22 December 2012

Codifying "Player Agency" is bad.

Random Wizard's post about simplifying calculations got me thinking about the d20 mechanic.

Using the same mechanic for everything (the d20-roll-high) is one of a few things that I took away from the d20 system as a good idea.

 I still think that they let the whole feat and skill thing get out of hand, though, with 3.0/5. They tried to make everything a skill or feat instead of keeping it fast and loose. Codifying too many things can actually rob the players of "agency".

Fair and flexible adjudication of the game is a better plan. And it makes the person running the game feel less like a robot and more like a participant in something fun, a shared experience.