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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 9109757" data-attributes="member: 16586">I think when folks look at things like flashbacks in Blades or Circles checks in Burning Wheel there is a tendency to react to them as if they were just inserted into the framework of a D&D game. The way Blades handles inventory management and flashbacks is done explicitly because we are skipping straight from, we're doing x to we're doing x. That week + of planning and preparation is being elided to keep the game moving. We're not actively making changes or altering anything. We're defining something left undefined. In the case of flashbacks, it's also almost always done with some risk to make things actively worse.I would not advocate adding these sorts of mechanics into a game with GM defined backstory, but I think it's important to acknowledge the actual context behind what is happening. Something that has yet to be defined is being defined. We're not engaging in retroactive editing. This is also not an essential feature of Story Now play. It's not part of Apocalypse World or Sorcerer. What is however shared is that the only constraining fictional elements are those that are seen actively on screen or have been shared beforehand. The GM is not a world builder. They are scene framers and are obliged to frame scenes that are relevant to the characters' and game's premise.Fundamentally it's that obligation where agency comes from in any roleplaying game. In challenge-oriented play the GM is obliged by fictional positioning, game mechanics and preparation to grant players the victories they earn. In Story Now play the GM is obliged by the resolution mechanics, details of the shared fiction, enumerated principles and scene framing responsibilities to let events snowball. In more simulation oriented play the GM is obliged by their prep to make rulings based only on fictional details.Without such obligations there can be no agency because there can be no assurance that any player's contributions will have an actual impact on the proceedings.</blockquote>

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