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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PapersAndPaychecks" data-source="post: 2178685" data-attributes="member: 28854">Here's a quote by Frank Mentzer.  I'm taking it out of context; it appeared in a sharply-worded answer he gave to someone else on a different forum, and it should not be misconstrued as aimed at Quasqueton.  In other words, Mr Mentzer believes that the DM should generally write adventures to fit within the rules given.  I don't personally agree with that view; I believe that there are certainly circumstances where the rules need to take second place to the story. But I'm afraid disagree with the fundamental implications of the original post. Quasqueton asks:  Now, these are good questions if you accept the basic premise, which is this:  "In a roleplaying game it is the DM's job to tell a story to the players." That's Narrativism, and in my view it's a flawed view of roleplaying.  The alternative view is this:  "In a roleplaying game it is the DM's job merely to provide an interesting environment for the players, and the players create the story from the choices they make." In this second view, which might be characterised as Emulationism, the DM is totally unconcerned with story and so the questions Quasqueton asks become meaningless.  What the DM does is to arbitrate the choices the characters make without any regard to "plot" whatsoever. I prefer Emulationism simply because I prefer an environment where the characters control their own destinies.  In the Emulationist view the players' actions have far more wide-reaching consequences and player skill can have a real impact on the character's ultimate destiny. In reality, of course, most games fall somewhere between the two.  The DM usually has a fair idea of where the plot's going, but radical actions by the players can take the plot in an entirely different direction.  I understand and appreciate this. Nevertheless I believe that a good DM will usually approach the situations Quasqueton describes from an Emulationist viewpoint, and therefore must adjudicate the players' actions in accordance with the rules.  To do otherwise is to frustrate the players' control over their characters' destinies. (See "The Impossible Thing to Believe Before Breakfast" on the Forge for ancillary discussion).</blockquote>

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