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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jer" data-source="post: 8569304" data-attributes="member: 19857">I don't think that I've seen roleplaying as a refereed sport since... well, since the 90s.  My view on RPGs is that they're a collaborative not a competitive enterprise.  A referee is needed when players are competing against each other - a neutral party is there to make sure that things are fair for each player/team and all of them are following the rules.In an RPG the players are cooperating with each other, not competing. So where does the need for an impartial judge come in?  If you're looking at it as a players vs. GM situation then the players have already lost - the GM in any game can crush the players mercilessly if it's a player vs. GM situation because there is no referee between the GM and the players.I see the role of the GM as a fellow player, not a referee or a competitor.  The GM presents the world in the moment and the players play out their reactions to it and the GM then reacts to that.  That cycle produces a collaborative game. Everyone has bought into the idea that we're going to play a game of pretend where our dice rolls have meanings, so the need to enforce rules or look for cheaters should be at a minimum - anyone who "rejects the premise" of the game and starts to find ways to "cheat" tends to IME get called out by their fellow players before the GM even needs to get involved (cheating in an RPG is like cheating in solitaire - you can do it but why?)</blockquote>

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