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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 6727239" data-attributes="member: 16586">Here's a way to think about scene framing. Each scene is dungeon, but instead of a dungeon it is an emotionally compelling situation to play through. Instead of players trying to get treasure guarded by monsters, they are trying to get the things their characters want from people and things that stand in their way. In this situation the DM is both a game designer and a referee. However, they are not game designer when they are being a referee. They are not a referee while they are being a game designer. Framing a scene is game design in motion - you are describing and creating a mental model of what's happening in the moment for players to interact with, but you are not adjudicating stuff. Once a scene is framed things have been established (both externally and internally) and we play to find out if players get what they want - we use the rules to do this stuff. When the player's do something the DM who is now a referee responds based on what's been established. Introducing new content at this point is rigging the game and bad refereeing. Once the scene is resolved our DM is now once again a game designer. Think of it is not one single module being played, but many modules being created and then played over the course of a single session.This stuff is hard stuff, and requires a phenomenal amount of discipline. I personally find it much harder than running a game of Basic D&D. That's why having a game's agenda and principles are so important. They guide the design judgments you are making is a matter of play and help to mitigate biases. I also find this sort of play very rewarding, because the scenarios are directly relevant to what's gone on before in a way that few adventure modules serve to do. Generally when I run a scene framed game I am mentally exhausted, but deeply satisfied.I know Zak S and howandwhy will probably say that creating content before hand helps to eliminate biases in the content, but the thing about the sort of play I enjoy is that I want certain principled biases in content creation, but not like when were actually playing the game (which happens after framing). Personally I believe that why matters more than who or when in content creation. Design does need to happen before play, but for me what matters is what guides design. Why are there more demons in this random encounter table? Why is this duke moving against this count?</blockquote>

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