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"Illusionism" and "GM force" in RPGing
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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 7921087" data-attributes="member: 6696971"><p>Couple quick thoughts:</p><p></p><p>1) Pre-game scenario design or picking a game/dungeon's premise is never a case of Force. Now imposing prepped material from that scenario/dungeon/premise upon play in a way that nullifies player input is Force.</p><p></p><p>2) If you're (a) running a challenge-based game (Step on Up) where (b) overcoming obstacles via your general and system-relevant guile is the apex (or even exclusive) priority of play and (c) the GM subverts the product of that guile + rules interactions for the sake of their own agenda (ensuring content x is introduced, to alter the overall pacing of the delve, to create conflict that is outside the scope of your responsibility as neutral referee), then that has to be Force.</p><p></p><p>I would even call altering the product of the content introduction machinery (wandering monsters) because you're dissatisfied with <em>this </em>particular instantiation of the dice probability to be Force. That is because players are making decisions to continue exploring (and how - which may including spending resources) vs rest vs withdraw and are dealing with multiple clocks depending upon the game (overall strategic resources, perhaps a condition clock, perhaps a wandering monster clock. It doesn't just interfere with the authenticity of this particular moment of play, but it also alters the overall delve.</p><p></p><p>In my opinion, if the designer or the GM doesn't like the overall probability curve of one (or more) of the clocks, the answer is to iterate and redesign the curve, not curate out particular content produced by the content introduction machinery (which the players are interfacing with to make their general and system-relevant guile based decisions).</p><p></p><p>Now...</p><p></p><p>In games that are not apex or exclusively challenge-based and have different approaches to content introduction, this will be different (which is why I'm isolating this to strictly challenge-based games). </p><p></p><p>I think this is also illuminating as to why things could get so wobbly when (a) things move from the dungeon to the wilderness (where the clocks become more wobbly and player decision-points become less constrained) and (b) when spellcaster's power would achieve capacity to completely reframe or just outright circumvent challenges (and therefore the machinery of content introduction, the "clocks", that is meant to test player's general and system-relevant guile becomes rendered moot in large chunks or in whole).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 7921087, member: 6696971"] Couple quick thoughts: 1) Pre-game scenario design or picking a game/dungeon's premise is never a case of Force. Now imposing prepped material from that scenario/dungeon/premise upon play in a way that nullifies player input is Force. 2) If you're (a) running a challenge-based game (Step on Up) where (b) overcoming obstacles via your general and system-relevant guile is the apex (or even exclusive) priority of play and (c) the GM subverts the product of that guile + rules interactions for the sake of their own agenda (ensuring content x is introduced, to alter the overall pacing of the delve, to create conflict that is outside the scope of your responsibility as neutral referee), then that has to be Force. I would even call altering the product of the content introduction machinery (wandering monsters) because you're dissatisfied with [I]this [/I]particular instantiation of the dice probability to be Force. That is because players are making decisions to continue exploring (and how - which may including spending resources) vs rest vs withdraw and are dealing with multiple clocks depending upon the game (overall strategic resources, perhaps a condition clock, perhaps a wandering monster clock. It doesn't just interfere with the authenticity of this particular moment of play, but it also alters the overall delve. In my opinion, if the designer or the GM doesn't like the overall probability curve of one (or more) of the clocks, the answer is to iterate and redesign the curve, not curate out particular content produced by the content introduction machinery (which the players are interfacing with to make their general and system-relevant guile based decisions). Now... In games that are not apex or exclusively challenge-based and have different approaches to content introduction, this will be different (which is why I'm isolating this to strictly challenge-based games). I think this is also illuminating as to why things could get so wobbly when (a) things move from the dungeon to the wilderness (where the clocks become more wobbly and player decision-points become less constrained) and (b) when spellcaster's power would achieve capacity to completely reframe or just outright circumvent challenges (and therefore the machinery of content introduction, the "clocks", that is meant to test player's general and system-relevant guile becomes rendered moot in large chunks or in whole). [/QUOTE]
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