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Should a GM be allowed to arbitrarily make things up as they go along?
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<blockquote data-quote="Swedish Chef" data-source="post: 6234729" data-attributes="member: 27141"><p>From my point of view as a GM and a player, the GM should have some freedom to change things "arbitrarily". There are, of course, caveats to that.</p><p></p><p>Your own examples show just how a GM may have to make things up arbitrarily. Giving NPCs necessary skills that aren't listed? May be necessary to move the story along. If the NPC is listed in the module as a Baker, but doesn't list the Profession:Baker as a skill, it would be pretty pointless to have him running a bakery. So deciding he has a skill that is relevant to, but doesn't break, the story line is what the GM is there for.</p><p></p><p>Player wants to do something that isn't covered at all by the rules? Well, the reason the player wants to do it is because they think it will be cool/awesome/in character/whatever and the GM, being there to help create the story with the players, will have to come up with some ruling to allow the action to occur but balancing it with some sort of potential for failure. If you automatically want your character to succeed at everything, regardless of how it affects the story or other players, then perhaps playing a video game with all cheats on would be better suited.</p><p></p><p>The same goes for a player finding a "loophole" and trying to exploit it. This one is a little less "arbitrary". In my experience, it is better to discuss this as a group and see what the group consensus is. If everyone thinks the loophole is good, then it stands. If they don't agree, then hammering out a compromise is usually the best solution. </p><p></p><p>Being a GM can be very difficult. Balancing the line of rules referee with story teller is not easy. If one has only ever played and never sat on the other side of the screen, their view point can be very skewed. Particularly if they have had really bad experiences in the past with GMs that were unable to balance the roles properly and tended more toward one side or the other.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Swedish Chef, post: 6234729, member: 27141"] From my point of view as a GM and a player, the GM should have some freedom to change things "arbitrarily". There are, of course, caveats to that. Your own examples show just how a GM may have to make things up arbitrarily. Giving NPCs necessary skills that aren't listed? May be necessary to move the story along. If the NPC is listed in the module as a Baker, but doesn't list the Profession:Baker as a skill, it would be pretty pointless to have him running a bakery. So deciding he has a skill that is relevant to, but doesn't break, the story line is what the GM is there for. Player wants to do something that isn't covered at all by the rules? Well, the reason the player wants to do it is because they think it will be cool/awesome/in character/whatever and the GM, being there to help create the story with the players, will have to come up with some ruling to allow the action to occur but balancing it with some sort of potential for failure. If you automatically want your character to succeed at everything, regardless of how it affects the story or other players, then perhaps playing a video game with all cheats on would be better suited. The same goes for a player finding a "loophole" and trying to exploit it. This one is a little less "arbitrary". In my experience, it is better to discuss this as a group and see what the group consensus is. If everyone thinks the loophole is good, then it stands. If they don't agree, then hammering out a compromise is usually the best solution. Being a GM can be very difficult. Balancing the line of rules referee with story teller is not easy. If one has only ever played and never sat on the other side of the screen, their view point can be very skewed. Particularly if they have had really bad experiences in the past with GMs that were unable to balance the roles properly and tended more toward one side or the other. [/QUOTE]
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Should a GM be allowed to arbitrarily make things up as they go along?
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