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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Deadguy" data-source="post: 925166" data-attributes="member: 2480">It's that stylistic thing again, Numion, the difference between a gamist and a narrativist perspective. I think you and I share what one might call a Schroedinger's NPC approach. Until the moment that the PCs interact with an NPC in some fashion, you and I would say that his state is undetermined. From our perspective the actual location of the Duke, beyond just a general 'in the palace' note, isn't relveant unless it has some specific effect on the story which predicates his location and activity.However, as fusangite has made clear, he is specifically taking a more gamist approach. In order to fairly apply the rules he has already decided what the Duke is up to, and where he might be found. It is thus inappropriate, a breach of DM-player contract indeed, to fudge that.It's just a matter of approach, and you and I approach the game differently to fusangite. Where you (and I) see the advantage of flexibility, he sees the danger of railroading and being unfair to other players. It's not a point on which one can be right or wrong, merely different in approach.Indeed I hope that this thread has helped those who have read and participated in it to re-examine their own approach to DMing. Trite though it sounds, it's a salutory reminder that we don't all play the same way. That's something we need to bear in mind when we play.</blockquote>