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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 6235168" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya.&nbsp; Hmm...isn't that pretty much the description of what a GM's &quot;job&quot; is? The GM is constantly &quot;making stuff up&quot;. He's supposed to. If he didn't, you'd be playing a very linear computer game or maybe a choose-your-own-adventure. If the GM, for example, rolls a random encounter while the PC's are traveling through a mountain pass. The tables and rolls indicate &quot;Dragon, Red&quot;. The GM sees the PC's are all level 2 and 3. What does a DM do? Well, he &quot;arbitrarily&quot; decides that the Red Dragon is sleeping higher up on a big ledge. This keeps the encounter 'true to the dice', but also gives the PC's a chance to survive it...avoidance, probably.&nbsp; Now, talking rule-specifics; if a GM decides that some particular bonus is only +1 this time when it's been +2 the last half-dozen times, and there are no other factors....that is arbitrary, which is fine, but it's also inconsistant, which is -not- fine.&nbsp; From what I read, it seems the problem is that the player(s) that complain about a GM &quot;making it up&quot; doesn't understand the role of the GM. They are probably thinking of them as someone who, obviously, &quot;does whatever they want&quot;. They dont' see the rules of an RPG as &quot;guidelines for running...&quot; as opposed to &quot;rules for playing...&quot;. This is a player ignorance thing. If the player truely doesn't want a GM to add/make-up/change something in the game, the easiest way to show the player how a game is expected to run would be to run it exactly as he is expecting it. Hmmm... Ok, for example: the player wants his PC to buy a beer at the tavern. The description of the tavern has NO PRICES listed. According to the player's percieved &quot;preference&quot; of the GM not &quot;arbitrarily make things up&quot;, the GM should just say &quot;No&quot;. Why? If he just decided to use the price of an Ale as the price of a Beer. The GM is &quot;making something up that isn't in the rules&quot;. If the player then says &quot;Ok, fine, an ale then&quot;. The GM should say &quot;No&quot;. Why? There is no mention of it in the description of the inn. It says &quot;food and drink&quot;. That's awefully vague...so the &quot;safe&quot; bet would be to say no to everything. But that makes no sense... Well, it seems that the Player and the GM are now in a bit of a quandry, no?&nbsp; Anyway, the player is ignorant of what a GM is supposed to do is what it boils down to. ^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pming, post: 6235168, member: 45197"] Hiya. Hmm...isn't that pretty much the description of what a GM's "job" is? The GM is constantly "making stuff up". He's supposed to. If he didn't, you'd be playing a very linear computer game or maybe a choose-your-own-adventure. If the GM, for example, rolls a random encounter while the PC's are traveling through a mountain pass. The tables and rolls indicate "Dragon, Red". The GM sees the PC's are all level 2 and 3. What does a DM do? Well, he "arbitrarily" decides that the Red Dragon is sleeping higher up on a big ledge. This keeps the encounter 'true to the dice', but also gives the PC's a chance to survive it...avoidance, probably. Now, talking rule-specifics; if a GM decides that some particular bonus is only +1 this time when it's been +2 the last half-dozen times, and there are no other factors....that is arbitrary, which is fine, but it's also inconsistant, which is -not- fine. From what I read, it seems the problem is that the player(s) that complain about a GM "making it up" doesn't understand the role of the GM. They are probably thinking of them as someone who, obviously, "does whatever they want". They dont' see the rules of an RPG as "guidelines for running..." as opposed to "rules for playing...". This is a player ignorance thing. If the player truely doesn't want a GM to add/make-up/change something in the game, the easiest way to show the player how a game is expected to run would be to run it exactly as he is expecting it. Hmmm... Ok, for example: the player wants his PC to buy a beer at the tavern. The description of the tavern has NO PRICES listed. According to the player's percieved "preference" of the GM not "arbitrarily make things up", the GM should just say "No". Why? If he just decided to use the price of an Ale as the price of a Beer. The GM is "making something up that isn't in the rules". If the player then says "Ok, fine, an ale then". The GM should say "No". Why? There is no mention of it in the description of the inn. It says "food and drink". That's awefully vague...so the "safe" bet would be to say no to everything. But that makes no sense... Well, it seems that the Player and the GM are now in a bit of a quandry, no? Anyway, the player is ignorant of what a GM is supposed to do is what it boils down to. ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]

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