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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How commonly is the GM actually the ultimate arbiter?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tequila Sunrise" data-source="post: 6211301" data-attributes="member: 40398"><p>IME, GM authority extends fairly far, but is not absolute. Frex, I have my GM foibles (hello, hex maps!), which many players don't care for but will put up with for the sake of not having to GM themselves. But there are times when GM authority just doesn't matter:</p><p></p><p>1. A couple years ago I created what I thought was a really neat social combat subsystem for my D&D campaign. But after foisting it upon my players twice, they made it clear that they hated it; so I didn't push my authority. I honestly think they would have rebelled had I insisted on my pet subsystem. Live and learn, right?</p><p></p><p>2. At one point I had two siblings in the same game. The sister was a friend, while the brother I knew only thru her. After about a year of gaming, the brother went nuts. Literally. When he started threatening to have his dad beat me up -- which I would have found hilarious had I not been sick of everything else he'd spouted off until that point -- I kicked him out. I did it diplomatically, but his sister was nevertheless lost to my friendship and the game forever. I guess you could say that my authority prevailed, but at a high cost.</p><p></p><p>So no, GM authority is not the be-all and end-all.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tequila Sunrise, post: 6211301, member: 40398"] IME, GM authority extends fairly far, but is not absolute. Frex, I have my GM foibles (hello, hex maps!), which many players don't care for but will put up with for the sake of not having to GM themselves. But there are times when GM authority just doesn't matter: 1. A couple years ago I created what I thought was a really neat social combat subsystem for my D&D campaign. But after foisting it upon my players twice, they made it clear that they hated it; so I didn't push my authority. I honestly think they would have rebelled had I insisted on my pet subsystem. Live and learn, right? 2. At one point I had two siblings in the same game. The sister was a friend, while the brother I knew only thru her. After about a year of gaming, the brother went nuts. Literally. When he started threatening to have his dad beat me up -- which I would have found hilarious had I not been sick of everything else he'd spouted off until that point -- I kicked him out. I did it diplomatically, but his sister was nevertheless lost to my friendship and the game forever. I guess you could say that my authority prevailed, but at a high cost. So no, GM authority is not the be-all and end-all. [/QUOTE]
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How commonly is the GM actually the ultimate arbiter?
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