Is the DM the most important person at the table

[Ovinomancer]

You should know better by now. Never make jokes, because then you might be forced to explain them, or justify how realistic the joke is, or maybe ensure that you have properly covered all possible antecedents for the joke!

Olaf the Brave: Knock knock!

Fizzbang the Fantabulous: Who's there?

Olaf the Brave: Cows says.

Fizzbang the Fantabulous: Cows says who?

Olaf the Brave: No, a cow says MOO!

Random internet commenter: I object. Not only do cows not speak, it is completely unclear if there is a door, or if, in fact, bovines exist in fantasy worlds such as the one that Fizzbang and Olaf live in. I demand further explication and debate regarding jokes and the application to the price of tea in China.

Ah, man, you can't let people live in your head rent free like that!

 

[Maxperson]

And did the cow really moo or did it low? The typical sound is really a low. Moo is relegated to distress!

Cow...

Low...

Lowkey...

My god! The cow infiltration of the forum has begun!

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[prabe]

I mean, is it possible, just possible, that my entire on-line presence is just a very, very, very long-term advertising play by Chick Fil A that has finally played out .... today?

It is just barely possible. Plausible is another question.

 

[Lanefan]

To try and somehow haul this train wreck just a tiny way back toward the topic, this whole bit about cows is moot if the cow is not also the DM* of your game.






* - Dairy Master; except cows are female so Dairy Mistress.

 

[Fenris-77]

* - Dairy Master; except cows are female so Dairy Mistress.

So the case of the male you;d playing with a BM at the table? Eeew.

 

[Maxperson]

There's no reason that you can't set things up this way. If you have each player create a couple of NPCs who might be suspects for framing the prince, and then you also create a few of your own, then there's still plenty to discover. Who was killed? Who actually killed the person? Why did they frame the prince?

Having played in a game that has included this kind of stuff, I can say that it absolutely can work just fine. In fact, I think it worked quite well because each of the NPCs in question was familiar to at least one player and PC.....so we had a certain amount of information to start with, much like the PCs would have had. The players were very invested, and it enhanced the game quite a bit.

My issue isn't with the players creating NPCs. My issue is with knowing it's a frame in advance.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Maxperson]

If the cow is the DM, it's not moot.

It's moooooooo'd.

Mind..........blown.

 

[hawkeyefan]

My issue isn't with the players creating NPCs. My issue is with knowing it's a frame in advance.

It depends. Yeah, it’s possible that could be a bit of a spoiler. But it depends on the way it’s positioned. If the prince is an ally of the PCs who they’d likely trust or believe, then it’s kind of baked in.

Also, how severe of a spoiler is it? It’d be like knowing you’re gonna wind up fighting a vampire if your DM says “I’m gonna run Curse of Strahd.”

Then of course there’s also no reason that you have to make it a frame job. Maybe the prince is simply the most obvious suspect, and maybe he turns out to be guilty. Seems a little anticlimactic to run it that way, but I don’t think there’s any reason it must be so.