Post by Shelby on Feb 15, 2020 19:09:26 GMT -8
I hope I got you with that Subject line!
Seriously, I read various pundits online who dismiss the concept of a referee. There are cooperative role-playing games that eschew a referee, or make use of randomizers.
I don't agree with that sentiment. I think the role of a referee is what makes an RPG the game we've come to know and enjoy. The players, just like their characters, don't have any idea what Life will throw at them. They can't know what their obstacles will be, they can't be positive of their allies, and they won't know what their adversaries are really thinking. This makes for an exciting game, with a realistic sense of the unknown.
What about rules? Some folks out there think that every participant in a game should have access to the same, complete set of rules. I strongly disagree. Again, the player character shouldn't be privy to exactly how something works, the underlying mechanics. And they shouldn't see tables that would give them an exact probability, and all the possible options that they haven't thought of yet.
There was a particular session that I ran, many years ago. I had set up to run The Rock of Bral, an asteroid city in the D&D Spelljammer universe. I had resolved that this would be a city of hardened, tough settlers. They faced incredibly difficult challenges, and the only way they could have survived was to be tough (as in, high-level, high hit points), and to have all sorts of protections. I decided that the city was really a fortress. The construction of free-standing buildings was as hardy as the walls of a keep. I even took the encounter tables and beefed them up, deciding that during the city's "night," the streets would be deserted; everyone would hole up indoors, shutters and doors barred, and wait for dawn and safety. Because at night is when the monsters would sail through and try to pick up stragglers. Big, tough monsters.
I did this to try and give the players a real sense of danger. They were strong mid-level characters, maybe 7th level. Gone were the days when they would back down in fear of the prowess of a city guardsmen. Well, they would learn that living in space meant everyone was either a survivor, or they were something's lunch. Binary.
So the party arrives, sailing on a Spelljamming vessel. The sailors have ominous things to say about the city. The party disembarks, finds rooms. The locals have ominous things to say. "Don't go outside at night, you'll be carried away and eaten."
So, what does my friend Bruce do? He has a 6th or 7th level thief. He waits for everyone to go to bed, then he decides to leave the inn, by himself, in secret. I am shocked. The other players look at him in horror, asking "What are you doing?!"
He goes outside. The streets are deserted. He doesn't Hide in Shadows. He doesn't Move Silently. He's a lone thief, which means he has lousy hit points and lousy armor class. So he walks down the middle of the street. He finds a pool of blood, maybe half a hand left behind. Does he go back? No, he tells me that he keeps wandering. I roll an encounter, and I'm sorry to say that I don't remember what the encounter was with but he stands and fights it openly as if he were a Fighter. He takes some damage but survives.
Does he go back? No, he tells me that he keeps wandering. He hears a scream, abruptly cut off. Does he go back? No, he boldly confronts another monster, again I don't recall what it was. Another straight-out fight, more wounds to our Thief, but he kills the monster.
Does he go back? You can guess. I remember what the third encounter was with. I won't bother to look it up, but it's a flying space shark, and it swallows you whole on a natural 20. He stands boldly to fight it, and it swallows him whole as I roll that natural 20 openly on the tabletop.
Bruce tears up. He says, "OK, point taken, I go back to the inn." I told him it doesn't work that way, his character is dead. He says, "It can't be this dangerous, it's a city and people live here! They're NPCs, not strong enough to survive!" I reply that the city is what I have designed. He says, "You can't have that many encounters, I know the wandering monster tables!" I told him that I'm perfectly within my rights to make my own tables, which is what I did. Bruce storms out.
So no, I don't like it when players have access to all the materials. It affects their judgment.
That's the first time I've ever shared that story. Whew.
In any case, the reason I posted this is because I'm reading something written by J. Andrew Keith, the author of many, many Classic Traveller pieces. And he had a great one-line endorsement of the place of the referee:
"This is why Traveller is a refereed game -- to permit flexibility in handling unforeseen or unpredictable circumstances."
Good line, huh? And it accurately reflects the role of the referee in the wargames that are the ancestors of RPGs.
So, what do you think? Would you rather play without a referee? What do you think the purpose of having a referee is?
Seriously, I read various pundits online who dismiss the concept of a referee. There are cooperative role-playing games that eschew a referee, or make use of randomizers.
I don't agree with that sentiment. I think the role of a referee is what makes an RPG the game we've come to know and enjoy. The players, just like their characters, don't have any idea what Life will throw at them. They can't know what their obstacles will be, they can't be positive of their allies, and they won't know what their adversaries are really thinking. This makes for an exciting game, with a realistic sense of the unknown.
What about rules? Some folks out there think that every participant in a game should have access to the same, complete set of rules. I strongly disagree. Again, the player character shouldn't be privy to exactly how something works, the underlying mechanics. And they shouldn't see tables that would give them an exact probability, and all the possible options that they haven't thought of yet.
There was a particular session that I ran, many years ago. I had set up to run The Rock of Bral, an asteroid city in the D&D Spelljammer universe. I had resolved that this would be a city of hardened, tough settlers. They faced incredibly difficult challenges, and the only way they could have survived was to be tough (as in, high-level, high hit points), and to have all sorts of protections. I decided that the city was really a fortress. The construction of free-standing buildings was as hardy as the walls of a keep. I even took the encounter tables and beefed them up, deciding that during the city's "night," the streets would be deserted; everyone would hole up indoors, shutters and doors barred, and wait for dawn and safety. Because at night is when the monsters would sail through and try to pick up stragglers. Big, tough monsters.
I did this to try and give the players a real sense of danger. They were strong mid-level characters, maybe 7th level. Gone were the days when they would back down in fear of the prowess of a city guardsmen. Well, they would learn that living in space meant everyone was either a survivor, or they were something's lunch. Binary.
So the party arrives, sailing on a Spelljamming vessel. The sailors have ominous things to say about the city. The party disembarks, finds rooms. The locals have ominous things to say. "Don't go outside at night, you'll be carried away and eaten."
So, what does my friend Bruce do? He has a 6th or 7th level thief. He waits for everyone to go to bed, then he decides to leave the inn, by himself, in secret. I am shocked. The other players look at him in horror, asking "What are you doing?!"
He goes outside. The streets are deserted. He doesn't Hide in Shadows. He doesn't Move Silently. He's a lone thief, which means he has lousy hit points and lousy armor class. So he walks down the middle of the street. He finds a pool of blood, maybe half a hand left behind. Does he go back? No, he tells me that he keeps wandering. I roll an encounter, and I'm sorry to say that I don't remember what the encounter was with but he stands and fights it openly as if he were a Fighter. He takes some damage but survives.
Does he go back? No, he tells me that he keeps wandering. He hears a scream, abruptly cut off. Does he go back? No, he boldly confronts another monster, again I don't recall what it was. Another straight-out fight, more wounds to our Thief, but he kills the monster.
Does he go back? You can guess. I remember what the third encounter was with. I won't bother to look it up, but it's a flying space shark, and it swallows you whole on a natural 20. He stands boldly to fight it, and it swallows him whole as I roll that natural 20 openly on the tabletop.
Bruce tears up. He says, "OK, point taken, I go back to the inn." I told him it doesn't work that way, his character is dead. He says, "It can't be this dangerous, it's a city and people live here! They're NPCs, not strong enough to survive!" I reply that the city is what I have designed. He says, "You can't have that many encounters, I know the wandering monster tables!" I told him that I'm perfectly within my rights to make my own tables, which is what I did. Bruce storms out.
So no, I don't like it when players have access to all the materials. It affects their judgment.
That's the first time I've ever shared that story. Whew.
In any case, the reason I posted this is because I'm reading something written by J. Andrew Keith, the author of many, many Classic Traveller pieces. And he had a great one-line endorsement of the place of the referee:
"This is why Traveller is a refereed game -- to permit flexibility in handling unforeseen or unpredictable circumstances."
Good line, huh? And it accurately reflects the role of the referee in the wargames that are the ancestors of RPGs.
So, what do you think? Would you rather play without a referee? What do you think the purpose of having a referee is?