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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9453417" data-attributes="member: 6790260">And I find that pair of positions contradictory. It doesn't matter, except when it does.Well, the thing I find funny isn't that it is a personal opinion, but rather that on the one hand, we have &quot;you are a law unto yourself and nothing else matters,&quot; and on the other, we have &quot;rules exist for a reason and we must analyze and understand them.&quot; The former rejects analysis completely. The latter considers it essential. The former sees the DM as absolute autarch and nothing whatever should impinge upon that. The latter sees a multi-polar world where the DM is one piece, albeit an important one.I'm surprised you haven't heard the phrase. A &quot;Viking Hat&quot; DM is...well, I would reference the original rant wherein someone actively claimed the &quot;Viking Hat&quot; label with pride (as in, &quot;I am the DM! I wear the Viking Hat!&quot;), but it is rather laced with profanity and sexist language, so I won't.The &quot;Viking Hat&quot; DM's word is unquestionable law. If you dare to question it, for any reason, you have become a Problem Player who needs to be taught your place. If you have the temerity to do something like referencing some portion of the rules, may God have mercy on your soul, because the Viking Hat DM will not. You are subordinate in all things to the DM. You will accept what the DM provides, or you will leave, and no one will mourn your absence. This DM can, and will, do what they want, whenever they want, for as long as they want. If they said X last week and they say Not-X this week, you will quietly accept this without protest or comment (beyond agreement, that is), or you will be shown the door. Discussion is verboten, and in some cases, even the mere act of reading the rules at all is an unacceptable affront that you will be ostracized for.The Viking Hat often turns players against one another to stop (alleged) problem behavior, as advised by Gygax. The Viking Hat almost always has a vision that he (it's essentially always &quot;he&quot;) will not allow to be sullied by the players. The players are present purely by the Viking Hat's good grace; their interests, desires, and goals are largely irrelevant, and if those things happen to coincide with the game the Viking Hat DM was always going to run, that's cool, but not even slightly a priority.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9453417, member: 6790260"] And I find that pair of positions contradictory. It doesn't matter, except when it does. Well, the thing I find funny isn't that it is a personal opinion, but rather that on the one hand, we have "you are a law unto yourself and nothing else matters," and on the other, we have "rules exist for a reason and we must analyze and understand them." The former rejects analysis completely. The latter considers it essential. The former sees the DM as absolute autarch and nothing whatever should impinge upon that. The latter sees a multi-polar world where the DM is one piece, albeit an important one. I'm surprised you haven't heard the phrase. A "Viking Hat" DM is...well, I [I]would[/I] reference the original rant wherein someone actively claimed the "Viking Hat" label with pride (as in, "I am the DM! [I]I[/I] wear the Viking Hat!"), but it is rather laced with profanity and sexist language, so I won't. The "Viking Hat" DM's word is unquestionable law. If you dare to question it, for any reason, you have become a Problem Player who needs to be taught your place. If you have the [I]temerity[/I] to do something like referencing some portion of the rules, may God have mercy on your soul, because the Viking Hat DM will not. You are subordinate in all things to the DM. You will accept what the DM provides, or you will leave, and no one will mourn your absence. This DM can, and will, do what they want, whenever they want, for as long as they want. If they said X last week and they say Not-X this week, you will quietly accept this without protest or comment (beyond agreement, that is), or you will be shown the door. Discussion is verboten, and in some cases, even the mere act of reading the rules at all is an unacceptable affront that you [I]will[/I] be ostracized for. The Viking Hat often turns players against one another to stop (alleged) problem behavior, as advised by Gygax. The Viking Hat almost always has a [I]vision[/I] that he (it's essentially always "he") will not allow to be sullied by the players. The players are present purely by the Viking Hat's good grace; their interests, desires, and goals are largely irrelevant, and if those things happen to coincide with the game the Viking Hat DM was always going to run, that's cool, but not even slightly a priority. [/QUOTE]

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