Travis Miller

I write about classic tabletop fantasy adventure games, sword-and-sorcery, and heavy metal. #OSR #darkfantasy

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@squidlord @kilbaneofficial @archon In Kriegspiel, it may not be as big of an issue particularly if the referee is an experienced and educated officer. In the RPG hobby, skillful GMs are far less common than one might think and for some reason most publishers don't focus on training skillful game mastering.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@squidlord @kilbaneofficial @archon Players knowing the rules and having a clear knowledge of how the game would resolve an action before describing that action was the design intent behind 3E D&D described by Skip Williams in a Grognardia interview. It was a well intended but flawed preventative to bad DMing.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@squidlord @archon If anything, "fun" is not infrequently a side effect and not the intent of many story games. It is VERY common for RPG gamers to describe even crunchy games as "collaborative storytelling" but then the "story" they want is one they always win or setbacks are not real setbacks.

[Lordmatteus @Lordmatteus2312]

I've been actually playing the game rather than arguing online about it but I wanted to add my 2 cents:
@Nerdcognito ain't wrong about Critical Role. The point is about performance versus game play. It's about logical consequences flowing from a player's actions not acting ability. My players aren't there to entertain me, nor I them. A player doesn't need to be an orator to succeed without a roll. For example, knowing the specific desires and specific motivations of an NPC (discovered through the exploration pillar), and announcing you will appeal to those without the actual performance should still obviate the need for a roll, just like clearly identifying you are looking for a secret door in a specific location should mean you find it without the roll. Simple as.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@EruditeDM @ntrpgcon It was nice meeting you as well. So many great people at @ntrpg

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@EruditeDM @ntrpgcon Thanks!

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@crescendogames9 @tdarlington @archon @movieguyjon @WithNightDanger @MythicMLand Story: An account of a character who wants something but has to overcome obstacle (s) to get it, but struggles, maybe fails and finally succeeds. PCs want treasure. Monsters and villains stand in they way. PCs overcome obstacle = Emergent story built into the original game.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@archon @crescendogames9 @movieguyjon @WithNightDanger @MythicMLand Having played "narrative" games with some of the darling designers of that scene on several occasions, IMO they aren't good at making up stories on the fly either. There was always incoherence and clunkiness to the narrative.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@bkgibsonwrites @EzhmaarSul That second event would be way off theme but if the player's choices, the rules, and the dice go that way, it's what happens even though it might be a "unsatisfying narrative" for most of the players.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@bkgibsonwrites @EzhmaarSul I use that scene to show the difference stories and RPGs. The scene had to go the way it did to tell the redemption story. In an RPG, Luke the Player Character could choose to kill dear old dad, try to kill the emperor and replace both of them as the new galactic overlord.

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb @nntaleb]

1/n
A physical book is a real object, anchored. If you read a particular edition, you remember not only the contents but the object itself: its cover, typography, smell, even where a passage sat on the page.
Books organize themselves in memory by place --the ancient method of loci.
Digital text does not exist.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@WeeWheaton @SandyofCthulhu If you have the time, I recommend @Immortals_Inc Inc in Rocky River as well. Best RPG selection in the area AFIAC

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@WeeWheaton @SandyofCthulhu Great shop. Watch out for the dimensional portal in the dark corner behind the file boxes of bagged up SPI war games. We loose an old grognard back there every so often.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@Lordmatteus2312 @archon If the intended experience is to be a realistic simulation then the model must produce the answer appropriate to the real world outcome. If the experience is intended to produce a certain thematic or allegoric experience then the outcome might be less like a real world outcome.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@Lordmatteus2312 @archon IMO, first thing a designer should do is decide what the experience of the game is intended to be. No matter the game. The mechanics answer questions that pertains to the intended experience. How many peasants does it take to bring down a skilled knight in plate?

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@archon @Lordmatteus2312 I don't know you need to have feats. As long as the die roll needed is set high enough that a lower ability PC has no chance of succeeding, the niche is preserved. Higher rating need to be more expensive as the rating increases. Diminishing return limits jack of all trades PCs

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@archon @Lordmatteus2312 The randomizer comes with the situation. Strong breeze. Roll a d4. It's wet roll a d6. Subtract that from your score. If it's below the DC you fail. There are some sticky wickets with the concept. Still working on it.

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@archon @Lordmatteus2312 I've been tinkering on a system with fixed ability and skill scores. If you have Athleticism 2 and a climb of 3 your ability is a 5. You can climb difficulty class 5 walls without in a routine situation automatically. If you have gear, your skill goes to 7. Alex Hunnold is a 10

[Travis Miller @grump_e_wizard]

@revenge_nature @archon @Lordmatteus2312 Call of Cthulu has that rule, more or less. I've seen more than one keeper ask for a roll on a routine skill in a routine situation and a player with a high rating in the skill fail.