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<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7732066" data-attributes="member: 6775031">The job of the GM, in such a case, is to figure out what these things should be based on what they already know about the world. This is a case where you need to trust the GM to not meta-game. Whatever the backstory of this random encounter, it is based on events that happened in the past, and certainly not on who the PCs are or what would be &quot;interesting&quot; for the players.If a player asks whether there are clouds visible, then the most important thing about the existence or non-existence of those clouds is that it is not influenced by the fact that the player asked or whether they have a clever idea that is contingent on there being or not-being clouds visible. If the GM has been tracking the weather patterns lately, then great. If not, then rolling randomly is still infinitely better than the alternative.It doesn't need to track how the real world works, except in that we want players to be able to understand how the world works. Most games take place in some sort of fantastic world with magic in it, and that's mostly fine.What's explicitly not cool is when things happen based on what the player or GM wants or doesn't want to happen; or what they think is or is not exciting or dramatic. Those perceptions and opinions are factors which are external to the game world, and taking them into consideration at any point would be an act of meta-gaming.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 7732066, member: 6775031"] The job of the GM, in such a case, is to figure out what these things should be [I]based on[/I] what they already know about the world. This is a case where you need to trust the GM to not meta-game. Whatever the backstory of this random encounter, it is based on events that happened in the past, and certainly not on who the PCs are or what would be "interesting" for the players. If a player asks whether there are clouds visible, then the [I]most important[/I] thing about the existence or non-existence of those clouds is that it is [I]not[/I] influenced by the fact that the player asked or whether they have a clever idea that is contingent on there being or not-being clouds visible. If the GM has been tracking the weather patterns lately, then great. If not, then rolling randomly is still infinitely better than the alternative. It doesn't need to track how the real world works, except in that we want players to be able to understand how the world works. Most games take place in some sort of fantastic world with magic in it, and that's mostly fine. What's explicitly [I]not cool[/I] is when things happen based on what the player or GM [I]wants[/I] or [I]doesn't want[/I] to happen; or what they think [I]is[/I] or [I]is not[/I] exciting or dramatic. Those perceptions and opinions are factors which are external to the game world, and taking them into consideration at any point would be an act of meta-gaming. [/QUOTE]

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