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What did I write off as unimportant? To me it seems the it is the people who lump all GM decision making into "GM whim" or "GM fiat" like it all was the same and it wouldn't matter how and when the decisions are made, who are writing off central elements as unimportant.

But again, that is not so simple. Some sort of GM decisions might indeed erode player agency, whits others could empower it. Like I have been talking about information that is at least potentially knowable to, and actionable by the players. "There exist this specific assassin sect with an...

But they are. Like there are many ways of making decisions, many different factors that go into decision making. What we have to acknowledge in order to discuss it, is the complexity and nuance of decision making process. Lumping it all into unexamined "GM fiat" black box is myopic and unhelpful.

Right. This is salient difference. But this also means that in high myth game the GM is limited by that established myth, and that the players can at least in theory learn that myth and use it for their advantage. In a game where they myth is established retroactively that is not possible. Now...

I think with character motivations and personalities it is most important to get things "right." Bad and inconsistent characterisation is at least to me far more jarring than most other minor inconsistencies. This is why I greatly dislike mechanics that compel characters, (PCs specifically) to...

It gives the GM limits and helps to extrapolate consistently. There just is less "GM makes a stuff up" on the spot, and when they do there are usually established benchmarks for doing so. It is very good limitation on GM fiat, and as you want that I don't quite get how you do not see the value...

Frankly. I don't really understand. I assumed the what you described is how TB basically works, though perhaps with the exception that the bad result is that you're ambushed instead of directly stabbed and then whether you get stabbed is resolved separately. But of course we are again in a...

What I would say, (and I don't know if this makes my play not proper sim-immersionist) is that I approacch "setup phase" and "play phase" differently. Like when I setup the initial situation I consider how it might engage the characters, I consider what sort of things would be cool and...

Not the exact situation, but something very similar several times. I don't think the players need to individually check every possible method of entrance. Like they can say they check all entrances to the place and the GM tells them what they are. Also, if the players are proceeding with...

First, I think almost all of us recognise that some limits are beneficial, were they to take shape of following logic, established fiction or genre conventions or hard and fast rules. And I actually partially get your sentiment. Some situations in some games are such that, it becomes too much...

That could be extrapolated from the size and type of the city, but it also probably is not important as there are likely to be enough. Presumably the PCs know what sort of warehouse they need depends on what their plan is, thus they search for one that is suitable or can be made so. For example...

Yes, because it is the situation where it makes sense to use the spell. Well, it is a bloody useless spell to cast in such situations, so why would you? But here again we see how with the D&D approach the fiction actually matters. You actually need to think how and where you utilise the...

Yes, we just probably disagree on what those are. 🤣 I guess that is one way to handle it. I don't see how this is significantly different than using persuasion in 5e with the DC based on Bellow's gullibility intersected with the claim's plausibility, perhaps with an advantage if some of the...

I don't mostly play it, though I currently run it. Why? Is it a term I should be familiar with from D&D?

The usual use of alarm is to put it into the only door of a room. It is not visible. Overwhelming amount of time the only thing to determine is whether someone was going to move through that door in the first place. Situations where there are magic detecting assassins or hidden entrances to the...

I don't think so. It is pretty simple spell and the methods it could be overcome by are pretty logical. I think most people would arrive to rather similar conclusions. Besides, things only need to be consistent within one campaign. So if the GM decides that enemy overcomes the player Alarm spell...

But the GM does not know the future. If they have planned the situation beforehand, they did not know what actions the PCs would take in the situation. That certainly is true. What I, and several other people, have been trying to explain are the sort of principles a GM might adopt in D&D to...

Wait! Stuff in RPGs is made up? No way, man! :eek: How, when and why stuff is made up matters. Like to a lot of people it matters quite a bit whether the GM decides that a troll is a super tough troll with double the normal HP before the PCs even meet the troll or after they have already been...

It of course is not perfectly objective and different GMs would produce somewhat different stuff given the same premises. And that is absolutely fine.

@thefutilist I don't remember hearing term situation play before, but I love your description of it and this indeed is a great description of how I mostly approach running RPGs.