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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6554341" data-attributes="member: 177">Yes, but the story doesn't exist without the players, either, so that doesn't really mean much.This is a good way of considering it.My statement that the GM does not create the story doesn't say that the GM does not do creation.&nbsp; But, &quot;the story&quot; is something that comes out through the player's interaction with the elements the GM has presented.&nbsp; It pays to be prepared for what one thinks are the most likely approaches the players will take to a situation, but that is not the same as creating &quot;the story&quot;.&nbsp; An example:I run a Deadlands campaign.&nbsp; Deadlands is a &quot;Weird West&quot; setting, meaning that it is Wild West, with magic, steampunk mad science, and horror elements.&nbsp; Early on in the campaign, I presented the PCs with a situation of there being a shipment of something (they didn't know what) going to a BBEG by train.&nbsp; Now, in genre, the classic way of dealing with this would be a train robbery.&nbsp; I was intentionally setting things up so that my player could have the experience of committing a train robbery and still feel like heroes, if they so chose.&nbsp; I was all prepared to run a train heist session. But, the players didn't choose that route at all.&nbsp; The group that had realized that their strengths lay in &quot;Intimidation, sustained violence, and the black arts&quot; decided to defeat the villain by... bureaucracy!&nbsp; They falsified shipping records to make the train car go to a new destination, where they picked it up using forged documents saying it was theirs, not a shot fired (until much later - the BBEG was *not* pleased).&nbsp; If I had thought of this as me writing a story, I would have written a train heist story.&nbsp; But that's not at all the story that came out of the session, or where the players wanted to go.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6554341, member: 177"] Yes, but the story doesn't exist without the players, either, so that doesn't really mean much. This is a good way of considering it. My statement that the GM does not create the story doesn't say that the GM does not do creation. But, "the story" is something that comes out through the player's interaction with the elements the GM has presented. It pays to be prepared for what one thinks are the most likely approaches the players will take to a situation, but that is not the same as creating "the story". An example: I run a Deadlands campaign. Deadlands is a "Weird West" setting, meaning that it is Wild West, with magic, steampunk mad science, and horror elements. Early on in the campaign, I presented the PCs with a situation of there being a shipment of something (they didn't know what) going to a BBEG by train. Now, in genre, the classic way of dealing with this would be a train robbery. I was intentionally setting things up so that my player could have the experience of committing a train robbery and still feel like heroes, if they so chose. I was all prepared to run a train heist session. But, the players didn't choose that route at all. The group that had realized that their strengths lay in "Intimidation, sustained violence, and the black arts" decided to defeat the villain by... bureaucracy! They falsified shipping records to make the train car go to a new destination, where they picked it up using forged documents saying it was theirs, not a shot fired (until much later - the BBEG was *not* pleased). If I had thought of this as me writing a story, I would have written a train heist story. But that's not at all the story that came out of the session, or where the players wanted to go. [/QUOTE]

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