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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5413189" data-attributes="member: 42582">Someone upthread suggested "linear" means "pre-determined". As a general rule, making it up as you go along doesn't involve pre-determination, especially if many of the constraints on what can be added (eg because elements of the gameworld have already been stipulated) are introduced by the players in the course of play.If, as the game progresses, the GM makes things up in response to the players' choices, so as to foreground elements and themes that the players bring into play and to background elements and themes which they don't, where is the railroad (as in, where is the vitiation of player choice?) Undoubtedly exploratory choices (like in the secret door example) aren't being validated, but then we're not talking about exploratory play here, are we?Well, many power gamers wouldn't be playing a game in which a big part of the point of play is to explore thematic content or to jointly develop a game that is compelling and engaging on account of that content. Heroquest, forexample, isn't really a power gamer's game.That said, "power gaming" can cover a range of approaches to play. A vanilla narrativist game played using a crunchy system like Rolemater or 4e still gives players who enjoy mechanical optimisation plenty of places to do their stuff. The rewards for that aren't winning in the "beat the module" sense, but include (i) the same sort of satisfaction as one gets from solitaire or a crossword (ie doing a technical passtime well) and (ii) a greater ability to have the PCs succeed at ingame challenges. This doesn't necessarily change the overall thematic orientation of the game, but does mean that (for example) fewer encounters begin with "So, having been captured by the bad guys . . ." or "So, having struggled to make your way across the desert, and arriving at the oasis utterly exhausted . . .". Your critique of the "hand wave" and "schrodinger's" approaches seems to disregard to some extent the role of action resolution mechanics in constraining the GM and shaping the content of stipulated elements of the gameworld.4e Essentials is interesting in this respect. In the Essentials rulebooks a skill challenge gives XP whether or not the player's succeed - the consequences of failure are purely ingame disadvantages for the PCs. This sort of approach isn't necessarily going to please all power gamers, but it can please some.</blockquote>

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