tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post4330003186699622833..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: A Longer Comment about Character PlayAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-90170891494033895742017-12-22T00:20:33.680-07:002017-12-22T00:20:33.680-07:00Archon,
First, let me point out that when I wrote...Archon,<br /><br />First, let me point out that when I wrote the book, How to Run, I made the entire content genre neutral. 109,000 words, applicable to any role-playing game. I do say that I play D&D, and I insist on using "DM" for the person in charge, but that's it. I don't insist, in any way, through the book, that people play any particular RPG. I was very direct about that.<br /><br />Second, you express surprise at coming to a D&D blog where the author does not want to talk about a different game. Would you expect a kayak blog to discuss canoeing? Or a rugby blog to discuss American football? Do cake decoration blogs talk about soup making, because they both happen to be food?<br /><br />I have, on this blog, attacked other versions of D&D. I have scoffed at Pathfinder and Hackmaster, because what I've heard of these games make them sound stupid as all get out. When you said "freeform RP/games with other than OD&D" rules, I presumed you meant one of the many D&D clones, including Gurps, Tunnels and Trolls, Rollmaster and Palladium, all of which, again, I have no respect for. I made that connection because you are writing your comment on a D&D blog.<br /><br />Ever seen that Western where the dude gets told, "Mister, around these parts we play stud poker. We don't play no kiddie games."<br /><br />I am not specifically opposed to other RPGs; but I can't help noticing that all of them seem tremendously lacking when compared to the spectacular volume of material I have attached and added to my D&D game. As such, no, I'm very sorry, but I don't think that I have any lessons to learn from any of these people. If I could, I would have found the blog that quotes the same game designers I quote, discusses lessons from history, political science, philosophy, economics, psychology and literature as I do, because that blog author and I would have certainly done the necessary looking in order to find each other.<br /><br />Believe me, I've looked. And looked, and looked. And there ain't no such animule out there.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-82103198267512634162017-12-21T21:00:16.452-07:002017-12-21T21:00:16.452-07:00I agree strongly with both of your points.
What ...I agree strongly with both of your points. <br /><br />What I was trying to do, was to question the seemingly unquestioned assumption that D&D is The Game. <br /><br />At times, you have likened playing D&D to playing baseball. In this metaphor, I see you as a collection of baseball players who refuse to acknowledge any other sport but baseball. You do not claim it is the supreme sport - you simply refuse to acknowledge that any other exists. You see a group of people playing basketball, and because the ball is large, and they are not hitting it with a bat, you say "There people are not playing a game - they are simply messing around with a ball". And to be sure, there are many people who are content to mess around with a ball, but many are also just playing games which are not your game. I think that these people have lessons you could learn from. That is all, really. Archonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17718160700690722856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-81454349703225015082017-12-21T08:49:33.959-07:002017-12-21T08:49:33.959-07:00Archon, let's turn it around for a moment:
Pe...Archon, let's turn it around for a moment:<br /><br />People are allowed to write about their hobbies and to engage others in thoughtful, intelligent, reasoned debate in an effort to improve themselves. I don't really understand why you take issue with that. In particular, I don't understand why you dislike the idea that we might not fully understand what D&D is, how it functions or what it represents, or that we would want to deconstruct the game and our assumptions about it.<br /><br />There are literally hundreds of examples on this blog (and others) illustrating where mainstream D&D fails to deliver on its promises. You might have not personally experienced it ~ and <i>that's a good thing</i> ~ but your experience doesn't mean that it <i>never</i> happens that way.Ozymandiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01065642299277380465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-2529251697847999562017-12-21T05:26:17.141-07:002017-12-21T05:26:17.141-07:00On the one hand, you're doing a good and inter...On the one hand, you're doing a good and interesting thing here. (and the corporations are kinda terrible). <br /><br />On the other, people are allowed to enjoy pastimes that are not the one you like, and I don't really understand why you take issue with that. In particular, I don't understand why you dislike the idea of freeform RP / games with rules other than OD&D derived rules.<br /><br />(I think part of this is spending time with the D&D crowd - there are lots of people who think RPG's need serious skill and thought to write, and who put substantial effort into writing them well. None of the are writing D&D. They write their own games, which do completely different things to what D&D does.)<br />Archonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17718160700690722856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-30245077346105775022017-12-15T03:59:59.966-07:002017-12-15T03:59:59.966-07:00Could do one of those videos with the counter in t...Could do one of those videos with the counter in the bottom corner, (ding) and get a total of banal statements. <br />I am about to try 5e as a player again in the new game of a friend who wants to run it for a few sessions. He knows that I am reluctant to call 5e actual D&D, as it is so different from what I know, home-brew AD&D. I will chalk it up to socializing with friends. I made a video about 5e a while back. It is a different game with same-sounding, non-improved terms. Jomo Risinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13552294536240059611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-4062970097655125432017-12-15T02:56:52.169-07:002017-12-15T02:56:52.169-07:00So we're saying that Colville's videos are...So we're saying that Colville's videos are good enough for the new DM but useless for everyone else?<br /><br />If that's the case, then I take the subtext to be that a new DM, if she's played the game as a player, will know these things through simple observation.Ozymandiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01065642299277380465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-57522284415108788302017-12-14T22:29:45.854-07:002017-12-14T22:29:45.854-07:00I agree. He does have an agreeable manner and he ...I agree. He does have an agreeable manner and he does talk well.<br /><br />I listened to his most recent video which was not about the Critical Role campaign. On the whole, his position seems, well, fine. He talks about running ghouls against low-level characters (my gawd, it is easy to hit the enemy in 5e), from the point of view of a new DM dealing with new DM issues.<br /><br />Then I listened to the one before that, which was also about running undead. Once again, more or less fine.<br /><br />But ... water is wet, water is wet, water is wet. I considered writing out his entire video and just inserting [water is wet] every time he makes a statement that virtually anyone playing the game already knows. I'm sure this is why he seems so agreeable. He is basically repeating the content of the manual.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-67479190582156068592017-12-14T22:16:43.357-07:002017-12-14T22:16:43.357-07:00I don't like the game he runs, for the reasons...I don't like the game he runs, for the reasons noted among others. He has an agreeable manner and he talks well. It might just be that I want to like a D&D YouTuber and this might be the closest I get.Jomo Risinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13552294536240059611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-25726828278898819712017-12-14T18:39:57.235-07:002017-12-14T18:39:57.235-07:00Okay, went and opened Colville's channel. 18 ...Okay, went and opened Colville's channel. 18 seconds into the first episode, 21 Feb 2016:<br /><br />"Being a Dungeon Master is fun! It's creative and it's not that hard. But if you don't know how it's done, it seems intimidating."<br /><br />Hm.<br /><br />Being a DM ... is not that ... hard.<br /><br />I imagine it depends on how ~ well ~ one wants to DM.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-9888272016115224372017-12-14T18:33:42.308-07:002017-12-14T18:33:42.308-07:00Well, Jomo, obviously I don't give a shit abou...Well, Jomo, obviously I don't give a shit about his opinion about terrain and mapping software products. Stacking the deck of many things IS fudging. If you don't like it, don't hand out the item. Or create a different item and call it something else.<br /><br />All game fights ought to be tough, so that's out too. "Bad luck" IS the story ... which, once again, a bad story writer just doesn't get.<br /><br />Please, if you want to tell me that you admire a fellow, describe attributes that make him admirable. Avoid criticism.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-53455302060450616222017-12-14T17:40:16.040-07:002017-12-14T17:40:16.040-07:00I often admire Mr. Colville. He does fall into th...I often admire Mr. Colville. He does fall into the crowd that says the story is more important than bad luck. So there is assistance in tough game fights. I understand that he would stack the Deck of Many Things, to prevent catastrophe. I am not certain of context, as he often speaks of working with new players (not wanting new players to have a bad experience). That is not my regular preference. I don't know if he fudges. <br />His advice about products has been interesting (not the WOTC stuff but terrain and mapping software.)Jomo Risinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13552294536240059611noreply@blogger.com