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Playing without the GM present?
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<blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 9528002" data-attributes="member: 6796661"><p>I would love it if that happened with my players. But we are all busy with jobs and family. I have some players who are interested in having e-mail back and forth with me regarding downtime activities etc. But generally they are only engaging with the game when we are playing it. In the OPs example, I would especially appreciate the players getting together outside of game to do that planning, rather than taking up live game time on it. I mean, how long was that conversation in the coffee shop? How fun would it have been to spend the same amount of time having that conversation in a 4-6 hour game session?</p><p></p><p>But I also wouldn't mind if during a session, the players discussed tactics for an upcoming battle outside of my hearing (within reasonable time limits). In game, they generally do their planning and discussion on the main discord channel. They could go into a private channel without me, but I guess it doesn't feel worth the hassle and perhaps they feel it breaks the sense of playing together. But I wouldn't mind if they did. I like a bit of "friendly adversarial" play. I don't think of it as me versus them, but I'm running the antagonists. The antagonists want to win and I will try to run them that way, in accordance with their abilities, personalities, etc. </p><p></p><p>If the players planned outside my hearing, I think it would benefit me in two ways. </p><p></p><p>(1) It makes it easier for me to play hard but fair. There have been times where I haven't had the enemies take certain actions just because it seemed to much like I was metagaming. If the players knew I had NO idea what their plan was, yet the NPCs do something that effectively thwarts their plan, that no becomes an interesting complication rather than feeling like the DM is metagaming. </p><p></p><p>(2) I enjoy a surprise. If the players come up with some clever way to address a threat, I love it, even if it negates what would otherwise have been a difficult encounter, puzzle, or other complication. Hearing them talk about their plans can be fun when they come up with cool ideas, but it isn't the same as being surprised or caught of guard with a clever plan. </p><p></p><p>The DM is a player as well. Not just a processing engine for the game system. I think a bit of friendly adversarial play and fire-walling between GM and players makes me feel more like a player in the game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MNblockhead, post: 9528002, member: 6796661"] I would love it if that happened with my players. But we are all busy with jobs and family. I have some players who are interested in having e-mail back and forth with me regarding downtime activities etc. But generally they are only engaging with the game when we are playing it. In the OPs example, I would especially appreciate the players getting together outside of game to do that planning, rather than taking up live game time on it. I mean, how long was that conversation in the coffee shop? How fun would it have been to spend the same amount of time having that conversation in a 4-6 hour game session? But I also wouldn't mind if during a session, the players discussed tactics for an upcoming battle outside of my hearing (within reasonable time limits). In game, they generally do their planning and discussion on the main discord channel. They could go into a private channel without me, but I guess it doesn't feel worth the hassle and perhaps they feel it breaks the sense of playing together. But I wouldn't mind if they did. I like a bit of "friendly adversarial" play. I don't think of it as me versus them, but I'm running the antagonists. The antagonists want to win and I will try to run them that way, in accordance with their abilities, personalities, etc. If the players planned outside my hearing, I think it would benefit me in two ways. (1) It makes it easier for me to play hard but fair. There have been times where I haven't had the enemies take certain actions just because it seemed to much like I was metagaming. If the players knew I had NO idea what their plan was, yet the NPCs do something that effectively thwarts their plan, that no becomes an interesting complication rather than feeling like the DM is metagaming. (2) I enjoy a surprise. If the players come up with some clever way to address a threat, I love it, even if it negates what would otherwise have been a difficult encounter, puzzle, or other complication. Hearing them talk about their plans can be fun when they come up with cool ideas, but it isn't the same as being surprised or caught of guard with a clever plan. The DM is a player as well. Not just a processing engine for the game system. I think a bit of friendly adversarial play and fire-walling between GM and players makes me feel more like a player in the game. [/QUOTE]
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