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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7298642" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "flavor text," but it seems like you're using that to indicate the DM establishing some things about what the character does during Step 3 when the DM narrates the results of the adventurers' actions.</p><p></p><p>One thing I've noticed is that in many games, the player is very light on description when describing what he or she wants to do. "I want to make a Perception check on the door..." for example or "I search for traps." Rather than encourage the player to be a little more specific, the DM goes straight to the adjudication and narration. What this tends to do as far as I can tell is prompt the DM to fill in the blanks the player left, assuming and establishing what the character does. This can sometimes lead to the player saying, "Uh, no, that's not what I did." Now the DM and player have to fix it.</p><p></p><p>What I prefer instead is to get that description settled on the front end with the player, then adjudicate and narrate. I try to make it clear that as a player, you have both a right and a responsibility. Your right is that you control your character, not the DM. Your responsibility is reasonable specificity as to what you're doing so the DM doesn't have to question you or make assumptions. That is the player's obligation in this game as I see it, just like it's the DM's obligation to describe the environment faithfully, adjudicate fairly, and narrate consistently. Everyone needs to perform their role to the utmost of their ability in pursuit of the goals of play, that is, everyone having a good time and creating an exciting, memorable story in the doing.</p><p></p><p>My narration of the result of that description by the player will tend to focus not on what the character does but the result that happens in the environment. One way I do this is to try to avoid starting off my narration of the result with "You..." I think that starting with "You..." can easily lead to establishing what the character does which isn't the DM's role. So instead of "I search for traps..." followed by "You run your hands along the altar and find..." it's instead (assuming the player was reasonably specific) "The altar is indeed trapped." I don't want to establish what the character is doing. That's not my role.</p><p></p><p>Sometimes I find it's minor things that can have a big impact on the play experience. This is one of them in my view.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7298642, member: 97077"] I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "flavor text," but it seems like you're using that to indicate the DM establishing some things about what the character does during Step 3 when the DM narrates the results of the adventurers' actions. One thing I've noticed is that in many games, the player is very light on description when describing what he or she wants to do. "I want to make a Perception check on the door..." for example or "I search for traps." Rather than encourage the player to be a little more specific, the DM goes straight to the adjudication and narration. What this tends to do as far as I can tell is prompt the DM to fill in the blanks the player left, assuming and establishing what the character does. This can sometimes lead to the player saying, "Uh, no, that's not what I did." Now the DM and player have to fix it. What I prefer instead is to get that description settled on the front end with the player, then adjudicate and narrate. I try to make it clear that as a player, you have both a right and a responsibility. Your right is that you control your character, not the DM. Your responsibility is reasonable specificity as to what you're doing so the DM doesn't have to question you or make assumptions. That is the player's obligation in this game as I see it, just like it's the DM's obligation to describe the environment faithfully, adjudicate fairly, and narrate consistently. Everyone needs to perform their role to the utmost of their ability in pursuit of the goals of play, that is, everyone having a good time and creating an exciting, memorable story in the doing. My narration of the result of that description by the player will tend to focus not on what the character does but the result that happens in the environment. One way I do this is to try to avoid starting off my narration of the result with "You..." I think that starting with "You..." can easily lead to establishing what the character does which isn't the DM's role. So instead of "I search for traps..." followed by "You run your hands along the altar and find..." it's instead (assuming the player was reasonably specific) "The altar is indeed trapped." I don't want to establish what the character is doing. That's not my role. Sometimes I find it's minor things that can have a big impact on the play experience. This is one of them in my view. [/QUOTE]
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