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<blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 9333438" data-attributes="member: 20564">You can't both have something in place that the party can investigate, plan around and prep for, and at the same time have nothing in place so you can design around what the party preps.&nbsp; I use Schrodinger's Plots all the time -- nothing is true until it hits the table -- but if they are trying to investigate and you give them information, that locks that into place.That said, I can see doing this to some point -- but I also do not think that the average DM who does not homebrew and is running from a module will.&nbsp; So while there may be some correctness for a percentage of DMs, an RPG must cater to the lowest common denominator of their expected audience in it's mechanics.EDIT:&nbsp; In a Story Now game I can see this being a much better fit, by the nature of whom their expected audience is.This I can see.&nbsp; But the other part of it is that the players have imperfect information - that's what makes the twists fun to play - but that perforce leads to &quot;what if&quot; and exploring scenarios that end up being just wasted time.Which is part of why Flashbacks are a wonderful mechanic - they allow the planning PCs to be highly competent at their jobs.&nbsp; Because traditionally, with little mechanical support, the opposite happen as you say - plans fall apart too easily, so PCs are incompetent at planning, and don't get to be the cool guys.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Blue, post: 9333438, member: 20564"] You can't both have something in place that the party can investigate, plan around and prep for, and at the same time have nothing in place so you can design around what the party preps. I use Schrodinger's Plots all the time -- nothing is true until it hits the table -- but if they are trying to investigate and you give them information, that locks that into place. That said, I can see doing this to some point -- but I also do not think that the average DM who does not homebrew and is running from a module will. So while there may be some correctness for a percentage of DMs, an RPG must cater to the lowest common denominator of their expected audience in it's mechanics. EDIT: In a Story Now game I can see this being a much better fit, by the nature of whom their expected audience is. This I can see. But the other part of it is that the players have imperfect information - that's what makes the twists fun to play - but that perforce leads to "what if" and exploring scenarios that end up being just wasted time. Which is part of why Flashbacks are a wonderful mechanic - they allow the planning PCs to be highly competent at their jobs. Because traditionally, with little mechanical support, the opposite happen as you say - plans fall apart too easily, so PCs are incompetent at planning, and don't get to be the cool guys. [/QUOTE]

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