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I cannot verify the veracity of the testimony. Furthermore neither I nor anyone I personally know is interested in entering a relationship with Mr. Smith. So why should I or anyone here whose situation is similar to mine even care? That's something between Mr. Smith and these ladies.

Everybody is different I guess. The speed isn't that important for me, I'm more focussed on the idea that after the combat is done everybody has a vivid imagination of what just happened. And, since I am more simulationist and less narrativist, that it was largely dictated by the dice with less...

Speed is good but you're never going to be anywhere near movie speed anyway. So what we're discussing is the difference in slo-mo factor. If a movie fights takes 1 minute, then resolving it in 15 minutes versus 45 minutes is (imho) not that important for the cinematic factor. That said, I like...

Yeah and here's where constricting the number of attackers can really help! (As an aside, it also helps stabilize the game from a balance perspective - many times, across various systems, I have run a pregen scenario in which the author simply underestimated how great of an advantage the weight...

Well, to reiterate it: in trad games, the GM is the only one with complete (or complete enough) knowledge of the game world. The player doesn't necessarily know if the herb lady has stolen a strand of hair from him last night and he's now under her mental control. He might find out only the...

Or take something as simple as: Bob: "I run those 3 meters over to Orc A and attack him with my sword!" GM: "Alright but Orc B triggers his Delayed Action to shoot at you with his bow. <rattle, rattle> 9 Hits, you go down." Players can't even declare actions, only intent, because they don't...

Comparison of cinematic combat with RPG combat rules, part 2 (Part 1: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?656624-Observations-on-matching-quot-One-vs-Many-quot-combat-mechanics-to-cinematic-combat) SPOILER ALERT: Potential spoilers for Game of Thrones (season 4), Conan the Barbarian...

The context of this remark was: 'What is a GM going to do if a player insists "I draw my sword" even though the GM has specified that there are no swords in his/her gameworld?' So if the players insist on there being swords in the gaming world, it is possible that the game would halt. As another...

If the players do, the session grinds to a screeching halt and cannot continue as normal. If one player does, he is being brought to heel or removed from the game. Exactly, no doubt. But removing the GM has greater ramifications that removing a player out of a, say, standard 4-man party. So...

Only if I believe either of us has the means to prove his view to the other. Since I don't, it's just a matter of exchanging impressions. I have made it clear that his power ends where there is sufficient resistance by his player base. That often translates into an enormous amount of...

I maintain it is. Well, first a caveat: I wouldn't call the GM a god in that standard model because he has to observe group consensus to some degree. But, yes, basically the GM is the final arbiter of what happens in the world, unless the players for the most part decide it's BS and make a...

I don't remember the specifics. Either the distance of half a grid was sufficient in that case to count as in melee range or the GM had a personal map/sketch behind the screen.

How is claiming that something is a de facto standard way of handling thing one-true-wayism? The statement was descriptive, nor prescriptive. It is either a correct observation or not. Maybe you're a bit too fond of using that word here. I am demonstrating that the ultimate limit to GM power is...

Now, that's a dirty word. ;) Force is a tool in a-many GMs' toolbox. And like any tool, it can be handled well and it can be handled awkwardly. Most importantly, I'd like you to recall what I said about MMI: when a GM abandons game world simulation, he does so out of meta-concerns. These may be...

Well, if you don't want to believe that is the standard modus operandi in role-playing, then I don't know what to say to you. Just as a thought experiment, watch me as a GM just declare it. There's nothing you can do to stop it, except to abandon me as a GM. Who is the final arbiter of that...

Most? :D Or all? :D

By definition RPGs are Games, LOL. And all games produce narratives by virtue of changing states. Simulationism comes in due to the open-ended nature of potential RPG narratives as well as providing immersion to players. If a cut with a non-magical knife makes that enemy bandit EXPLODE, it'd be...

Is this still a thing? Not seeing many signatures around here. If so, what are the specs on image filesize and formats?

The fact that the GM has the power to rule that an action is unsuccessful or even cannot be successfully completed. And possibly not even attempted. If a PC is under a love spell, a player might declare that his PC is going to attack the object of his love. The GM can deny that and tell the...

Thus my refraining from calling it a fallacy. ;) That said, I will grant you another thing: RPGs with player agency do have a luxury that TV shows don't have - they make the consumers (players) a part-time author. Which is a form of fun in its own right. My point, however, was rather this: if...