The Crimson Binome
Hero
Authenticity? As a player, I find it disrespectful for the DM to alter events within the game world based on stuff that doesn't exist within the game world - stuff like player opinions, or wanting to make things more exciting. The reason I play an RPG is so I can pretend to be this character in this world, so when the DM brings in that other stuff, it really reminds me that this is just a story in a game and none of it's real. I mean it is just a story in a game, but the fun (for me) is in imagining that it could be real.I understand that "neutrality" is the leading goal here. What I do not understand is what the added value of this is. What does it bring to the game table that any DM picking something plausible without consulting a table but instead focussing on what is the players/PCs clear story focus does not?
Counter-question: What's the difference between the DM rolling a d20 to hit you, or just deciding that a 17 will be more interesting? Or the DM decides that the Big Bad has a 17 on a saving throw against one of your spells, causing her to fail by 1 point? (Success or failure by 1 point is always the most exciting outcome, after all.)So you have a table with 20 different scenes for entering a city and number 17 is a fallen cart of hay with hidden weapons. You roll a d20 and 17 comes up. What is different from just picking 17 without rolling but knowing - based on your knowledge about the players taste, their PC constructs and backstory etc. - that this result will be interesting to them while number 2 (guards controlling travellers with not much going on) will not?
It just feels like cheating. Whenever the DM decides that something unlikely happens, it feels hollow and contrived. Whenever the dice determine that something unlikely happens, it feels fun and exciting.