Thread 96350216

What are your thoughts on the unusual flavor of Draw Steel's troubadour (auteur)?

Draw Steel has a 4e-style warlord class, the tactician. It also has a bard-type class, the troubadour. Its three subclasses are auteur, duelist, and virtuoso. Duelists are melee swashbucklers, virtuosos are musicians, and auteurs are playwrights, storytellers, and directors:

https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Classes/Troubadour/#drama-outside-of-combat
>Abilities like Guest Star, Missed Cue, and Twist at the End allow the auteur to rewrite bits of what happens in the battle by temporarily removing creatures from an encounter, bringing people back to life, or causing a new ally to appear. These abilities and features are no more powerful than any other, but they're narratively different from shooting rays of fire or swinging a sword.

>This is because, uniquely among all the subclasses in Draw Steel, the auteur knows that the combat encounter playing out at your table is really a story being told sometime later, probably in a tavern.

>When the auteur uses these abilities, they are changing that story. They rewrite stories to make them more dramatic in the telling. What actually happened is a matter of some debate. Even the people who were there don't agree on exactly what took place. How people remember it is what's important!

>This is pretty weird, but also very fun. If it's too weird for you or your table, you could always interpret those abilities as a kind of magic. A school of conjuring that really does change the battlefield, which the auteur merely flavors as rewriting the story.

For what it is worth, all but one of the auteur-specific abilities are magic-tagged by default.

Is the "auteur is telling the story afterwards" flavor fine by you, or would you find it too strange, preferring the more magical interpretation?

Here is my experience.

I am running a level 5 game for four players. One is playing an auteur... somewhat. The player likes the flavor of the auteur, but prefers the mechanics of the virtuoso, and is thus playing a virtuoso reflavored as an auteur.

Their character is somewhat of a variant of the default auteur flavor. They are described as a memetic entity who is, paradoxically, the embodiment of the adventure's narrative. It is by no means a new theme to me (e.g. Exalted's raksha, Mage: The Awakening's lore surrounding Path Acanthus, Changeling: The Lost's Gentry, Arcforge: What Lies Beyond's Fantasmics and Passages, Keith Baker's Exploring Eberron and its depiction of the fey plane of Thelanis), and I found the concept compelling, so I allowed it.

We are one session into our game, and I do not like the player's execution of the concept. I do not quite "get it," and think that the more straightforward explanation of "auteurs are simply using magic to edit the story as they go along" would have been significantly more palatable. I have talked to the player about it, but came to no conclusive resolution; since this is a short adventure only three sessions long, I just have to deal with it.

Perhaps my mindset just is not equipped to handle overtly "meta" contrivances on the spot, during a tabletop campaign. Maybe it is because I do not view things in terms of "stories," "narratives," and "drama" to begin with, and find little inherent value in drama for the sake of drama.

>>96350216 (OP)
That sounds absolutely fucking awful.

Is this an Edna thread? It feels like one.

Anyway how you been man? Haven't talked on discord in like a year.

>>96350216 (OP)
Sounds fine.

Sounds silly. What happens if he dies? How can he then be there later to embellish the story?

>>96350833

The troubadour class technically has an auto-revive-upon-death benefit baked into its level 1 class features, but triggering it is on the situational side, and unlikely to happen in the great majority of cases.

I suppose if a troubadour (auteur) dies, it can be assumed that the story is actually being told by their successor in the party, who may or may not be another troubadour (auteur) themselves.

>>96350896
So, "dunno lol". What if the whole party dies? Are they telling their story to the setting's St Peter?
Adding a framing narrative for one character class makes no sense.

>>96351175

>Are they telling their story to the setting's St Peter?
Maybe, or perhaps their story is being told by someone who had recorded their tale. I do not know.

>>96350216 (OP)
I personally take the attitude that nothing that happens in a session is 'the story' it's 'the game' and only when someone tells (stories need a storyteller) what happened afterwards, omitting and editing what happened as they see fit, do you get 'story'. So if stuff that doesn't compute or fit a narrative happens at the table it just gets omitted or changed from the story being told by the (possibly unreliable) narrator, if the story ever gets told at all.

>>96351175
>Are they telling their story to the setting's St Peter?
St. Peter don't call me 'cause I can't go,
I owe my friends just a few sessions more.

>>96350224

To explain more thoroughly, my issue with this player is that they are narrating the character as being aware of the storytelling patterns at play (I personally do not think in terms of narrative tropes, though...), and narrating the character's "justification" for any given contrivance at play.

Essentially, the player is hijacking my narration of the events and circumstances of the campaign, and saying that their character is the one actually telling the story and coming up with this plot element and that.

To paraphrase a very rough example, let us say I describe a dragon in the scene. (This is purely an example. No actual dragons have appeared in the game thus far, nor will one ever.) The player describes their character's justification: "There is a dragon in this scene because [character] thought it would be a [insert roundabout way of saying "cool" or "awesome"] addition to the story," or something like that.

It very strongly rubs me the wrong way. I deeply detest and contest it, but this is just a three-session game, and we are already one session in, so I will just have to deal with it. I have already informed the player; this is the best resolution we can work with.

>>96350224

To explain more thoroughly, my issue with this player is that they are narrating the character as being aware of the storytelling patterns at play (I personally do not think in terms of narrative tropes, though...), and narrating the character's "justification" for any given contrivance at play.

Essentially, the player is hijacking my narration of the events and circumstances of the campaign, and saying that their character is the one actually telling the story and coming up with this plot element and that.

To paraphrase a very rough example, let us say I describe a dragon in the scene. (This is purely an example. No actual dragons have appeared in the game thus far, nor will one ever.) The player describes their character's justification: "There is a dragon in this scene because [character] thought it would be a [insert roundabout way of saying 'cool' or 'awesome'] addition to the story," or something like that.

It very strongly rubs me the wrong way. I deeply detest and contest it, but this is just a three-session game, and we are already one session in, so I will just have to deal with it. I have already informed the player; this is the best resolution we can work with.

>>96350224

To explain more thoroughly, my issue is that the player is narrating the character as being aware of the storytelling patterns at play (I personally do not think in terms of narrative tropes, though...), and narrating the character's "justification" for any given contrivance at play.

Essentially, the player is hijacking my narration of the events and circumstances of the campaign, and saying that their character is the one actually telling the story and coming up with this plot element and that.

To paraphrase a very rough example, let us say I describe a dragon in the scene. (This is purely an example. No actual dragons have appeared in the game thus far, nor will one ever.) The player describes their character's justification: "There is a dragon in this scene because [character] thought it would be a [insert roundabout way of saying 'cool' or 'awesome'] addition to the story," or something like that.

It very strongly rubs me the wrong way. I deeply detest and contest it, but this is just a three-session game, and we are already one session in, so I will just have to deal with it. I have already informed the player; this is the best resolution we can work with.

>>96350216 (OP)
I think this sounds really good for collaborative writing/improv theater activities; it adds a neat meta layer that doesn't quite break the fourth wall, and it's true to how unwritten records were passed down.
It's a cool way to explore new ways of writing a story or acting out scenes.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of collaborative writing or improvisational theater; I like to take full agency when writing, and I've never been very good at acting in general.

I've never played this garbage ass system and I never will. Buy an ad.

>>96351450
This thread does not deserve you, friend.

>>96355069
This is Touhou, who now posts Genshin images instead. They aren't a shill, just deeply autistic.

>>96350216 (OP)
The meta angle sounds fun, but it feels like the sort of thing an enigmatic side character should be doing, not one of the main heroes. I don't hate it, though.

>>96350369
Yep
https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1mu7boc/what_are_your_thoughts_on_the_unusual_flavor_of/

>>96350216 (OP)
Whenever I vet new players, I ask if any of them like Arlecchinno.
If they respond 'yes', they are automatically booted from the group.
If they respond "Who the fuck is Arlecchino?", then we game.

>>96360602
I'm almost certain that isn't an actual name, and you just strung together random letters.

>>96360735
75% of names from a gacha game that aren't just reused from real people/myths/things all sound like that

>>96360602
>>96360768
Arlecchinno is the Italian name for Harlequin.

>>96350216 (OP)
>Is the "auteur is telling the story afterwards" flavor fine by you, or would you find it too strange, preferring the more magical interpretation?
It says the encounter is the story being told afterwards, and the auteur is changing that story; it doesn't say that the auteur is the one telling the story. If I convince everyone present that there were five goblins, not six, then every version of the story down the line will feature five goblins, not six, no matter who tells it.

It sounds very weird anyway, though. Meta stuff is cool and all, but it should remain meta. If a player is introducing things with metacurrency or the like, it should generally be because either: a) the ability is passive otherwise, but does benefit them and it moves appropriate agency onto the player (e.g. I have allies, they come bail me out of prison) or b) it's me introducing something cool to the game because I thought it would be cool. These align player decisions and incentives properly.

The Auteur isn't either of these. They're not actually rearranging character locations to make the fight cooler, they're doing it to win the fight. It's like the guy who wants to use the metacurrency to give himself the most badass magic items he can get away with: it's just a horribly misaligned way to do it. The fact that it's mechanically explicit reduces some of the degenerate play, but it's still just bleh.

>>96355069
Ok, explain to me why no one should be allowed to discuss a system you haven't played.

>>96360602
What if they say "No, he's a faggot"?

>>96361107
Acknowledgement of the creature is a sign of contamination, but it might still not be too severe. The vetting process continues.

>>96361203
What if they say "I prefer fate/go, Illya is mai waifu"

>>96360768
So, if you know the gacha game character, why don't you vet yourself?

>>96361100
Because it isn't D&D 5e.

>>96361313
Cause I don't play with people so insecure that knowing some random whale game character is enough to get me booted from a table, duh

>>96361237
Incomprehensibly foul degeneracy. But I'll take a lolicon over an arle simp. We game.

>>96361674
based

>>96358833
Yeah I just thought I know exactly what NPC I’ll use this for to throw my players for a loop

>>96350216 (OP)
>What are your thoughts on
"Hide thread"

>>96350216 (OP)
>>96350224
How are you liking the game so far? Does the combat deliver on what they set out to do? The class design and the combat building in power and stakes the longer it goes on always looked intriguing to me. Unfortunately they're doing a pisspoor job of marketing it, so it's hard to get a feel for how people are liking it since there's so little coverage of it.

>>96350216 (OP)
Seems fine. I think it could be fun in a particular kind of games, and it suits the heavy tactics 4e inspiration of the system. If you don't like the meta aspect just don't include it in your own games. I think separating out the different aspects of the bard is a pretty good call overall.

>>96360602
personally, i do the same thing, but only after the snickers test

>>96360602
>>96360872
it's arlecchino with only one n

>>96361065
i think it's just better to assume that the auteur is just a mage who operates their magic according to narrative principles, without too much meta stuff. but honestly, i wouldn't even use a class like this, a bit too cute and contrived just to force yet another flavour of bard (which i hate)
honestly i don't see a problem with the player doing it to win. these aren't universal narrative mechanics, it's a character who specializes in exploiting the narrative in his favour

>>96350216 (OP)
I played a valor bard in dnd once who went all in one the skald theme, and drew power from tes-"mantling" heroic archetypes from other tales and legends.

It was really only relevant at character creation and introduction, and then it didn't play into the game much. I'd imagine this type of thematic meta thing will happen much the same way for 99% of players until the Director chooses to focus on it. And then the 1% of players will be obnoxious about it and bring it up constantly, but they would likely be just as awful with any other type of characters.

>>96368277

I have been playtesting Draw Steel for nearly a year by this point.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tuhoB77e9EZ6OALSq5AXJxMHTfPvUoJ6bz1WgtiXNwI/edit

I think it is a fairly decent 4e-like game. It plays like a cross between 4e and Tom Abbadon's ICON.

I have the post-release core rulebooks. I think they are okay. The player book's layout is on the mediocre side.

I am currently running a level 5 game for four players.

>>96370818
Cool post. I look forward to reading it again next thread.

>>96370818
How is your game going? Assuming you've played at a variety of levels, how much does the crunch/management increase and how exciting does it feel for the players?

>>96371933

I have played and Directed many, many one-off adventures. PCs do not increase that much in complexity as the levels rise; they get the great bulk of their toolset at the earliest of levels.

The game I am currently running, at level 5, for four players, is going... okay. The negotiation subsystem has been poorly received by the players ( https://www.reddit.com/r/drawsteel/comments/1muyzz2/trouble_with_repetitiveness_and_group/ ). Montages have been somewhat more well-received, though not by an enormous degree.

The group's verdict on combat remains to be seen. We are still getting through those.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/summoner-open-137113796
This is not too long a playtest period. It is only two and a half weeks long.

This has not changed too much from the beta. Multitarget damage generally does not work against a minion squad, and spillover damage is now a flat, non-scaling 1d6, which seems like a non-issue as the levels rise.
Platoon Formation and Elite Formation use a flat value of 3 rather than Reason.
The pixie loftlilly is still unclear on whether or not Floating Toxins immobilizes enemies who cannot fly.
Explosive Parade has been overhauled.
Fixtures can be relocated with 1 essence and a free maneuver.
Undead Kill the Pain has been revamped. For one, it grants near-immunity to bleeding and the 1d6 from spillover.

Have a look at the new trinkets, leveled treasures, and titles. Some are rather good.
• The Snakerattle Bangle is a 1st-echelon trinket that makes melee free strikes inflict frightened (including, say, opportunity attacks and Deadweight attacks).
• Abyssal Map Ink is a 2nd-echelon trinket for start-of-combat repositioning. Crystallized Essence is a 3rd-echelon trinket for +10 distance on magic abilities.
• The Warbanner of Pride is a 3rd-level trinket for +2 to all saves and potency resists, and +1 for allies within 10 squares: blatantly strong.
• The hagbasket is a 4th-echelon trinket for flight and hovering, and the downside is immediately counterbalanced by the damage-halving.
• The 33 Field Commanders Baton is a 300-project-point leveled treasure (not 450 points) that grants Mark at level 1, or increases your number of marks by 1 if you already have Mark.
• The Safeguarded 1st-echelon title grants minions at the start of each combat encounter. There is no clarification on what level the minions are, though.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/summoner-open-137113796
This is not too long a playtest period. It is only two and a half weeks long.

This has not changed too much from the beta. Multitarget damage generally does not work against a minion squad, and spillover damage is now a flat, non-scaling 1d6, which seems like a non-issue as the levels rise.
Platoon Formation and Elite Formation use a flat value of 3 rather than Reason.
The pixie loftlilly is still unclear on whether or not Floating Toxins immobilizes enemies who cannot fly.
Explosive Parade has been overhauled.
Fixtures can be relocated with 1 essence and a free maneuver.
Undead Kill the Pain has been revamped. For one, it grants near-immunity to bleeding and the 1d6 from spillover.

Have a look at the new trinkets, leveled treasures, and titles. Some are rather good.
• The Snakerattle Bangle is a 1st-echelon trinket that makes melee free strikes inflict frightened (including, say, opportunity attacks and Deadweight attacks).
• Abyssal Map Ink is a 2nd-echelon trinket for start-of-combat repositioning. Crystallized Essence is a 3rd-echelon trinket for +10 distance on magic abilities.
• The Cross of the Scorned Puppetteer is a 3rd-echelon trinket that converts dropped minions to you.
• The Warbanner of Pride is a 3rd-echelon trinket for +2 to all saves and potency resists, and +1 for allies within 10 squares: blatantly strong.
• The hagbasket is a 4th-echelon trinket for flight and hovering, and the downside is immediately counterbalanced by the damage-halving.
• The 33 Field Commanders Baton is a 300-project-point leveled treasure (not 450 points) that grants Mark at level 1, or increases your number of marks by 1 if you already have Mark.
• The Safeguarded 1st-echelon title grants minions at the start of each combat. There is no clarification on what level the minions are, though.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/summoner-open-137113796
This is not too long a playtest period. It is only two and a half weeks long.

This has not changed too much from the beta. Multitarget damage generally does not work against a minion squad, and spillover damage is now a flat, non-scaling 1d6, which seems like a non-issue as the levels rise.
Platoon Formation and Elite Formation use a flat value of 3 rather than Reason.
The pixie loftlilly is still unclear on whether or not Floating Toxins immobilizes enemies who cannot fly.
Explosive Parade has been overhauled.
Fixtures can be relocated with 1 essence and a free maneuver.
Undead Kill the Pain has been revamped. For one, it grants near-immunity to bleeding and the 1d6 from spillover.

Have a look at the new trinkets, leveled treasures, and titles. Some are rather good.
• The Snakerattle Bangle is a 1st-echelon trinket that makes melee free strikes inflict frightened (including, say, opportunity attacks and Deadweight attacks).
• Abyssal Map Ink is a 2nd-echelon trinket for start-of-combat repositioning. Crystallized Essence is a 3rd-echelon trinket for +10 distance on magic abilities.
• The Cross of the Scorned Puppetteer is a 3rd-echelon trinket that converts dropped minions to you.
• The Warbanner of Pride is a 3rd-echelon trinket for +2 to all saves and potency resists, and +1 for allies within 10 squares: blatantly strong.
• The Hagbasket is a 4th-echelon trinket for flight and hovering, and the downside is immediately counterbalanced by the damage-halving.
• The 33 Field Commanders Baton is a 300-project-point leveled treasure (not 450 points) that grants Mark at level 1, or increases your number of marks by 1 if you already have Mark.
• The Safeguarded 1st-echelon title grants minions at the start of each combat. There is no clarification on what level the minions are, though.

>>96351282
So, a locked-room murder breaks the class.
>>96352922
>Essentially, the player is hijacking my narration of the events and circumstances of the campaign
You make the class (or at least that player's rendition of it) sound like a backseat driver. I'm all for giving players some narrative power, but it never worked for me as an improvised mechanical aspect of the game. You want me to do anything at all to my world between sessions? Sure! What annoys me is when you want to make me rewrite my estabilished canon during the session with a die roll and/or class mechanic. Building a story is fine, it's why PCs have their sheet, written there are their tools for it; but rewriting a story after it's already been told is counterproductive, if I have to worry about that kind of thing when putting together encounters and NPCs for players to interact I'd rather just ake my own character sheet and let the player take over as GM (they never want to).

How does the Melee or Ranged Abilities rule affect Hurling? Does the ability stay melee, or become ranged? If it becomes a ranged ability, then Big Versus Little no longer applies, and neither do melee weapon damage bonuses. So does the ability stay melee, or become ranged? What about kits' distance bonuses; do they apply, and if so, which, between melee distance bonuses and ranged distance bonuses?

https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Chapters/Classes/#melee-or-ranged
https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Chapters/Downtime%20Projects/#1st-level-weapon-enhancement
https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Chapters/Combat/#big-versus-little

I just saw a level 5 shadow deal 142 damage in one turn: namely, the talent's turn, due to a double Flashback. There were critical hits involved.

>>96350369
If it's a Draw Steel thread is gonna turn into an Edna thread because their autistic ass has been """""playing""""" it for six months now.

>>96379976

I started playtesting Draw Steel in August of last year, so I have been playing Draw Steel for a year. I am currently running a level 5 game for four players.

>>96376732

Also:
• The Summoner Successor 2nd-echelon title grants a steady stream of minions at the start of each turn. This seems both overpowered and unwieldy to me. I also do not know how it interacts with a summoner's cap of eight minions and two squads; is it tracked completely separately?

>>96380211
four players or "four" players?

>>96385350

I have no idea what you are trying to communicate here.

I have four players, recruited from here and there. None of these players are me. None of these players are duplicates of other players. Each of these players controls one PC.

>>96351282
Oh, so it's Ryuutama

>>96350369
Edna at least plays games unlike puckee

I recently introduced another D&D 4e veteran to Draw Steel. After playing a couple of battles at level 5, this is what they had to say:

>• Shadow's Player: For me Draw Steel is... fine, so far. It doesn't actually scratch the same itch as 4e to my surprise and while I don't think it's as complex as some other systems I've tried, I find it kinda hard to keep track of what the party as a whole is doing. Especially with all the meta resources

>• Me, the Director: Yes, Draw Steel has much more moving parts than 4e.

>• Shadow's Player: It does and so far I'm not convinced these extra parts really add value proportional to the increased complexity

>Admittedly it may be in part a result of my role since [my shadow]'s largely just the party's turret and thus doesn't have much need to actively engage with anyone else.

>Just soak up the buffs and extra actions, pew-pew-pew

>It's pretty good if you get off on dumping beeeg numbers over and over

>I'm mixed on the class resource system meanwhile. In concept I like the idea of powers being locked by a "super meter" as an alternative to AEDU, but the end result for [my shadow] is "forget everything but Shadowstrike". Despite having a hypothetical variety of main actions, it all comes back to Shadowstrike because why wouldn't it?

>AEDU has its own issues with how it encourages alpha striking and keeping fights short to avoid everyone running out of interesting stuff to do, but it also keeps you rotating through your powers because your "optimal" actions are constantly running out so you're trying to balance using them where best warranted against saving for future encounters. As someone who started with bloody Anima - I like fiddly numbers for cool powers.

>But I do wonder if there's a cozy midpoint somewhere?

>At risk of making the numbers fiddlier - maybe the "cost" of a power incrementally rising with each use in the same encounter? :qiqifallen:

>>96391787

Their character is a shadow (Caustic Alchemy) with the Rapid-Fire kit. They have I Work Better Alone, Shadowstrike (a double attack), and a Chilling II weapon. This character has gotten lucky with their d3 insight rolls, and we started our first combat at 3 Victories (because I ran a negotiation and a hard montage first).

Another PC in the party is a conduit with the War domain, whose level 4 domain feature gives the shadow a +3 bonus to rolled damage. This conduit also has Corruption's Curse, which implants damage weakness 5: very useful for a shadow who can hop right in with Hesitation is Weakness, and then Shadowstrike for a double attack. The shadow's Chilling II weapon effect is also a separate damage instance, pinging the Corruption's Curse damage weakness again.

Another PC is a talent. Their Flashback heroic ability allows the shadow to use Shadowstrike yet again. Since a talent can drop to negative Heroic Resources as a class feature, this talent has, on separate occasions, performed a double Flashback to hand the shadow two Shadowstrikes.

So the shadow has simply been spamming Shadowstrike with either Two Shot or I Work Better Alone. They attack lots, their damage is amplified through multiple avenues, their surge expenditures are efficient due to the Trained Assassin class feature, and they kill enemies. It is repetitive, but effective. I can see why this player is both satisfied and mildly miffed by this calcified routine.

https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Kits/Rapid%20Fire/
https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Classes/Shadow/#i-work-better-alone
https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Classes/Shadow/#shadowstrike-5-insight
https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Chapters/Downtime%20Projects/#5th-level-weapon-enhancement
https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Classes/Conduit/#improved-sanctified-weapon
https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Classes/Talent/#flashback-5-clarity

>>96385433
yeah that was what i was asking. thank you

What are the mechanical ramifications of the shadow's You Talk Too Much?

This is the shadow's You Talk Too Much: https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Classes/Shadow/#you-talk-too-much-9-insight

Notably, the effect prevents "communication" altogether, not just verbal communication. What enemy abilities does this shut down? Does this shut down taunts, for example, or is taunting considered not particularly reliant upon communication?

Take a war dog tetrarch, for example: https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Bestiary/Monsters/Monsters/War%20Dogs/Statblocks/War%20Dog%20Tetrarch/

Would You Talk Too Much shut down the taunt from the signature ability? What about Get Them, You Dolts!? What about Sneering Disregard? What about You Would Dare!?

>>96350833
>what if he dies
>dying
>in modern TRPG

>>96350224
>level 5 game
>in a system that came out like a week ago

So you just start at an arbitrary level nowadays?

>>96368277
There's Actual Plays by Colville and the other designers of the game on YouTube. You can find and watch the combat yourself and see what it delivers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D1pnVV_oc4

If you CBA here's a breakdown:
At 52 minutes in they start a fight and are in it the rest of the episode. It takes an hour and a half for the party of 5 to kill ~6 goblins and even then like two of them are made to flee by the Director because they met a Victory Condition.

>>96395857

I have been playtesting the game for a year or so, and I have since moved on to playing and running the post-release ruleset.

>>96398828
What'd you get paid? Name in the book?

>>96399147

I have not been paid or credited by the MCDM team in any way. I just like the game. I think it is a decent mix of D&D 4e and Tom Abbadon's ICON.

I have many issues with Draw Steel, yes. But on the whole, I think it is a solid system.

>>96352922
I would rule that the PC is free to think that, but that it is not actually the case. I would refluff the auteur as using "narrative" magic that affects reality as though he were rewriting parts of a story and scrap the idea that it actually is a story being told at some indeterminate future point. The events that happen in play are the reality of the game world; changing the details of a story told later wouldn't change what is actually happening right now.

>>96393469
That's the core problem of dissociated game mechanics. The abilities are just mechanical effects with no anchor in the game world. There's no recourse but to decide (homebrew) the details of such abilities and thus how they would be affected by things like 'preventing communication'. To quote from an old Alexandrian article about dissociated mechanics in 4e:

>>Besieged Foe (minor; at-will)

>>Ranged sight; automatic hit; the target is marked, and allies of the war devil gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls made against the target until the encounter ends or the war devil marks a new target.

>But if you’re talking about this besieged foe ability, what would the DM describe? What is the war devil actually doing when it marks an opponent? What happens that causes the war devil’s allies to gain the +2 bonus to attack rolls? Is it affecting the target or is it affecting the allies?

>Of course the argument can be made that such explanations can be trivially made up: A ruby beam of light shoots out of the war devil’s head and strikes their target, afflicting them with a black blight. The war devil shouts horrific commands in demonic tongues to his allies, unnaturally spurring them into a frenzied bloodlust. The war devil utters a primeval curse.

>These all sound pretty awesome, so what’s the problem? The problem is that every single one of these is a house rule. If it’s a ruby beam of light, can it be blocked by a pane of glass or a transparent wall of force? If it’s a shouted command, shouldn’t it be prevented by a silence spell? If it’s a curse, can it be affected by a remove curse spell?

https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1545/roleplaying-games/dissociated-mechanic

>>96351450
Ya play 16 hours

Whatduhyah get

>>96400224
The Alexandrian is a faggot on this one. He admits that XP is a dissociated mechanic elsewhere, then whines about an attack not going into rich detail about how you can turn it off by putting a pane of glass between you and the enemy.

>>96401690
XP may be dissociated, but at least it aligns with PC goals (assuming it's an xp-for-gold edition of D&D). It doesn't cause problems the same way gameplay abilities that are nothing more than mechanical effects do.

>>96393469

This inquiry also applies to the talent's Mindwipe, incidentally: https://steelcompendium.io/compendium/main/Rules/Classes/Talent/#mindwipe-11-clarity