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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 8988340" data-attributes="member: 4937">Suppose you are running 'Tomb of Horrors'.  You have like 32 pages of notes and maps and illustrations that have established the myth of the tomb, all of which are secret from the players and have not yet been revealed.   The players are exploring the 'Tomb of Horrors' with the goal of uncovering the things that have not yet been revealed knowing these facts are established, but not knowing what they are.  It's this process of discovery of the hidden myth that is key to a common aesthetic of play.Or consider that you are playing a cRPG like "Mass Effect" or "World of Warcraft".  Again, all the myth of the game has been established before hand and the process of play and enjoyment of the play is largely around that exploration of and discovery of the myth.   In fact, this aesthetic of play is called "Discovery" and it's the same aesthetic that is available when reading a novel or watching a TV series (well, one of several in common for example).  You are playing to find out "what is out there".  This aesthetic is all but destroyed if nothing is actually out there and it's redefined as you go.  There are other aesthetics like Narrative and Expression still available and that's fine, or you could focus entirely on Discovery as introspection about the character (assuming the character had some starting defined nature being explored) but the majority of typical Discovery play becomes unavailable to you.  Challenge play likewise suffers because there isn't any standard to adhere to, which is why for example if you were running 'Tomb of Horrors' as a tournament game you'd alter nothing on the fly or you'd be doing it wrong.</blockquote>

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