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The agency issue is that the GM is taking control of the player characters without their consent. My point is that this form of participationism is relatively benign. In the same way, the GM might say, "Rogue, as you're scouting ahead, checking the hallway for traps..." without the rogue...

Seems like that rapscallion @Snarf Zagyg is behind all the big threads despite his mild and inoffensive posting style. Stirring up the gamers with his old school wisdom. ;)

Respekt Authoritah, baby.

Absolutely. I would classify these as Scripting, but regardless, I don't think it's poor GMing to present dangling plot hooks for the PCs. This works especially well for getting the game started or prodding the PCs to take action if they're twiddling their thumbs. The way I like to utilize these...

In my experience, there are plenty of players who want an on-rails experience. Some players simply lack the initiative to be proactive protagonists. Some players prefer a "cinematic experience" at the game table. Many are looking to socialize and relax after work, and they aren't that invested...

I am very much against railroading, but a lot of players respond well to it.

As there seems to be a lot of talking past one another going on, I created a thread to discuss railorading and styles of railroading. Railroads are not always bad things.

The other thread about railroading is getting pretty incendiary, and there's a bit of confusion over terminology used. "Railroad" is very vague and not well-defined, so let us instead discuss participationism and illusionism, which are specific modes of play. The definitions of these terms are a...

Spoilers: TSR is bought by WotC and immanentizes the eschaton.

These are indicators of poor GMing. You can excuse them as you like (beginner's mistakes, poorly-written modules) but that doesn't change the cold, hard reality that it's poor GMing. Your protestations indicate you view accusations of poor GMing as a reflection of a poor character. They're not...

It's similar to concepts like Let It Ride, Say Yes Or Roll the Dice, "fail forward," and so forth. Good GMs have already been doing those things for ages, but creating a term for it has made it into something of a meme.

Me. I'm damned sexy.

Sometimes it can be tricky if that GM is your friend, or if the game is three-quarters good and one-quarter not-so-good. Some players would rather endure bad gaming than no gaming. I'm not one of them. I was in a weekly game where I realized that I was having fun for about one hour out of every...

The concept of authority gets a bad rap unless we're deferring it to credentialed "experts." EXPERTS SAY THAT... EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON... BAD THING TO HAPPEN, WARN EXPERTS, UNLESS... I'm Helpful NPC Thom, PhD. While you were out partying, I studied the DMG. Leadership requires authority, and...

Typically, I will growl and bare my teeth. He's not. He's describing how spells and their associated mechanics limit GM authority and grant players limited narrative control. A Persuasion check can only exist if the GM allows it--and he sets the conditions for that along with the DC. In...

I tend to be open with my method of DMing. Telegraph danger and potential consequences upfront. Call for skill checks sparingly. Communicate relative difficulty. Narrate what happens after a skill check. That last one is a big one. When the dice are resolved, there's not an opportunity for...

This. As a relevant topic related to this, there are (assumed) limits on the DM's authority within D&D. In every group I've played with, it is a big no-no for the DM to usurp player character agency outside of defined effects (typically supernatural or spell) that have rules governing their...

Reroll 1s.

It's not the reward loop alone that has propelled D&D to its enviable position. The reward loop is certainly part of it, but it's not everything. I consider the reward loop perfected in two D&D editions: early editions and 4e. Early editions utilized the gold-for-XP mechanic, which was ingenious...

My preference is that proficiency changes your modifier to a +4 or adds +2 to your total, whichever is more beneficial. Expertise should be changed entirely.