tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post5216300450486907848..comments2024-03-09T19:23:22.482-03:00Comments on The RPGPundit: 10th Anniversary Classic Rant: The Buck Stops SomewhereRPGPundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17267330191433119298noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-62129411150506688892016-01-19T22:04:24.192-03:002016-01-19T22:04:24.192-03:00Dmitry, are you talking about breaking a rule as i...Dmitry, are you talking about breaking a rule as in roll low instead of roll high with a d20 in D&D or are you talking about the thieve's climb wall modifier or magic user's cast-some-spell duration?<br /><br />Regarding your point a, if the breakage is of the later and not the former then in my case yes, all the time. It's called setting, setting specific events, situation modifiers, etc.<br /><br />Regarding your point b, did I do it on the go during play. You think Arneson bought "Blackmoor The complete guide" at a local bookstore or he wrote it as he went along? Clerics didn't always turn undead, they were made to do so at some point, for some purpose, but they can very well be made unable to turn undead. Once again, that's setting.<br /><br />Regarding point c, yes, it would. Once again if I played by the book then we'd play the same'ol and there would be no surprises, and without surprises what's the purpose of adventuring?<br />Saurondorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01592286228203662073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-72887559253201256262016-01-19T14:50:12.371-03:002016-01-19T14:50:12.371-03:00Sawdust, pencil and paper gaming has mirrored a lo...Sawdust, pencil and paper gaming has mirrored a lot of things in the real world, and one of them is the inquest process. In the real world something that happens that takes a few seconds, but will result in grave consequences, such as massive loss of life and property (think plane crashes and industrial accidents). Thereafter there will be months of analysis, investigation, bickering and litigation over the rules to figure out what happened, learn the lessons and prevent it from happening in the future.<br /><br />In gaming, adult players will sit at the same table, state, their intentions, roll the dice, possibly argue about the rules, and sometimes after a while will arrive at a fantasy event, that will take a few seconds, maybe up to a minute of game time, often with the same dire consequences for one of the parties involved.<br /><br />RPG process is often committee work in reverse and just as boring.Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-49259443630628671022016-01-19T14:41:54.680-03:002016-01-19T14:41:54.680-03:00What you are saying, is that you will not allow a ...What you are saying, is that you will not allow a player to out-think you, and you will bend the rules to get your way.Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-31479097305923411202016-01-19T12:15:09.163-03:002016-01-19T12:15:09.163-03:00I wonder if there is a connection between appeals ...I wonder if there is a connection between appeals to "the rules as written" as ultimate arbiter and electronic gaming platforms where there may be little or no social connection to Bob or any of the other players at the virtual table. Maybe a parallel relationship to how convention gaming influenced TSR as seen through official rulings (by complete strangers) in the pages of Dragon Magazine.Sawdusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01530629376801900476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-5020224291507949462016-01-19T12:14:56.112-03:002016-01-19T12:14:56.112-03:00I wonder if there is a connection between appeals ...I wonder if there is a connection between appeals to "the rules as written" as ultimate arbiter and electronic gaming platforms where there may be little or no social connection to Bob or any of the other players at the virtual table. Maybe a parallel relationship to how convention gaming influenced TSR as seen through official rulings (by complete strangers) in the pages of Dragon Magazine.Sawdusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01530629376801900476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-784461795993579432016-01-19T02:18:25.110-03:002016-01-19T02:18:25.110-03:00Dmitry, as always you're trying to engage in s...Dmitry, as always you're trying to engage in semantic bullshit. But yes, I've done that too. For example, several times where I change rules on some spell or another because it was clear that some player had figured out a way to take the literal meaning of the spell to give himself a campaign-breaking advantage.<br />Of course, that's a very extreme example. It's not something any GM would want to do at all frivolously, because it creates a lot of potential problems with Immersion. But the GM has an ABSOLUTE RIGHT to change ANY rule at any time. Having the right and it being a good idea are two different things, of course.<br /><br />Mostly, a GM will find themselves forced to do it because a player is acting badly. RPGPundithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267330191433119298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-46291859762599041932016-01-18T10:31:03.125-03:002016-01-18T10:31:03.125-03:00On my part, I don't break the rules. I wrote t...On my part, I don't break the rules. I wrote them. I take great care to outline the situations in my game, and the behavior of the antagonists in all major contingencies, so that what my players overcome, actually exists on paper before the game and I can show my players what they were up against, whether they succeed or fail. I add to it after each session as the situation develops.<br /><br />I think that my players sense my fairness to them and trust in my rules, that I don't explain unless asked, and my narrative.Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-53133471679028990852016-01-18T08:38:24.402-03:002016-01-18T08:38:24.402-03:00Thank you, but this does not quite answer my quest...Thank you, but this does not quite answer my question. You have repeatedly made that bizarre claim that breaking the rules at some point is inevitable for a successful game, and I am interested in any concrete, real-life examples that could corroborate this.<br /><br />So, I would like to hear about a game where:<br />(a) you violated a rule that you have been adhering to earlier in the campaign and your players expected you to stick to;<br />(b) you did it on the go, during play;<br />(c) if you had not done this, the game would have suffered.<br /><br />And naturally, it is the HOW part of (c) that is of most interest. Dmitry Gerasimovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04870509986491401701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-24711690112539125172016-01-16T22:23:47.168-03:002016-01-16T22:23:47.168-03:00I am firmly on possibility ONE. I never had to dea...I am firmly on possibility ONE. I never had to deal with a rules lawyering player, because I developed largely my own game I run. It is set in a low magic, low treasure world, where players are happy, because the tough decisions they make and chances they take pay off in terms of in-game victories and successes. Game sessions covering celebratory balls and tournaments, and if they score a large enough victory, they will get their own triumphal arch.<br /><br />Getting back to your post, Pundit, I think that you lay the blame for the chaos at the gaming table on the cult of the game designer and The Forge, while forgetting for the moment, that it was the folks publishing D&D way back at the Second Edition, who decided that they cam make more bucks selling supplements for the players to help munchkins customize their character as opposed to publishing books for DM's. What was it that the company bean counter tell me, You got one DM and six players, why publish books for one person, when you can do it for six?<br /><br />The buck stops with the corporate strategy zombies at the TSR and WoTC.Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-6540733807458150422016-01-16T16:51:13.847-03:002016-01-16T16:51:13.847-03:00Sure, tons of times, in one sense. I don't mak...Sure, tons of times, in one sense. I don't make NPC statblocks. I roll on random tables, and if I don't think what I got makes sense or is to my taste, I roll again. I change rules about spells, classes, character creation, etc. etc.<br />My players can like it or leave. Given the HUGE waiting list of people I have desperate to play my campaigns here (tonight I start my new Wild West campaign with the most I could possibly think to manage: six players, and had to turn down four others. And that's NOTHING compared to the mile-long waiting list of people who want to be in my next Lords of Olympus campaign), I think I'm good.RPGPundithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267330191433119298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-39844000176235316532016-01-16T10:49:21.664-03:002016-01-16T10:49:21.664-03:00Could you describe any real-life examples from you...Could you describe any real-life examples from your own play experience where you had to unilaterally break the rules your group used?Dmitry Gerasimovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04870509986491401701noreply@blogger.com