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<blockquote data-quote="Mathew_Freeman" data-source="post: 4576442" data-attributes="member: 1846">No, I don't.I believe that Sepulchrave, Shemska, Piratecat and all the other great SH writers on these boards are not trying to explore a story through their games (obviously, I'd welcome any of them to say otherwise!).I've come to see DMing as much like writing a computer game (bear with me!). My job as DM is to set up a situation, and be aware of the possible things that the PC's might want to do. If I try and explore a story, I'm heading dangerously towards forcing my characters along with me whether they want to go or not.Going back to Sepulchrave, I don't believe he ever set out to explore the story &quot;what happens when a Paladin converts a succubus&quot;. I believe that he was running a game, and in each session he and the players found that they were exploring that story.(This is getting a bit rambling now, sorry!)For me, the Story is seperate from the Game. The Story is how you remember the game - what you tell each other about what happened, or other people, or put in a Story Hour. The Game happens only in the moment, as you are rolling dice. I mean, most D&amp;D sessions might start out as &quot;The Story of What Happens When A Priest Of Orcus Raises 50 Zombies And Attacks the Town&quot;, but is likely to end up as &quot;How Kenzo the Halfling Became Known As Kenzo Zombie-Slayer&quot; or even &quot;Why You've Never Heard Of The Town of Winterhaven&quot;. Trying to plot out a Story in advance of the Game can be very tricky, nearly always ends badly (a la DM of the Rings) and gets in the way of the Game.I hope some of that made sense.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mathew_Freeman, post: 4576442, member: 1846"] No, I don't. I believe that Sepulchrave, Shemska, Piratecat and all the other great SH writers on these boards are not trying to explore a story through their games (obviously, I'd welcome any of them to say otherwise!). I've come to see DMing as much like writing a computer game (bear with me!). My job as DM is to set up a situation, and be aware of the possible things that the PC's might want to do. If I try and explore a story, I'm heading dangerously towards forcing my characters along with me whether they want to go or not. Going back to Sepulchrave, I don't believe he ever set out to explore the story "what happens when a Paladin converts a succubus". I believe that he was running a game, and in each session he and the players found that they were exploring that story. (This is getting a bit rambling now, sorry!) For me, the Story is seperate from the Game. The Story is how you remember the game - what you tell each other about what happened, or other people, or put in a Story Hour. The Game happens only in the moment, as you are rolling dice. I mean, most D&D sessions might start out as "The Story of What Happens When A Priest Of Orcus Raises 50 Zombies And Attacks the Town", but is likely to end up as "How Kenzo the Halfling Became Known As Kenzo Zombie-Slayer" or even "Why You've Never Heard Of The Town of Winterhaven". Trying to plot out a Story in advance of the Game can be very tricky, nearly always ends badly (a la DM of the Rings) and gets in the way of the Game. I hope some of that made sense. [/QUOTE]

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