Re: [hw-rules] "Sufficient" detail

At 06:25 PM 8/15/00 +0300, Mikko Rintasaari wrote:

> > Let's say Greg came out and said that, among other things,
> > Snarl Darkness allows you to emit a blood-curdling sound that
> > turns into a cloud of darkness that encircles the foes of the
> > earth.
>
>I'd think that sounds a bit odd, but I meight go with that.
>

That's just me pulling an example out of the air (or darkness, as it were) for the sake of discussion.

> > A player has that feat and, in a situation that comes up in
> > play, wants to use Snarl Darkness to entangle and nullify the
> > darkness magic of an opponent.
> >
> > Would you allow the player to do that?
>
>I don't think I would allow it, if the feat was defined as above.

Then you see why, given that we want to enable players to exercise their creativity in this way, guidelines become problematic. No matter how many disclaimers the designers include reminding the reader that the list is just a starting point, some GMs will take them as proscriptive, and prevent their players from stepping outside them.

Guidelines would serve one taste group at the expense of another. This is also true for the current lack of guidelines. And true for countless decisions one makes when designing and developing a game. Ultimately you have to decide which taste group you're targeting and choose the default you think best entertains them.

Take care >>> Robin             Received on Tue 15 Aug 2000 - 09:27:56 EEST