When I need to further imagineer a situation that comes up in play, or get a mental handle on what the situation is, my main technique is:
A) What would happen in a Jack Vance story? When I need to know the character of a village, or the schemes of the NPCs, or any other sort of improvisational jazz, 99% of the time I pretend it's a Jack Vance story and go with what comes to mind. Usually this results in lots of NPC jerks in the campaign, which I think keeps things spicy.
B) However, when dealing with the Weird, the Preternatural, "The Mythic Underworld" and the lands of "Tyranny and Mutation," 99% of the time I think of how things would be in a Clark Ashton Smith story and go with that for how the situation develops. This does not discount Vancian Magic-Users by any means!
Showing posts with label dungeon mastering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dungeon mastering. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Should Players Know Their Character's Saving Throws?
One subject that has popped up while discussing the Planet Algol Character Sheet (that new campaign participant Lester is designing) is the subject of saving throws.
In the past, when a player has been using an actual D&D character sheet instead of a piece of paper, the question of "What are my saving throws?" has come up when they get to the appropriate section.
My response, "You don't know your saving throws." My reasoning being: they are listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide for a reason. Not knowing them helps keep "the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain"; and it keeps the players from playing the probability game with their actions.
In 3.5 and especially 4E I had had it with the probability calculations, especially in 4E where you basically have to track numbers in order to have a chance of succeeding. (Note that as a 3.5/4E player I was a terrible abuser of meta-game calculating probabilities.)
Same goes with the "To Hit/THACO" sections of the character sheet "You don't need to know, just tell me what you roll.."
Part of this approach on my end is to make the world more chaotic and mysterious and to hide the mathematical workings of the game from the players. Knowledge of the numbers can contaminate your choice of actions, one example being that as a DM I don't like knowing a player character's current Hit Point total. I find myself pulling my punches knowing that a beloved character is almost dead. Although that is a weakness on my end, with my current "let the dice fall where they may and may the lucky and smart survive" philosophy, I don't want to know your current hit point total. It's a nice reversal of roles when the DM is the one surprised when a character dies!
So any of you that are old-school DMs, players, or just have an opinion on the subject: should players know their character's saving throws, THAC0, etc.?
In the past, when a player has been using an actual D&D character sheet instead of a piece of paper, the question of "What are my saving throws?" has come up when they get to the appropriate section.
My response, "You don't know your saving throws." My reasoning being: they are listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide for a reason. Not knowing them helps keep "the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain"; and it keeps the players from playing the probability game with their actions.
In 3.5 and especially 4E I had had it with the probability calculations, especially in 4E where you basically have to track numbers in order to have a chance of succeeding. (Note that as a 3.5/4E player I was a terrible abuser of meta-game calculating probabilities.)
Same goes with the "To Hit/THACO" sections of the character sheet "You don't need to know, just tell me what you roll.."
Part of this approach on my end is to make the world more chaotic and mysterious and to hide the mathematical workings of the game from the players. Knowledge of the numbers can contaminate your choice of actions, one example being that as a DM I don't like knowing a player character's current Hit Point total. I find myself pulling my punches knowing that a beloved character is almost dead. Although that is a weakness on my end, with my current "let the dice fall where they may and may the lucky and smart survive" philosophy, I don't want to know your current hit point total. It's a nice reversal of roles when the DM is the one surprised when a character dies!
So any of you that are old-school DMs, players, or just have an opinion on the subject: should players know their character's saving throws, THAC0, etc.?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
