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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8147988" data-attributes="member: 82106">Right, and I would consider that 'more agency', but I think [USER=42582]@pemerton[/USER] was talking more about something closer to my example. Also, we all find that simply giving PCs choices between scenarios invented BY THE GM is pretty constraining and 'low agency'. Now, you didn't really specify who got to come up with the parameters of 'run off and join them'. None of us demands that to be entirely in the hands of the player, it is normally expected she'll be bound by things like genre conventions, established setting, and that the tone and whatnot will be respected. So, assuming Faerie is an established part of 'Fantasy Chicago' or at least in keeping with the parts already established, then I'd think the player is just exercising agency in adding that element to the story, or utilizing it if it already exists. Not all games will provide much room for this. Some are pretty tightly focused on a specific set of elements and adding others isn't really sticking within the realm of the game/genre itself, but at least in 'kitchen sink fantasy' like D&D this is rarely a big concern (tone might be). And no, his character should NOT be 'mostly ignored', that's exactly the problem! If the GM's attitude towards players wanting to engage with the game in certain ways is "that's not in MY plan, stop doing it" (passively or actively) then maybe that is a game I'm not going to stick with (pretty surely). I don't expect things to be entirely my way, why is that expected by any participant in the game?Well, OK. I mean, I don't disagree with you that if someone says "I'm going to run a campaign where the PCs go through B2, A1-4, and then GDQ" then I know what I'm signing up for. That's perfectly OK. But usually its been more like we all agreed to play AD&D and then every time our characters decided to try to go north instead of south somehow we ended up going north anyway (or something like that, you get it) because 'B2' was to the north and by gosh that was the only thing we were going to get to choose to do.I put it at least equally on the GM. If they are going to restrict my input to the game to a small area and expect that we will just play a game that is about whatever they are interested in, that's fine, but count me out, EVERY TIME. I been there, did it for years, not going back! And this is why I want to see narrative front in center in whatever set of rules we use, because in my long and extensive experience of TTRPGs that's the only reliable way to get what I want. Even when people are willing to do something close to that with, say, 5e, it doesn't entirely work out. The rules and play process are just not designed for it and actively undermine it.</blockquote>

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