Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A GMing telling the players about the gameworld is not like real life
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Maxperson" data-source="post: 7557325" data-attributes="member: 23751"><p>While it's not exactly like real life at all, it is similar to real life in that the PCs may or may not find what they are looking for based off of the likelihood that what they seek is there. </p><p></p><p>In real life if I go to the local tea house looking for members of the mafia, I may or may not find some there. If the mafia runs the tea house, the chances that I will find members there are high. If the mafia does not run the local tea house, then it's still possible that some member of the mafia likes tea and just happens to be there, but the odds are fairly slim that I will just happen to be there at the same time. Similarly, in the game if I am looking for sect members at the local tea house and the sect operates and owns it, the DM will give it a very high likelihood, possibly even auto success. Otherwise, there would be a chance of finding a sect member who happens to be there due to enjoyment of tea, but it will be unlikely that I happen to be there at just the right moment. </p><p></p><p>Obviously the DM cannot hope to mirror all of the real life factors that go into the possibility if meeting a mafia member at the local tea house, but he can approximate the process through his knowledge of the game world. This is NOT mother may I. Mother may I would require the DM being a gate keeper to the actions of the PCs. A DM whose player has to ask the DM if he can go to the local tea house to look for sect members at all would be playing mother may I. Simply adjudicating the results of the player's declaration based on the DM's knowledge of the game world does not gate keep the action. It's how rules state that the game is played.</p><p></p><p><u>Mother May I</u></p><p></p><p>Player: DM, may I go to the local tea house to look for some sect members.</p><p></p><p>DM: Yes/No.</p><p></p><p><u>Not Mother May I</u></p><p></p><p>Player:I go to the local tea house and see if I can find some of the local sect members.</p><p></p><p>DM: (thinking to self) the tea house isn't run by the sect, but it's the only leisure food place in town. I'd give it a 15% chance that there happens to be a sect member present. (rolls some dice and determines that none are currently there).</p><p></p><p>DM: (narrates response to PC action)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Maxperson, post: 7557325, member: 23751"] While it's not exactly like real life at all, it is similar to real life in that the PCs may or may not find what they are looking for based off of the likelihood that what they seek is there. In real life if I go to the local tea house looking for members of the mafia, I may or may not find some there. If the mafia runs the tea house, the chances that I will find members there are high. If the mafia does not run the local tea house, then it's still possible that some member of the mafia likes tea and just happens to be there, but the odds are fairly slim that I will just happen to be there at the same time. Similarly, in the game if I am looking for sect members at the local tea house and the sect operates and owns it, the DM will give it a very high likelihood, possibly even auto success. Otherwise, there would be a chance of finding a sect member who happens to be there due to enjoyment of tea, but it will be unlikely that I happen to be there at just the right moment. Obviously the DM cannot hope to mirror all of the real life factors that go into the possibility if meeting a mafia member at the local tea house, but he can approximate the process through his knowledge of the game world. This is NOT mother may I. Mother may I would require the DM being a gate keeper to the actions of the PCs. A DM whose player has to ask the DM if he can go to the local tea house to look for sect members at all would be playing mother may I. Simply adjudicating the results of the player's declaration based on the DM's knowledge of the game world does not gate keep the action. It's how rules state that the game is played. [U]Mother May I[/U] Player: DM, may I go to the local tea house to look for some sect members. DM: Yes/No. [U]Not Mother May I[/U] Player:I go to the local tea house and see if I can find some of the local sect members. DM: (thinking to self) the tea house isn't run by the sect, but it's the only leisure food place in town. I'd give it a 15% chance that there happens to be a sect member present. (rolls some dice and determines that none are currently there). DM: (narrates response to PC action) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A GMing telling the players about the gameworld is not like real life
Top