Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How much control do DMs need?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9012420" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>A much more pithy (if perhaps a bit harsh) statement of a concern I brought up earlier in the thread: the flip between "this is a horrible affront to all we hold dear as D&D players" and "how is this any different at all from what we do?" It's not quite at-convenience, more like if you discuss it in the abstract it raises every hackle folks have available to raise, but then when you lay it out with concrete examples it's so unobjectionable, folks can't see how it contains any <em>differences.</em></p><p></p><p>Which, for me anyway, is some pretty strong evidence that the amount of control DMs need isn't nearly as high as the amount they <em>believe</em> they need. DW--and most PbtA games--explicitly and officially put quite a bit of control in the players' hands, and more importantly, explicitly and officially bind the GM with several restrictions, both at the specific level (e.g. "you must answer honestly when the player uses this move" or "you must give the player an answer that is both interesting <em>and</em> useful when they roll well on that move") and the abstract level ("draw maps, leave blanks" etc.) The thing is, those restrictions have been put in place for the same reason that--for example--many of the rules of <em>writing</em> have been put into place. Writing is a tool of communication; its rules exist with the goal of facilitating communication. Breaking those rules for light or transient causes is <em>deeply unwise</em>. Indeed, in the vast majority of cases, you want to obey those rules fully, lest you fail to communicate, or communicate the wrong thing, or induce the recipient to turn away because of the inordinate effort required to understand you.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9012420, member: 6790260"] A much more pithy (if perhaps a bit harsh) statement of a concern I brought up earlier in the thread: the flip between "this is a horrible affront to all we hold dear as D&D players" and "how is this any different at all from what we do?" It's not quite at-convenience, more like if you discuss it in the abstract it raises every hackle folks have available to raise, but then when you lay it out with concrete examples it's so unobjectionable, folks can't see how it contains any [I]differences.[/I] Which, for me anyway, is some pretty strong evidence that the amount of control DMs need isn't nearly as high as the amount they [I]believe[/I] they need. DW--and most PbtA games--explicitly and officially put quite a bit of control in the players' hands, and more importantly, explicitly and officially bind the GM with several restrictions, both at the specific level (e.g. "you must answer honestly when the player uses this move" or "you must give the player an answer that is both interesting [I]and[/I] useful when they roll well on that move") and the abstract level ("draw maps, leave blanks" etc.) The thing is, those restrictions have been put in place for the same reason that--for example--many of the rules of [I]writing[/I] have been put into place. Writing is a tool of communication; its rules exist with the goal of facilitating communication. Breaking those rules for light or transient causes is [I]deeply unwise[/I]. Indeed, in the vast majority of cases, you want to obey those rules fully, lest you fail to communicate, or communicate the wrong thing, or induce the recipient to turn away because of the inordinate effort required to understand you. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How much control do DMs need?
Top