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What DM flaw has caused you to actually leave a game?
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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7502775" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>The rules set forth a standard of reasonable specificity. From the rules for Finding a Hidden Object:</p><p></p><p>"In most cases, you need to describe where you are looking in order for the DM to determine your chance of success. For example, a key is hidden beneath a set of folded clothes in the top drawer of a bureau. If you tell the DM that you pace around the room, looking at the walls and furniture for clues, you have no chance of finding the key, regardless of your Wisdom (Perception) check result. You would have to specify that you were opening the drawers or searching the bureau in order to have any chance of success."</p><p></p><p>So that's the standard that I ask for, which is just stating a clear goal and approach when a player describes what he or she wants to do. "I search the room looking for loot or useful items, including tossing that bureau..." might do just fine. Typically, I'm employing a particular procedure here as DM when the PCs are engaging in an exploration challenge. A task to methodically search the chamber for loot or useful items might take about 10 minutes of time in-game. I will ask the other PCs what they do in the meantime. Someone might scour the walls, floors, and ceiling for secret doors. Another might try to pick up the tracks of other creatures to figure out what passes through this chamber. The rest might just keep watch for any approaching dangers to avoid being surprised by wandering monsters.</p><p></p><p>At this point I resolve anything that's in question, narrate the results, then make a wandering monster check. Then we're back to describing the environment and asking the players what they want to do. If they're done here, they move on. If they want to continue exploring, that's likely another 10 minutes of tasks and another wandering monster check.</p><p></p><p>As for pacing, each "exploration turn" resolves in under 5 minutes. And as upthread, I will put the pacing of my game up against anyone's based on what I've seen, even when we're using a standard of reasonable specificity and they are not. We move fast and cover a lot of content in 4 hours. So asking players to be reasonably specific isn't really a concern of mine with regard to pacing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7502775, member: 97077"] The rules set forth a standard of reasonable specificity. From the rules for Finding a Hidden Object: "In most cases, you need to describe where you are looking in order for the DM to determine your chance of success. For example, a key is hidden beneath a set of folded clothes in the top drawer of a bureau. If you tell the DM that you pace around the room, looking at the walls and furniture for clues, you have no chance of finding the key, regardless of your Wisdom (Perception) check result. You would have to specify that you were opening the drawers or searching the bureau in order to have any chance of success." So that's the standard that I ask for, which is just stating a clear goal and approach when a player describes what he or she wants to do. "I search the room looking for loot or useful items, including tossing that bureau..." might do just fine. Typically, I'm employing a particular procedure here as DM when the PCs are engaging in an exploration challenge. A task to methodically search the chamber for loot or useful items might take about 10 minutes of time in-game. I will ask the other PCs what they do in the meantime. Someone might scour the walls, floors, and ceiling for secret doors. Another might try to pick up the tracks of other creatures to figure out what passes through this chamber. The rest might just keep watch for any approaching dangers to avoid being surprised by wandering monsters. At this point I resolve anything that's in question, narrate the results, then make a wandering monster check. Then we're back to describing the environment and asking the players what they want to do. If they're done here, they move on. If they want to continue exploring, that's likely another 10 minutes of tasks and another wandering monster check. As for pacing, each "exploration turn" resolves in under 5 minutes. And as upthread, I will put the pacing of my game up against anyone's based on what I've seen, even when we're using a standard of reasonable specificity and they are not. We move fast and cover a lot of content in 4 hours. So asking players to be reasonably specific isn't really a concern of mine with regard to pacing. [/QUOTE]
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