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[+]Exploration Falls Short For Many Groups, Let’s Talk About It
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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 9257102" data-attributes="member: 7006"><p>I think [USER=6790260]@EzekielRaiden[/USER] is correct in that the reason why Exploration doesn't lead to compelling gameplay is because there isn't any "game" to play. There's no board game equivalent for Exploration (or Social for that matter) that is like Combat. Combat has its board game rules and its isolated process that occurs almost outside the narrative of the campaign. And without a similar set of game rules for Exploration that actually turns Exploration into its own essential board game... it will never be satisfying for a contingent of the playerbase.</p><p></p><p>The real problem though is that because D&D is in fact (as Matt Colville likes to say) a "monster fighting game"... few if any attempts at gamifying other parts of D&D have worked, gained any traction, or survived. Mass Combat? Attempts have been made to add it to the game but few people ever latch onto it. Social Combat? Attempts have been made to turn argument and negotiation into its own minigame within D&D but again few people have ever latched onto it. And in the Exploration sphere, Chase rule have been tried and tried and tried but nothing has ever stuck with anyone-- which is why ever few months or years we get people asking in places like this "Does anyone have any good chase rules?" They've all been half-baked because in my opinion it really goes against the ethos of D&D's "monster fighting game".</p><p></p><p>At its foundation, that's what D&D is-- a game about fighting monsters. And that's why like 90% of everything on a character sheet is giving numbers and rules towards that game. And anything that falls outside of that purview... like Exploration or Social... are not part of the game. Exploration and Social do not have a place in the monster combat game, and thus there are no substantive rules for it. Instead, things like Ability Checks are the closest thing we have to "game rules" for those pillars, and as a result each DM is forced to "invent" actions, reactions, and results from those Ability Checks to provide the win state or loss state from them. Which means that... yes... Exploration and Social is all determined by the dread "DM Adjudication".</p><p></p><p>And to be honest... I don't think this is a problem that can truly be solved. Because most players know in the back of their minds (as much as they might not want to accept it) that D&D <strong>IS</strong> a "monster fighting game" with almost all of its game rules that have maintained and sustained over the past 50 years designed purely for that gameplay. And thus anything not connected to it will never be anything more than an extraneous appendage from a "game rules and game play" perspective. And if an individual DM wants something else... they are going to have to go elsewhere to get it or make up a set of rules themselves. Because most other players just don't care.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 9257102, member: 7006"] I think [USER=6790260]@EzekielRaiden[/USER] is correct in that the reason why Exploration doesn't lead to compelling gameplay is because there isn't any "game" to play. There's no board game equivalent for Exploration (or Social for that matter) that is like Combat. Combat has its board game rules and its isolated process that occurs almost outside the narrative of the campaign. And without a similar set of game rules for Exploration that actually turns Exploration into its own essential board game... it will never be satisfying for a contingent of the playerbase. The real problem though is that because D&D is in fact (as Matt Colville likes to say) a "monster fighting game"... few if any attempts at gamifying other parts of D&D have worked, gained any traction, or survived. Mass Combat? Attempts have been made to add it to the game but few people ever latch onto it. Social Combat? Attempts have been made to turn argument and negotiation into its own minigame within D&D but again few people have ever latched onto it. And in the Exploration sphere, Chase rule have been tried and tried and tried but nothing has ever stuck with anyone-- which is why ever few months or years we get people asking in places like this "Does anyone have any good chase rules?" They've all been half-baked because in my opinion it really goes against the ethos of D&D's "monster fighting game". At its foundation, that's what D&D is-- a game about fighting monsters. And that's why like 90% of everything on a character sheet is giving numbers and rules towards that game. And anything that falls outside of that purview... like Exploration or Social... are not part of the game. Exploration and Social do not have a place in the monster combat game, and thus there are no substantive rules for it. Instead, things like Ability Checks are the closest thing we have to "game rules" for those pillars, and as a result each DM is forced to "invent" actions, reactions, and results from those Ability Checks to provide the win state or loss state from them. Which means that... yes... Exploration and Social is all determined by the dread "DM Adjudication". And to be honest... I don't think this is a problem that can truly be solved. Because most players know in the back of their minds (as much as they might not want to accept it) that D&D [B]IS[/B] a "monster fighting game" with almost all of its game rules that have maintained and sustained over the past 50 years designed purely for that gameplay. And thus anything not connected to it will never be anything more than an extraneous appendage from a "game rules and game play" perspective. And if an individual DM wants something else... they are going to have to go elsewhere to get it or make up a set of rules themselves. Because most other players just don't care. [/QUOTE]
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