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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 7:27AM
#1
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Date Joined:
Oct 30, 2010
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WoTC seems to have ignored its own advice in terms of irrelivent dice rolls which slow down gameplay.
Why does it take 1d4+1 minutes to don heavy armour.
Why does it take 2d6 hours to recover from stabilized.
These are the sorts of things you solve with a simple sentence: "You recover from stabilized after a long rest", "Putting on heavy armour takes several minutes"
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 7:38AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Apr 21, 2011
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standardized dice rolls work better for this reason.
"you hear a loud noise, and scream int he night, the town is under attack"
-" i don my armour, i rolled a 3 + 1, so 4 min" <- as a DM i had set aside 5 min before their inn gets attacked, in this situation the dice dictate the results, as the DM i sit back and watch the players play experience unfold, i am not involved because it is not my game, it's theirs
as opposed to
"you hear a loud noise, and scream int he night, the town is under attack"
- "can i don my armour in time?" <- thats a direct question, there is no rle, no way to figure it out, as a dm i have to make a decision to either deny the player their armour, or let them have it. sometimes judgement can be used, but in the last case the difference was 1 min, how am i supposed to judge that as a DM without getting involved in someone elses play experience and making it seem personal?
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 7:42AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Aug 28, 2007
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I would suggest doing both of the above depending on the situation.
Use the roll if it seems useful at the time.
Don't use a roll if it will not really matter.
Anyway,
Rolls of that type should be rare enough that they do not slow the game.
Excess die rolls every round of combat, now that's to be avoided big time!
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 7:55AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Aug 31, 2007
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These are the sorts of things you solve with a simple sentence: "You recover from stabilized after a long rest", "Putting on heavy armour takes several minutes"
Because sometimes it matters exactly how long and having a sensible rule ready when it comes up is nice. When the party is resting in a camp for the night and is alerted about an attack before it happens, the question of exactly how much they can get ready before the fight starts is very important.
If there is no rule for these things, everything goes on the DMs whim and tends to vary too much. Providng sensible base lines for these things is exactly one of the reasons I buy rule books to begin with.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 8:02AM
#5
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Date Joined:
Apr 21, 2011
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I would suggest doing both of the above depending on the situation.
Use the roll if it seems useful at the time.
Don't use a roll if it will not really matter.
Anyway,
Rolls of that type should be rare enough that they do not slow the game.
Excess die rolls every round of combat, now that's to be avoided big time!
yes, this is only int he context where it is time sensitive, but the rule HAS to be there for that reason. if the rule wasn't there then you have to personally interfere with the players game in an important way. the rdice are there to take that away. if the rule wasn't there then putting it there as a DM is almost as bad, now you are making up rules when before there were none, you are still interfering.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 8:03AM
#6
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Date Joined:
Aug 31, 2009
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I've run campaigns in both 4th Edition and Pathfinder over the last three years, plus many years of running and playing 3rd Edition. Know how many times it mattered how fast a player could get into their armor? Once.
But it was a very awesome once that had the fighter in my group deciding "Screw it" halfway through putting on his full plate and so wore just the coif, the right thigh piece, the gauntlets, the helm, and nothing else as he charged into battle because he couldn't wait any longer. The fighter ended up with several new nicknames, but I think all of them would violate the ToS of the board to post...
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 8:06AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Apr 21, 2011
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I've run campaigns in both 4th Edition and Pathfinder over the last three years, plus many years of running and playing 3rd Edition. Know how many times it mattered how fast a player could get into their armor? Once.
But it was a very awesome once that had the fighter in my group deciding "Screw it" halfway through putting on his full plate and so wore just the coif, the right thigh piece, the gauntlets, the helm, and nothing else as he charged into battle because he couldn't wait any longer. The fighter ended up with several new nicknames, but I think all of them would violate the ToS of the board to post...
it's happened to me twice in recent times. it depends how much your DM likes to spring suprise attacks on you. eventually we just started preparing for it though to cut time. honestly i think it's these things that seperate D&D from video games and make it fun. i have to think like a boyscout, and always be prepared.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 8:11AM
#8
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friendly_kobold,
I do not really understand what the problem is here. The dice rolls are there as basic rules. Nowhere does it say that the DM must follow the rules 100%. That has never, in fact, been the point of D&D (remember Gygax's famous comments about ignoring any rules which we do not like?).
So, if you dislike such dice rolls, then do the following:
Ignore them. Don't use them. Problem solved.
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 8:13AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Aug 31, 2009
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"The DM only rolls dice for the sound they make." - Gary Gygax
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13 months ago ::
May 25, 2012 - 8:16AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Apr 21, 2011
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friendly_kobold,
I do not really understand what the problem is here. The dice rolls are there as basic rules. Nowhere does it say that the DM must follow the rules 100%. That has never, in fact, been the point of D&D (remember Gygax's famous comments about ignoring any rules which we do not like?).
So, if you dislike such dice rolls, then do the following:
Ignore them. Don't use them. Problem solved.
i have been finding that D&D has the unfortunate side effect of drawing the most letigious people in the universe to your table. on the flip side many players with flip all the **** if they feel you have slighted them through a ruling, bad people to play with to be sure, but it happens.
i just like to be able to shrug my sholders and say "thats what it says in the rulebook" when a player is being difficult.
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