Quote:
Originally Posted by Toben the Many  But the #1 thing that being a player cured me of is "pure whim storytelling". I know that many people love this. And, in fact, I used to be that kind of GM. However, when I'm sitting across the table from a GM who's making it up all on the fly, I can tell. And it seriously hurts my enjoyment of the game. Suddenly, I can see all the strings on the puppets. I can see all of the camera crews and special effects guys. Also, GMs who do it all 100% on the fly tend to be pretty loosey-goosey with their dice rolls. Often times, if what you're attempting sounds cool to the GM, he'll let you do it. If it doesn't sound cool to him, then he won't let you do it. |
I think your point is good one and I've noticed the same thing: "on the fly" adventures are often punitively arbitrary. I think there's a definite sentiment at EN World which is effectively anti-preparation (as preparation breeds outcome attachment), but I believe careful preparation to be almost always preferable to copious "on the fly" decision making.
Improvisation, like a spice, can help flavor an adventure, but it doesn't make for a
good adventure by itself. Unless you have a very simple setup, there's just no way to maintain coherence in the face of the usual litany of PC questions and actions.
To expand on your point, this is also why I like rules-heavy RPG systems like GURPS: they allow for the neutral adjudication of a host of complex situations in a way that is context-independent. This helps keep both players and GMs honest, and reduces bickering about whether this or that skill modifier is fair or punitive.
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