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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 5816857" data-attributes="member: 53980">IMO, it was more CaW thinking, though from a CaS mentality. We managed to skip about half a dozen fights against tough creatures, meaning that we also lessened the danger. Admittedly, true CaW thinking would have been to poison their water supply (or some such) and wait for them to die.I realize that there was some amount of structure built into CaW in earlier editions (fireballs not creating much pressure, but filling a given volume). Nevertheless, the vast majority of such play (IME) ends up being off the cuff based on necessity. For example, if I set off a fireball in an airtight room, how much of the air does the fireball consume? It's been a while since I've read my TSR books, but I'm fairly certain they do not offer an answer. So Joe might rule that magical flame doesn't consume oxygen and therefore everyone is fine, while Bob rules that everyone in the room suffocates.I think what you're referring to is the impartiality the CaW style. Which is true; a good CaW DM does his best to remain impartial at all times. However, in my experience, there nonetheless exists a level of subjectivity irrespective of that impartiality. If Bob and Joe both roll for a random Gnoll encounter, Bob might decide that the gnolls are pursuing some escaped slaves and won't bother with the party unless they interfere, while Joe tells his players to roll for initiative. Both are impartial, as the DMs framed the encounter in reasonable terms of why the gnolls might be there (hunting escaped slaves vs trying to enslave the party), but they're also different based on decisions the two DMs made to subjectively frame the scene.I'm not sure that I'd include morale rules in CaW though. Those could be just as easily a CaS mechanic (fight the battle but skip the grind). I think morale is Ca neutral. Random tables certainly do help to further the cause of the impartial DM though.FWIW, I do find the trait of impartiality admirable.</blockquote>

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