Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
www.play-board-games.com blogs about How DnD 4th Edition is like a board game
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5242080" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Interesting diagnosis.</p><p></p><p>I remember you once posted that you'd like to see a page 42 "stunt" at least once per round of combat. My game is nowhere near that. I don't know if I want it to get there - I find it hard enough, as GM, to run the monsters and rule for the PCs as statted, let alone with p 42 adjudication as well. But I would like the players to be ready to look to p 42 <em>when the fictional situation requires p 42 as the metagame response</em> - for example, if a PC was disarmed. Maybe I need to try an experiment with a dominating monster and see what happens . . .</p><p></p><p>I agree that's not the tone at all, and I think my players would object - and, given the way the game plays at our table, I think their objections would be reasonsable.</p><p></p><p>What I'd rather do is set up a situation where a power won't work to full effect <em>unless</em> there is a little something else attempted. Years ago in a Rolemaster game I remember an elf archer PC with very good acrobatic skills. In one fight on a ship the PCs were below the deck and some of the NPCs up on deck. Each round the archer would do a jump check to leap up through the hatchway, and then (using his acrobatics to permit a mid-air shot) release an arrow before dropping back down into cover. This is the thing I'd like to see a bit more of in my D&d game (and similar sort of stuff involving Religion, Arcana etc for the non-martial PCs). One player is keen on it - the one who used Religion to help him fight a wight - and another player is getting a bit more into it, using his Athletics a bit more adventurously in a few recent fights, to bring his abilities into play in circumstances where otherwise he wouldn't be able to use them.</p><p></p><p>In my game, the long term planning is more plot/thematic - "Which group of slaves do we rescue first?" - than mechanical/strategic - "What order should we tackle these challenges so we get the right mix of difficulty to XPs?". My players implicilty assume that I'll balance the encounters so that they're winnable, at least in principle.</p><p></p><p>Interestingly, balanced encounters that the players know are balanced can still produce pretty satisfying tactical play (based on my experience with other RPGs as well as 4e). The challenge isn't so much in achieving the win, as optimising it in various ways - minimal damage taken, prisoners taken, reputations established, etc - and in some encounters, a degree of tactical optimisation might be a necessary condition of the win. (A poor analogy - there can be a pleasure in doing a crossword even though it doesn't actually expand your vocabulary.)</p><p></p><p>I think this sort of tactical play fits well with an approach to play that has fairly straightforward fantasy RPG themes - the players are free to focus on the thematic stuff without having to second-guess the level of every giant or dragon they hear rumours of, and the tactical situations can be set up to give the players a chance to engage with their thematic concerns. (I emphasise <em>straightforward</em> themes because otherwise it wouldn't make sense to engage them via the medium of heroes fighting monsters!)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 5242080, member: 42582"] Interesting diagnosis. I remember you once posted that you'd like to see a page 42 "stunt" at least once per round of combat. My game is nowhere near that. I don't know if I want it to get there - I find it hard enough, as GM, to run the monsters and rule for the PCs as statted, let alone with p 42 adjudication as well. But I would like the players to be ready to look to p 42 [I]when the fictional situation requires p 42 as the metagame response[/I] - for example, if a PC was disarmed. Maybe I need to try an experiment with a dominating monster and see what happens . . . I agree that's not the tone at all, and I think my players would object - and, given the way the game plays at our table, I think their objections would be reasonsable. What I'd rather do is set up a situation where a power won't work to full effect [I]unless[/I] there is a little something else attempted. Years ago in a Rolemaster game I remember an elf archer PC with very good acrobatic skills. In one fight on a ship the PCs were below the deck and some of the NPCs up on deck. Each round the archer would do a jump check to leap up through the hatchway, and then (using his acrobatics to permit a mid-air shot) release an arrow before dropping back down into cover. This is the thing I'd like to see a bit more of in my D&d game (and similar sort of stuff involving Religion, Arcana etc for the non-martial PCs). One player is keen on it - the one who used Religion to help him fight a wight - and another player is getting a bit more into it, using his Athletics a bit more adventurously in a few recent fights, to bring his abilities into play in circumstances where otherwise he wouldn't be able to use them. In my game, the long term planning is more plot/thematic - "Which group of slaves do we rescue first?" - than mechanical/strategic - "What order should we tackle these challenges so we get the right mix of difficulty to XPs?". My players implicilty assume that I'll balance the encounters so that they're winnable, at least in principle. Interestingly, balanced encounters that the players know are balanced can still produce pretty satisfying tactical play (based on my experience with other RPGs as well as 4e). The challenge isn't so much in achieving the win, as optimising it in various ways - minimal damage taken, prisoners taken, reputations established, etc - and in some encounters, a degree of tactical optimisation might be a necessary condition of the win. (A poor analogy - there can be a pleasure in doing a crossword even though it doesn't actually expand your vocabulary.) I think this sort of tactical play fits well with an approach to play that has fairly straightforward fantasy RPG themes - the players are free to focus on the thematic stuff without having to second-guess the level of every giant or dragon they hear rumours of, and the tactical situations can be set up to give the players a chance to engage with their thematic concerns. (I emphasise [I]straightforward[/I] themes because otherwise it wouldn't make sense to engage them via the medium of heroes fighting monsters!) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
www.play-board-games.com blogs about How DnD 4th Edition is like a board game
Top