I'm a guy. I like pretty women. But all these bikini-clad or bare-midriff adventurers are ridiculous. It makes NO SENSE. It breaks immersion. And it makes it that much harder for many girls or young women to find D&D approachable. Also, as a guy who likes playing funny characters, I think the occasional funny-looking guy or gal is perfectly appropriate. D&D is about adventure, but there should be room for other elements, and one of those is humor. Don't make D&D so...
View full commentI'm a guy. I like pretty women. But all these bikini-clad or bare-midriff adventurers are ridiculous. It makes NO SENSE. It breaks immersion. And it makes it that much harder for many girls or young women to find D&D approachable.
Also, as a guy who likes playing funny characters, I think the occasional funny-looking guy or gal is perfectly appropriate. D&D is about adventure, but there should be room for other elements, and one of those is humor.
Don't make D&D so 1-dimensional (or even 2-dimensional). Leave some room in it for the real world to creep in, where sometimes you fall in love with the average-looking but wonderful girl...
I don't understand why people relate using a grid & miniatures to having deep and fulfilling combat. In my experience, people who play with miniatures are more prone to metagaming during combat - and that is definitely NOT fun nor fulfilling for me. Not using a grid invokes more creative actions I think, but using a grid doesn't prohibit you from doing anything (if it does, you've got the wrong DM!)
I agree with ruttentud & find TotM combats much more fulfilling than tactical grid battles ... when the battle occurs entirely in your imagination, it isn't restricted by the position of miniatures on the playing field. So, when Seti says (a page back) that "theatre of the mind can work, if the group doesn't want complex, fulfilling combat encounters" he is clearly seeing things differently than I do (and being a little demeaning, as well). While miniature combat can be complex in...
View full commentI agree with ruttentud & find TotM combats much more fulfilling than tactical grid battles ... when the battle occurs entirely in your imagination, it isn't restricted by the position of miniatures on the playing field.
So, when Seti says (a page back) that "theatre of the mind can work, if the group doesn't want complex, fulfilling combat encounters" he is clearly seeing things differently than I do (and being a little demeaning, as well).
While miniature combat can be complex in a rules-sense and can certianly be fulfilling for someone who likes those types of rules ... I have never found it to be nearly as complex or as fulfilling as TotM in a narrative-sense. (That is, combats that are dictated by description allow for more possibilities, and therefore more complex and fulfilling battles, than combats that are dictated by the position of playing pieces ... at least, in my experience).
Now don't get me wrong ... I can certianly understand the thrill of succeeding at sophisticated tactical game. (In fact, I enjoy playing tactical wargames like Warhammer, Mordheim, and Confrontation; but for me, they are a different animal than TotM-style RPG).
And, of course, I understand that a healthy dose of imagination is needed to make either method "come alive" ... but when faced with a grid, I always feel limited by both the squares I am froced to navigate through and by what I know is a more geometrically advantageous position, regardless of how cool my description might have been.
So, I am glad they are including rules for both TotM and the tactical grid ... I just hope I don't feel forced to use both.
Also, as a guy who likes playing funny characters, I think the occasional funny-looking guy or gal is perfectly appropriate. D&D is about adventure, but there should be room for other elements, and one of those is humor.
Don't make D&D so...
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