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Introducing Complications Without Forcing Players to Play the "Mother May I?" Game
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7557125" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>In a thread I started a year or two ago, I described this as play where the player goal is to learn the content of the GM's notes. And people got angry about that description too. My experience is that people who play GM-driven games are very easily upset by attempts to describe the actual processes they use.</p><p></p><p>In this particular sect-in-teahouse example, assuming that the system is more like Gygax's AD&D than the other ones I mentioned, whether or not the player's attempt to find sect members in the teahouse succeeds depends primarily on a decision taken unilaterraly by the GM. So the player's action declaration is, essentialy, <em>GM, will you please decide that there are some sect members in the teahouse for me to make contact with/spy on/whatever it is the player hopes his/her PC will do</em>.</p><p></p><p>In suggesting that this is an example of Mother May I, I believe that I'm correctly following the usage suggested in the thread title and the OP.</p><p></p><p>Wary? Of what - the indie ninjas suddenly jumping into their basements and starting to GM their games? </p><p></p><p>You are adding a whole layer of threat and drama to this thread that doesn't make any sense to me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7557125, member: 42582"] In a thread I started a year or two ago, I described this as play where the player goal is to learn the content of the GM's notes. And people got angry about that description too. My experience is that people who play GM-driven games are very easily upset by attempts to describe the actual processes they use. In this particular sect-in-teahouse example, assuming that the system is more like Gygax's AD&D than the other ones I mentioned, whether or not the player's attempt to find sect members in the teahouse succeeds depends primarily on a decision taken unilaterraly by the GM. So the player's action declaration is, essentialy, [I]GM, will you please decide that there are some sect members in the teahouse for me to make contact with/spy on/whatever it is the player hopes his/her PC will do[/I]. In suggesting that this is an example of Mother May I, I believe that I'm correctly following the usage suggested in the thread title and the OP. Wary? Of what - the indie ninjas suddenly jumping into their basements and starting to GM their games? You are adding a whole layer of threat and drama to this thread that doesn't make any sense to me. [/QUOTE]
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