NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 7641729" data-attributes="member: 16586">I like fun as much as the next guy, but there are multiple types of fun. Not all types of fun can meaningfully coexist in the same game.I realize that we all have the impulse towards story advocacy, to seize control of narrative. Real full throated character advocacy requires a certain amount of emotional vulnerability and discipline. We all have hopes and dreams for our characters. That's normal, but by embracing character advocacy in the moment we get to follow these characters down a road where we get to see who they really are. As fans we get to see them put through the crucible and experience real tension as to how things will turn out for them. When we start making decisions for the sake of story we create emotional distance, undermine tension, and decide we know what's best for everyone at the table. As a player when the GM undermines the rules or does not play their NPCs with integrity fr the sake of the story it destroys tension. Nothing feels authentic. More importantly they are not going on this journey with me. Same thing when another player makes decisions based on what they want to have happen. I can't play with the sort of emotional investment I want to if the other players are not approaching play with the same level of emotional vulnerability and commitment to their characters. Same thing from the other side of the screen. It's hard to be a fan of the character if the player is not putting their energy into playing him or her with integrity as if they were a real person.Like I have played plenty of games where story advocacy is on the table and was able to enjoy myself, but not in the way I really want to. I am not going to invest deeply in a character if there is not a reciprocal relationship. It does not feel safe to me.  As a player I have felt what it's like when a GM has decided what my character's narrative arc should be. As a GM I have dealt with players who were upset by how dice rolls "defined their character". Both experiences were not positive for me. Those experiences have been rare, luckily.Having preferences born of experience and dissatisfaction with mainstream games is not dogma. I'm not standing here telling everyone they should play a certain way. No one calls someone dogmatic because they want to play poker rather euchre. No one calls someone dogmatic because they prefer Overwatch to World of Warcraft.The alternative that everyone should accept story advocacy into their games is dogmatic. It effectively is saying we all need to accept the mainstream approach.</blockquote>

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