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<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 6778128" data-attributes="member: 6775031"><p>At least if you're playing a traditional RPG - D&D, Rifts, Shadowrun, etc - one of the highest responsibilities of the GM is to be <em>fair</em>. That means being a neutral arbiter of conflicts, but it also means not changing the world based on GM knowledge that the NPCs don't have.</p><p></p><p>Just as it isn't <em>fair</em> to block a player - <em>"You want there to be a haberdasher, which means you must be up to something, so no there isn't a haberdasher,"</em> - it's equally not fair to intentionally contrive the world to <em>enable</em> the player - <em>"You want there to be a haberdasher, which means you have something awesome in mind, so there's totally a haberdasher there for you."</em> Those are both demonstrating bias, and it doesn't really matter whether it's working for or against the player, because either way is a violation of the GM's duty. </p><p></p><p>As a player, I might <em>want</em> there to be a haberdasher, but I don't want it to exist <em>only because</em> I want it to be there. That's inauthentic, and it's pandering, and I don't see any point in playing that game. Of course, the GM <em>could</em> lie and change the reality to block or enable my idea anyway (and it would be super easy, if nothing is written down), but that's why it's so important that the player can <em>trust</em> the GM to play fairly. Without trust, the whole game falls apart.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 6778128, member: 6775031"] At least if you're playing a traditional RPG - D&D, Rifts, Shadowrun, etc - one of the highest responsibilities of the GM is to be [I]fair[/I]. That means being a neutral arbiter of conflicts, but it also means not changing the world based on GM knowledge that the NPCs don't have. Just as it isn't [I]fair[/I] to block a player - [I]"You want there to be a haberdasher, which means you must be up to something, so no there isn't a haberdasher,"[/I] - it's equally not fair to intentionally contrive the world to [I]enable[/I] the player - [I]"You want there to be a haberdasher, which means you have something awesome in mind, so there's totally a haberdasher there for you."[/I] Those are both demonstrating bias, and it doesn't really matter whether it's working for or against the player, because either way is a violation of the GM's duty. As a player, I might [I]want[/I] there to be a haberdasher, but I don't want it to exist [I]only because[/I] I want it to be there. That's inauthentic, and it's pandering, and I don't see any point in playing that game. Of course, the GM [I]could[/I] lie and change the reality to block or enable my idea anyway (and it would be super easy, if nothing is written down), but that's why it's so important that the player can [I]trust[/I] the GM to play fairly. Without trust, the whole game falls apart. [/QUOTE]
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