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Worlds of Design: The Tyranny and Freedom of Player Agency
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<blockquote data-quote="Jay Verkuilen" data-source="post: 7791962" data-attributes="member: 6873517"><p>I agree with the desert but even so, there are players or groups---even ones who've played for many years---who just don't do sandbox well, for instance falling into choice paralysis. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I agree with you---I like that approach and have used it myself. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I couldn't draw it easily in ASCII either, so I didn't show the connections the way I wanted to but I would definitely have <em>some</em> cross-bridging paths. However, I don't want to connect everything to everything quite explicitly. Think of Ye Olde Dugeonne map but instead of showing rooms explicitly it's done abstractly. Not all rooms are connected to the others in a dungeon, so I wouldn't want to connect everything in this "subway map" dungeon either.</p><p></p><p>I'm giving them a set of possible choices to avoid them cycling or trying to be total completionists, which I know that players can sometimes fall into (but see below). </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That example was set up with the notion that there was a reason for getting from point A to G, the goal with a minimum of steps. For example, let's say that's where all the treasure is or where the PCs' enemy is known to be and the PCs are trying to deal with some kind of situation. The reason I wanted them beat up enough was because I didn't want them hitting the Goal fresh---let's say it's the boss monster of the dungeon, or something like that. </p><p></p><p>I do often put some kind of time pressure on the PCs so they can't just pull the Five Minute Work Day of nova-ing on one encounter, resting, etc., which is very un-dramatic and really benefits some character classes over others disproportionately. However, if the point of the area was simply exploration then I might change that and instead make use of random encounters or some other rationale that mitigates the Five Minute Work Day. </p><p></p><p>This kind of mapping can also be used to map out social encounters (something first pioneered by White Wolf way back in <em>Vampire: the Masquerade</em>) or even set up different adventures in a narrative sequence that allows a lot of choice. I've come to use it heavily all over. It gives a small enough set of manageable options that I can assess reasonably as DM and seems to help the players avoid choice paralysis. </p><p></p><p>The grognard I'm referring to is the kind of person who thinks that nothing but hex/dungeon crawl is "real gaming". There are a few around here, but such discussions are fundamentally unproductive, so for my own sanity I just block.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jay Verkuilen, post: 7791962, member: 6873517"] I agree with the desert but even so, there are players or groups---even ones who've played for many years---who just don't do sandbox well, for instance falling into choice paralysis. I agree with you---I like that approach and have used it myself. I couldn't draw it easily in ASCII either, so I didn't show the connections the way I wanted to but I would definitely have [I]some[/I] cross-bridging paths. However, I don't want to connect everything to everything quite explicitly. Think of Ye Olde Dugeonne map but instead of showing rooms explicitly it's done abstractly. Not all rooms are connected to the others in a dungeon, so I wouldn't want to connect everything in this "subway map" dungeon either. I'm giving them a set of possible choices to avoid them cycling or trying to be total completionists, which I know that players can sometimes fall into (but see below). That example was set up with the notion that there was a reason for getting from point A to G, the goal with a minimum of steps. For example, let's say that's where all the treasure is or where the PCs' enemy is known to be and the PCs are trying to deal with some kind of situation. The reason I wanted them beat up enough was because I didn't want them hitting the Goal fresh---let's say it's the boss monster of the dungeon, or something like that. I do often put some kind of time pressure on the PCs so they can't just pull the Five Minute Work Day of nova-ing on one encounter, resting, etc., which is very un-dramatic and really benefits some character classes over others disproportionately. However, if the point of the area was simply exploration then I might change that and instead make use of random encounters or some other rationale that mitigates the Five Minute Work Day. This kind of mapping can also be used to map out social encounters (something first pioneered by White Wolf way back in [I]Vampire: the Masquerade[/I]) or even set up different adventures in a narrative sequence that allows a lot of choice. I've come to use it heavily all over. It gives a small enough set of manageable options that I can assess reasonably as DM and seems to help the players avoid choice paralysis. The grognard I'm referring to is the kind of person who thinks that nothing but hex/dungeon crawl is "real gaming". There are a few around here, but such discussions are fundamentally unproductive, so for my own sanity I just block. [/QUOTE]
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