As a DM, the world is your character. And sometimes the rules as written, what they call “RAW,” may conflict with the way you want your world to work. How do you handle those conflicts? What do you do when a character ability disrupts the way you want that world to work? Perhaps you’ve found yourself saying things like, “There’s no way a monk could stun a dragon with a punch!” and then had to face a disappointed player whose character no longer works the way they built it?
In this episode, the 3 Wise DMs talk about their own problems with continuity and verisimilitude, when it becomes a problem, and how they manage those issues and the players they effect.
1:00 How important is world/power continuity?
3:00 What breaks continuity?
4:00 A history of DMs dealing with D&D rules bullshit from 1st through 5th Edition.
7:00 Can a monk stun Cthulhu?
10:00 Do verisimilitude and continuity matter in a fantasy-based world?
13:00 How can/should a DM address verisimilitude issues?
18:00 Big bad boss battles and disruptive character powers that can “ruin” them.
24:00 How to describe counterintuitive effects so they make sense.
27:00 How DM fiat against character powers can ruin the fun for a player. (Plus: Thorin admits he’s a poor sport and Tony hates monks, again.)
30:00 Are we starting characters too powerful?
32:00 Can a monk stun Unicron with a bo stick? Is it disruptive to your game world if it can?
35:00 How else can you handle verisimilitude issues?
38:00 The DM has to have fun, too.
40:00 The psychology of the DM vs. the psychology of the players.
44:00 DM tactics to prevent verisimilitude problems.
49:00 How your Big Bad can counter overpowered player abilities.
54:00 Managing continuity for the player vs. continuity for the DM.
62:00 The DM’s art: How do you make your world work the way you want it to AND the way the players want it to.
Another good episode. One question that interests me is how strict various DMs are about the little stuff, like the material components needed for casting spells? So far in our campaign Thorin has been extremely lenient about such things. Now its not unreasonable that when my wizard started out he would have had all he needed to cast his 1st level spells. But he’s got 4th level spells now and hasn’t been anywhere near a town or merchant in all that time so I’m not sure where he’s gotten an eyelash encased in gum arabic to cast invisibility or a shaving of licorice root to cast haste or about a dozen other odd things for his other spells. Not that I’m complaining! But there are other ‘consumables’ like arrows and rope or paper and ink that need to be considered as well as damage to weapons and armor. Do you have nit-picky DMs as well as relaxed ones?
Short answer: Yes. Everyone’s going to approach those things differently. I could be stricter, but I don’t really see any benefit to it.
In D&D 5e, if you have a focus, that replaces spell components unless they have a GP value. I think you ave a wand that acts as a focus.
This is at odds to my preference for a little bit more realistic game. I would like weapons and armor to be more historically and physically accurate; I’d like there to be a bit more depth in the combat that way as well.
I do like the little touches like using material components, but it can become a drag to stick to those things too closely. I want to add depth and details that enhance immersion without taking up time or mental energy tracking them.
You can see this philosophy in how I do spell areas. It’d be more accurate to use templates or sticks to figure out circles, but I just round everything up to full square because it’s quick to calculate and I don’t think accurate circles add anything worthwhile to the game. You get a stick or a template and try to measure to find the perfect place to put something, you’re disappointed when you can get everything you wanted to, you reconsider … it just all takes time and energy that doesn’t make anything any more fun. That’s a bad deal as a DM, IMO.
So track your character and stick to them, but I’m not going to enforce it very closely. … Unless at some point I decide to. 😉