Why?I understand the overt/covert distinction that is being presented, unfortunately it is illusory.
I really don't follow. Feeding my kids Weet Bix and feeding them arsenic are both feeding them, but hardly have no relevant differences.Pointing out the differences between changing things on the fly doesn't change the fact that things are being changed on the fly. Getting lost in the details fools one into thinking they are behaving differently)
Adding a card to my hand by drawing one from the deck, and adding a card to my hand by palming one, are both ways of adding cards to my hand, but there are differences here too.
Is the GM's job that of a magician? Then s/he should be palming cards - and that play style has rightly been called illusionism.
Is the GM's job that of a game player? Then s/he should be drawing cards from the deck like everyone else. Personally this is my preferred style.
How are they the same thing?Changing a monster's hit points, fudging a die roll, adding more monsters to fight, having some run away, they are all the same thing
In this encounter, I had a doppelganger NPC run away. The players, by deploying their resources cleverly and with a bit of luck, were able to stop it escaping. How is that the same as fudging its hit points, which is a covert thing to which the players can't knowingly respond?
You may not think it important, in RPG play, that the GM make moves overtly rather than covertly change things while pretending not to make moves. I take a different view. What gives you authority over me as to what matters at my table for me and my players?
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