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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6068522" data-attributes="member: 6696971">@<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?3400-billd91" target="_blank">billd91</a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Where you are seeing abuse, I'm seeing clarity and accuracy.&nbsp; I think you're conflating &quot;fiat&quot; with &quot;adjudication&quot; or &quot;arbitration&quot;.&nbsp; The &quot;fiat&quot; (the decree from absolute authority) is what happens after the &quot;arbitration&quot; or &quot;adjudication&quot; is performed.&nbsp; &quot;Fiat&quot; in RPG terms is the ability to impose your vision/will/rendering upon the shared imaginary space/fiction by way of decree from absolute authority.&nbsp; It is not the ability to &quot;play a character from 1st person perspective and manipulate the world by way of his limited locus of control&quot;.&nbsp; Saying &quot;I attempt to hit the giant with my sword; I hit 27 AC or less and do 15 damage&quot; is not fiat.&nbsp; Fiat is affecting your will upon the shared imaginary space of more than just a single character.&nbsp; You decree (from absolute authority) that these guys move toward you (even if they don't want to) and get hacked.&nbsp; You decree (from absolute authority) that you are ret-conning this attack that would have killed/maimed your ally and intervening before it does so to stop the event.&nbsp; The dice/fortunes arbitrate the effectiveness of your decree...but you have the absolute authority to say it happens right now and &quot;stuff that is normally outside of the locus of control of a character&quot; is &quot;within the locus of control of a player&quot;; repositioning good guys or bad guys (CaGI, GOH), subverting the march of time and ret-conning (re-rolling a failed stealth roll after guards would have noticed you or stopping an attack that has hit, etc), the DM giving authority of the player to render the fiction after a check/decision-point in a Skill Challenge, etc.DM fiat = Decree from absolute authority after arbitrating or adjudicating a dispute or a grey area not canvassed by the rules.&nbsp; This decree shapes the imaginary space.Player fiat = Decree from absolute authority after the dice/fortunes resolve the mechanics (however, in other games this can be detached from codified resolution).&nbsp; This decree shapes&nbsp; more than just what would be within the locus of control of a character in the world; its power for the player to shape the imaginary space external to the in-world character.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 6068522, member: 6696971"] @[URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?3400-billd91"][B][COLOR=#C35817]billd91[/COLOR][/B][/URL] Where you are seeing abuse, I'm seeing clarity and accuracy. I think you're conflating "fiat" with "adjudication" or "arbitration". The "fiat" (the decree from absolute authority) is what happens after the "arbitration" or "adjudication" is performed. "Fiat" in RPG terms is the ability to impose your vision/will/rendering upon the shared imaginary space/fiction by way of decree from absolute authority. It is not the ability to "play a character from 1st person perspective and manipulate the world by way of his limited locus of control". Saying "I attempt to hit the giant with my sword; I hit 27 AC or less and do 15 damage" is not fiat. Fiat is affecting your will upon the shared imaginary space of more than just a single character. You decree (from absolute authority) that these guys move toward you (even if they don't want to) and get hacked. You decree (from absolute authority) that you are ret-conning this attack that would have killed/maimed your ally and intervening before it does so to stop the event. The dice/fortunes arbitrate the effectiveness of your decree...but you have the absolute authority to say it happens right now and "stuff that is normally outside of the locus of control of a character" is "within the locus of control of a player"; repositioning good guys or bad guys (CaGI, GOH), subverting the march of time and ret-conning (re-rolling a failed stealth roll after guards would have noticed you or stopping an attack that has hit, etc), the DM giving authority of the player to render the fiction after a check/decision-point in a Skill Challenge, etc. DM fiat = Decree from absolute authority after arbitrating or adjudicating a dispute or a grey area not canvassed by the rules. This decree shapes the imaginary space. Player fiat = Decree from absolute authority after the dice/fortunes resolve the mechanics (however, in other games this can be detached from codified resolution). This decree shapes more than just what would be within the locus of control of a character in the world; its power for the player to shape the imaginary space external to the in-world character. [/QUOTE]

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