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With Respect to the Door and Expectations....The REAL Reason 5e Can't Unite the Base
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<blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 5994783" data-attributes="member: 386"><p>Does D&D actually do process sim?</p><p></p><p>From my understanding of the terms and of D&D's mechanics, I don't think it does. Attack rolls, AC, and HP are too abstract. Even detailed resolution methods for grapples and trips are quite abstract - there's no "arm lock" going on there, just a grapple check. The same goes for saving throws - no one really cares how you leap out of the way with a Reflex Save or Save vs. Spells, and the process breaks down - do you draw an AoO for avoiding a Fireball, and if not, why not?</p><p></p><p>In contrast, henchmen loyalty in AD&D reads to me like process sim.</p><p></p><p>I could be wrong, but maybe the process sim = associated mechanics is a red herring.</p><p></p><p>When I read the following, I think dissociated mechanics have more to do with fictional positioning and their relationship to action resolution.</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">To take our One-Handed Catch ability, for example, we could easily say: The player activates his gravitic force gloves (which have a limited number of charges per day) to pull the ball to his hand. Or he shouts a prayer to the God of Football who’s willing to help him a limited number of times per day. Or he activates one of the arcane tattoos he had a voodoo doctor inscribe on his palms.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">These all sound pretty awesome, but each of them carries unique consequences. If it’s gravitic force gloves, can they be stolen or the gravitic field canceled? Can he shout a prayer to the God of Football if someone drops a silence spell on him? If he’s using an arcane tattoo, does that mean that the opposing team’s linebacker can use a dispel magic spell to disrupt the catch?</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">(This is getting to be a weird football game.)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Whatever explanation you come up with will have a meaningful impact on how the ability is used in the game. And that means that each and every one of them is a house rule.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Why is this a problem?</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">First, there’s a matter of principle. Once we’ve accepted that you need to immediately house rule the One-Handed Catch ability, we’ve accepted that the game designers gave us a busted rule that needs to be fixed before it can be used. The Rule 0 Fallacy (“this rule isn’t broken because I can fix it”) is a poor defense of any game.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">But there’s also a practical problem: While it may be easy to fix a single ability like One-Handed Catch, a game filled with such abilities will require hundreds (or thousands) of house rules that you now need to create, keep track of, and use consistently. What is trivial for any single ability becomes a huge problem in bulk.</p><p></p><p>That, to me, is a question about how players make meaningful decisions in the game, and which kinds of meaningful decisions the game is asking players to make.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LostSoul, post: 5994783, member: 386"] Does D&D actually do process sim? From my understanding of the terms and of D&D's mechanics, I don't think it does. Attack rolls, AC, and HP are too abstract. Even detailed resolution methods for grapples and trips are quite abstract - there's no "arm lock" going on there, just a grapple check. The same goes for saving throws - no one really cares how you leap out of the way with a Reflex Save or Save vs. Spells, and the process breaks down - do you draw an AoO for avoiding a Fireball, and if not, why not? In contrast, henchmen loyalty in AD&D reads to me like process sim. I could be wrong, but maybe the process sim = associated mechanics is a red herring. When I read the following, I think dissociated mechanics have more to do with fictional positioning and their relationship to action resolution. [indent]To take our One-Handed Catch ability, for example, we could easily say: The player activates his gravitic force gloves (which have a limited number of charges per day) to pull the ball to his hand. Or he shouts a prayer to the God of Football who’s willing to help him a limited number of times per day. Or he activates one of the arcane tattoos he had a voodoo doctor inscribe on his palms. These all sound pretty awesome, but each of them carries unique consequences. If it’s gravitic force gloves, can they be stolen or the gravitic field canceled? Can he shout a prayer to the God of Football if someone drops a silence spell on him? If he’s using an arcane tattoo, does that mean that the opposing team’s linebacker can use a dispel magic spell to disrupt the catch? (This is getting to be a weird football game.) Whatever explanation you come up with will have a meaningful impact on how the ability is used in the game. And that means that each and every one of them is a house rule. Why is this a problem? First, there’s a matter of principle. Once we’ve accepted that you need to immediately house rule the One-Handed Catch ability, we’ve accepted that the game designers gave us a busted rule that needs to be fixed before it can be used. The Rule 0 Fallacy (“this rule isn’t broken because I can fix it”) is a poor defense of any game. But there’s also a practical problem: While it may be easy to fix a single ability like One-Handed Catch, a game filled with such abilities will require hundreds (or thousands) of house rules that you now need to create, keep track of, and use consistently. What is trivial for any single ability becomes a huge problem in bulk.[/indent] That, to me, is a question about how players make meaningful decisions in the game, and which kinds of meaningful decisions the game is asking players to make. [/QUOTE]
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