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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7447849" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Burning Wheel has stated GM's principles, and also duties that govern "the sacred and most holy role of the players".</p><p></p><p>From the rulebook (Revised p 268; Gold p 551 - the text is the same in both editions):</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">In Burning Wheel, it is the GM's job to interpret all of the various intents of the players' actions and mesh them into a cohesive whole that fits within the context of the game. He's got to make sure that all the player wackiness abides by the rules. When it doesn't, he must guide the wayward players gently back into the fold. Often this requires negotiating an action or intent until both player and GM are satisfied that it fits both the concept and the mood of the game.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Also, the GM is in a unique position. He can see the big picture - what the players are doing, as well as what the opposition is up to and plans to do. His perspective grants the power to hold off one action, while another player moves forward so that the two pieces intersect dramatically at the table. More than any other player, the GM controls the flow and pacing of the game. He has the power to begin and end scenes, to present challenges and instigate conflicts. It's a heady responsibility, but utterly worthwhile.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Most important, the GM is response for introducing complications to the story and consequences to the players' choices. Burning Wheel is all about choices - from the minute you start creating a character, you are making hard choices. Once play begins, as players choose their path, it is the GM's job to meaningfully inject resonant ramifications into play. A character murders a guard. No big deal, right? Well, that's up to the GM to decide. Sure there's justice and revenge to consider - that's the obvious stuff - but there's also the bigger picture elements to consider: whole provinces have risen in revolt due to one errant murder.</p><p></p><p>The next page of both rulebooks goes on to discuss "the sacred and most holy role of the players", who "have a number of duties", to:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">[O]ffer hooks to their GM and the other players in the form of Beliefs, Instincts and Traits . . .</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">[L]et the character develop as play advances . . . don't write a [PC] history in which all the adventure has already happened . . .</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><u>se their character to drive the story forward - to resolve conflicts and create new ones . . . to push and risk their characters, so they grow and change in surprising ways . . .</u></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><u></u></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><u>Use the mechanics . . .</u></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><u></u></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><u>Participate. Help enhance your friends' scenes and step forward and make the most of your own. . . . If the story doesn't interest you, it's your job to create interesting situations and involve yourself. . . .</u></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><u></u></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><u>Above all, have fun. . . . Listen to the other players, riff off of them; take their leads and run with them. Expand on their madness, but also rein them in whey they get out of hand. Remember that you're playing in a group, and everyone has to have fun.</u></p><p><u></u></p><p><u></u></p><p><u>The players are in some sense "empowered" - they have a duty to offer hooks, to use the mechanics, to drive the story forward - and the GM is constrained by the rules (and has the duty "to make sure that all the player wackiness abides by the rules". But it's not an "EZmode" game. It's pretty brutal.</u></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7447849, member: 42582"] Burning Wheel has stated GM's principles, and also duties that govern "the sacred and most holy role of the players". From the rulebook (Revised p 268; Gold p 551 - the text is the same in both editions): [indent]In Burning Wheel, it is the GM's job to interpret all of the various intents of the players' actions and mesh them into a cohesive whole that fits within the context of the game. He's got to make sure that all the player wackiness abides by the rules. When it doesn't, he must guide the wayward players gently back into the fold. Often this requires negotiating an action or intent until both player and GM are satisfied that it fits both the concept and the mood of the game. Also, the GM is in a unique position. He can see the big picture - what the players are doing, as well as what the opposition is up to and plans to do. His perspective grants the power to hold off one action, while another player moves forward so that the two pieces intersect dramatically at the table. More than any other player, the GM controls the flow and pacing of the game. He has the power to begin and end scenes, to present challenges and instigate conflicts. It's a heady responsibility, but utterly worthwhile. Most important, the GM is response for introducing complications to the story and consequences to the players' choices. Burning Wheel is all about choices - from the minute you start creating a character, you are making hard choices. Once play begins, as players choose their path, it is the GM's job to meaningfully inject resonant ramifications into play. A character murders a guard. No big deal, right? Well, that's up to the GM to decide. Sure there's justice and revenge to consider - that's the obvious stuff - but there's also the bigger picture elements to consider: whole provinces have risen in revolt due to one errant murder.[/indent] The next page of both rulebooks goes on to discuss "the sacred and most holy role of the players", who "have a number of duties", to: [indent][O]ffer hooks to their GM and the other players in the form of Beliefs, Instincts and Traits . . . [L]et the character develop as play advances . . . don't write a [PC] history in which all the adventure has already happened . . . [U]se their character to drive the story forward - to resolve conflicts and create new ones . . . to push and risk their characters, so they grow and change in surprising ways . . . Use the mechanics . . . Participate. Help enhance your friends' scenes and step forward and make the most of your own. . . . If the story doesn't interest you, it's your job to create interesting situations and involve yourself. . . . Above all, have fun. . . . Listen to the other players, riff off of them; take their leads and run with them. Expand on their madness, but also rein them in whey they get out of hand. Remember that you're playing in a group, and everyone has to have fun.[/U][/indent][U] The players are in some sense "empowered" - they have a duty to offer hooks, to use the mechanics, to drive the story forward - and the GM is constrained by the rules (and has the duty "to make sure that all the player wackiness abides by the rules". But it's not an "EZmode" game. It's pretty brutal.[/u] [/QUOTE]
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