tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post493124853809817985..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: HerdingAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-7257062058971971042017-10-20T10:19:10.510-06:002017-10-20T10:19:10.510-06:00It's a good idea, Discord ... but be aware tha...It's a good idea, Discord ... but be aware that some of the people in your party might have Gene's characteristics ~ in which case they will resent "their game" being spoiled.<br />Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-24562017785142959792017-10-20T08:13:56.269-06:002017-10-20T08:13:56.269-06:00Another fantastic post! I'm finding this lates...Another fantastic post! I'm finding this latest series on adventure paths and encounter building truly illuminating. 'Charting An Adventure Path' is a Hall of Fame post, in my opinion.<br /><br />One thing that particularly stuck out to me was this section: " D&D is a game of multiple stockpiles: food and hit points happen to be two that the party needs to survive. As they diminish, the party begins to feel the burn ... and that's something we want the party to feel, because we want them to hurt before they can meaningfully advance the value and strength of their characters."<br /><br />In 99% of the campaigns that I've played (or run) over the years, food is pretty much ignored. Adventurers will get a week's worth of rations at the beginning of the campaign, and those stay in their packs, unused. The DM may say "Mark off a ration", but the party is never in any danger of being low on food. In that same vein, encumbrance is basically ignored as well. It may come up if the party wants to take something large and heavy, like a statue, but otherwise players can cart around whatever they would like.<br /><br />It seems like games that ignore those rules are missing important dynamics that your games have in spades. If DM and the party don't care about food, that's one less area that the party can "feel the burn" in, and feel like they're being challenged. For my next campaign, I'm planning ways to take scarcity of food and other resources (including weapons and armor) into account so that the party can feel challenged exactly like you mention.Discordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08043118219587453293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-54444468578566784322017-10-19T20:58:30.749-06:002017-10-19T20:58:30.749-06:00Man, do I love your blog. You've cut right thr...Man, do I love your blog. You've cut right through all the bullshit of whether or not a DM should design an adventure this way or that way and just gone back to the practical purposes behind the choice, deconstructing how the adventure is actually developed from the separate points of view of the players and the DM.<br /><br />Different players may react differently from either Gene or Jake, but fundamentally all D&D will involve a setup with a potential offer to proceed. If the players aren't tempted then you give them something else. Developing those offers to be richer, more rewarding and more exhilarating is way more effective than dressing up, putting on spooky music or even designing the most complex simulated world. I appreciate posts like this reminding me that, in the end, it all comes back to story. Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03496502173819113887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-13025782857409659282017-10-19T20:54:05.481-06:002017-10-19T20:54:05.481-06:00Oh, and yes, I am familiar with -C, just as he is ...Oh, and yes, I am familiar with -C, just as he is familiar with me:<br /><br /><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.ca/search?q=Tao+of+D%26d" rel="nofollow">http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.ca/search?q=Tao+of+D%26d</a>Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-30093445364750748232017-10-19T20:50:06.305-06:002017-10-19T20:50:06.305-06:00G.B.,
Let's set aside that the writer of said...G.B.,<br /><br />Let's set aside that the writer of said article was all over the map. Most of what he's saying I agree with ~ and I stress that most of that is not what I'm talking about here.<br /><br />Let's suppose that the players do quit the adventure I've described: they meet the ticks, the deer and the hell hound and they choose to go back to town. Will this mean that the next forest they enter, that second valley I talked about, include ticks, a herd of deer and a hell hound?<br /><br />Absolutely not. Once the party has begun to experience a part of an adventure, that beginning can't be applied anywhere else, period. That would be wrong: and it would be different from what I've been describing. I'm not presenting the example that -C has, that there are bandits to the east TOO. It might be possible that two forests might have giant ticks ... but then, name a forest anywhere in Canada AND Russia that doesn't have bears!<br /><br />So I'm not palette shifting.<br /><br />Nor am I "forcing" anyone into an encounter. I'm saying if you go into this valley, this is what you'll find. In THIS valley. But if you've never gone into valley A, and have no idea what's in valley A, then even if what's in valley B is different, how can you possibly know? How can it possibly make a difference.<br /><br />Oh, I know the post makes bold statements, such as: "Your precious ogre encounter will not cause your players to do that." Exactly how is that -C knows this? That sounds like a rather blanket statement of all ogre encounters created by all DMs.<br /><br />How about, "If you always pre-ordain your precious encounter, then the players never have the experience of choosing correctly and skipping right to the end."<br /><br />What does "correctly" mean? In the scenario I described, if the players skip right to the end, they are going to die. The three night hags supported by at least two hell hounds are going to kill them. When they see the dead zone (the opportunity to "skip to the end" was built into my design), they are free to go in. Wouldn't be a good idea, but probably some parties will do that.<br /><br />But what exactly does "the experience of choosing" mean? That's a rather non-descriptive statement. Every moment in the campaign is a choice and every one offers experience. Why would any particular experience de facto be better than any other? Why is "skipping to the end" the correct decision?<br /><br />Is jumping the video of a movie from the first five minutes to the last five minutes what we'd call "the experience of choosing correctly"?Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-57288872991407211662017-10-19T20:22:32.955-06:002017-10-19T20:22:32.955-06:00Have you ever heard the Hack&Slash master blog...Have you ever heard the Hack&Slash master blog? Campbell calls this kind of illusion the Quantum Ogre.<br />http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com.br/2011/09/on-how-illusion-can-rob-your-game-of.html<br /><br />BTW... This was the topic that made me break my shackles of the poor mainstream DMing.G. B. Verashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07321019711309446662noreply@blogger.com