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What Is an Experience Point Worth?
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7732814" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>This is true of games in general. It's not unique to RPGs.</p><p></p><p>Nevertheless, the opinion of a designer as to how s/he thinks his/her game works might be relevant.</p><p></p><p>Just to give one example: the 4e designers knew what they were talking about when they discouraged getting bogged down in minutiae of non-combat situations. Because if you do, then you eliminate the flexibility that is needed to narrate successes and failures in skill challenges.</p><p></p><p>EDIT:</p><p>I'm using Gygaxian to describe a type of play that he explains in detail in the section of his PHB called "Successful Adventuring". The same style of play is discussed extensively by Lewis Pulsipher (who describes it as the "wargaming" style) in his numerous essays in early White Dwarf (late-70s, early 80s). You can also see the same style exhibited in Gygax's sample dungeon, and example of play, in his DMG. Moldvay Basic is also buitl to support this style of play.</p><p></p><p>This style of play is based on the GM having a dungeon map and a key to it, which - once written - it is "locked in". The reason it's locked in is so that the players can engage with it: by searching, divining (there's a reason that short-range detection items are staples on the magic item lists in these games), etc; then taking out the best loot. Both endeavurs, but especially the second, will require avoiding or defeating monsters.</p><p></p><p>I think this style of play is reasonably uncommon in contemporary RPGing. It's not clear if it was ever the majority of played D&D. But it's very clearly the style of play that Gygax wrote AD&D to support. (Hence, for instance, there are rules for determining how likely you are to find a secret door if you search for it; but not rules to determine how likely a merchant is to have a bardiche for sale if you ask for one. If you actually catalogue the action resolution rules in Gygax's AD&D, you can see both (i) how many of them there are (many more than one might at first suspect), and (ii) how oriented they are towards the particular sort of "skilled play" that he advocates.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7732814, member: 42582"] This is true of games in general. It's not unique to RPGs. Nevertheless, the opinion of a designer as to how s/he thinks his/her game works might be relevant. Just to give one example: the 4e designers knew what they were talking about when they discouraged getting bogged down in minutiae of non-combat situations. Because if you do, then you eliminate the flexibility that is needed to narrate successes and failures in skill challenges. EDIT: I'm using Gygaxian to describe a type of play that he explains in detail in the section of his PHB called "Successful Adventuring". The same style of play is discussed extensively by Lewis Pulsipher (who describes it as the "wargaming" style) in his numerous essays in early White Dwarf (late-70s, early 80s). You can also see the same style exhibited in Gygax's sample dungeon, and example of play, in his DMG. Moldvay Basic is also buitl to support this style of play. This style of play is based on the GM having a dungeon map and a key to it, which - once written - it is "locked in". The reason it's locked in is so that the players can engage with it: by searching, divining (there's a reason that short-range detection items are staples on the magic item lists in these games), etc; then taking out the best loot. Both endeavurs, but especially the second, will require avoiding or defeating monsters. I think this style of play is reasonably uncommon in contemporary RPGing. It's not clear if it was ever the majority of played D&D. But it's very clearly the style of play that Gygax wrote AD&D to support. (Hence, for instance, there are rules for determining how likely you are to find a secret door if you search for it; but not rules to determine how likely a merchant is to have a bardiche for sale if you ask for one. If you actually catalogue the action resolution rules in Gygax's AD&D, you can see both (i) how many of them there are (many more than one might at first suspect), and (ii) how oriented they are towards the particular sort of "skilled play" that he advocates. [/QUOTE]
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