Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="bloodtide" data-source="post: 9215680" data-attributes="member: 6684958">This comes up often in my games, and it came up on another thread here too.&nbsp; When a player is asked what they want out of an RPG game, a very common answer many players give is that they &quot;want their actions to matter&quot;.&nbsp; And, sure, as some blind general bomb throwing it does sound great.&nbsp; But how doe this work out in actual game play?For example, one player says something like this &quot;I want my actions to matter.&nbsp; That means that if I do something unexpected, the DM doesn't shut it down or just make it unimpactful if should have impact.&nbsp; Even if it's something the DM predicted might be done by me, let it still have the full impact that it should. It also means that if I wander away from a plot hook, it won't follow me and hook me against my will.&quot;And sure, the above sound great.&nbsp; Except in game play where it does sound like the player just wants to be able to alter game reality on a whim.&nbsp; Of course, the player will snap back that is not what they mean.&nbsp; So, what DO they mean?How does a DM &quot;let a player do something unexpected&quot; with out &quot;shutting it down&quot; or making it have &quot;no impact&quot;.&nbsp; Assuming the player is being reasonable, they don't want to alter the game reality in their favor on a whim.&nbsp; So what do they want?There is a vault full of gold, and the player wants to &quot;unexpectedly&quot; rob it.&nbsp; So, does the DM just say &quot;your character now has a billion gold coins&quot;?&nbsp; Because if the DM even says &quot;well the vault is locked&quot; then the player will whine they are being &quot;shut down&quot; by the DM.....right?Another example player might say :&nbsp; &quot;I want to make choices for my character that actually matter. My preference is a purely open-world sandbox. The players pick the direction and go, which direction they go actually matters. The players pick the quests, assignments, missions, etc. The players determine what they do, where they go, etc. I'm perfectly fine with the referee making the challenges difficult, opposition smart, etc but I'd rather read a novel if the referee is going to force feed us their precious story or linear plot.&quot;It does sound great for the players to pick the quest, but once the players pick a path that does set a lot of things in the game.&nbsp; Can anyone give me an example or two that make sense?&nbsp; How does a DM &quot;allow a characters actions to matter&quot; without just altering the game reality for the players whim and not even playing a game?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="bloodtide, post: 9215680, member: 6684958"] This comes up often in my games, and it came up on another thread here too. When a player is asked what they want out of an RPG game, a very common answer many players give is that they "want their actions to matter". And, sure, as some blind general bomb throwing it does sound great. But how doe this work out in actual game play? For example, one player says something like this "I want my actions to matter. That means that if I do something unexpected, the DM doesn't shut it down or just make it unimpactful if should have impact. Even if it's something the DM predicted might be done by me, let it still have the full impact that it should. It also means that if I wander away from a plot hook, it won't follow me and hook me against my will." And sure, the above sound great. Except in game play where it does sound like the player just wants to be able to alter game reality on a whim. Of course, the player will snap back that is not what they mean. So, what DO they mean? How does a DM "let a player do something unexpected" with out "shutting it down" or making it have "no impact". Assuming the player is being reasonable, they don't want to alter the game reality in their favor on a whim. So what do they want? There is a vault full of gold, and the player wants to "unexpectedly" rob it. So, does the DM just say "your character now has a billion gold coins"? Because if the DM even says "well the vault is locked" then the player will whine they are being "shut down" by the DM.....right? Another example player might say : "I want to make choices for my character that actually matter. My preference is a purely open-world sandbox. The players pick the direction and go, which direction they go actually matters. The players pick the quests, assignments, missions, etc. The players determine what they do, where they go, etc. I'm perfectly fine with the referee making the challenges difficult, opposition smart, etc but I'd rather read a novel if the referee is going to force feed us their precious story or linear plot." It does sound great for the players to pick the quest, but once the players pick a path that does set a lot of things in the game. Can anyone give me an example or two that make sense? How does a DM "allow a characters actions to matter" without just altering the game reality for the players whim and not even playing a game? [/QUOTE]

Verification