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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6815799" data-attributes="member: 42582">The second half of what you say is the answer to the question you ask in the first half.That is: a game in which pre-authored fiction has been established by the GM but is not known to the players is one in which their action declarations are not able to render the fiction in accordance with their desires.  [MENTION=205]TwoSix[/MENTION] has elaborated more on this in some recent posts upthread.For instance: if the GM has already decided that the waterhole at the edge of the desert, on the way to the ruined tower in the foothills, is fouled, then even if the players succeed in their check to navigate to the waterhole they will not have got what they wanted (ie safe journey through desert to tower), because they will have to do extra stuff to get the water they need.This is what, in my game, I aim to avoid. If, in the interests of consistency in the fiction, something isn't possible - for instance, because the dark elf is dead, an attempt to meet the dark elf in the foothills can't succeed - then I will explain as much and no action declaration will occur.I don't see how this is a constraint on action resolution. What is being constrained? What action can the players not declare with some prospect of success?Well, in my game it is, because we answer general geographical questions via reference to the map rather than via action resolution. The relative locations of Hardby, Greyhawk, the Bright Desert, the Gnarley Forest, the elven realm of Celene, etc are all pre-authored elements of the fiction.Contrast, say, the location of the mace. This was not pre-authored. There was no prior fiction by reference to which the attempt to find the mace was adjudicated. Rather, the location of the mace was determined as a consequence of action resolution - namely because the check failed, the mace was not in the tower where the PCs were looking for it.Because fleshing out some ideas in advance can help with adjudication. Here is the backstory as it appears on the sheet:He turned on his uncle, a Captain of the White Tower, when ordered not to flee from the attacking orcs. He was wounded, then exiled; he wanders the Cairn Hills and Abor-Alz.In the list of the NPC's life paths, there is also a note next to "Soldier-Protector" that this "overlaps with Alenihel [the elven ronin]". That is, there is a note that the timelines of the PC and NPC can intersect.The only bit of this conjectured backstory that has actually become part of the shared fiction is the bit about wandering the Abor-Alz.The appearance of the dark elf was not pre-authored, though. It was narrated in response to a failed check, the occurrence of which wasn't known until it actually happened at the table.As I said, the only bit of the fiction that was established in advance was the possibility of an antagonistic dark elf appearing in the world. To me, that seems pretty thin as far as shared fiction goes.As I'm sure you've seen me post before in other threads, my 4e game uses the default setting and cosmology as presented in the 4e core books. The Raven Queen's status as a god of death is established by the entry in the PHB which everyone has read before the game starts.On the other hand, whether the Raven Queen is a nice person or a nasty person is up for grabs. In WotC's published material (eg E1 Death's Reach) she is presented as essentially decent and well-meaning. In my campaign that's not really the case - the backstory for her that has emerged during play tends to imply that she is self-serving, manipulative and extremely power hungry.Do you mean players or PCs?The players can be surprised, yes. By small things - like the discovery of the skull mask in the priest's chamber in the last BW session - or by bigger things, like finding the Black Arrows in the (formerly, now ruined) private workroom of the mage PC's brother.OK. But by drawing this distinction between your preferences and mine, I take it that you are agreeing that there is a difference in techniques.</blockquote>

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