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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 9617092" data-attributes="member: 6785785">Well, no... there are limits based on what's happened and the situation as presented. We're talking about a PC triggered avalanche and what happens to a giant caught in its path. If we're going to make a roll to determine the outcome (or even just decide the outcome) there's only so much we're going to consider.There are also logical limits and genre or setting limits. I can imagine a helicopter flying in and dropping a ladder to save the giant... but why would I have that happen? It goes against the setting and logic.So you spend all that time creating all the elements of play, and you don't care how play goes?Of course you have a stake in play.No, not at all. I'm saying that it's easy to just imagine whatever I want without constraint. It's a less challenging test of my imagination. When you restrict what I can do as a GM, or when I can do it... that makes it more challenging. I have less to choose from, and so I need to be creative to come up with ideas.Well, I already said that the constraints on the GM are different than those on the players. Some of them anyway; there are some constraints that apply to everyone. But the role of GM is different from that of the role of player, so yes, they have different types of limitations on authrority.A "great many"? I don't know. I think in many cases, there are far less rules than in D&D. You're just expected to not bypass the rules.Honestly, it's more like if you took D&D and you never altered a rule at all. Never changed an NPC or monster's hit point total mid-combat because it was meant to be a major threat and the dice have gone in the players' favor and they're stomping this bad guy. Never concealed a roll behind a screen. Never fudged a die roll to keep information from the players. Never set a DC artificially high. Never kept a DC hidden from the players. And so on.Its not that there are really more limits in the games I play... it's that they are actual limits. The GM isn't above the rules. The GM can't just break any rule he wants at any time for any reason.I'll go with some very simple examples based on abilities in a couple of games.Here's one from Spire, the City Must Fall:PUBCRAWLER. You bear an encyclopedic knowledge of where to get drunk. Once per game, name a nearby bar, pub or inn where you know the landlord (whether they like you or not is up to the GM).This is a class ability of the Knight class. It has clear instructions on who gets to decide what, and how often. The player gets to declare a nearby place to drink where they know the landlord, and they can do so once per game session. The GM gets to decide the landlord's outlook and feelings toward the PC.As participants in a game of Spire, we're bound by these rules. The GM cannot say "No, there are no inns or taverns nearby" nor can the player say "the landlord loves me". There are clear responsibilities for each of them, and the GM has to honor that.Here's another from Spire, also from the Knight class:BRAGGADOCIO. You are an accomplished liar, especially when it comes to exaggerating your own abilities. Gain the Deceive skill. Once per session, automatically convince an NPC that you can achieve something (whether or not you’re able to do it is immaterial).This gives the player the ability once per session to have the Knight automatically convince someone that he can complete some task, regardless of whether or not he actually can. The GM is then bound to play that NPC as if they believe the Knight. As GM, you can't just disregard this because you think what the Knight is claiming is absurd... it may be, but he's so convincing, the NPC believes him.Here's one from another game, Stonetop, which is a Powered by the Apocalypse system. This is a basic move in the game, available to any character:SEEK INSIGHT When you study a situation or person, looking to the GM for insight, roll +WIS: on a 10+, ask the GM 3 questions from the list below; on a 7-9, ask 1; either way, gain advantage on your next move that acts on the answers. What happened here recently?  What is about to happen?  What should I be on the lookout for?  What here is useful or valuable to me?  Who or what is really in control here?  What here is not what it appears to be?So when a player makes this move, they roll 2d6 and add their Wisdom score (typically between -1 and +3). Based on the result, they get to ask a number of questions, which are provided in the move. The GM has to answer these questions honestly. He can't decide to withhold information, or to limit the number of questions the player can ask, or to dictate a certain question unavailable. The player does something, and then the GM MUST act as the roll dictates.I can offer more examples, but I figure that those few give you an idea of what I'm talking about. It's not so much about the game having more limits so much as being about the GM not being able to ignore those limits.</blockquote>

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