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Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Should a GM be allowed to arbitrarily make things up as they go along?
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<blockquote data-quote="Piston Honda" data-source="post: 6234770" data-attributes="member: 6699122"><p>Yes.</p><p></p><p>I’m primarily a storyteller-type player and GM, and I prefer to refer to books for what to do as little as possible. I won’t deal with rules debates mid-game unless there are serious consequences because I hate ruining the flow of the game. I’ll stick with the rules as best as possible, but making the game fun comes before anything, else there’s video games.</p><p></p><p>It’s also impossible to plan for anything the PCs might try, I’ve played with GMs who have had one correct solution to a given encounter, and if you don’t see his intentions, it just got tedious, and it was time to return to the bar. I’d rather let them come up with a plan, roll some dice, if it’s an obvious failure, clearly I’m not betraying any trust by saying it doesn’t work, if their rolls are amazing, it succeeds, if average, use discretion. I find that far less frustrating for the players, they are happy when their plans work. Just don’t blink, my players always thought I was incredibly well-prepared and that they were amazing for figuring out the solution and succeeding. That’s the fun part for me.</p><p></p><p>Combat situations, call it as it goes, if you want an epic battle, make it last, by letting the villain survive a little longer than his HP allows (just use a pencil, scratch out some numbers, write some new numbers, it doesn’t really matter what they are). Don’t get steamrolled unless they truly have the rolls, then again, they get to feel amazing for trouncing that mid-boss/minion/etc. Of course, don’t kill their character if they should have already won, but don’t let them know that. Draw it out so they feel threatened and they’ll feel like they earned it more, but not too long.</p><p></p><p>Everything has a specific correct cost? A character is good friends with the seller, or does an incredible job at bartering, the seller owes him a favor, the seller just wants to get rid of the ruined temple because he feels its haunted, but doesn’t necessarily want to take a huge loss (plot hook!); conversely, the seller despises a character, stubborn about selling something, so on. The correct cost is what the seller says it is for that person.</p><p></p><p>I don’t find the arbitrary GM distasteful. It’s what I find fun personally. At the end of the day, that’s what RPGs are for, fun for everyone at the table, including the GM. People that need everything to the book are not going to have fun at my table, and I may or may not enjoy theirs.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Piston Honda, post: 6234770, member: 6699122"] Yes. I’m primarily a storyteller-type player and GM, and I prefer to refer to books for what to do as little as possible. I won’t deal with rules debates mid-game unless there are serious consequences because I hate ruining the flow of the game. I’ll stick with the rules as best as possible, but making the game fun comes before anything, else there’s video games. It’s also impossible to plan for anything the PCs might try, I’ve played with GMs who have had one correct solution to a given encounter, and if you don’t see his intentions, it just got tedious, and it was time to return to the bar. I’d rather let them come up with a plan, roll some dice, if it’s an obvious failure, clearly I’m not betraying any trust by saying it doesn’t work, if their rolls are amazing, it succeeds, if average, use discretion. I find that far less frustrating for the players, they are happy when their plans work. Just don’t blink, my players always thought I was incredibly well-prepared and that they were amazing for figuring out the solution and succeeding. That’s the fun part for me. Combat situations, call it as it goes, if you want an epic battle, make it last, by letting the villain survive a little longer than his HP allows (just use a pencil, scratch out some numbers, write some new numbers, it doesn’t really matter what they are). Don’t get steamrolled unless they truly have the rolls, then again, they get to feel amazing for trouncing that mid-boss/minion/etc. Of course, don’t kill their character if they should have already won, but don’t let them know that. Draw it out so they feel threatened and they’ll feel like they earned it more, but not too long. Everything has a specific correct cost? A character is good friends with the seller, or does an incredible job at bartering, the seller owes him a favor, the seller just wants to get rid of the ruined temple because he feels its haunted, but doesn’t necessarily want to take a huge loss (plot hook!); conversely, the seller despises a character, stubborn about selling something, so on. The correct cost is what the seller says it is for that person. I don’t find the arbitrary GM distasteful. It’s what I find fun personally. At the end of the day, that’s what RPGs are for, fun for everyone at the table, including the GM. People that need everything to the book are not going to have fun at my table, and I may or may not enjoy theirs. [/QUOTE]
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Should a GM be allowed to arbitrarily make things up as they go along?
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