Recent content by Thomas Shey

I don't disagree with your general point, but I think some of those can be more intractable than others.

One I don't think quite fits any of yours is player perception of failures in GM judgment. This can lead to issues with GM authority, but the authority per se is not the issue, though it can compound it.

I've gone around this circle as many times as I'm going to, thanks.

Everyone is modelling something, even if its in terms of expected results and consequences.

I will give you that if you're dealing with full blown task resolution with no interim steps you have a point. I'd argue that's not usually even Cortex, and given the particular topic at hand, yes I was not assuming super powers.

People are not any better over a long enough time hiding their nature in text than in person. If anything you're more likely to hit them when they're unprepared and not guarding properly in a online text environment than in normal social ones.

Sure. I don't think lumping D&D and the other games I was thinking of together is particularly useful, but if you want to accuse me of thinking in a relatively trad paradigm in these posts I'll plead guilty. However I'll disagree that Cortex+ is going to automatically answer the question if...

Sure, but it at least works for some people actually playing. Watching--I have serious questions how many, if any, that works for.

Well, it may just be that their perception is that there shouldn't be a lot of attribute rolls that aren't skill checks. In most systems that's often how I see it.

I'm not actually sold sandboxes are a particularly good choice for that sort of broadcast game anyway. A lot of what goes on in sandboxes can be unfocused and rambling, which can still kind of work for the participants, but isn't exactly a thrill to observers.

Only if your perception of it, especially on the fly, isn't more ridiculous than you think it is.

I guess I'm just having a combination of seeing what you describe negatively as being relatively rare in games I mostly engage with (including in their stat blocks) and in the cases where it does occur, its because the target is supposed to be capable but not terribly distinctive. Big cats will...

Who said anything about doing it intentionally? Or even that the GM is going to automatically realize its crappy before he does it? There are people out there who produce what they think of as good climbing or stealth systems that are anything but that, but that doesn't mean they set out to...

Reworked 5e to other genres is one of those things that really works for the people it does, and leaves pretty much everyone else going "Uh, okay, if you guys like it this way, but..." I mean this isn't the first case of that kind of thing--it occurred with 3e and sometimes PF1e too, but a lot...

I think part of this is, again, you're using "stat block" really oddly. Things like movement and stealthy will absolutely be expressed in most stat blocks formats I've ever seen, as will size, speed and mode of movement. Sensory capability will too to the extent its liable to be relevant...