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A GMing telling the players about the gameworld is not like real life
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<blockquote data-quote="Maxperson" data-source="post: 7574850" data-attributes="member: 23751"><p>There is no problem. As I mentioned earlier, the social contract prevents the DM from having the full control that others are calling "Mother May I." The DM has no ability, barring something in game like mind control, to keep the PC from walking behind the tree as the player wishes, or to go to the local bar for a drink as the player wishes. The player simply does not have to ask permission to do those things, even in a game like D&D.</p><p></p><p>A DM who does use that authority to do things like that is not only violating the social contract, but also the intent and function of the game which is for everyone to have fun. Only a very few DMs are so horrible at DMing that they would try something like that, and in those very few occasions, it's a problem of personality and not system.</p><p></p><p>The "problem" is completely fabricated by people trying to disparage a playstyle they don't understand, dislike, or both.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>How about Jerk DM? It's not a system problem at all. It's purely a DM issue.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Perhaps because it's a much more common issue than "Mother May I," which is one that is almost entirely fabricated as I mention above. Unlike the fictional "Mother May I" issue, Railroading does happen to remove player choice, and often happens with new DMs who don't know any better. New DMs won't even think to try and stop a PC from moving behind a tree to see what is on the other side or go to the inn for a drink, but they might try to force the party down a storyline, thinking that it's going to be fun for everyone and move the game along. </p><p></p><p>In Railroading threads I've noted that if you have player buy-in, then it's fine to Railroad them. One of my players recently(a few years ago) started to DM a bit to give me a break. When he first started he came to us and told us that he was still trying to learn things and wasn't that good at improvising yet, so he wanted us to go down his story rather than break off and maybe go somewhere strange like we sometimes do. We all agreed not to go running off to say Candle Keep for information and just stick to his adventure. That kind of Railroad is fine. The rest are not.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Maxperson, post: 7574850, member: 23751"] There is no problem. As I mentioned earlier, the social contract prevents the DM from having the full control that others are calling "Mother May I." The DM has no ability, barring something in game like mind control, to keep the PC from walking behind the tree as the player wishes, or to go to the local bar for a drink as the player wishes. The player simply does not have to ask permission to do those things, even in a game like D&D. A DM who does use that authority to do things like that is not only violating the social contract, but also the intent and function of the game which is for everyone to have fun. Only a very few DMs are so horrible at DMing that they would try something like that, and in those very few occasions, it's a problem of personality and not system. The "problem" is completely fabricated by people trying to disparage a playstyle they don't understand, dislike, or both. How about Jerk DM? It's not a system problem at all. It's purely a DM issue. Perhaps because it's a much more common issue than "Mother May I," which is one that is almost entirely fabricated as I mention above. Unlike the fictional "Mother May I" issue, Railroading does happen to remove player choice, and often happens with new DMs who don't know any better. New DMs won't even think to try and stop a PC from moving behind a tree to see what is on the other side or go to the inn for a drink, but they might try to force the party down a storyline, thinking that it's going to be fun for everyone and move the game along. In Railroading threads I've noted that if you have player buy-in, then it's fine to Railroad them. One of my players recently(a few years ago) started to DM a bit to give me a break. When he first started he came to us and told us that he was still trying to learn things and wasn't that good at improvising yet, so he wanted us to go down his story rather than break off and maybe go somewhere strange like we sometimes do. We all agreed not to go running off to say Candle Keep for information and just stick to his adventure. That kind of Railroad is fine. The rest are not. [/QUOTE]
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