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A Question Of Agency?
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<blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8171138" data-attributes="member: 6785785"><p>Oh yes, I realize it was a worst case kind of scenario for sure. It was a combination of a few things. </p><p></p><p>My takeaway though, from the perspective as a player, is that if everything is already determined ahead of time, then as a game, it's just a matter of jumping through the necessary hoops for the GM to narrate what has already been determined to me. It's very possible this can be mitigated in some way, as people have suggested above, but the risk with a "whodunnit" kind of mystery is that all the facts/clues/details are typically set beforehand, so that's a challenge. If I as a player feel that I'm not bringing anything unique or specifically me to the game, that things would (not may or could, but would) play out exactly the same if someone else was in my chair, then I'm probably not gonna dig it.</p><p></p><p>So from a GMing perspective, my takeaway is two things. First, if I already know everything that's going to happen in play, then I've erred. There needs to be things that are and can only be determined by the players at the time of play. I've very much embraced the "play to find out" mindset for the GM. </p><p></p><p>Second, why run this kind of scenario given how risky it would be to devolve into a railroad, when even if I manage it perfectly, it'll likely be as well received as any other scenario? And I'm certainly not averse to investigation based scenarios.....but the "whodunnit" style just requires so much predetermination by the GM that I don't see the reward being worth the risk. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hawkeyefan, post: 8171138, member: 6785785"] Oh yes, I realize it was a worst case kind of scenario for sure. It was a combination of a few things. My takeaway though, from the perspective as a player, is that if everything is already determined ahead of time, then as a game, it's just a matter of jumping through the necessary hoops for the GM to narrate what has already been determined to me. It's very possible this can be mitigated in some way, as people have suggested above, but the risk with a "whodunnit" kind of mystery is that all the facts/clues/details are typically set beforehand, so that's a challenge. If I as a player feel that I'm not bringing anything unique or specifically me to the game, that things would (not may or could, but would) play out exactly the same if someone else was in my chair, then I'm probably not gonna dig it. So from a GMing perspective, my takeaway is two things. First, if I already know everything that's going to happen in play, then I've erred. There needs to be things that are and can only be determined by the players at the time of play. I've very much embraced the "play to find out" mindset for the GM. Second, why run this kind of scenario given how risky it would be to devolve into a railroad, when even if I manage it perfectly, it'll likely be as well received as any other scenario? And I'm certainly not averse to investigation based scenarios.....but the "whodunnit" style just requires so much predetermination by the GM that I don't see the reward being worth the risk. The juice isn't worth the squeeze. [/QUOTE]
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