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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CarlZog" data-source="post: 2518452" data-attributes="member: 11716">Not unlike people in real life. Lots of people crave being part of "something bigger", and take great pleasure and enjoyment from being swept in worldly events. I think, in many ways, that's the very heart of adventure. I strongly agree with this. And to me the peak of good DMing in this vein is when the world really is continuing to evolve around the characters regardless of their involvement. If the Princess has been kidnapped by the Dragon, and the characters instead choose to go fight the pirates raiding the coast, the princess may die. If she does, the distraught king may end up focusing all his resources on destroying the beast that killed his daughter, and as a result the pirates are running wild. In a truly dynamic game world, even choosing not to pursue some particular adventure can end up being a very significant choice. This takes a lot of work on the part of the DM, but if you're up to it, your players will become deeply invested in their characters' world, and as the DM you'll come to see your world as a fluid pool whose tides and currents eventually seem to occur on their own -- with you merely observing and taking notes. When you reach the point where you're that in touch with all the grand and petty events happening each day in your world, it's pretty awesome.I'm a DM who has ALWAYS aspired to be in the latter group, and I think there's been a couple times where I've really gotten there. However, all my experience has been in running long campaigns suited to that style. Recently, I've started learning how to run one-shots and convention games -- an entirely different beast from running long-term campaigns, I'm discovering. A certain degree of railroading, linearity, and fairly set plotlines are mandatory for success in this tightly timed style of play. Here creating excitement within the story is more important than how much the players influence where the story ends up going -- but the players need to feel as though the conclusion could not have been reached without them. In this arena, I think Coyote's right about disguising the linearity of the game. By the way, I have to say that adjusting to this style of play has been a huge challenge for me, but I'm enjoying learning it.Carl</blockquote>

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