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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Introducing Complications Without Forcing Players to Play the "Mother May I?" Game
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<blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 7561792" data-attributes="member: 85870"><p>Well, to answer the last question first, in my experience players generally will try to bend the fiction in their favor because they think it will either be A) fun in the moment, or B) have a future payoff of more fun later in the process. </p><p></p><p>Going back to the start, this is an interesting way of breaking out what is essentially four different actions all based around the same intent. To me there are hidden assumptions lying within each form of declaration that are revealing about the player's expectations vis-a-vis to the GM's approach----Is the GM likely to intervene with my action declaration? Meaning, if I say something that doesn't fit with the GM's perceived fiction, is my action declaration going to be nullified at the source? Or if not nullified at the source, can it be nullified at a different phase or level? Is making an action declaration that's too specific going to hose me over, because I didn't specify something else?</p><p></p><p>And if you're the GM adjudicating this scene, has it been predetermined that the comb isn't there in the first place? Why or why not? Do you make the players go through a series of procedural steps just to ensure that they've "done their due diligence" even if the comb isn't there? Is the goal to make the players doubt their findings if they roll poorly and don't find the comb? To me, "MMI?" starts happening if/when the GM starts forcing the players to follow their specific, pre-determined procedures for success, and is made even more egregious if the GM is making the players do it even if there's nothing narratively at stake.</p><p></p><p>As a maxim, I might begin to say something like, "Mother-may-I? play happens when a GM insists that players follow his pre-determined procedures for successfully overcoming scene-level obstacles, while simultaneously denying players the option to introduce new elements at any level that pertain to the current in-fiction stakes."</p><p></p><p>I'm having more thoughts, but will have to come back to further cogitate later. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="innerdude, post: 7561792, member: 85870"] Well, to answer the last question first, in my experience players generally will try to bend the fiction in their favor because they think it will either be A) fun in the moment, or B) have a future payoff of more fun later in the process. Going back to the start, this is an interesting way of breaking out what is essentially four different actions all based around the same intent. To me there are hidden assumptions lying within each form of declaration that are revealing about the player's expectations vis-a-vis to the GM's approach----Is the GM likely to intervene with my action declaration? Meaning, if I say something that doesn't fit with the GM's perceived fiction, is my action declaration going to be nullified at the source? Or if not nullified at the source, can it be nullified at a different phase or level? Is making an action declaration that's too specific going to hose me over, because I didn't specify something else? And if you're the GM adjudicating this scene, has it been predetermined that the comb isn't there in the first place? Why or why not? Do you make the players go through a series of procedural steps just to ensure that they've "done their due diligence" even if the comb isn't there? Is the goal to make the players doubt their findings if they roll poorly and don't find the comb? To me, "MMI?" starts happening if/when the GM starts forcing the players to follow their specific, pre-determined procedures for success, and is made even more egregious if the GM is making the players do it even if there's nothing narratively at stake. As a maxim, I might begin to say something like, "Mother-may-I? play happens when a GM insists that players follow his pre-determined procedures for successfully overcoming scene-level obstacles, while simultaneously denying players the option to introduce new elements at any level that pertain to the current in-fiction stakes." I'm having more thoughts, but will have to come back to further cogitate later. :) [/QUOTE]
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