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Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Listening to old-timers describe RP in the 70s and 80s
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 9177472" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>This is the part I don't get: if the pl;ayers have their own free will and can directly declare their own actions then what role is left for the Caller?</p><p></p><p>In practice I could see this quickly breaking down if-when the Caller either didn't agree with what a character was doing or had a specific vested interest in what a character was doing; to the point where a stubborn Caller (and the people I run with are a generally stubborn lot) might outright say "I'm not declaring that". Cue the argument.</p><p></p><p>Now if the Caller didn't have a character and was more like an assistant DM, this issue goes away.</p><p></p><p>That's the theory, and I get it. In practice, however, I can easily see it backfiring; generating chaos rather than order.</p><p></p><p>Fair enough. I'm more often in "react mode" when things get chaotic like this, and I suspect the end result of our two methods might look much the same at the table.</p><p></p><p>Which is interesting, as to me the presence of a Caller represents a not-very-subtle game-based hint that the party is supposed to act cohesively.</p><p></p><p>Ah. I'm used to groups that often play as individualists; where the times they really do work together as a team are potential-TPK-level combats or where there's a massive treasure haul at stake, and where some characters (and thus players) often do things or go places that other characters/players don't know about.</p><p></p><p>Ah, that makes a big difference: you rotate the Caller. Long-term experience with Mapper and Treasurer tells me those roles get locked in to two people pretty fast, and the only time someone else temporarily takes on either role is if that role's usual player misses the session. Caller would no doubt go the same way.</p><p></p><p>That's just it: I could make it clear as day every ten minutes and some players would still see the Caller as leader (or, if the Caller, assume a leadership role and proceed accordingly).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 9177472, member: 29398"] This is the part I don't get: if the pl;ayers have their own free will and can directly declare their own actions then what role is left for the Caller? In practice I could see this quickly breaking down if-when the Caller either didn't agree with what a character was doing or had a specific vested interest in what a character was doing; to the point where a stubborn Caller (and the people I run with are a generally stubborn lot) might outright say "I'm not declaring that". Cue the argument. Now if the Caller didn't have a character and was more like an assistant DM, this issue goes away. That's the theory, and I get it. In practice, however, I can easily see it backfiring; generating chaos rather than order. Fair enough. I'm more often in "react mode" when things get chaotic like this, and I suspect the end result of our two methods might look much the same at the table. Which is interesting, as to me the presence of a Caller represents a not-very-subtle game-based hint that the party is supposed to act cohesively. Ah. I'm used to groups that often play as individualists; where the times they really do work together as a team are potential-TPK-level combats or where there's a massive treasure haul at stake, and where some characters (and thus players) often do things or go places that other characters/players don't know about. Ah, that makes a big difference: you rotate the Caller. Long-term experience with Mapper and Treasurer tells me those roles get locked in to two people pretty fast, and the only time someone else temporarily takes on either role is if that role's usual player misses the session. Caller would no doubt go the same way. That's just it: I could make it clear as day every ten minutes and some players would still see the Caller as leader (or, if the Caller, assume a leadership role and proceed accordingly). [/QUOTE]
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