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<blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 4840027" data-attributes="member: 3192">Truthfully, a referee can never set the pace of a game. They can only resolve the players' attempted actions.&nbsp; Unless the DM is playing an NPC, the speed of the game should ideally proceed irrespective of his or her responses.&nbsp; This is true for the same reason railroading a predetermined plotline cannot happen in an RPG, a DM can neither control how fast the players choose to play nor what their decisions will be.&nbsp; It's as simple as that.On the other hand, if the players all agree to &quot;let things ride&quot; for a set amount of time, then a Referee can relate what happens from the PCs' point of view over that time chronologically.&nbsp; In the end, this is still just a player technique for advancing the game's time clock.&nbsp; But a good DM might suggest it to inexperienced players.&nbsp; And will stop at any moment's hesitation by a player who wants to halt the relaying of information before the asked for set time is reached.&nbsp; I mean, no one is going to let a group of orcs ambush and kill their characters just because their characters are declared to be &quot;meditating for the next 3 hours&quot;.&nbsp; The players are always in charge of the speeding up of the clock and bringing it back to actual time.&nbsp; The DM is just the timekeeper, in essence.Also, a good DM will always remember they can have a subtle influence over the outcome of the game if they are not careful in how they give their descriptions, the clues of the game.&nbsp; Since everything a DM does during a game session is clue-giving by definition, it's best to keep one's game face on when running a game.&nbsp; But... if things start getting boring for the players, it certainly doesn't hurt to look a little bored yourself.&nbsp; Just to remind them they are the ones needing to speed up the action, if action's what they want.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="howandwhy99, post: 4840027, member: 3192"] Truthfully, a referee can never set the pace of a game. They can only resolve the players' attempted actions. Unless the DM is playing an NPC, the speed of the game should ideally proceed irrespective of his or her responses. This is true for the same reason railroading a predetermined plotline cannot happen in an RPG, a DM can neither control how fast the players choose to play nor what their decisions will be. It's as simple as that. On the other hand, if the players all agree to "let things ride" for a set amount of time, then a Referee can relate what happens from the PCs' point of view over that time chronologically. In the end, this is still just a player technique for advancing the game's time clock. But a good DM might suggest it to inexperienced players. And will stop at any moment's hesitation by a player who wants to halt the relaying of information before the asked for set time is reached. I mean, no one is going to let a group of orcs ambush and kill their characters just because their characters are declared to be "meditating for the next 3 hours". The players are always in charge of the speeding up of the clock and bringing it back to actual time. The DM is just the timekeeper, in essence. Also, a good DM will always remember they can have a subtle influence over the outcome of the game if they are not careful in how they give their descriptions, the clues of the game. Since everything a DM does during a game session is clue-giving by definition, it's best to keep one's game face on when running a game. But... if things start getting boring for the players, it certainly doesn't hurt to look a little bored yourself. Just to remind them they are the ones needing to speed up the action, if action's what they want. [/QUOTE]

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