tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post24367330133184776..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: Balancing I & IAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-3399607145017937632013-02-08T15:00:36.816-07:002013-02-08T15:00:36.816-07:00Sometimes I do too! Anything that catches my easil...Sometimes I do too! Anything that catches my easily distractable attention is liable to wind up there; just look at the Category log. It began as a family blog (The Tyler Gang) where scattered relations kept up with each other, and everyone drifted away until I was the only one producing material. Now it's become a museum of the unusual, a storehouse of the weird, the journal of a trip down the road less traveled, and I don't know whether to feel honored or embarrassed that you were over there looking at it. I just hope you found something entertaining...Jack Tylerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14030471723776022615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-25100168972146818762013-02-08T12:38:11.420-07:002013-02-08T12:38:11.420-07:00But I admit, Jack, to being curious about what you...But I admit, Jack, to being curious about what your blog is actually about.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-16767285172313729702013-02-08T12:26:06.574-07:002013-02-08T12:26:06.574-07:00ESR - I was a GM for a brief time in the 80s, and ...ESR - I was a GM for a brief time in the 80s, and quit because I wasn't very good at it, and had no idea how to get better. I follow this site because Alexis is a brilliant writer whose posts apply to SO much more than just D&D! We don't always see eye-to-eye, but he always allows me to express my opinion without trying to shout me down, and I appreciate that as well.<br /><br />I flirted with background music in a few sessions, moody stuff by Enya mostly. I would have it playing when everyone showed up, but not long into to the die-rolling, someone would politely request that that particular distraction be curtailed. Sound effects... I could have recorded some battle scenes, given the technology of the time, to play during the fights, but that hadn't occured to me back then, and just writing it in stark black-and-white like this, it sounds pretty lame. That said, I'll stand by my statement above; the best VIDEO games are uniformly the ones with the most complete sound immersion. Whether that actually works at the game table, I couldn't tell you. If you try it, and it's spectacular, feel free to say you invented it...Jack Tylerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14030471723776022615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-76061993466307738512013-02-08T08:43:30.905-07:002013-02-08T08:43:30.905-07:00Jack - I'm going to assume you are a GM, since...Jack - I'm going to assume you are a GM, since you're reading the blog. Do you use sound clips or music while you GM? I tried it once, in the era of tape decks, and found it was just too hard to juggle in addition to the other stuff. Maybe it's easier now that there are .wav and .mp3 files you can double-click?Zrog (ESR)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09610162200721944106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-82128485562014675802013-01-24T14:56:41.318-07:002013-01-24T14:56:41.318-07:00For what it may be worth to you...
I play a lot o...For what it may be worth to you...<br /><br />I play a lot of Rainbow 6/Gears of War-type video games, and I have found that there are some games I emerge from with a feeling that I have really been on a battlefield, and some that don't capture it so well. The ones that capture it are not the ones you might expect from looking at the graphics. I have found, after some examination, that those games that give you the best "you are there" immersive experience are those with the most complete sound immersion. It goes without saying that you always hear your own gun, and those being shot at you, but the games that leave you sweating and shaking are those where you can hear firefights in the distance, helicopters passing by, radio chatter, things like that.<br /><br />Like I say, for what it's worth...Jack Tylerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14030471723776022615noreply@blogger.com