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You think that honoring rolls should just be a suggestion? Okay, I guess.

As I said, constraints are essential. For instance, a GM being constrained to honor the rolls of the players is a pretty basic one. The GM, in some games, can technically override any rolls that are made in play… but they generally don’t do so. Why not? Because constraints are good. See above...

It’s not bad at all. It’s an essential part of play. I brought it up because @Micah Sweet asked why place constraints on GMs. And the answer is basically the same… it’s an essential part of play.

Yes, of course we are. Constraints are just limitations. A player’s authority in an RPG is limited. How it is limited may vary from game to game, and you may be perfectly happy with how your preferred game handles this, but that doesn’t mean that you as a player are not constrained. Those...

I never said “the game is better with fewer constraints on players”. Depends on which game and the purpose of play. All I did was ask why there are constraints on players. Help me help you, Micah!

Yes, but if you can figure out why it benefits players, then maybe you can figure out why it benefits GMs, too.

No, not exactly. I said it’s a risk and something that should be considered. And I said the more it’s prevalent in play, the greater the “risk”. But it’s by no means certain. I don’t tend to approach these things as if there are absolutes.

Just asking what the purpose of constraints are, Micah. It doesn’t really have anything to do with trad vs. narrativism. If you can understand the purpose of constraint on the players, it seems odd to me that you can’t apply that reasoning to the GM, too. It’s what helps make a game more...

I’m not talking about creative control of the setting either. More creative input into the direction of play. Into the game.I’ll caveat that with the idea of “independent of the GM’s ideas”. I think your view that it’s player driven comes from the illusion of geography more than the source of...

Not exactly, though it may relate a bit. I’m just asking what is the purpose of constraining the players. I think answering that may provide context for why we may also constrain the GM.

But only in how they interact with the setting. Which is GM crafted. It may not be in any way unique to that player or their character.

Yes, that is how they are constrained. They are constrained to act as their character could. Why? What purpose do those constraints serve?

I suppose I don’t see character autonomy to be the equivalent of driving the direction of the campaign. Yes, the players are choosing where to go and what to do… but it’s primarily all material crafted by the GM, and often without any consideration for the characters. That doesn’t mean...

Yes… but why are the players constrained?

Why do the players have constraints? Well like I said, Harper designed Doskvol with a mind for the fiction but also with a mind for gameplay. I mentioned earlier in the thread that GMs, when creating settings and scenarios, should do so with both the fiction and the gameplay in mind. So a...

Well, it has enough detail to get things going. I mean, to me, it certainly feels much more coherent than most of the Forgotten Realms and similar settings. But it's designed to be rife with potential conflict to support play. I think Harper was very aware of both the fiction and the gameplay...

I have seen both their blogs, but I would not claim to have done more than peruse them a bit. I think it's relevant because I expect it played in a way that would not work for either @Bedrockgames or @robertsconley , or many of the other posters who have been commenting here. Two things on...

Why would you expect our experiences to be so different? I imagine many of them, at least, are similar. You mention Feast of Goblyns a good amount, and although I don’t recall ever playing or running that, I played and/or ran plenty of Ravenloft adventures. I played a ton of D&D in the 2e era...

I don’t think it makes sense to just take a rule from one game and add it to another. But I think we can look at different types of rules or processes and discuss what may or may not be best for people learning how to GM. But again, I think the more important thing to do is to look at...

I’m not basing it solely on that. I’m basing it on his posts in this thread as well as his views on @robertsconley ’s games, and the overall views about sandbox play. I’ve not read Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades, so I won’t comment on that. I expect it’s more different than you’re...