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What a DM has to do in 5E
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<blockquote data-quote="DMZ2112" data-source="post: 6264878" data-attributes="member: 78752"><p>Well, if this thread is about the role of the dungeon master in any edition of the game, that's fine, but it is not the impression you gave.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think we're kind of pussyfooting around the real issue here, with all our talk of player agency and potentially hostile dungeon envionrments, so let me cut straight to the chase:</p><p></p><p>IF YOU LET YOUR PCS NOVA EVERY ENCOUNTER YOU ARE A TERRIBLE DUNGEON MASTER.</p><p></p><p>Does that about cover it? The potential for this sort of behavior has existed in every version of D&D, and it has been particularly obvious in digital versions. It's how I played the old SSI gold box D&D video games. Fight, rest. Fight, rest. Fight, rest. Interrupted? Restore save game. But if there had been a dungeon master at the "table," so to speak, that would have/should have been /impossible/, because that is literally the very /definition/ of dungeon mastery. You have a dungeon. You are its master. Act like it.</p><p></p><p>I'm hear you saying that the mismanaged five-minute workday benefits casters in editions other than D&D4, and that is the reason why it is bad. I'm not sure if you're saying that it is therefore not bad in D&D4, or if you are saying that it is bad, only in a different way.</p><p></p><p>For my part, it is always bad, and favoring individual characters over others is in no way the biggest part of the problem. But the fact remains: the five-minute workday has always been a thing, it is <em>why you have a dungeon master in the first place</em>, and it doesn't need to be written out of the game, because in a properly managed campaign it is a total non-issue.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's true that most published dungeons don't provide instructions on handling encounters spilling into one another, but in my experience that quickly becomes a rabbit hole -- when do you stop? The author of the dungeon can't see what's going on at the table, and can't adapt for conditions.</p><p></p><p>Again, I think adjudicating this sort of thing is a central part of the dungeon master's responsibility in any edition, and is in no way unique to D&D5.</p><p></p><p>Also, from the perspective of the devil's advocate, you are ignoring the fact that encounters in a good dungeon are mapped for a reason -- meaning that the monsters in a given room have a purpose in being there. The equation is not as simple as "hear swordplay, run to investigate" -- any soldier who has ever been on guard duty will tell you that's a really good way to win the battle and lose the fort.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And have solid-core hardwood doors, which are essentially soundproof. I mean, as long as we're generalizing.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's /understood/, Lokiare. Again, <em>dungeon mastery</em>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DMZ2112, post: 6264878, member: 78752"] Well, if this thread is about the role of the dungeon master in any edition of the game, that's fine, but it is not the impression you gave. I think we're kind of pussyfooting around the real issue here, with all our talk of player agency and potentially hostile dungeon envionrments, so let me cut straight to the chase: IF YOU LET YOUR PCS NOVA EVERY ENCOUNTER YOU ARE A TERRIBLE DUNGEON MASTER. Does that about cover it? The potential for this sort of behavior has existed in every version of D&D, and it has been particularly obvious in digital versions. It's how I played the old SSI gold box D&D video games. Fight, rest. Fight, rest. Fight, rest. Interrupted? Restore save game. But if there had been a dungeon master at the "table," so to speak, that would have/should have been /impossible/, because that is literally the very /definition/ of dungeon mastery. You have a dungeon. You are its master. Act like it. I'm hear you saying that the mismanaged five-minute workday benefits casters in editions other than D&D4, and that is the reason why it is bad. I'm not sure if you're saying that it is therefore not bad in D&D4, or if you are saying that it is bad, only in a different way. For my part, it is always bad, and favoring individual characters over others is in no way the biggest part of the problem. But the fact remains: the five-minute workday has always been a thing, it is [I]why you have a dungeon master in the first place[/I], and it doesn't need to be written out of the game, because in a properly managed campaign it is a total non-issue. It's true that most published dungeons don't provide instructions on handling encounters spilling into one another, but in my experience that quickly becomes a rabbit hole -- when do you stop? The author of the dungeon can't see what's going on at the table, and can't adapt for conditions. Again, I think adjudicating this sort of thing is a central part of the dungeon master's responsibility in any edition, and is in no way unique to D&D5. Also, from the perspective of the devil's advocate, you are ignoring the fact that encounters in a good dungeon are mapped for a reason -- meaning that the monsters in a given room have a purpose in being there. The equation is not as simple as "hear swordplay, run to investigate" -- any soldier who has ever been on guard duty will tell you that's a really good way to win the battle and lose the fort. And have solid-core hardwood doors, which are essentially soundproof. I mean, as long as we're generalizing. It's /understood/, Lokiare. Again, [I]dungeon mastery[/I]. [/QUOTE]
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