TerribleSorcery
Should be playing D&D instead
My dreams can get pretty wild, man...
I-could-dance-like-that-if-I-wanted-to guys.And this sort of criticism and the joy found in doing the work rarely go hand in hand; nearly always they are themselves barren in whatever accomplishments they critique in others. It’s a self-reinforced loop of non-accomplishment, because the scathing critic does not want to be criticized. And so, sensing all those who would love an opportunity, and knowing no one of influence is likely to step up in rebuttal, nothing of positive value is ever offered.
Yeah, it kind of scares the shit out of me even living next to the US. I have played out a few scenarios in my head, and what they might mean for Canada (not least because of our proximity to Russia), and they are not happy ones. I have idle thoughts about moving to New Zealand.The whole western world is standing in mute horror watching the US systematically dismantle each and every one of these things, giving the go-ahead to some truly unpleasant people in less fortunate nations everywhere.
I think everyone's kinda lost in the desert at the moment and hoping that a benevolent dictator will show us all the way. It's not going to happen.
It is a really hard question. For individual games you don't really have to worry about it, unless you are playing in a public space or playing with strangers. But businesses do have to keep this in mind.Since we've opened the floor however briefly for discussion of things verboten I'd like to shift the conversation towards the politicization of RPG's. Specifically D&D. Can D&D even exist without a certain dated, colonialist viewpoint? I mean, that's the D&D that I like to play and I like to think of myself as a pretty liberal minded, moderate lefty pinko.
I tried a campaign like this. The humans of the land had come over on ships and started a colony. As their colony was expanding they came more and more into conflict with the hobgoblin tribes to the north. I allowed hobgoblins as a playable race, but they would be slaves to the humans in party.The latest Nod has human tribe barbarians encroaching on the civilized lands of the halflings. It's one of the more interesting parts of it.
Sorry to dredge this up, but I was painting new drywall that I had just finished putting up in my basement...and the minds wanders.Don't you ever select 'Hard' when you play a game? If I join a game with a new GM, do you think I immediately go for the MU? That would be unfair to the guy.
The process of getting to 10th level should never become routine. It should be a wild, unique, seat-of-your-pants ride. The goal IS the journey. The level is irrelevant. Again, if it feels repetitive...then something has gone wrong. You are no longer riding the Knife's Edge of challenge-play.Leveling your OD&D fighter to level 10 is exciting the first time. The 4th or 5th time, eh not so much There's a reason why people seek out new and interesting classes and races to play.
I have to disagree. The whole point of the conceit of a multilevel dungeon, with lower levels being more dangerous, and more rewarding, is that the players decide their own difficulty level. It isn't the only way to play, but it is a valid way to play, and it is one of the original ways to play.There should be no need to select "hard mode" when the basic game is already challenging enough. To have reached a point where the player is self-selecting for more difficulty represents a failure state.
A great point, but to systemically and permanently handicap yourself at character creation seems odd to me---as if the mechanism you just mentioned (seeking/avoiding danger) is non-operational.I have to disagree. The whole point of the conceit of a multilevel dungeon, with lower levels being more dangerous, and more rewarding, is that the players decide their own difficulty level. It isn't the only way to play, but it is a valid way to play, and it is one of the original ways to play.
That's quite alright.Sorry to dredge this up, but I was painting new drywall that I had just finished putting up in my basement...and the minds wanders.
But I already elaborated on my motivation for this point in an earlier post.There should be no need to select "hard mode" when the basic game is already challenging enough. To have reached a point where the player is self-selecting for more difficulty represents a failure state.
Its not about the raw challenge alone. It's about the way the game is played that changes. The point was that sometimes altering the way you play a game gives you a greater understanding of and allows you to experience certain facets of it that you would not otherwise discover in the 'mainline' if you will.Then we are different. I will only select 'Hard' if I truly LOVE a game. If the game is worth exploring to a greater depth, if I believe that further exploration and mastery will reveal the game in a form that is more refined, more true, more PLATONIC THEN and only THEN is Hard mode selected.
Hard mode is an act of love, not boredom and frustration.
This depends on what you mean by routine. I agree it should not be boring, but not routine? DnD is a game and like any game it has rules, optimum strategies, different approaches to success, recurring elements etc. As you play the game a lot you become familiar with the possibilities and certain mistakes are phased out, while other preparation becomes matter of fact. Setting guards while resting outdoors, bringing enough light sources, listening at doors, checking for traps, party formation, spell selection, all this becomes routine. The fun part of DnD is that as you progress up the levels you keep encountering new challenges and your abilities increase, (unpredictably), through your items, spells and abilities, which you must also learn to master. I absolutely have had sessions in my B/X game that are not major events, that do not require any new insights in how the game is played to overcome and that were risky but the chance of a TPK was almost zero. That's fine. If you play a megadungeon game you are guaranteed to have those sessions as the game progresses.The process of getting to 10th level should never become routine. It should be a wild, unique, seat-of-your-pants ride. The goal IS the journey. The level is irrelevant. Again, if it feels repetitive...then something has gone wrong. You are no longer riding the Knife's Edge of challenge-play.
I don't even know what all these crazy words are coming out of your head...but you had me at Magical Girl class.If you play a megadungeon game you are guaranteed to have those sessions as the game progresses.
This is closer (except that paladins are never awesome). I am also quite pleased you have adopted the candy-class terminology.The critical difference is that games become HOT SHIT when the occasional sideline becomes so common it becomes the default form of play. That's why Occasional Paladin/New Class --> Awesome. Fifteen different candy classes that render the fighter obsolete --> 3e Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic.
I think we sort of agree, and I would also take it as a warning sign, but the question then becomes; is it automatically a detrimental process to play an uplifted Toucan if the GM does not in fact step up his game? If we have experienced his games under all intensities, or if our knowledge of D&D reaches the point where we are capable of anticipating and effectively dealing with a large percentage of the threats the conventional game has for us? Do we demand the game be elevated, making it perhaps too hard for normies, or do we say, okay, I'll go easy on you GM? This is a luxury problem but it does exist. Grognards or nutcase reviewers like Bryce (man I would love to play with Bryce sometime) are so much more familiar with the game and the process of game-mastering that it becomes possible to anticipate a lot of threats and complications, simply because one is used to thinking in terms of adventure design, adventures, GMs etc. etc.I'm just suggestion there may be some warning signs that we (as DMs) need to step up our game. Having players searching for new thrills at roll up could be one of them. The more exotic/bizarre/self-defeating/one-hand-tied-behind-my-back the more alarming I would think. However, players seeking ADVANTAGE at roll-up is normal and to be expected (i.e. candy classes/races). The former is very difficult to correct, the latter quite simple.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WESTI don't even know what all these crazy words are coming out of your head...but you had me at Magical Girl class.
I recently watched the classic spaghetti western "Once Upon a Time in the West" it follows a similar pattern of that genre --- a long build-up of tension that culminates in the big showdown at the end. The guns were out for only maybe 5-minutes of the movie...but you were constantly expecting them to be drawn. So yeah. In a long campaign, there are routine moments, silly moments, awkward moments, lulls, etc...and then the plunge of the roller-coaster (guns blazing). That's as it should be. The variation in the level of action is necessary for climatic moments. No argument there.
However, I think you know that's orthogonal to the point.
This is closer (except that paladins are never awesome). I am also quite pleased you have adopted the candy-class terminology.
There is no hard and fast rule of when things have gone a bit stagnant. I'm just suggestion there may be some warning signs that we (as DMs) need to step up our game. Having players searching for new thrills at roll up could be one of them. The more exotic/bizarre/self-defeating/one-hand-tied-behind-my-back the more alarming I would think. However, players seeking ADVANTAGE at roll-up is normal and to be expected (i.e. candy classes/races). The former is very difficult to correct, the latter quite simple.
I think it occurs more often in campaigns with a lot of dungeoneering or hex-crawling, where there is a finite set of rules manipulation that will generally produce optimum results. Looting the room, checking the chest for traps, setting a watch, using a ten foot pole if uncertain etc. etc. These are behaviors that improve survival rates in 9 out of 10 situations and can be repeated relatively unchanged. Equipment purchasing is another one that is fairly routine but few things gives people, like you say, as much agency and ability to affect the game.I do think there's a place (albeit a small one) for routine in the game. Routine tends to encourage the PCs to feel a high level of agency, and is therefore a useful complement to set off situations in which their agency is much lower. The contrast feels sharper if one wobbles between routine and exception rather than just deploying a string of exceptional situations or a constantly iterated routine.
I think one critical element to deploying routine effectively is to make it substantially different from low agency situations - fewer dice rolls with more chance for the PCs to load on beneficial modifiers, clear choices and priorities, strong incorporation of player knowledge and skill, and any given iteration of the loop should be relatively quick. This treatment tends to help provide "breathing room" in between the mad scramble of combat or a trap suddenly activating or something else going badly wrong.
Did you confuse me with Malrex? I'm the one that came up with the 10th level fighter example.. Thanks for the compliment. Poor Malrex.Anyway, that's the point I was originally trying to make in response to the examples Malrex tossed at me. This notion actually has nothing to do with Candy Classes which do exactly the opposite---seek intrinsic advantages to circumvent challenge.
A game where you die all the time and re-roll from among the 7 character classes from B/X would get considerably routine.Consider my MU example. Is every game different? Yes. But that doens't mean its not more routine. I have played Rules Cyclopedia B/X and its progeny long enough to figure out what spells are excellent and versatile and which ones are secondary or of limited/situational use only. Sleep is an automatic yes, Vetriloquism is very conditional. Phantasmal Force is potentially excellent but requires quick thinking and relies on GM Ruling, Invisibility is almost always great etc. etc. I know to put my Wizard in the centre for the first few levels at the very least since otherwise he is going to get hammered and expire, I probably will take some daggers or oil for throwing and god help you if you start with Floating Disk, Shield and Detect Magic.