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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DM_Blake" data-source="post: 4127454" data-attributes="member: 57267">LOL, I don't even know how to talk to you.I don't mean that as an insult. You have your way and I have mine. I am not saying either way is better or worse. All I am saying is that your way and my way are so different that we don't share a common point of reference.For me, if I want to throw simulationist play out the window, I will drop all the rulebooks, get some friends together and sit in a relatively dark relaxing room and do some stream of consciousness roleplaying. No dice. No rules. We will collaboratively build a story together.But that's not D&D.Nor is D&D having Captain Caveman pull a T-Rex out of his beard to bite the enemy for a round then jump back in the beard. Nor is it a warlod having a half dozen cartoon warriors, all standing in a line behind him, wobbling up and down, until he calls on one of them to jump into battle (probably shouting something like "Whirling Fluffbubble Acid Tempest of Doom") for a round while the warlord and all the rest of the minions watch from the sidelines. Nor is it hiring a skilled guide from the scout's guild, only to have him lurk about the battlefield adding +2 to a few of the PCs attack rolls each round.It's not Buggs Bunny, it's not The Simpsons, and it's not National Lampoon.No, for me, D&D is trying to apply some semblance of the real world into a fantasy story. Sure, there are mythical things like unicorns and magic swords and fireballs and dragons, etc., but for the most part those mythical things, and the mundane things too, all behave in ways similar to how comparable (or as close to comparable as we can get) things in the real world behave.Within my context, hiring a NPC to join the group means that NPC will use his skills and abilities the same way a PC would (you wouldn't bring a new player to a game and tell him "Well, we already have 4 players, so your guy gets no loot, no XP, and all you can do is sneak behind the enemy so that we can get +2 on our attacks against that enemy.").Within my context, summoning a monster into a battle means the monster moves around, attacks, defends, and uses its abilities to the best of its, well, ability. It isn't just a flavor text saying that now I can do more damage with my crossbow.Yes, I know that this kind of thing can potentially slow down the turn of the player controlling the additional fighting resources.I just don't see that it slows it down so much that it causes problems - on the rare occasions that it does, it's not hard to talk to the group, or the one player, and find a solution.What I have never needed is for the game's designers to come in and take away the ability to summon monsters, or turn it into some unrealistic flavor modifier, or limit its use in any way. Let the DM do that at his table, but don't break the game for it.A hammer isn't always the right tool for every job, but don't take it out of the toolbox - let the carpenter figure out when to use the hammer and when not to.</blockquote>

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