things involving little direct confrontation, it is really awful advice to tell a DM to ignore that part of the game.

"The Chase" is different for different groups, and while ignoring stuff you don't enjoy is good advice, Wyatt can't tell me what my group enjoys and what it doesn't. He tries to. That's a problem. Because in a game as diverse as D&D, he is BOUND to be dead wrong.

 

[D'karr]

Please don't tell anyone about my armor fetish... I could lose my teaching job.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Is the implication now, with you bringing that quote in to bolster your argument) that ALL RPG's be run in this manner of skip EVERYTHING that isn't pertinent to kicking someone's teeth in (i.e THE GOOD STUFF)?

This is where I take issue. You assume that skipping the boring stuff means "combat, combat, combat" and that's not what Wyatt's quote says, nor has anyone in this thread siding with the advice said this.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

No, actually, that is exactly what he was saying - that is the problem with direct quotes from printed materials - it is pretty easy to check.

It is what it says on the can. Over and over Mr. Wyatt's message was 'play it my way.'

I just checked the direct quote. He never says "play it my way." Please heed your own advice.

 

[LurkAway]

"Ya, ya, nothing to see here folks. Nothing fun or challenging about me, no siree. After I took that arrow to the leg, even my wife divorced me -- she said I stopped being 'meaningful'. Hmph! Mark my words, one day you're feeling all high and mighty and the world caters to you, and the next day you're standing around for exploration purposes only."

 

[ShinHakkaider]

This is where I take issue. You assume that skipping the boring stuff means "combat, combat, combat" and that's not what Wyatt's quote says, nor has anyone in this thread siding with the advice said this.

You can take issue with it all that you wish.

Now did you take exception to everything else that I posted as well? Or are you just looking to nitpick instead of addressing the greater issue here? Which is basically James Wyatt clearly stating that "If you do X you should skip X and get right to Y." Despite the fact that there are those of us who as players and GM's who enjoy doing X.

 

[jonesy]

You mean like this? Ok. I guess the finger point does make me look more menacing. Thanks for the advice. Now what was this thing about a missing princess? Not in this town, there isn't.

 

[DEFCON 1]

What, this? I call this my Achilles Wrist. I told my armorer to cover me head to toe in chainmail except for one small spot right here, just to give my opponents something to aim for. Makes fighting much more exciting for me.

 

[D'karr]

I never had a problem with that quote simply because I chose not to take it out of its context. The DMG has a lot of advise. Any of it when taken out of context can seem absurd. However when taken in context it doesn't seem absurd at all.

Like somebody said before, I read things starting with the idea that whoever wrote them is a somewhat reasonable person. I don't tend to start reading looking for absurdities. Specially when the rest of the sections of that chapter have information that puts that quote in context.

I think the best advise they could have given DMs is "don't bore your players, or waste their precious time." That entire chapter does not say that in exactly those words but all of the advise in it can be summed up in those nine words.

 

[I'm A Banana]

You there! You must talk with me! I need to talk to someone! No one has talked to me since 2008! I am so very lonely.