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Is the DM the most important person at the table
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<blockquote data-quote="Fenris-77" data-source="post: 7923173" data-attributes="member: 6993955"><p>Maybe it would be more helpful to talk about roles rather than people. There are often several players and usually only one GM, and the numbers seem to be the focus for a lot of the discussion. The numbers aren't a index of importance though, but rather a reflection of the game system. Different game systems also allocate responsibility for defining the diagetic frame very differently. The role of the GM in a game like Houses of the Blooded, for example, is very different than the role of the DM in D&D. Beyond that, the role and authority of the DM varies significantly from table to table even within that single game system. </p><p></p><p>There is also a historical spectrum at work here - D&D is an old game, and some people play it using old the old school model and some people play it using a newer model to distribute authority.. Newer games tend to describe the role of GM a little differently, and many of them talk about 'players' as a collective noun that includes the GM, a fact that usually directly indexes a very different sort of power distribution and thus a different model of authority over the diagetic frame. Even in a conversation just about D&D we need to account for a wide range of play styles and table contracts.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fenris-77, post: 7923173, member: 6993955"] Maybe it would be more helpful to talk about roles rather than people. There are often several players and usually only one GM, and the numbers seem to be the focus for a lot of the discussion. The numbers aren't a index of importance though, but rather a reflection of the game system. Different game systems also allocate responsibility for defining the diagetic frame very differently. The role of the GM in a game like Houses of the Blooded, for example, is very different than the role of the DM in D&D. Beyond that, the role and authority of the DM varies significantly from table to table even within that single game system. There is also a historical spectrum at work here - D&D is an old game, and some people play it using old the old school model and some people play it using a newer model to distribute authority.. Newer games tend to describe the role of GM a little differently, and many of them talk about 'players' as a collective noun that includes the GM, a fact that usually directly indexes a very different sort of power distribution and thus a different model of authority over the diagetic frame. Even in a conversation just about D&D we need to account for a wide range of play styles and table contracts. [/QUOTE]
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