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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 5181724" data-attributes="member: 29398">OK, I'm really confused (which doesn't take much doing) by all this.First, this new "illusionism" term - new to me, anyway; I'd never heard it before reading this thread - where the bleep did this spring up from?Second, am I to understand that illusionism is being hailed as The Next WrongBad Thing, right up there with railroading?Third, and this question hasn't really been answered yet though it's been asked: at what point in both time and thought does "flexible adventure design" turn into "illusionism"?  For these examples, please tell me which is which...- I decide during the week to retroactively change the back-history of my game world, the players are unaware of the change and it does not affect anything that has happened in-game {1}- I decide on the fly that the next adventure hooks are going to lead to a different adventure than I'd originally planned, the players are unaware of the change but the change has been made due to unintentional player suggestion {1}- I decide on the fly that the next adventure hooks are going to lead to a different adventure than I'd originally planned, the players are aware of the change (e.g. I'd already told them either in or out of game what the next adventure was going to be) {2}- the above two again, only the decision was made during the week {1}- I decide on the fly that something different will be behind the door they're opening than I (or the module) had originally planned, the players are unaware of the change {1}- Provided they decide to tackle Adventure X, I decide ahead of time that no matter what they do they will meet a particular NPC at some point as this meeting is essential for the plot of Adventure X {1}- I decide on the spur of the moment that they will meet a particular NPC *right now*, sort of like a random wandering monster only more relevant {1}- I decide in mid-combat to change the stats of an opponent because it is proving too easy or too tough for what was intended {3}- I decide in mid-combat to change the tactics of an opponent because it is proving too easy or too tough for what was intended {1}{1} - I have done this in the past to a greater or lesser degree of frequency{2} - I have not done this yet but could see it happening in the future{3} - I have not done this and hope I never willI suspect some of you will say all of the above are illusionism; I will counter by claiming almost every one of them as part of my right as DM, while throwing in the suggestion that this sort of thing can sometimes go both ways: sometimes the players/characters are determined to do something and-or go somewhere no matter what the DM does. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Lan-"Illusionist"-efan</blockquote>

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