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GM fiat - an illustration
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9641359" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>That's probably true. But I don't know Mouse Guard very well, and nor I think do many of my interlocutors in this thread. Hence why I am comparing it to classic D&D (which is referenced in the bibliography: the original 3 books; Moldvay; and B2).</p><p></p><p>One way to think of a Camp Event is as a combination of a classic D&D encounter roll and a reaction roll bundled together: the one roll tells you whether an encounter or event occurs, who or what it is, and whether it is friendly or unfriendly.</p><p></p><p>Absolutely there is a world in motion.</p><p></p><p>This can be seen in a series of actual play posts beginning with this one: <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/torchbearer-2e-actual-play-of-this-awesome-system.691233/post-9438809" target="_blank">Torchbearer 2e - actual play of this AWESOME system! (+)</a></p><p></p><p>As GM, and drawing on my notes (themselves based on one component of T1-4, namely, Nulb), I introduce the river pirate Tolub. This follows from an earlier session where the PCs had agreed to act as agents of Lareth, getting the river pirates to tithe to Lareth's Moathouse-based cult. The PCs broker negotiations between Tolub and Lareth. Then a Tavern Event result in the Dwarf Hold, two sessions later, required me to come up with an incredible tale told by a friend - so I had the PC whose player was absent, and who was known to be sailing with the pirates, turn up and tell a tale of the pirates getting ready to assault the Moathouse, in violation of their agreement.</p><p></p><p>So later in the session, with the players back at the Moathouse, I narrated the approaching pirates (very similar to an AW soft move). The context of this pirate assault then - in the next session - fed into interactions between the established Moathouse elements of Lareth, the Bugbears and the Gnolls, which enabled the PCs to play off factions against one another and thereby escape back to Nulb. But a Town Event roll - <em>billeted army</em> - meant that there was nowhere to stay, due to the town being overrun by pirates. So the PCs had to sleep on the streets.</p><p></p><p>Then in the next session, more pirates served as a twist, and the PCs ended up back at Nulb where the Town Event result - <em>bandits</em> - meant that the pirates had completely overrun the village. And so the PCs couldn't take a town phase, but had to negotiate with the pirates to be carried downriver to Wintershiven. Helped by heavy rain, the PCs were able to leave the pirate ship close enough to Wintershiven to enter the town, but without being seen to be travelling with pirates.</p><p></p><p>The events of that and the following session have more "living world" aspects, but involving the religious authorities of the Pale rather than the river pirates, so I won't summarise them here.</p><p></p><p>As I posted upthread, the difference that I see between what I've just described, and a GM-driven "sandbox", is that my GMing decisions about the factions' plans and behaviours are made with an eye on <em>what will connect to the players evinced priorities for their PCs</em>. They are not planned "neutrally" or simply by extrapolation of what is "most likely".</p><p></p><p>But there is no disputing that the world is in motion.</p><p></p><p>Yes, as I posted upthread, the Camp/Town Event process does not entail, or presuppose, adversity. I posted some actual play illustrations.</p><p></p><p>The players in my game have also had some successful Town phases. Although probably more unsuccessful ones, as they suck at collecting loot and hence can never pay their bills!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 9641359, member: 42582"] That's probably true. But I don't know Mouse Guard very well, and nor I think do many of my interlocutors in this thread. Hence why I am comparing it to classic D&D (which is referenced in the bibliography: the original 3 books; Moldvay; and B2). One way to think of a Camp Event is as a combination of a classic D&D encounter roll and a reaction roll bundled together: the one roll tells you whether an encounter or event occurs, who or what it is, and whether it is friendly or unfriendly. Absolutely there is a world in motion. This can be seen in a series of actual play posts beginning with this one: [URL="https://www.enworld.org/threads/torchbearer-2e-actual-play-of-this-awesome-system.691233/post-9438809"]Torchbearer 2e - actual play of this AWESOME system! (+)[/URL] As GM, and drawing on my notes (themselves based on one component of T1-4, namely, Nulb), I introduce the river pirate Tolub. This follows from an earlier session where the PCs had agreed to act as agents of Lareth, getting the river pirates to tithe to Lareth's Moathouse-based cult. The PCs broker negotiations between Tolub and Lareth. Then a Tavern Event result in the Dwarf Hold, two sessions later, required me to come up with an incredible tale told by a friend - so I had the PC whose player was absent, and who was known to be sailing with the pirates, turn up and tell a tale of the pirates getting ready to assault the Moathouse, in violation of their agreement. So later in the session, with the players back at the Moathouse, I narrated the approaching pirates (very similar to an AW soft move). The context of this pirate assault then - in the next session - fed into interactions between the established Moathouse elements of Lareth, the Bugbears and the Gnolls, which enabled the PCs to play off factions against one another and thereby escape back to Nulb. But a Town Event roll - [I]billeted army[/I] - meant that there was nowhere to stay, due to the town being overrun by pirates. So the PCs had to sleep on the streets. Then in the next session, more pirates served as a twist, and the PCs ended up back at Nulb where the Town Event result - [I]bandits[/I] - meant that the pirates had completely overrun the village. And so the PCs couldn't take a town phase, but had to negotiate with the pirates to be carried downriver to Wintershiven. Helped by heavy rain, the PCs were able to leave the pirate ship close enough to Wintershiven to enter the town, but without being seen to be travelling with pirates. The events of that and the following session have more "living world" aspects, but involving the religious authorities of the Pale rather than the river pirates, so I won't summarise them here. As I posted upthread, the difference that I see between what I've just described, and a GM-driven "sandbox", is that my GMing decisions about the factions' plans and behaviours are made with an eye on [I]what will connect to the players evinced priorities for their PCs[/I]. They are not planned "neutrally" or simply by extrapolation of what is "most likely". But there is no disputing that the world is in motion. Yes, as I posted upthread, the Camp/Town Event process does not entail, or presuppose, adversity. I posted some actual play illustrations. The players in my game have also had some successful Town phases. Although probably more unsuccessful ones, as they suck at collecting loot and hence can never pay their bills! [/QUOTE]
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