On DMing and "writing books"

[Vegepygmy]

There's a saying, "No plan survives beyond first contact with the enemy." I think that's wise for DMs to consider when desigining their adventures. Assume that whatever you lay out (and how effectively you do it) contributes directly to what the players choose to do, but that, after that point, you must give up direct control of the rest of the plot.

Insight nailed it. Right on the head.

And I'm with Pawsplay, above. "They should go write a book instead" is a commonly expressed sentiment because it's a concise statement of pure truth. It also sometimes hurts the feelings of frustrated authors.

 

[Asha'man]

Sometimes "Go write a book" is quite warranted, yes, as with the sewer example above. But not always. In my original post, it was meant as shorthand for the hostility sometimes (I suppose on reflection it's not as often as all that, but still noticeable.) displayed against plot-happy DMs. I'm not talking about hard railroaders here, but people who unashamedly use techniques such as Ydars describes. And I suppose trying to write out what motivates DMs in general was rather presumptive, I'm only working from my own experience. Nor am I saying that the DM is entitled to control the course of the game without taking into account the wishes of the players or the actions of their characters. I've only meant to say (perhaps I haven't done so clearly enough) that the DM most often, in my experience, has some wishes regarding how the game is going to play out and where the plot (whether intended or just emergent) is going. And unless he's being obnoxious, don't fight the DM, play along. Chances are the game will be more enjoyable for it.

 

[pawsplay]

1) There is no such thing as a plot, intended or otherwise. There is no presumption of any particular thing happening. Novels have plots. RPGs do not have plots, in the same sense novels do. You could probably argue that an RPG does have a "plot," in the sense of a plan, but I think you are better off just calling that something else than using language that suggests something that is not there. To me, RPGs have premises and trajectories, not plots.

2) "Play along" is useful advice, but it is not itself prescriptive for how to role-play. My first fidelity is always to my character. My second fidelity is to my sense of curiosity. Getting to the end of a module or a planned "plot" is a distant concern.