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!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="bloodtide" data-source="post: 9101847" data-attributes="member: 6684958">Sounds like an accurate metaphor:So the DM owns the car, is the one driving and pays for things like gas.  The passengers are just along for the ride.  The DM picks the destination, not the passengers.  And the DM picks the route.  A passenger can say endlessly "You shouda took I-99", but they are not driving: The DM is.  And the DM will take the route they want to take.The DM makes the Adventure, and will put time, work and effort into it.  The players will refuse to do so.  Even if the DM asked something simple: "How about each player make five very detailed encounters for the game?"  Most players would refuse, They want to "Side Table DM", but do not want to do any work.  The DM makes the destination and route through the adventure, and again has to do all the game related work.  So when a player just says "Oh I want to randomly do something", the DM is right to ignore them.The most basic problem here is does the player expect the whole world to revolve around their special character?  And, sure, most players will say an automatic "No", but then in that same breath say "oh, so this game has no player agency".This really comes down to time.  Does the player demand that THEIR story be front and center in the very first session of the very first game?  Must their story come up in the first thirty minutes?  Must everything be about their story?What about the other players?  Do some have to take a back seat so one player can be in the spot light?  Or do all two to six player stories have to happen at the same time?Well, it is sure 75% DM being creative and 25% player(s) being creative, on average.  But even more so a DM must be creative 100% of the time, and even the creative players can just "sit back and play the game" and not be creative if they wish 50% to 100% of the time.  And at least 50% of players can't, or firmly choose not to do much of anything but going along for the ride.Well, at least half the players are.  But even so most of the creative players are not all that active: they are at best reactive.  A DM creates a detailed encounter.....then the player might be a little creative in response.It's true depending on the type of game everyone wants.A Simple, Easy, Casual, Cartoonish, Unrealistic, Random or Crazy Senseless type game needs no consistency at all.  So if everyone wants to play any game type style like that, then the GM does not "need" to maintain consistency.I guess there is a rare, near theoretical, where all hard core GM sits down to equally create and play  a game in every way though.Well, my years and years of gaming....and really life in general....sure do show me players and people will inevitably degrade.  A lot of people have trouble staying true and avoiding temptation....even the "good" people.  Allow a player to make Secret Dice rolls....they MIGHT tell you the real number they rolled......sometimes.  But much more often they will "Amazingly" always roll just the right numbers at just the right times.....nearly every time.  Suddenly they will have more critical hits or other saves or actions...nearly every time.  Oh, they get bit by a giant rat and fail their save...hehe....oh but they make all three disintegration saves...amazing how dice work like that.And even more so, is the creative ways to alter reality.  Oh...the player with a wounded character  "just happens" to find some potions of healing under a tree.  Wow...amazing chance there.  And so on.</blockquote>

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