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Yes. I go for a concept first and adapt it to the system. Sometimes pure magic users, sometimes no-magic. If you can mix that simply opens up some new paths to play. So when D&D 4E came out I played a fighter/wizard because it was the first time in D&D I could play that concept without being...

I thought we might have a gap of three months before the next illusionism == railroading == bad thread. I guess not. For me, illusionism is bad for a completely different reason. It says that the GM doesn't trust the players and wants to deceive them. It's bad because it breaks trust, not...

I like my narrativism to be "enjoying a roleplaying game because of the story it generates" I like my simualtionism to be "enjoying a roleplaying game because I enjoy seeing events play out in a realistic fashion" I like my gamism to "enjoying a roleplaying game because it challenges me to use...

Yes, but it would Also be a luxury because it is significantly more expensive than it need be. I have a $20 Fate book which, with the online SRD, has run a group of five people for multiple years. Fantastic value and economical. I have a leather bound version of the 13A book, and yes...

The 528 page book will take me about 10 hours to read, making its cost $3/hour. Assuming i play a year of an rpg before moving on to a new game, playing every two weeks for 3 hours, with gaps, that’s about 120 hours, for a total of about 55 cents an hour.

Slight quibble here. It's definitely a discretionary item, as it is not necessary to maintain a lifestyle. But "luxury", although there is not as clear a definition, has connotations that it is "excessive" (from the latin root) and has a high price. Typically a luxury item is scarce. If the...

Have you ever watched cricket?

Illusionism, I think, requires an intent to deceive. It also requires voiding of player actions. A prepared encounter is not intending to deceive the players — especially if you are playing from a published scenario, nor is it negating their actions, since they are not taking actions to select...

"What is the worst piece of DM advice people give that you see commonly spread?" The mathematician in me has to break this statement down a bit to formalize the parts. worst: What are outcomes that are seen as bad? This could be causing emotional harm to actual players, but I think the general...

One question I have for the group is: What are people's thought on the interaction between buying into a premise and railroading/illusionism? A: If I start a one-shot with the premise "you are all adventurers sworn to protect the Duke", and the players accept the premise, then is it railroading...

Oh, I read the OP carefully. It's all about Illusionism, which is what I wrote about. Your response then equated that style with railroading (which, despite your personal definition, is a pejorative term). Your definition of railroading is so fundamentally far from the common use that I rejected...

@Celebrim I've noticed that when you start using game terms, you seem to use them in the most extreme version possible. When we were talking about fudging, you defined it as "anything that changes the record of the encounter", meaning that use of X-cards, deciding not to narrate a villain death...

It should be pointed out that there is a trivial way for a GM to arrive at an outcome they want, and yet not rely on Illusionism. You simply tell the players that you intend to arrive at a certain outcome regardless. There can then be no more illusion because you have deliberately destroyed the...

Very much agree. I made a good faith effort (as EDOM) to convert the players to the original mission; it was the players' choice as to which way to go. Yup. Although I should add that I do less steering in a goal-oriented campaign than in a sandbox style one. In a goal-oriented campaign the...

Oh absolutely. It’s just riskier. If you have no common goal, sometimes one player’s goal conflicts with another and the campaign suffers. Or people just get fed up with a meandering campaign. But it’s mostly a preference thing.

I'm going to second this -- and also amplify it. The phrase "the plotline payoff" makes it sound a little like the GM has managed to force the players into a scene they had envisaged from the start, whereas in my experience (and I expect Lanefan's also), it's a resolution that was envisaged and...

Hey all. Here's a form-fillable sheet I designed for my Pendragon campaign: http://willsfamily.org/files/rpg/pendragon/Player%20Knight%20Sheet.pdf I'm using a sort of in-between 5e and 6E version of the rules, so skills may be a bit different from expected. If you like it, let me know. If you...

Please read the thread before commenting. This was not the point in question -- the point in question is not "is this metagaming?" but "is this a classic example of illusionism". Please read the thread before commenting. I specifically stated that was not the case. As an aside, it can only be...

The techniques I have suggested to use: If a fight is effectively over, stop running it. If a fight is not as challenging as you thought it should be, add in a few monsters When it gets late at night, end the encounter when people start yawning If a character has a nemesis, make minor scene...

I think we're pretty close to agreement here! In your previous notes, I didn't see examples of (a), (b) or (d) above -- a lot of your language was focused on "putting on kid gloves", "avoiding fights going bad" and essentially focusing on (c) above. So thanks for your explanation. Now, just to...