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<blockquote data-quote="bloodtide" data-source="post: 9252457" data-attributes="member: 6684958">So hanging out with some fellow DMs the other day.&nbsp; We cross a bunch of players in each others games.&nbsp; So, many players coming from may game rave about having a great adventure.&nbsp; The DMs hearing many such stories then asked me my &quot;secret&quot; to a good game: How do I do it?My answer was that I, as the Overlord Tyrant Tycoon, make, control and force everything in the game to happen.The other two DMs did not like that answer...of course.&nbsp; And asked if there was some other way.&nbsp; And I said....well, no, not really.&nbsp; As I can think of only two other ways:*The non game acting way:&nbsp; The DM and players all sit down and write a script.&nbsp; What each character will do and when and how.&nbsp; Just like a movie/tv show/play.&nbsp; Then everyone just acts out the script.&nbsp; This is not really a &quot;game&quot; , as it is just following a script.&nbsp; &quot;Ok, on round one your cleric will swing and miss, but both orcs will hit your cleric.&nbsp; When your cleric take the damage say &quot;grrr...I hate orcs!&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;*The Improv Quantum World: This Player Lead game just has the players do things at random and the DM tags along and just makes the game reality right in front of where the players choose to step.&nbsp; So no matter what random mess the players do, it always is the game moving forward.But is there another way?So for example: the group asks for &quot;we want a long term foe that comes back around to us every so often&quot;.&nbsp; So the DM sets out to do that.&nbsp; But how?&nbsp; How does the DM make a foe that the PCs will encounter often&nbsp; and not capture or just outright kill?And to be clear I see three types of Forced Gameplay:*The Classic Clumsy Railroad: used mostly by new, inexperienced, casual, clueless, jerk and bad DMs.&nbsp; This is the stuff of railroad nightmares.&nbsp; Here the DM just ignores the players and does whatever the DM wants.&nbsp; So in this game the foe always just &quot;escapes&quot; no matter what the PCs do as the DM chuckles.*The Metagame: Slightly more sneaky.&nbsp; In this game the DM just has the foe know everything about the PCs and the game universe, so the foe can always &quot;amazingly&quot; escape.&nbsp; So they foe always has just the right counter or ability or whatever is needed to escape.&nbsp; And always does....no matter what the PCs do.*Hard Fun:&nbsp; And here is finally my type of game.&nbsp; I ether make the foe smart enough to have set and pre planned escapes using whatever skills, abilities and such the foe has&nbsp; OR I make the foe and game reality something else.&nbsp; For example, the foe will be a mystery to the PCs.&nbsp; They encounter the evil plans often, but not the foe themselves...so he has no need to 'escape' as they can't catch him as they don't know who it is.&nbsp; Or the for might have some connection to the PCs.&nbsp; Or the foe might be politically or socially untouchable.&nbsp; Or the foe simply never fights the PCs in close melee.So, then the question is.....is there another way?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="bloodtide, post: 9252457, member: 6684958"] So hanging out with some fellow DMs the other day. We cross a bunch of players in each others games. So, many players coming from may game rave about having a great adventure. The DMs hearing many such stories then asked me my "secret" to a good game: How do I do it? My answer was that I, as the Overlord Tyrant Tycoon, make, control and force everything in the game to happen. The other two DMs did not like that answer...of course. And asked if there was some other way. And I said....well, no, not really. As I can think of only two other ways: *The non game acting way: The DM and players all sit down and write a script. What each character will do and when and how. Just like a movie/tv show/play. Then everyone just acts out the script. This is not really a "game" , as it is just following a script. "Ok, on round one your cleric will swing and miss, but both orcs will hit your cleric. When your cleric take the damage say "grrr...I hate orcs!" " *The Improv Quantum World: This Player Lead game just has the players do things at random and the DM tags along and just makes the game reality right in front of where the players choose to step. So no matter what random mess the players do, it always is the game moving forward. But is there another way? So for example: the group asks for "we want a long term foe that comes back around to us every so often". So the DM sets out to do that. But how? How does the DM make a foe that the PCs will encounter often and not capture or just outright kill? And to be clear I see three types of Forced Gameplay: *The Classic Clumsy Railroad: used mostly by new, inexperienced, casual, clueless, jerk and bad DMs. This is the stuff of railroad nightmares. Here the DM just ignores the players and does whatever the DM wants. So in this game the foe always just "escapes" no matter what the PCs do as the DM chuckles. *The Metagame: Slightly more sneaky. In this game the DM just has the foe know everything about the PCs and the game universe, so the foe can always "amazingly" escape. So they foe always has just the right counter or ability or whatever is needed to escape. And always does....no matter what the PCs do. *Hard Fun: And here is finally my type of game. I ether make the foe smart enough to have set and pre planned escapes using whatever skills, abilities and such the foe has OR I make the foe and game reality something else. For example, the foe will be a mystery to the PCs. They encounter the evil plans often, but not the foe themselves...so he has no need to 'escape' as they can't catch him as they don't know who it is. Or the for might have some connection to the PCs. Or the foe might be politically or socially untouchable. Or the foe simply never fights the PCs in close melee. So, then the question is.....is there another way? [/QUOTE]

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