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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 8149683" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!I suppose someone could assume that every DM in the world should run the game exactly like every other DM, but that would be...odd, to say the least. More likely, a person playing several games under several different DM's would see the beauty that is RPG's: Diversity in tone, style, attitude, rules, substance, humour, seriousness, and everything else. Eventually, over time, a Player will understand what they know they like and what they don't, and then seek out DM's that provide that "style" of play...or be bold enough to take up the reigns of DM'ing themselves.But no matter how you slice it, DM'ing isn't formulaic. It's MUCH more "art" than "science" (when being run; when doing all the leg work behind the scenes, it's more or less equal). No player needs to 'read the mind of the DM' unless that Player is under the impression that his job as a player is to "outsmart and foil the DM". That's fine if that's the tone of that particular table, but, for most tables I'd guess, that's not the base attitude of a Player. That attitude tends to be "All right! Lets roll some dice and do some roleplaying!". <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Consistency...ABOLUTELY! This comes with experience and time. As I've said many times before, after a couple years of DM'ing, every DM develops their own "style". Some DM's are great at storytelling, some are amazing at combat handling, some are experts at creating interconnecting Machiavellian webs of intrigue, and some are just good, but not great, at a bit of everything. Consistency, a sense of Fairness, and a focus on trying to maintain Neutrality in regards to PC's success or failure are the three key components of a good DM.Er...that's why you talk to the DM first, or have a "Session Zero" where everyone talks about what they like/dislike and expect/desire out of the coming campaign/game.Dungeon Mastering, at it's core, hasn't changed since the beginning, IMNSHO, at lest not very much at all. The Players expectations of their 'role' in the game most certainly have, however. Players used to expect to die. Often and repeatedly. Players saw playing the game as a challenge and a test of their intellect and ability to work together and 'think outside the box' in order to keep their PC's alive. This, IN MY EXPERIENCE AND OPINION, expectation has changed over the decades where now, it's almost the opposite. Players tend to expect to not 'loose' unless it's an 'important encounter', and many see death as an annoying bump in the road to their ultimate goal of hitting Level 20. A Player that has played 4 characters in two months, with none of them getting past level 2 will see this as a "failure on the DM's part to run a 'fun' or 'fair' game". They don't look at it as it being even remotely possible that they keep dying because of their OWN choices and/or bad luck. It's almost always "the DM's fault". Then the excuses come in "Well, I wouldn't die so much if I could play a [class/race] that you won't let me", or "I would live longer if we were using Feats", or "You're supposed to build encounters we can at least have a chance of winning".All of that can be avoided on the fabled "Session Zero" info day.Alas, I think this is a situation where your idea of a "good game" and mine are not lining up. This is fine, even good, actually. It means that RPG's can be interpreted and played by a HUGE range of people with different desires and preferences. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I've never played Fate, although I did do some "solo playtesting" of it when the guy was writing it waaaaay back when (yes, I'm old; in fact, I probably have the text file on a floppy disk somewhere!). I thought it had potential, I just wasn't sold on the 'simplicity' of the ranges (at least in those early drafts, iirc). Maybe I'll look into the latest version to check it out... a sort of "blast from the past" for me. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />A game that I think has found the "sweet spot" between DM Adjudication and Rules to Follow/Use is Dungeon World. It still involves the DM "making choices" for the world as it unfolds, but it allows the Players to choose the basics of how they want to accomplish something (most of the time). When we played it, yes, I was the DM, we ended up falling into a groove of where the Player would have a specific 'idea' of what his character was going to do. Said Player would then use the "move name" in his description (e.g., "I'm going to...[insert descriptive roleplaying]...and use the  [insert Move]". I almost always just went with what the player choose...even though I think it's supposed to be more of the DM choosing the Move to use. My reasoning for this approach was that the Player had a specific "method of accomplishment" playing out in his brain...and if I suddenly said "No, use the [whatever Move] in stead", they would have to do a complete re-think and imagining of what their character is doing to fit that "moves narrative".I initially thought I wouldn't like Dungeon World (just bought the PDF first), but eventually I dove into it for a third time and something just 'clicked' with me. So I bought a half dozen hard copies for the table. Every game I've played of it (as DM), have ALWAYS been memorable and fun! Then again...I run most of my RPG's "fast and loose", so Dungeon World wasn't so jarring as I've heard from DM's who are used to something like 4e or Pathfinder! LOL! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

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