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"Illusionism" and "GM force" in RPGing
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<blockquote data-quote="Nagol" data-source="post: 7923572" data-attributes="member: 23935"><p>The GM-narrative being formed is "the PCs won't be forced to retreat or waste resources on yet another random encounter because they need them to be at all successful going forward."</p><p></p><p>Although I'm not promoting yet another definition, the definition I typically use for GM force is when the GM substitutes fiat for expected table-accepted mechanics. So if a DM decides to substitute "no encounter" for a roll when the assigned mechanics would roll, he is using force. If the GM is drawing a map by fiat, a castle can be placed without force, but if the GM assigns a castle during a hex-crawl as opposed to rolling on the assigned tables, he is using force. If the GM normally assigns room contents by fiat, no force is applied though if he changes contents on the fly when that isn't the expected behaviour , he is using force. The GM is forcibly altering the course away from the 'natural' events of using the expected mechanics.</p><p></p><p>This tends to become most visible to the players when their declarations and choices are undercut, obviously.</p><p></p><p>Force is just a technique otherwise. Sometimes a DM thinks it is called for to reward good play, cancel terrible luck, or provide a 'narratively better' situation. Heck, sometimes the entire table thinks it is called for. It only becomes a problematic technique when there is disagreement as to it use.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nagol, post: 7923572, member: 23935"] The GM-narrative being formed is "the PCs won't be forced to retreat or waste resources on yet another random encounter because they need them to be at all successful going forward." Although I'm not promoting yet another definition, the definition I typically use for GM force is when the GM substitutes fiat for expected table-accepted mechanics. So if a DM decides to substitute "no encounter" for a roll when the assigned mechanics would roll, he is using force. If the GM is drawing a map by fiat, a castle can be placed without force, but if the GM assigns a castle during a hex-crawl as opposed to rolling on the assigned tables, he is using force. If the GM normally assigns room contents by fiat, no force is applied though if he changes contents on the fly when that isn't the expected behaviour , he is using force. The GM is forcibly altering the course away from the 'natural' events of using the expected mechanics. This tends to become most visible to the players when their declarations and choices are undercut, obviously. Force is just a technique otherwise. Sometimes a DM thinks it is called for to reward good play, cancel terrible luck, or provide a 'narratively better' situation. Heck, sometimes the entire table thinks it is called for. It only becomes a problematic technique when there is disagreement as to it use. [/QUOTE]
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