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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 9523745" data-attributes="member: 71699">To my reading, [USER=467]@Reynard[/USER] has said that GM is there to define setting etc. and while they've said they're not interested in divisions of authority, they've implied them. To me they've left it kind of unclear what "say yes" is intended to answer that isn't answered by defining participant roles in play, but perhaps that can be deduced too.Suppose that GM's usual jobs weresay when rules are invoked say how rules are implemented authorship and continuity responsibility for facets of the fiction, such as setting, adversaries, and mysteries directorial responsibility over scene focus, framing and pace While players usually havesay who their characters are say what their characters do Then one use of a "say yes" principle of permissiveness could be that where players ask* about something in GM's purview, GM inclines the answer toward whatever it is they seem to expect. Or one might do that with regard to some of GM's jobs and not others (the authorship and continuity job, say, but not the rules management jobs).*And players must "ask", because they cannot assert, given this division of jobs.The 2024 DMG has this to say about saying yesOne of the cornerstones of improvisational theater is called “Yes, and...” It’s based on the idea that an actor takes whatever the other actors give and builds on that. A similar principle applies as you run sessions for your players. As often as possible, weave what the players give you into your story. An equally important principle is “No, but...” Sometimes characters can’t do what their players want, but you can keep the game moving forward by offering an alternative. For example, imagine the characters are searching for a lich’s lair. A player asks you if there’s a mages’ guild operating in a nearby city, hoping to find records that mention the lich. This wasn’t a possibility you anticipated, and you don’t have anything prepared for it. One option is to say yes and use the tools at your disposal to create a suitable mages’ guild. By doing this, you reward the player for thinking creatively. Also, the guild can become a great source for adventure hooks. I think this is an example of what I am saying. Given jobs were, and were distributed, something as I have hypothesised, then ordinarily it would be up to GM to say that there were a mage's guild in a city. "Say yes" here means that player can imply a proposal in that regard, and GM will be inclined to exercise their authority in a way that accepts it.To spell that out for the case illustrated, I believe when "A player asks you if there's a mages' guild" they are implying a proposition that there is a mages' guild. Seeing as GM here apparently owns setting, for a mage's guild to be added to the city setting GM must excercise their authority in a suitable way, or put simply: it's up to GM to "say yes" to that.Where the ideas in the OP hit a snag is that if GM absolutely cannot say "no" to this sort of proposition, then authority over those facets of the fiction effectively transfers to players. That in turn necessitates theories of player self-regulation... which would otherwise be unneeded or at least far less stressed.</blockquote>

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