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<blockquote data-quote="Libramarian" data-source="post: 5846837" data-attributes="member: 6688858">There's some tension between the gotcha monster and player skill testing, but the idea of testing player skill doesn't necessarily preclude the first test as being unfair.That is to say, a newbie couldn't be expected to prepare for a random or seemingly random medusa encounter the first time, but thereafter you can expect them to learn something from it.I certainly prefer SoD type punishments to be used judiciously and almost never without some kind of warning that someone completely new to D&amp;D could be expected to be able to parse.But the idea of requiring game experience to be able to interpret certain warnings is not entirely incompatible with player skill-testing gamism as such. It's just a step removed.*I feel an analogy forming*It's like ice hockey vs. soccer.Anybody can play soccer.Hockey requires a player to have a certain skill for them to be at all effective whatsoever. Namely, how to skate. If you toss random people into an ice rink with sticks and pucks, it's not a fair competition until they learn how to skate in there.The soccer field is the sane dungeon, the ice rink is the more gotcha/arbitrary dungeon.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Libramarian, post: 5846837, member: 6688858"] There's some tension between the gotcha monster and player skill testing, but the idea of testing player skill doesn't necessarily preclude the first test as being unfair. That is to say, a newbie couldn't be expected to prepare for a random or seemingly random medusa encounter the first time, but thereafter you can expect them to learn something from it. I certainly prefer SoD type punishments to be used judiciously and almost never without some kind of warning that someone completely new to D&D could be expected to be able to parse. But the idea of requiring game experience to be able to interpret certain warnings is not entirely incompatible with player skill-testing gamism as such. It's just a step removed. *I feel an analogy forming* It's like ice hockey vs. soccer. Anybody can play soccer. Hockey requires a player to have a certain skill for them to be at all effective whatsoever. Namely, how to skate. If you toss random people into an ice rink with sticks and pucks, it's not a fair competition until they learn how to skate in there. The soccer field is the sane dungeon, the ice rink is the more gotcha/arbitrary dungeon. [/QUOTE]

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