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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8232886" data-attributes="member: 29398">IMO, yes.&nbsp; Not because of the systematic enabling of additions, but because of - I can't think of the right words - what you're adding to?A GM using a pre-made setting still has to improvise all the time, no argument there.&nbsp; The thing to me is that having the pre-made setting in place allows (and if done well, even slightly forces) consistency in what one improvises such that it fits with whatever's already in place.&nbsp; In a somewhat-floundering analogy, the pre-made setting is a wall - a wall in a solid house that's already passed building inspection - and the on-the-fly improv is a picture you're hanging on said wall.&nbsp; The end result is a prettier room in a still-solid house.My worries come when you're not just improvising the picture but the wall as well, and in fact the entire house.&nbsp; How solid is it?&nbsp; How consistent is it?&nbsp; How reliable is it?&nbsp; Unless you've got an incredible memory*, the only way to achieve this is by making notes for the future summarizing everything you improvised just now...which means all you've done is taken work that could have been done earlier and pushed it back (or foisted it onto the players, which I as a player would likely end up resenting); and you still end up with a pile of notes. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />* - I don't, and experience has taught me to put very little faith/trust in those who make this claim.I don't suggest it has to be fully built down to the nth degree, but I do suggest that there needs to be enough of a framework in place to put everyone on the same page - the map and gazetteer shows and tells what's where and who's there, the history tells briefly how things got to how they are, etc.&nbsp; These are the walls on which the pictures - the in-game improvisations and additions - can later be hung.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8232886, member: 29398"] IMO, yes. Not because of the systematic enabling of additions, but because of - I can't think of the right words - what you're adding to? A GM using a pre-made setting still has to improvise all the time, no argument there. The thing to me is that having the pre-made setting in place allows (and if done well, even slightly forces) consistency in what one improvises such that it fits with whatever's already in place. In a somewhat-floundering analogy, the pre-made setting is a wall - a wall in a solid house that's already passed building inspection - and the on-the-fly improv is a picture you're hanging on said wall. The end result is a prettier room in a still-solid house. My worries come when you're not just improvising the picture but the wall as well, and in fact the entire house. How solid is it? How consistent is it? How reliable is it? Unless you've got an incredible memory*, the only way to achieve this is by making notes for the future summarizing everything you improvised just now...which means all you've done is taken work that could have been done earlier and pushed it back (or foisted it onto the players, which I as a player would likely end up resenting); and you still end up with a pile of notes. :) * - I don't, and experience has taught me to put very little faith/trust in those who make this claim. I don't suggest it has to be fully built down to the nth degree, but I do suggest that there needs to be enough of a framework in place to put everyone on the same page - the map and gazetteer shows and tells what's where and who's there, the history tells briefly how things got to how they are, etc. These are the walls on which the pictures - the in-game improvisations and additions - can later be hung. [/QUOTE]

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