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<blockquote data-quote="Helldritch" data-source="post: 8435893" data-attributes="member: 6855114"><p>Good points. But for a first level character? </p><p>Too often have I seen stuff being done in backgrounds of first level characters that even 9th level one would have difficulties to pull off. </p><p></p><p>Also, what a lack of imagination. Don't you think that in a world with magic, most "civilized" kingdom would not have some protection vs magic in or on their jail? In a world with such small characters such as halflings, gnomes and even fairies there would be jails made with them in mind? Just think of the amount of classes in 5ed that can use magic, no way any lord or lady would not have contingencies for that.</p><p></p><p>Also, what would he the point of playing medieval fantasy or even Renaissance fantasy and using modern world point of view? Where would the immersion and escapism. Most fantasy novels where heroes are in jail imply that the hero must escape before his or her execution or that the ransom is paid. Executions were still public events at the beginning of last century. Our modern sensibilities make us forget that not so long ago, public hanging were relative common place. I for one, am truly happy that here in Canada we have gotten rid of the death penalty. But that is not so in the game we play. There are harsh realities that many forget but I play with them. If there are nothing to gain from you either in a public execution or in the form of ransom, you can ber that a corrupt official will simply kill you in the spot. Remove your tongue so that speak with dead will not be used on you and claim he had no choice but to kill you. And guess what? He will get away with it because, like judge Dread, he is the law! The first level character found out that he was corrupted? Why leave a live witness? </p><p></p><p>My games are hard and often lethal, especially in the first few levels. I play monsters as close to what is their supposed intelligence as possible. Players rarely have an undeserved break and guess what? If a fight is suspiciously too easy, they will ask me if I played optimally or not. I roll everything in the open and still my players wants to be sure that I do no go easy mode on them.</p><p></p><p>Before a game, I roll 20 times a 20 sided die for secret rolls and note each one in order and note what they are used for if I use some. At the end of a session, I show them the roll that were used and exactly what they were used for. I hide nothing. When the players succeed they know they earned it in earnest.</p><p></p><p>It may not be a style for everyone, but this is the style my players and I prefer. BUT</p><p></p><p>In our Friday Night Dungeon, we do not play grim realism and full medieval mentality. We embrace the heroic fantasy and with full stylish characters (almost caricatural) as it is to introduce people to the hobby. No gritty, villains are caricatural and make some stupid mistakes. The fights are still highly lethal but the tone is quite lighter. We answer quite a lot of questions and the most common one is how do we determine the winner. Explaining that in the game, there is no winner or loser but that the goal is to build stories can be a challenge. But with time, we became quite good at explaining this. I hope that COVID ends soon so that FND starts again.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Helldritch, post: 8435893, member: 6855114"] Good points. But for a first level character? Too often have I seen stuff being done in backgrounds of first level characters that even 9th level one would have difficulties to pull off. Also, what a lack of imagination. Don't you think that in a world with magic, most "civilized" kingdom would not have some protection vs magic in or on their jail? In a world with such small characters such as halflings, gnomes and even fairies there would be jails made with them in mind? Just think of the amount of classes in 5ed that can use magic, no way any lord or lady would not have contingencies for that. Also, what would he the point of playing medieval fantasy or even Renaissance fantasy and using modern world point of view? Where would the immersion and escapism. Most fantasy novels where heroes are in jail imply that the hero must escape before his or her execution or that the ransom is paid. Executions were still public events at the beginning of last century. Our modern sensibilities make us forget that not so long ago, public hanging were relative common place. I for one, am truly happy that here in Canada we have gotten rid of the death penalty. But that is not so in the game we play. There are harsh realities that many forget but I play with them. If there are nothing to gain from you either in a public execution or in the form of ransom, you can ber that a corrupt official will simply kill you in the spot. Remove your tongue so that speak with dead will not be used on you and claim he had no choice but to kill you. And guess what? He will get away with it because, like judge Dread, he is the law! The first level character found out that he was corrupted? Why leave a live witness? My games are hard and often lethal, especially in the first few levels. I play monsters as close to what is their supposed intelligence as possible. Players rarely have an undeserved break and guess what? If a fight is suspiciously too easy, they will ask me if I played optimally or not. I roll everything in the open and still my players wants to be sure that I do no go easy mode on them. Before a game, I roll 20 times a 20 sided die for secret rolls and note each one in order and note what they are used for if I use some. At the end of a session, I show them the roll that were used and exactly what they were used for. I hide nothing. When the players succeed they know they earned it in earnest. It may not be a style for everyone, but this is the style my players and I prefer. BUT In our Friday Night Dungeon, we do not play grim realism and full medieval mentality. We embrace the heroic fantasy and with full stylish characters (almost caricatural) as it is to introduce people to the hobby. No gritty, villains are caricatural and make some stupid mistakes. The fights are still highly lethal but the tone is quite lighter. We answer quite a lot of questions and the most common one is how do we determine the winner. Explaining that in the game, there is no winner or loser but that the goal is to build stories can be a challenge. But with time, we became quite good at explaining this. I hope that COVID ends soon so that FND starts again. [/QUOTE]
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