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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8010340" data-attributes="member: 6785785">This is why I specifically said that the DM would be "thoughtless toward the game".It is thoughtless toward the game. What would make sense from a fictional standpoint could be any number of things. The knight could literally be anywhere and you could provide a rational explanation in the fiction.In real life, you are most likely to find me at my home. That does not make it unrealistic to find me in a grocery store or at a friend's house or in Paris on vacation (pandemic aside). So for your example, you're taking what's "most likely" and then treating it as "what must be". And hey, that's fine......make your decision however you want.But if you haven't thought "hmmmm if I place this high level knight here, it will impact this encounter in this way" then I think you've only done half your job. There are two levels going on here, not just one. The fiction and the game. Both need to be considered.Depending on how many there are and what the reasons are that they "don't work" is potentially a problem. This is my point.If these decisions are made with consideration for the fiction, and with consideration towards how they will play as a game, letting the PCs come up with their own ideas about how to go about their business, then it's fine. I think we're in agreement on that.Where I think we disagree is how these things may be decided, and how if the game functions in such a way that the DM decides what's in the fiction, then there is serious potential for things to only go the way the DM wants.I'm not even advocating for a different playstyle here.This whole branch of the discussion came about due to my agreement with another poster who said "the more paths that the DM unilaterally removes from play, the more things shift toward being a railroad".So this is what I'm talking about and have been all along. The DM deciding "path A is impossible". Now, as I've said, one instance isn't really a problem.....but the more it happens in any instance, the worse it is.So if the DM says "okay, it's essentially suicide to storm the front gates....how else do you want to get into the castle?" that isn't a problem in and of itself.If the PCs say "Okay, then let's climb over the walls" and the DM says "well that won't work because the guards watching the walls are spaced in such a way that you'll never be able to climb hidden....so no good."Then they say "Hm, okay how about if we bribe someone to help us get inside?" and the DM goes "Well, the baron is known for his cruelty, and everyone knows that betrayal means death not only for them, but for their family too.....so there's no way this'll work."And so on, until only the sewer is left as a viable means of entry. This is what is a problem. To me, what would be worse would be to spend a lot of time on actually attempting to play these paths out in some way, only to eventually smash headfirst into DM fiat."What makes sense" is subjective, and as we've seen in this thread, often actually means "what's most likely". So some DMs can handle this responsibility just fine. Others can't, but their players are perfectly fine with a very linear railroad. So what I'm describing may or may not be "bad"......but for me, it would tend to diminish my enjoyment of a game the more it occurred.Sure, and again this is fine overall. I think some consideration absolutely must be given to the game's mechanics, but otherwise, yes, I agree.You've created the fiction.You look to the fiction to decide how things go.The fiction tells you how things go.This is you telling yourself how to adjudicate.I think that it still happens, even with experience. I learned that lesson a long time ago. But my most recent experience in running a published module (Tomb of Annihilation) I found myself relying on what was written more than I perhaps should have. I tend to be very flexible with my own material, but I think that the subconscious fear that I'd mess up "how it was supposed to go" was there. Luckily I realized it, and adjusted for it. Things went much better after that.How do you decide what will outright fail?</blockquote>

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