Results 301 to 307 of 307
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2018-02-02, 06:40 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2016
- Location
- The Lakes
Re: Why is min-maxing bad when you need it to play?
It is one thing to suspend your disbelief. It is another thing entirely to hang it by the neck until dead.
Verisimilitude -- n, the appearance or semblance of truth, likelihood, or probability.
The concern is not realism in speculative fiction, but rather the sense that a setting or story could be real, fostered by internal consistency and coherence.
The Worldbuilding Forum -- where realities are born.
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2018-02-02, 07:24 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
Re: Why is min-maxing bad when you need it to play?
Here's the forum rules, they cover the proceedure for getting a thread closed: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/announcement.php?a=1
"It doesn't matter how much you struggle or strive,
You'll never get out of life alive,
So please kill yourself and save this land,
And your last mission is to spread my command,"
Slightly adapted quote from X-Fusion, Please Kill Yourself
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2018-02-02, 08:18 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2015
- Location
- San Francisco Bay area
- Gender
Re: Why is min-maxing bad when you need it to play?
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2018-02-02, 08:34 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Gender
Re: Why is min-maxing bad when you need it to play?
There was no way the thread was going to wind up any different.
Numbers "vs" Imagination is the one religious argument that's allowed to repeatedly flame up on these forums, and the results are invariably sharply divisive. Just wait until you see the process of spin-off threads!
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2018-02-05, 03:58 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
- Location
- Sweden
Re: Why is min-maxing bad when you need it to play?
By the looks of it, it seems your problem is more when systems limit you from even attempting an action. That is, if you have a shield you should be able to try and push someone over a cliff without needing some sort of extra stuff. Whether or not you are successful is another matter.
Similarly, you should always be able to attempt brain surgery, but without specialized training (which even a general M.D. doesn't cover), you are not likely to be very successful.
The thing to realize with the Feats is that they are actually that; specialized training. In the case of brain surgery, if there is such a skill it would represent your theoretical knowledge whereas the Feat represents actual practical training. You should still be able to attempt it untrained, though suffer some negative modifiers. Sort of like how you can always Dual Wield weapons in D&D 3.X but without the Feat, you'll have higher penalties.
So yes, Feats should not be a case of "nope, you can't even attempt this thing without it", but they can represent specialized training in a certain maneuver that will make it much easier to succeed.
I'm not saying all Feats work like that. Some do, and some don't. It's a bit of a mess really.
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2018-02-05, 04:48 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2015
Re: Why is min-maxing bad when you need it to play?
Many systems gate stuff this way.
Often that is not that much of a problem. Many things do require special knowledge and should be impossible without. Common examples include language skills and literacy. Usually there are some questionable choices like the hiding/sneaking as class ability in AD&D2 or "tie knots" as trained only skill in TDE4, but in general it works.
The problems start when skills already exist and then the applications for those skills are all hidden behind feat equivalents to make them somewhot rare. Suddenly you have persons who are trained experts in some fields who can't any of the applications of that field.
Another problem is using specializations to gate stuff but limit the number of specializations someone can have in a field. Suddenly it becomes harder/impossibleto learn something that is close to something you already know than to lern something as difficult that is completely new.
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2018-02-05, 07:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2015
- Location
- Berlin
- Gender
Re: Why is min-maxing bad when you need it to play?
One of the few good things about "A Time of War" was having skills in "regular" and "complex" modes.
Regular skills are pretty costly, cover a very broad spectrum and have their limits, but at least count a bit towards executing a Complex skill and you get a cost reduction when you "park" a Complex skill "on top". Complex skills are pretty narrow, but cheaper to acquire and also count a bit when trying to execute a Regular skill.
So Regular skills like Drive, Medicine or Gunnery are your typical broad spectrum skills, but will only count as 1/2 their skill ranks when trying for something that is tied to a Complex skill, like Medicine/Neurosurgery or Gunnery/Arrow IV, while at the same time, someone with Medicine/Neurosurgery Complex Skill only only counts as 1/2 ranks when doing basic Medicine.