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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 6141232" data-attributes="member: 6680772">Moving on to Mike Carr's advice from B1 In Search of the Unknown:In contrast to the popular stereotype, and much of Gygax's jocular advice in the 1e DMG, here in both of the opening paragraphs Carr stresses the advice [MENTION=22424]delericho[/MENTION] remembers: be fair.  This was an important idea to get across in the early years of the game, as many people were moving from games where the rules enforced fairness to a game where much of in-game resolution was handled by a DM.  Again also we see the concept of "balance", meaning both balanced challenges and balanced risk vs reward.  But also here we see appeals that the DM be reasonable, and most interestingly, and perhaps not mentioned again in D&D DM advice, that the DM be "worthy of respect".  This contrast nicely with Carr's comments on the DM being "the final arbiter" that come later.  The DM makes the final decision, but to do that they require the respect of their players, which they must earn.  This is dipping into Social Contract territory, years before that was popular concept.Here Carr against stresses the importance of player choice: he calls it the basis of the game. "You describe the situation, then await their decision as to a course of action."  This is a fundamental part of DMing dungeoncrawls and sandboxes, yet it's easily forgotten.  In my last session, I caught myself more than once making suggestions to my players of actions they might take.To drive the point home he again notes that the DM is not against the players, and yet another appeal to fairness.  In fact, he makes what I think is a tremendous statement: "The DM should do everything possible to assist players in their quest."  This is after saying the player choice was important and that DMs should remain above the battle.  The upshot is, you don't try to influence player action.  You don't give away all the information.  But when they make a decision, you support it full bore.  What Carr means by supporting the players in their quest is that there must be counterbalance to the DM's position as creator of the dungeon and other challenges, and runner of the monsters and other NPCs.  A common thing said about sandbox DM and/or older playstyles is that the PCs are not as important as the world.  But Carr seems to be suggesting that to be fair, the DM provide the players with support.  I don't believe he's saying that a game should be PC-centric, per se.  Rather, because part of the DM's job is to act in opposition to the players, in order to be fair it's also part of his job to be for players.The negative image of a TSR-D&D DM is one who removes player agency.  The players must play "mother-may-I" and get the DM's permission to do anything.  But Carr says "Allow them to ask questions, and allow them to make the choices" and "Let your players do the thinking and the doing."  This all about freely giving agency to the players.Again we come to the issue of time, and keeping the game moving.  At first glance, this almost seems to recommend punishing players in game for not playing at the tempo the game has set.  But closer examination reveals Carr actually only recommending in-game consequences as a last resort.  First the DM reminds the players that time is wasting, then they fake wandering monster rolls as a motivator.  If players argue, the DM reminds players that wandering monsters may come.  Only if the problem persists does it create in-game consequences.  Here Carr is advocating communication with the players, not DM unilateralism.Here we have the DM as "final arbiter".  But again, he first recommends hearing players out and reasonably considering their arguments.  And yet another appeal to be fair.  He notes that argument is human nature, and what's more, part of the fun.  The part about players understanding that the DM is the final judge, and not everything will go as they wish or expect, goes back to the DM being "worthy of respect".IMO, if this was aimed at experienced DMs, I don't the "final arbiter" or "be firm" stuff is at all needed.  But looking at it from the point of view of a newbie DM, I think it helps them feel in control of the situation.  Being a first time DM can be intimidating.  Here Carr seems to say, "If an issue comes up, discuss it reasonably, communicate with your group, then make a decision and feel confident in it."  Since BD&D loads much of its resolution on the DM, group discussion and mutual respect is vital to make sure everyone's on the same page and that DM judgments not in favor of the characters are accepted without decreasing the fun.</blockquote>

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