Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What is player agency to you?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9086126" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I have repeatedly contrasted the following two things:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">*"Player narrative control", that is, players directly authoring elements of the fiction outside of their action declarations for their PCs;</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">*The GM making decisions about framing and consequences by having regard to, and drawing on, goals and aspirations that the players have signalled for their PCs, and they they put at stake via their action declarations</p><p></p><p>The second thing is a way whereby players exercise agency over the content of the shared fiction without the first thing being necessary. The point made in the preceding sentence is fundamental to the design of many RPGs, including 4e D&D.</p><p></p><p>If the players have not staked the possibility of transdimensional travel, and the GM just introduces it by fiat, where is the player agency?</p><p></p><p>My first response is, suppose a dragon comes from Faerun to earth and tries to fly, how does it? Answer -it can't, as its wingspan and wing muscles will not generate sufficient lift to get its vast weight of the ground. Suppose a magic-user comes from Faeren to earth and tries to cast a spell, how does that work? Answer - it doesn't, there is not magic on earth.</p><p></p><p>But even the above two sentences are absurd - because as we all know Faerun is in fact imaginary, and so things can't come from there to earth</p><p></p><p>So let's suppose we're not talking about earth, but about some <em>imagined</em> earth to which magical beings can travel. My second response is, this as an example of game play it makes about as much sense as the previous one - you seem to be completely changing the genre of play, from heroic fantasy to gritty modern, and asking how do we make sense of the abilities of a fantasy PC in the new context?</p><p></p><p>.But let's suppose that we're not changing the genre: somehow, and for whatever reason, we're incorporating some imagined version of the present-day United Kingdom into our heroic fantasy RPG. Then how does the Noble PC obtain an audience with King Charles? The ways to me seem innumerable. After all, as we know, <em>people are inclined to think the best of the character, who is welcome in high society. People assume the character has the right to be wherever they are, and other people of high birth treat them as a member of the same social sphere.</em> So here's one possibility: the PC gravitates to Sloane Square (or wherever contemporary Sloane rangers hang out), hooks up with a gentleman or maid-in-waiting or whatever, is invited back to the Palace, and is introduced to the King.</p><p></p><p>I mean, all sorts of people in real life get to meet the King, so I don't see someone with the italicised traits couldn't.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 9086126, member: 42582"] I have repeatedly contrasted the following two things: [indent]*"Player narrative control", that is, players directly authoring elements of the fiction outside of their action declarations for their PCs; *The GM making decisions about framing and consequences by having regard to, and drawing on, goals and aspirations that the players have signalled for their PCs, and they they put at stake via their action declarations[/indent] The second thing is a way whereby players exercise agency over the content of the shared fiction without the first thing being necessary. The point made in the preceding sentence is fundamental to the design of many RPGs, including 4e D&D. If the players have not staked the possibility of transdimensional travel, and the GM just introduces it by fiat, where is the player agency? My first response is, suppose a dragon comes from Faerun to earth and tries to fly, how does it? Answer -it can't, as its wingspan and wing muscles will not generate sufficient lift to get its vast weight of the ground. Suppose a magic-user comes from Faeren to earth and tries to cast a spell, how does that work? Answer - it doesn't, there is not magic on earth. But even the above two sentences are absurd - because as we all know Faerun is in fact imaginary, and so things can't come from there to earth So let's suppose we're not talking about earth, but about some [I]imagined[/I] earth to which magical beings can travel. My second response is, this as an example of game play it makes about as much sense as the previous one - you seem to be completely changing the genre of play, from heroic fantasy to gritty modern, and asking how do we make sense of the abilities of a fantasy PC in the new context? .But let's suppose that we're not changing the genre: somehow, and for whatever reason, we're incorporating some imagined version of the present-day United Kingdom into our heroic fantasy RPG. Then how does the Noble PC obtain an audience with King Charles? The ways to me seem innumerable. After all, as we know, [I]people are inclined to think the best of the character, who is welcome in high society. People assume the character has the right to be wherever they are, and other people of high birth treat them as a member of the same social sphere.[/I] So here's one possibility: the PC gravitates to Sloane Square (or wherever contemporary Sloane rangers hang out), hooks up with a gentleman or maid-in-waiting or whatever, is invited back to the Palace, and is introduced to the King. I mean, all sorts of people in real life get to meet the King, so I don't see someone with the italicised traits couldn't. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What is player agency to you?
Top