Why D&D is slowly cutting its own throat.

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

what if you want to ignore the Eberron Railroad?

I thought the whole point of a railroad is that you couldn't ignore it?

 

[The Shaman]

Well, given the amount of material Wizards produce to help DMs produce their own adventures, I don't think that is a problem.

I don't either, which is why I find the opinions expressed by JoeGKushner and Sholari so troubling.

Are there really that many bad, clueless GMs out there? GMs who can't write an exciting, balanced adventure or an interesting, rich setting?

 

[Celebrim]

Maps. Most GMs I've seen couldn't make a map to save their own life.

I'll agree on this. Good map making is one of the rarest skills amongst DM's. It takes alot of practice, exposure to good technique (on reason to buy modules with good maps), and many DM's find it too boring to put the effort required into it. Alot of DM's just want help with the maps, and they figure that they can take it from there (and some of them can).

There are several other reasons why most DM's should rely in part on published material. First, most DM's have neither the time nor the willingness to put the amount of time required in to preparing thier adventures from week to week. This leaves alot of DM's relying largely or totally on extemporaneous development, and while this is sometimes fun, most DM's cannot pull it off consistantly at a high level of quality. It's just hard to pull out a high level of detail, creativity, variaty, and consistancy from thin air. Extemporaneous development is good for some things, but not for everything. It's virtually impossible to draw a good map extemporaneously, or to foreshadow future developments, or develop good puzzles on the fly. It also tends to make the campaign rely too heavily on you, since you've never decided ahead of time what's what, it's hard to be truly fair to the PC's.

That said, no DM should rely wholly on published material either. Even if you bought a module, you still should put in perparation time to make the game your own - and that means more than just quickly reading through the module. The game isn't going to run itself.

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Hi-

Yes the sky is falling!!

seriously; I write my own modules but borrow much from the published stuff, I'm too lazy to work up stat blocks on minor bad guys.
I also think 4E is already out in the form of UA and soon The DMG II IE modify your game to your liking. Also, with 3.5 being so complete, It would be crazy for WotC to come out with another edition, Heck, how many players are still playing 1E, 2E and 3E? To put 4E out would further segment the RPG community.


Scott

 

[JoeGKushner]

With the exception of mapmaking which is largely a function of artistic ability, everything you're describing is part of the learning curve of GMing - it sounds like you're suggesting that most GMs have little experience and should default to adventures so the players don't have to suffer through the GM developing these skills.

This of course begs the question, if GMs rely too much on published adventures for their game content, will they have the opportunity to gain these skills?

Now I wasn't saying those are the reasons why everyone should run pregenerated adeventures, just a few.

1. Time: Working 40 hours a week and having a s/o and other hobbies.

2. It's cool. No shame in using something if it's actually cool. I still bust out White Plume Mountain every now and again for some of the neat little things in there in terms of organization.

3. It's a new setting: Man, how do I use this crazy Dragonmech? What type of game is Eberron supposed to be?

4. Production Values: Man, this is a pretty book! Dungeon is awesome with it's full color contents and other bits to help a GM out!

There are many reasons to run a pregenerated adventure. Some pregenerated adventures, like Warhammer's Rough Night at the Three Feathers, aren't even really adventurers as much as adventure outlines.

 

[palleomortis]

Joe, I hope your reading this bout now. You said that you would get back to me with a list of minis that you would trade. You may want to do that. I am about to start trading off my minis, and would like you to at least get to get an offer out there befor it is too late. (WANTED: HUMAN(OID) MINIS under the trading section.)

 

[buzz]

Yeah, Eberron turns me off, turns a lot of folks off. The last thing D&D needed was to ratchet up the magic level another a couple of notches.

Eberron doesn't increase the level of magic in the game so much as aknowledge the level of magic inherrent in the D&D ruleset. I appreciate this, as it makes Eberron unlike all of the other settings that have the veneer of one type of fantasy but are still D&D with its omnipresent magic underneath. Consequently, it has become one of my favorite settings.

 

[Felon]

I don't either, which is why I find the opinions expressed by JoeGKushner and Sholari so troubling. Are there really that many bad, clueless GMs out there? GMs who can't write an exciting, balanced adventure or an interesting, rich setting?

Not everyone is destined to write the Great American Novel. That you think the ability to develop exciting adventures or interesting, rich settings is a skill that can be taken for granted is puzzlibng. Or, for that matter, you'd think any DM without that skillset is "bad" and "clueless". How about DM's that are just...mediocre?

And that's not even taking into account the DM's who happen to not be a college student or working at a job that provides ample free time. DIY is not for everyone.

A lot of DM's do have a great deal of trouble finding hooks that work for a group that's too smart or just too chaotic to be led by the nose. It is hard to arrange encounters where the PC's don't launch into attack immediately, inadvertantly killing the wrong NPC or destroying clues. Conversely, it can also wind up being hard to conceal information from PC's and create a sense of mystery because D&D's sspells are designed to support a "cut-to-the-chase" philosophy.

No, a lot of DM's just know how to fill rooms with monsters. Of course, that's all a lot of players want, but that's another thread...

 

[Felon]

Eberron doesn't increase the level of magic in the game so much as aknowledge the level of magic inherrent in the D&D ruleset. I appreciate this, as it makes Eberron unlike all of the other settings that have the veneer of one type of fantasy but are still D&D with its omnipresent magic underneath. Consequently, it has become one of my favorite settings.

I see what you're saying. For instance, I have noticed that D&D as presented in the DMG does send players off to dungeons to find rare and fabulous magic items that, in 5 levels or so, players should be able to buy off the rack in a major city.

But Eberron certainly does ratchet up the magic level. The addition of a bonded-and-licensed spellwright class, the addition of elements like magical bullet trains--these things do push magic even farther over the top.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Joe, I hope your reading this bout now. You said that you would get back to me with a list of minis that you would trade. You may want to do that. I am about to start trading off my minis, and would like you to at least get to get an offer out there befor it is too late. (WANTED: HUMAN(OID) MINIS under the trading section.)

Have to find 'em. Curse moving I say. Curse it to the sky!