hawkeyefan
Legend
The two bolded bits above are, to me, synonymous.
If the GM is making these decisions in reaction to what the players/PCs do, rather than before the PCs even get there, that's decision-making on a whim.
I don't think they're synonymous at all. Whim implies lack of thought or consideration.
A decision made on the spur of the moment, whether guided by principles or not, is still a whim in my view.
But the moment that the decision was made during prep need not be any more considered. It can be just as much of a whim. The moment of the decision can be just as sudden.
Valid questions all. For me (and maybe only me?) if the decision is made neutrally by any means - whim, prep, deep thought, random tables, whatever - before the GM knows anything about which PCs (or maybe even which players) will potentially meet that scenario, that's good enough.
Once the GM knows more about which players and-or PCs are likely to meet the scenario, that (IME anyway) can really disrupt the thought process, in that bias toward or against those particular PCs/players can all too easily creep in (e.g. [anti-PC] they have a Ranger, so I'd better make the floors stone to prevent tracking, or [pro-PC] they have flight capability so I'd better put a rooftop entrance up there for them to find if they look).
And suddenly I'm not neutral any more. Not good enough.![]()
But certainly many decisions rely on the characters interacting with the game world in some way, right? A lot of times a GM is prompted to make a decision in response to what the players do. Are all such decisions whims, in your opinion?
As for neutrality, I think its importance is greatly overstated. Or more broadly applied than I think is useful. I think fairness is relevant, and that GMs should honor the fiction or the game world and follow through with what makes sense. I think all of that kind of falls under the umbrella of neutrality as you're using it. But I also think the GM should be trying to make the game interesting. Certainly that has to be the case? And with that in mind, I think neutrality can go kick rocks.... make things interesting, make them challenging, put the characters in situations that can be sticky or costly.