Results 331 to 336 of 336
Thread: Why is V constantly benched?
-
2013-09-24, 02:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2013
-
2013-09-24, 02:55 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2006
- Location
- Albany, NY
- Gender
Re: Why is V constantly benched?
Last edited by AKA_Bait; 2013-09-24 at 02:57 PM.
[CENTER]So You Wanna Be A DM? A Potentially Helpful Guide
Truly wonderful avatar made by Cuthalion
-
2013-09-24, 03:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Gender
-
2013-09-24, 03:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2006
- Location
- Arad, Israel
- Gender
Re: Why is V constantly benched?
While Tabletop RPGs are cooperative, not competitive, attaining some degree of system mastery is a sign that a player is interested in the game. The problem is that some players are only interested in the game mechanics, to the exclusion of the roleplaying, or they segregate the game mechanics and the roleplaying to too great a degree. This is bad in both extremes. One extreme (game mechanics given complete priority) leads to munchkins and rules lawyers, while the other extreme (roleplaying given complete priority) leads to the Stormwind Fallacy. You need to be able to find a balance. You should acknowledge that the goal of the game is to have fun, and if a player enjoys tinkering with the game mechanics to make optimized PCs, let them, provided the DM keeps abreast of their latest concoction. If a player prefers to roleplay and hates having to design the mechanics of a PC, the DM should ask if they need any advice.
The prospective Rules Lawyers need to realize that the DM is free to experiment with the rules, provided the DM lets the players know that. The GM of the Star Wars Saga Edition campaign I used to play in would obsessively monkey around with the mechanics of any game he ran. For the most part I learned to live with his changes, and even learned how to use them to my Jedi's benefit on more than one occasion. So long as I am provided with a list of mechanical changes in advance, I can live with it. It's even better if the DM is open to feedback about the changes, which the SWSE GM was. He recognized when some of the changes didn't work, and in some cases he reverted them to the factory model, or he solicited comments from message boards, or the group.
When I began playing Tabletop RPGs, back in 1990, I think I gave a bit too much deference to the rules, both as a player and a DM. As time went on I also thought about experimenting, but there were certain areas that seemed sacrosanct. Then 3.0 came out, and with it the deluge of third party d20 supplements. Most of that stuff was just awful, but some were innovative, and many tried to push the Class/Level mechanics to the breaking point. (I think Mutants & Masterminds actually did. ) I no longer have the dogmatic adherence to the rules I did back when I played 2E. I can see the flaws in the 3.X game balance, and I can see where 4E does things right (and wrong) trying to correct it. I've never played Pathfinder, but not because I'm dogmatically opposed to doing so; I just don't have time for any group at the moment.
-
2013-09-26, 07:46 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
Re: Why is V constantly benched?
......And now we know why V is always benched!
Avatar by Gurgleflep
-
2013-09-26, 08:10 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- Canada, British Columbia
- Gender