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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Piratecat" data-source="post: 5084997" data-attributes="member: 2">The best example of "not a storytelling game" I can give is when the ENW moderators were lucky enough to play with Gary Gygax at GenCon several years ago, delving into the first layer of the dungeons beneath Castle Greyhawk. Rel did a fascinating job <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/204729-gaming-gygax.html" target="_blank">of writing this up</a> (and I'm still bitter that a gelatinous cube ate my mule!), but I was a little surprised that the game was nothing like my own DMing style. There was no plot at all, no theme to the monsters, and no attempt by Gary to steer us in any direction whatsoever. We chose where in the ruins to descend; we chose what doors to enter, and where we went. We surprised monsters or they surprised us, but even after going through several empty rooms in what I'd consider uncomfortable pacing, what we encountered was dictated solely by what was written on the map beforehand.This was true to the extent that none of the rooms had any decor or furniture in them at all, and I mentioned it; Gary looked a little embarrassed and said that he had left the random dungeon trimming table at home. We had a spectacular time, of course, and I'm going to remember that game for a long time. Seeing this emphasized to me that my own style tends more towards the plot-driven and cinematic than the old-school dungeon delves.</blockquote>