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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8535743" data-attributes="member: 71699">So what I meant by the question about which is larger above, is to say that the power players have and the power DM has are equal, even where their scopes are different. Although one might suppose the game-world to be vast and player-characters to be small, in fiction they're far nearer to the same size. One way to measure that is count up what is added to the conversation. Another is to observe that DM prep is contingent - it can burn - while player-character prep is concrete.It may seem like a non-sequitur, but one should  ask of what you write in the piece quoted, what you make of the apparent irony in the focus on written game mechanics, for a mode that is intended to put fiction first? I don't think we should be arguing that the fewer mechanics we have, the less able we must be to put fiction first. I know that is not what you are saying, and I roughly agree with you that desirably the technique should be made part of the text. (It's part of the game as soon as it influences the game, but I think you mean the game text.)The 5e designers were denied this option. Due to the commercial motivation of broadest appeal, they couldn't enforce any one mode of play in their text.</blockquote>