D&D 5E The Larger Failure of "Tyranny of Dragons"

[pemerton]

It is how we play. And for us, the One True Way.

But presumably you and your friends are capable of understanding that there are other RPGers who play RPGs in quite different ways.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Interesting, I do not believe I have come across any RPG player (including on these boards) who enjoys the game quite like you and your table do. To be honest I'm struggling to find the appeal for it, week after week, but that may be because I lack the wargaming background.
But even so, I view wargaming similar to chess = it is you against your mate (unless I'm mistaken). The dynamic in a RPG is very different where you have players and a DM.

It is very common IME, but then, my players have nearly always been military or veterans thereof, emergency services, or corrections. Or girlfriends thereof, back in the day.

The dynamic at my table is this: my players undertake a goal, and I represent the forces in opposition, and of Nature. I run sandbox play.

I don't care if they succeed or fail; it's not 'GM versus Players'.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I wouldn't be surprised if @Jd Smith1 likes the Desert of Desolation modules (Pharoah, Tomb of Martek, etc) but that's just conjecture based on the posts in this thread.

I'm not familiar with the. But then, I didn't use D&D from around '81 until 2019.

I have used, and loved, Phoenix Command, Millennium's End, and Riddle of Steel, if that helps.

 

[Jd Smith1]

But presumably you and your friends are capable of understanding that there are other RPGers who play RPGs in quite different ways.

With disdain, but yes.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I tend to avoid people like that.

But I've never met many people who are trying to tell a story in an RPG, and I started in 1979.

Do you not think there might be a connection there?!

A few, sure, but they are usually not very interesting on any level.

Don't worry, I expect they feel the same way about you.

I came to RPGs by way of wargaming (which is still a hobby of mine). I'm not interested in stories, but the tactical resolution of conflicts.

Which is fair enough, you can play D&D any way you like. But it does mean that you aren't the target audience for a story driven adventure. A book of tactical scenarios would be more relevant to you.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I wouldn't be surprised if @Jd Smith1 likes the Desert of Desolation modules (Pharoah, Tomb of Martek, etc) but that's just conjecture based on the posts in this thread.

I would say that Pharaoh is exactly the point where strongly plotted story driven adventures started to take over what was being published for D&D.

 

[pemerton]

I have used, and loved, Phoenix Command, Millennium's End, and Riddle of Steel, if that helps.

When you played The Riddle of Steel, how did you handle Spiritual Attributes? They introduce an element of "stakes" beyond live/die.

 

[pemerton]

I would say that Pharaoh is exactly the point where strongly plotted story driven adventures started to take over what was being published for D&D.

There's an overarching structure of plot. But actually read through the dungeon in Pharoah. It's a wargaming scenario with a light plot/theme overlay.

 

[akr71]

Personally, I would have been surprised if they had hit a homerun with their first 5e adventure path.

I put a lot of work into running it for my players - dropped some things and added others - maybe too many other things, but those are things I do with every purchased adventure I run. I learned a lot about being a DM running ToD.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

They clearly learned a few things, anyway. For a start most WotC adventures now suggest a range of different plot hooks and leave it to the DM to select the one that most suits their group.